Last weekend, the European Poker Tour San Remo event broke EPT records for the largest turnout ever. 1,240 players showed up in Italy to play poker and experience one of the most exciting international poker events. The large number of players resulted in a whopping €6 million prize pool and the top tournament winner will go home with €1.25 million.

A lot of people had been wondering if the robbery that occurred at the EPT event in Berlin would keep players from coming to other tournaments around Europe. Apparently poker players are not afraid, as this turnout is larger than any EPT event has seen in the past.

What really amazes me is that so many players showed up in Italy despite the Icelandic volcano. Flights throughout Europe have been cancelled as a result of the ash in the sky, yet all these players still make it there. Of course, it wasn’t easy for everyone. Pro poker player Barry Greenstein has a lot of trouble getting there, logging over 40 hours of travel time. Because of flight cancellations he was not able to fly the whole way and had to drive for quite some time. Unfortunately, by the time Greenstein arrived at the tournament almost a fifth of his chips had been eaten up by blinds, as he arrived late.

Other big-name pro poker players competing in the tournament include Bertrand Grospeller, Steve Gross and Jason Mercier.