8.46pm: Level done
That’s the end of level 13. It was unlucky for some. We’re on a 15-minute break. — SY
8.45pm: The latest from the Vesa files
In the absence of our regular Nordic blogger – the whirling blonde dervish that is Lina Olofsson – combined with the recent bust-out of the final Finnish player from the tournament, the lone representative of Finland’s press corps in Vesa Arhipoff has decided to start feeding us information at PokerStars Blog. And we’re grateful to him.
Here’s the latest from Arhipoff’s notepad, a near triple up for the Team PokerStars Pro Johannes Steindl, still flying the flag for Austria in his homeland.
On a flop of K♣ 7♦ Q♣ (I’m assuming Arhipoff couldn’t see the pre-flop action through his tears lamenting all those Finnish eliminations) Alexander Pozdnyakov moved all in. Steindl called and Jesper Hougaard called, creating a side-pot and bringing a A♦ turn.
Hougaard (the Nordic representative here) checked, Steindl moved all in for about 32,000 and Hougaard insta-called. Here’s what they had:
Pozdnyakov: K♥ J♥ (top pair on the flop, second on the turn, and now a
straight draw)
Hougaard: J♦ 10♦ (the made straight)
Steindl: A♣ 10♣ (top pair, a straight draw and a flush draw)
Only one of those players will have been delighted to see the 8♣ on the river. It filled Steindl’s flush, eliminated Pozdnyakov and set Hougaard staring at the heavens. Steindl now has more than 100,000. — HS
8.40pm: Kravchenko on a rush
In the time it took to stomp from the tournament floor to the bloggers’ lair and back Alex Kravchenko had gone from zero to hero with a couple of big pots. His last double up was courtesy of pocket jacks that flopped a set and turned into a boat. The Russian is now on 130,000. — RD
8.35pm: Pagano bust
Luca Pagano, a man who makes a habit of cashing at EPT events, will not be doing so here in the Alps. PokerStars player Casper Toft had opened for 5,600 and Pagano called. The flop was 5♥ K♠10♥ and Pagano checked. Toft wanted to know how much the Italian had behind, it was 54,300. Toft then bet 6,200 and Pagano announced calmly that he was all in.
Toft then went deep in to the tank, so deep that the clock was called – not by Pagano, but the man in seat 8. Toft then came to his decision and called:
Pagano: K♦ Q♠for top pair
Toft: Q♥ J♠for the open-ended straight draw
The end for Pagano was swift, with the 9♥ coming on the turn. The K♥ river changed nothing.
“Easy game,” Pagano said ruefully as he walked away. — SY
8.30pm: And another one gone
Sometimes when a player busts we write the phrase “he got his coat and left the room”. After this hand, however, Andrey Zaichenko forgot his coat and left the room. He would come back to collect it later when he’d calmed down. His end came in a straightforward A♥ Kâ™ encounter against Sebastien Bidinger’s Q♦ Qâ™ – with no help on the board. — SY
8.25pm: Debus takes on the big stack
Johannes Strassmann raised to 7,200 from his monstrous, 600,000-plus stack, and Alexander Debus called. The rest got out the way and they went to a J♥ 10♠10♦ flop. Strassmann fired 12,500 at the board and Debus called, bringing a 6♠turn. Strassmann checked and Debus accepted his betting invitation. He bet 22,000, which was enough to get Strassmann out.
Strassmann still has more than 600,000, and now has Richard Toth beside him. Toth is also chipped right up, with 300,000-odd. — HS
8.20pm: Tricky stuff from Donev
There are peculiar things occurring on table ten, usually involving two or three of Arnaud Mattern, Ivo Donev and/or Ara Melikian, all sitting in a row. Here are two hands.
Donev raised from the button and Melikian called. Mattern raised to 22,100 and Donev folded. Melikian announced that he was all in, and Mattern didn’t fancy calling the next 80,000-odd.
A few hands later, Donev opened again from mid-position and Melikian called. Everyone else left them to it and they saw a Q♦ 7♥ 7♣ flop. Donev bet 8,000, Melikian called and the Q♣ came on the turn. Donev bet 5,000 this time – 3,000 less than his flop bet – and Melikian made it 15,000. Donev then raised to 30,000 and a confused Melikian folded.
“Do you want to see it?” Donev asked.
“No,” said Milikian. “If you have nothing, nice hand.”
Donev mucked. — HS
8.15pm: Breach of etiquette?
Guiseppe Pantaleo has just been knocked out by Leo Spielmann and wasn’t that happy about it. Spielmann, who only just had Pantaleo covered, moved him in on the river of a A♦ K♣ 6♣ 4♣ 6♦ board. Pantaleo had the clock called on him and eventually made the call. Spilmann turned A♥ K♥ face up to take the pot and screamed ‘Yeah, baby’ across the tournament room before demanding that Pantaleo open up his hand for him to see. ‘You’ve taken my chips what more do you want?’ Pantaleo responded with more than a little irritation. — RD
8.10pm: Lukas Baumann
Here’s a video with a PokerStars player who qualified for EPT Snowfest using only his Frequent Player Points!
8.05pm: Bubble looming
There are now under 120 players left in the tournament and with the top 80 getting paid the pressure is rising for many players under the cosh. Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko is one such player having to fold his hand on the river of a Q♣ Qâ™ 7♥ 9♦ 9♣ board when Allan Baekke fired a final bullet into him. Kravchenko is left with 25,000. — RD
7.55pm: Short sharp stats
Yeah, so, there’s been no postprandial slowdown. Within the first few minutes of the 13th level, stacks are being shoved in with impunity. And when that happens, plenty of folk bust. On one quick scan of the room, all this happened:
John Lundqvist shoved with pocket jacks and Daniel Van Kalkeren called with ace queen. There was an ace on the turn and Lundqvist made his way from the tournament room. That’s all the Finnish players now out, a fate that usually befalls the Dutch on day two. However, Van Kalkeren is a Dutchie, as is Lex Veldhuis, who is doing fine. A hand of his is described at 7.50pm below.
Kristoffer Thorsson is also out. His departure from table ten was announced at sufficient volume from the dealer to mean us reporters ambled past. Arnaud Mattern wasn’t Thorsson’s assassin but seemed delighted that the young Swede’s stay to his left was a short one.
Halldor Sverrisson moved all in for about 45,000 on a flop of 2♥ 4♦ 4♥ 10♥ . His solitary opponent folded and the lone Icelander – on for his second consecutive EPT cash – took the 30,000 in the middle.
Marine Labernardie has had the brakes put on. She is now down to 150,000, which is still three times what she began with today, but about 100,000 less than her high water mark.
Meanwhile Jim Collopy’s birthday gets better (unless he wanted to spend it outdoors.) He now has about 250,000, which is his high point of the tournament. — HS
7.50pm: Veldhuis comeback
After struggling to get much momentum today, Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis seems to have hit top gear just at the right time. He’s up to 270,000 now, and picked up some of that in the following hand:
David Wintersberger made it 5,600, then Malte Strothmann moved all in for 40,300. Veldhuis calmly called the all in bet, and then the man on his left thought for a while before folding. Wintersberger let his hand go as well. On their backs:
Veldhuis: 10♠10♥
Strothmann: A♥ Q♦
The board ran an uneventful 7♣ 5♥ 4♣ 7♦ 4♥ and Strothman was gone. After the hand Wintersberger revealed he also had A-Q – as did the player to Veldhuis’ left! — SY
7.45pm: Waterman rising
He had been short-stacked in the earlier period today, but now Dennis Waterman is up to 130,000. He and Koen Berendsen, who was the overnight day 1b chip leader, saw a 7♦ 3♣ Q♥ flop, and Berendsen fired out 9,200. But he had to let it go when Waterman re-popped it to 24,400. Berendsen is stuck at around 210,000. — SY
7.40pm: Lykov likely to be bluffing
Former EPT winner Max Lykov isn’t adverse to reraising light and has just proved it to the table by squeezing Luis Medina and Niccolo Caramatti. Medina had opened for 6,000 and was called by Caramatti before Lykov made it 28,800 to go. Caramatti passed then begged Lykov to show a card, which he did with a flash of the 6♣ , much to the chagrin of his opponents. — RD
7.35pm: Pushing Pagano running on empty
Luca Pagano has taken some hits and his stack is currently on around 35,000. A couple of shoves later and Pagano had picked himself back up to 50,000. We’ll see how he gets on in this level. — RD
7.25pm: Welcome back
The stomachs have been filled with food (or alcohol in some cases), and our 134 remaining players are back at the tables for the start of level 13. We had been set for another three levels, but there’s a chance tournament staff may cut that by one, or stop entirely if the bubble bursts first. Seeing as 80 will get paid, that is highly likely – and we can all head off for a drink, which will be welcome after two 3am finishes!
While you wait for the first field reports of the level, here’s a picture of Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern…
PokerStars Blog reporting team reliving The Sound of Music in the Alps: Rick “Maria von Trapp” Dacey, Howard “The Nun” Swains, and Simon “a goat in scene 4” Young
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