��I Miss Live Poker��: 2019 WSOP Champ Hossein Ensan Reflects on EPT History
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Prior to winning the 2019 World Series of Poker Main Event for $10 million, Germany��s Hossein Ensan may not have been known to American fans, but he was a familiar name in Europe due to his success on the European Poker Tour.
With the EPT Online happening now, we thought it was a good time to catch up with Ensan, who in 2015 topped a 1,044-entry field to win the EPT Prague Main Event for $825,151. A year earlier, he had placed third in the EPT Barcelona Main Event for $860,091, and in 2017 finished third in the EPT Prague High Roller for $285,021. Toss in a sixth-place finish in the 2015 EPT Malta Main Event for $166,262, and it proved a nice three-year heater for the man originally from Iran.
��It��s been a crazy year. All in all, it was really nice for me after a year of being world champion. I��m doing very well,�� Ensan told PokerNews. ��From the beginning of 2020, I was at King��s Casino and partypoker Nottingham. In Europe, the pandemic began at the end of February. Since that time, I didn��t play live, and online, I tried to play online a bit, but only a couple of sessions, not too much.��
Playing Against the Best on the EPT
While Ensan isn��t much of an online player, and as such doesn��t plan to play too much of the EPT Online series, he��s still excited to see the EPT return as it��s a tour near and dear to his heart.
��I was often at EPTs throughout Europe. I started with EPT in 2010 I think, and my first success was in Barcelona,�� he said. ��I had a very good run in 2014 and 2015. All my experience was through EPT for sure.��
As a European citizen, one of the biggest appeals of the EPT was so many quality stops in close proximity.
��From my home to the next stop by airplane is only two hours, and by car just 700 kilometers. I learned my poker through the EPT, on TV I learned a lot. I go to the EPT because I met a lot of poker friends, from Germany. I��m originally from Iran and there��s a lot of Iranian players too. The EPT has a lot of good players. That��s why I play, I like to play against good players.��
As for his favorite EPT stop, fans might not be surprised to learn it��s the one where he captured his coveted trophy.
��All EPTs are very nice. EPT Barcelona is a beautiful city. My favorite stop though is for sure Prague. I won that won already, and Prague is a beautiful city. I��ve met a lot of good poker friends there. For me, my favorite stop is Prague and then Barcelona also.��
What��s Next?
As for what��s next for the 2019 WSOP Main Event champ, Ensan is looking forward to the return of live poker.
��I miss live poker. I want to go to Vegas to defend my title for sure, but due to the Coronavirus pandemic this was not possible,�� he said. ��Online poker isn��t my game, which is why I didn��t play the GGPoker WSOP. I like live poker, face to face, and in 2021 I��ll try to go to Vegas and defend my title for sure.��
