Frenchman Wins PokerStars EPT Warsaw Poker Tourney

At the PokerStars European Poker Tour Warsaw No Limit Texas Hold'em main event that wrapped up yesterday, French businessman Christophe Benzimra finished first taking home 358,644 Euros in prize money, while Italian poker pro Alfio Battisti finished second in the tournament.

Benzimra took a rather offbeat route to the European Poker Tour. He is not like many of the poker pros who either started playing online poker before they were old enough to drive, or are guys who cut their teeth over decades of casino cash games.

Benzimra runs a Plexiglas factory in Bucharest, Romania, and hasn't been playing poker for all that long. In fact only three years separates the day he first sat down to play Texas Hold'em, and this ETP poker tournament triumph. Of course the fact that the EPT tournament was a Main Event adds extra luster to the accomplishment.

To be fair, this was not his first time participating in an EPT event. He has become a fixture at the PokerStars European Poker Tour tournaments for the last two years, but this was the first time he cashed in at a Main Event.

Of his win, Benzimra isn't going to drop everything and go pro. Rather, he said, "I think I was lucky today. I am not a professional player, I play for fun. I really enjoyed it but I'm not giving up work! I play poker just for the pleasure of it."

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