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Home / Uncategorized / EPT8 Prague: Day 2, level 11 & 12 updates (800-1,600, 200 ante)
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5.57pm: Break time
That’s the end of the level. Players are on a 15 minute break.

5.56pm: Wigg trapped
Anton Wigg was just trapped by Italian Marco Leonzio (fourth place finisher here last season) but you can’t help but think he could have got so much more.

Wigg opened from middle position to 3,400 and was called by Leonsio in the small blind and Marco Bognanni in the big blind. The action was checked to the A♥ Q♠ 2♣ 10♠ turn into which Wigg bet 4,700. Leonzio made a small check-raise to 9,800. Wigg called.

Leonzio led 12,200 into the 3♥ river and Wigg reluctantly called flashing the Aâ™  after Leonzio revealed a set of queens. — RD

5.55pm: A good man is hard to find
Francesco Favia is out. We know this because he stormed off in the direction of the door, knocking a chair over on the way. He also left a cigarette behind.

“Seat open,” said the dealer.

“I heard,” said the tournament director clearing up after him.

Favia had taken exception to the hand that eliminated him, certainly a cruel one but by no means unique.

Both he and Sharon Volfer had shown ace-king but Volfer were both spades. Two more spades hit the flop while a third hit the river. At least Volfer was happy.

A few tables away Gus Hansen moved up a little, although his stack is by no means a secure one.

He opened for 3,500 from early position which Benjamin Martin raised to 8,600 in middle position, with 37,000 behind (a few more than Hansen).

In response Hansen bet 38,600, leaving himself just 7,000 behind and sending Martin into a long period of reflection. He looked at Hansen, Hansen looked at Natalie Hof, Hof looked for her boyfriend Torsten Brinkmann. Finally, Martin passed.

Hansen up a little to 57,000. – SB

5.50pm: A raise here and a raise there

  • Rob Akery came back with 10,000 today and told us he’s happy enough with his current 55,000. This despite being check-raised off a 4♦ 7♦ Jâ™  flop.
  • Luke Schwartz is up to around 60,000 after shoving on a 10â™  5♥ 3♣ 3♥ Aâ™  board. Frank Stumpf tank folded and was shown J♣ 7♥ by the Brit.
  • Max Silver is down to 165,000 after three-bet folding to Martin Finger, who’s now up to 285,000.
  • Tim Finne just four-bet his way to 110,000.

    On a separate note, James Akenhead’s frustrating day has come to an end. He was seen leaving the room. So too was Chris Brammer and Fernando Britto.
    –MC

    5.38pm: Wissing on a star
    Mads Wissing is up to 490,000 and is at a table where there are no real big stacks that can do him major damage. The player on his right, Michael Borlé, just got in his final 38,000 with pocket tens against Andre Kovacs A♠ K♠ and promptly flopped quads. The Canadian doubled to a near average stack.

    At the next table along Liv Boeree is holding steady with 270,000. Other big stacks include Garri Tevosov who sits on 385,000 and Martin Finger with 285,000. — RD

    5.25pm: Some other big names to fall in this level
    Fatima Moreira de Melo and Michael Tureniec. — MC

    5.20pm: Long way home
    It’s the end of the tournament for Mario Puccini. With a board reading K♥ 9â™  10â™  10♣ 8♣ Puccini checked to Nicolas Chouity who lumped in a bet of 100,000 with about 70,000 in the middle. Puccini called.

    Chouity tried to be gentle, but there was nothing pleasant about the situation. “Straight,” he said quietly, showing J♦ Q♣ . Puccini mucked his cards, stood up and left. Chouity up to 250,000.

    It is also the end of the tournament for Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano.
    The Italian opened for 3,700 and the action folded to Rupert Elder in the small blind who raised to 7,400. Pagano confirmed how much is was and called, leaving himself 15,000 behind.

    The flop came 8♣ 2â™  7♦ . Elder bet 4,000 before Pagano moved the rest of his stack forward. Elder called as routine showing 9♣ 9♥ to Pagano’s 4♣ 7♥ .
    The turn came 10♠ , the river Q♣ .

    “Nice hand,” said Pagano, getting up to leave. He’s out. Elder up to 215,000. – SB

    5.18pm: Ainsworth back on the up, Lodden back below average
    – Jude Ainsworth is up to 265,000 after getting kings in against ace-queen.

    – Johnny Lodden drops to 90,000 after looking up a short stacked Marc Colome with K♦ 7♦ on a 2â™  4♦ 7♥ flop. Colome held a set of fours. Things could have been worse for Lodden, he’d isolation raised and forced Mauri Dorbek to fold pocket jacks. — RD

    5.15pm: Polish hero
    Artur Wasek is a well known poker personality in Poland according to a Polish blogger colleague of ours, but he’s not known as the most talented player. He is second on their all-time money list though.

    He just took a shot at knocking out Lex Velduis and it paid off for him. The Team PokerStars Pro opened to 3,500 from the cut-off before a player in the small blind three-bet to 8,300. Wasek snap called the raise before Velduis moved all-in for 62,300. The small blind folded but Wasek made a very loose call.

    Veldhuis: A♣ Q♥
    Wasek: Q♦ J♦

    The board ran 6â™  5♥ 3â™  Q♣ J♥ to make the large Pole two-pair on the river. He jumped out of his chair and celebrated in joyous fashion. Veldhuis wasn’t too disappointed and could actually see the funny side of the situation. — MC

    5.06pm: MacPhee on the warpath
    Kevin MacPhee is up to 120,000 having knocked out Johnny Sonelin with pocket eights holding against pocket sixes all-in pre-flop. MacPhee started the day on 44,000. — RD

    5.03pm: Much ado about nothing: Adeniya and Bjerkmann clash again
    Marcel Bjerkmann and Martins Adeniya have been at each other’s throats all day with Adeniya holding position on the Norwegian. So another open (4,000) and another three-bet (10,600) didn’t necessarily mean much but then Bjerkmann came back over the top for 27,800. Adeniya asked Bjerkmann to open up his chips, the ensuing count showed he had around 115,000 behind. Adeniya had him well covered with a total stack of some 240,000.

    All-in. Quick call.

    Adeniya: A♠ K♦
    Bjerkmann: A♣ K♣

    “Freeroll,” said Bjerkmann gesturing towards his suited cards.

    The flop gave an instant K♥ 5♥ 7♦ chop and Bjerkman, the player at risk, looked quite relieved. More aggression between these two to come. — RD

    5.02pm: What Lodden thinks
    Johnny Lodden can speak as well as think. Here he talks to the video blog team.

    5pm: Way down in the hole
    Luca Pagano’s options have been limited today, reduced to doubling up and then waiting for the next opportunity to do the same. He did it earlier and he just did it again, shoving for a meagre looking 12,000 from the cut off behind a raise from Calvin Anderson. Jean Michel Kleeman was willing to call, doing so with K♦ Q♥ to Pagano’s A♣ 10♦ .

    The board ran 4♦ 2♠ 7♦ 3♠ 10♠ to keep Pagano alive. Just.

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    Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano

    Elsewhere it was Gani Weiss doubling up, moving in for 35,700 with Aâ™  10â™  on the flop of 10♣ 3♦ 7â™  . Radoslaw Jedynak announced “call” and turned over A♣ Jâ™  . “The worst option,” he said.

    The turn came 4♣ , the river 3♥ leaving Jedynak with just 22,000. That went in on the next hand although there were no takers. He’s alive. Just.

    4.57pm; Some start to the level from Tevosov
    Garri Tevosov had 308,200 at the break but he has already increased that to 430,000 in this level. A tough player to have to your left. Good luck Johnny Lodden. — MC

    4.50pm: Top ten counts
    Here are what we think are the top ten chip counts from around the room:

    Mads Wissing, 327,000
    Garri Tevosov, 308,200
    Liv Boeree, 290,000
    Petr Jaros, 280,900
    Martin Finger, 240,600
    Jesus Cortes, 227,000
    Azad Jabrayilov, 215,800
    David D’alesandro, 204,200
    Georgios Karakousis, 203,000
    Chris Moorman, 199,100
    –MC

    4.42pm: So it goes
    Lex Veldhuis took a hit before the break in a hand against 1007 who had moved all in for 21,000 with Q♦ Q♥ . Veldhuis called with A♥ A♣ but the board brought a third queen on the turn. Veldhuis down to 75,000. – SB

    4.40pm: We play on
    Play restarts in level 12 with blinds at 800-1,600 with a 200 ante.

    4.26pm: More news from the interweb birds
    Lex Veldhuis: “Bad level. Lost A2 vs JT pf allin and AA vs QQ allin pf as well. Have 74k. 800-1600 next level. Table is amazing though #eptprague.”

    Mathew Frankland: “Jammed kj into KQ bust.”

    That’s the end of the level and a 15 minute break– MC

    4.25pm: Looks like I’m up ship creek again
    Jude Ainsworth just tangled in a pre-flop raising war with Chris Moorman and came out of it the worse for wear. Ainsworth eventually shoved with A♠ 2♦ which Moorman called with A♥ K♦ .

    “Ship!” said Ainsworth, or something that sounded similar.

    The board ran out 4♣ 6â™  4♥ 7♥ J♣ to send Ainsworth back down to 124,000 while taking Moorman up to 210,000. – SB

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    Jude Ainsworth

    4.19pm: More fallers
    Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Rino Mathis join Ben Vinson and big Roger Hairabedian on the rail. No joy for any of them as the money appears on the distant horizon: 104 places pay, 240 players remain. — RD

    4.15pm: A sight for sore eyes
    Ipad update: Ville Wahlbeck is reading Malcolm Gladwell’s “What the Dog Saw”, Rino Mathis is reading the PokerStars Blog while Johnny Lodden is playing FIFA 12, as Fulham. Come on Rino Mathis! — SB

    4.10pm: Satisfied
    Dag Palovic, ditching yesterday’s dress in favour of a shirt and collar, just took on David Sonelin. Palovic, from across the border in Slovakia, opened from under the gun which Mario Puccini three bet to 6,500 in the hijack. Waiting on the button was Sonelin, looking clean and well dressed, who called, sending the action through the blinds to Palovic.

    Palovic had something of a war face on, his chips amassed in front of him, stacked in unconventional fives rather than the almost regulation twenties. He raised to 14,500 forcing out Puccini. But Sonelin was prepared to keep up and called for a flop of 4♣ A♠ 6♥ .

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    Dag Palovic

    Palovic was quick to add another 14,500 to the pot. For his part Sonelin was quick to call for a Jâ™  turn card, which both checked for a Kâ™  river. Palovic, hand over mouth, pushed forward another 14,500. Sonelin shuffled in his seat a little and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Three former winners, all at this table, watched him; Nicolas Chouity, Michael Tureniec and Kent Lundmark waiting for him to act.

    Sonelin passed. With no shortage of pride, Palovic threw down his 9♥ 9♦ . Sonelin smiled, Palovic looked like he’d just won an arm wrestle. He’s up to 150,000 while Sonelin slips down to 130,000. – SB

    4.08pm: The 300,000 club
    Garri Tevosov has chipped up to 295,000 after winning a large pot from Ty Mullins. We joined the action with Mullins putting out a 45,000 bet into the turn of a 8♥ K♠ 5♥ A♥ board. Tevosov never looked like folding and looked like he had to stop himself from simply insta-calling. A large pile of red 1,000 and blue 5,000 chips now covered a large proportion of the table with what must have been over 150,000 in the pot.

    The K♣ river paired the board and Mullins checked, which was followed by a quick check Tevosov.

    Mullins: A♣ Q♣
    Tevosov: Q♥ 2♥

    “You bet, I fold. Easy fold,” said Tevosov as he raked in the pot giving what appeared to be an unintentional rubdown. Mullins is down to 140,000, which is still some way above average. Andrey Saenko is at the same table and has dropped a chunk of his stack but is still riding high with 305,000. Liv Boeree is also on close to 300,000. — RD

    4pm: Tournament snippets

  • ElkY has busted. He was down to ten big blinds when he three-bet all-in with Aâ™  4â™  . His opponent called with king-queen and turned a queen.
  • Martins Adeniya is up to 223,000 after doubling through William Thorson. Thorson was left with less than 30,000 and busted soon after.
  • Dmitry Stelmak, Tomas Cibak, Ivo Donev, Andrew Frankenberger, Daniel Erlandsson, Atanas Gueorguiev, Mick Graydon and Pawel Chmiel have all been eliminated in this level. — MC

    3.50pm: More for Boeree
    It’s been a while since Liv Boeree built up a truly large stack at an EPT but that trend appears to have brought to a halt here in Prague. The Team PokerStars Pro is up close to 300,000 following a tense hand against Michal Maryska.

    We joined the action on the turn of a 9♣ 4♥ 8♥ Q♦ board, 14,400 in front of Maryska, playing from the button. Boeree slowly made the call having already checked from the cut-off.

    The 8♣ hit the river and Boeree slowly tapped the table letting Maryska choose his own fate: check or bet? The Czech had 44,000 left in his stack for a pot-sized bet and decided to give up on the hand showing down 3â™  3♣ . Boeree flicked over Q♥ 9♦ for top two-pair and scooped the pot. Boeree well above the 83,000 average stack. — RD

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    Liv Boeree: pushing 300,000

    3.40pm: Behbehani flushes opponent’s down the river
    Salman Behbehani is up to 160,000 chips after making a flush on the river against Petr Jelinek. The PokerStars qualifier raised to 2,900 from early position and Behbehani called from the cut-off.

    The two went heads-up to a 9♣ 5â™  4â™  flop where Jelinek continued for 3,000. Behbehani called and then raised to 15,000 on the K♣ when his opponent fired a second bullet for 7,000. Call. The river came 2â™  and Behbehani had a 26,900 bet called. He tabled Jâ™  10â™  for a river flush and took the pot. — MC

    3.35pm: Hang down your head
    Is Gus Hansen still in on Day 2? Yes he is and he just opened a pot for 2,600 from the hijack. Najib Kamand, who lap glows, presumably owing to the iPad resting on his knees, called and the action reached Eoghan O’Dea.

    The Irishman, who last month was competing in the November Nine, thought for a moment then moved all-in for his last 35,000. Hansen winced, then passed. Kamand, looking down at the glow between his legs, did the same. — SB

    3.27pm: Nitsche nicks one off Duhamel
    Dominik Nitsche is normally the type of player who will build up a big stack or bust. This tournament however, he’s dug his heels in and grinded a short stack for hour-after-hour. If you’re willing to do that then you deserve a little luck. Jonathan Duhamel disagrees with this sentiment though, I suspect.

    The Team PokerStars Pro opened from the hijack with A♦ J♦ and called when young German pushed for 13,000 from the small blind with A♣ 10♦ . The board ran Aâ™  4♥ 9â™  10â™  2♥ to make Nitsche two-pair. — MC

    3.20pm: Wheeler five-bet busts
    Jason Wheeler was in pretty bad shape when his five-bet shove of 67,000 was called by Ty Mullins with 9♥ 10♥ up against 10♣ 10♦ .

    Mullins had opened from the cut-off and Wheeler had three-bet from the small blind to 7,100. Mullins came back over the top for 13,500 and Wheeler shipped it in. Mullins didn’t snap call, he looked at the stack in the middle then at his own before calling. Wheeler nodded his head as if to say, ‘Oh well, you did have it.’ Plenty of red on the 8♥ 4♦ K♦ 9♦ 10â™  board but of the wrong suit for Wheeler. Mullins up to 210,000. — RD

    3.10pm: Play restarts
    Cards are in the air once more as we enter level 11 with blinds now 600-1,200 with a 100 ante. — SB

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    Lex Veldhuis (left) and Johnny Lodden in action

    PokerStars Blog reporting team in Prague: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey and Rick Dacey. All are available for children’s parties.

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