The viewers of EPT Live appear to have got used to watching table Mitchell, Koon and Bonavena and continue to elect it for live-streaming coverage in their viewers’ vote. That’s democracy.
But Table 7, which has now twice lost that crucial poll, really is a belter, so much so that we have decided to give it the “A Round With…” treatment.
Following on from our forensic examination of the pre-bubble period and then the bubble period, here’s a warts-and-all look at that table, and what went down for a full, eight-handed orbit.
This was level 17, where blinds were 2,500-5,000 (500 ante). The players were as follows, with the following approximate stacks:
Seat 1: Zimnan Ziyard – 410,000
Seat 2: Massimo Di Cicco – 58,000
Seat 3: Atanas Gueorguiev – 135,000
Seat 4: Ferit Gabriellson – 420,000
Seat 5: Pascal Lefrancois – 420,000
Seat 6: Joseph Mouawad – 175,000
Seat 7: Hugo Pingray – 290,000
Seat 8: Philippe Boucher – 280,000
There was still some animated chatter at the table following a hand in which Massimo Di Cicco got all his stack in the middle, with Aâ™ 9♦ , and was up against Hugo Pingray’s A♥ 7♥ . The board had apparently bricked, coming 4♥ 2♥ 4â™ Jâ™ Q♦ , which was enough to send Di Cicco to the rail in jubilation.
While he was away, all the other players tittered among themselves, knowing that it was actually a split pot, but even after Di Cicco had come back and sat down, he still didn’t seem to realise. The dealer had started dealing the next hand before he realised that his stack wasn’t actually twice its former size, and so it was spelled out to him in full.
Somewhat bashfully, he accepted the judgment and went on. That brings us to…
Hand 1 – Button with Ferit Gabriellson
Hugo Pingray opened from under-the-gun, making it the standard 10,000 min-raise. Zimnan Ziyard called from mid-position and then it made it round to Pascal Lefrancois in the small blind. He asked Pingray for a count, and was told it was about 280,000. Lefrancois opted to call, which persuaded Mouawad to call from the big blind too, priced in.
The flop came 9♥ 3♦ 7♥ and both Lefrancois and Mouawad checked. Pingray bet 18,500, which got Ziyard out of the way, but Lefrancois called. Mouwad folded. The 9♣ turned and Lefrancois checked again. Pingray bet 32,500. Call.
The K♦ rivered and both players checked. “I got a seven,” said Pingray, turning over A♣ 7♣ . Lefrancois tabled J♥ J♦ and took it down.
Hand 2 – Button with Pascal Lefrancois
It folded all the way round to Lefrancois on the button, who opened to 12,000 and got the blinds to fold.
Hand 3 – Button with Joseph Mouawad
Ferit Gabriellson reminds Atanas Gueorguiev to post his ante, with a gentle nudge on his arm. Gueorguiev lifts his gaze for a moment from his smartphone and obliges.
Action is folded around to Gabriellson, who opens to 10,000, and only his neighbour Lefrancois calls. There are two players to a 8♦ 10♣ K♥ flop. Gabriellson bets 12,000 and wins.
Hand 4 – Button with Hugo Pingray
Action is folded to Pingray on the button, who makes it 11,000 to play. Philippe Boucher three-bets to 28,500 from the small blind and Ziyard isn’t interested from the big blind. Pingray isn’t finished, though, and announces that he is all in. Boucher wants a count.
Pingray has some mighty tall towers–he’s one of those players who puts them in stacks of 40–but they are mostly low denomination chips. After the dealer (who bears a remarkable resemblance to Steve Coogan) counts it down, Boucher learns that it will cost him 157,000 more. Boucher only has 190,000 himself, but eventually calls.
Boucher: A♦ 10♥
Pingray: A♠6♣
The flop comes 9♥ 2♠7♣ , which means nothing, but the 6♥ is a hammer-blow for Boucher. The 3♣ on the river means a massive double up for Pingray and leaves Boucher on the ropes. He gets up, walks in a lonely circle behind his chair, then sits down again.
“I almost snapped but I had to think about it,” said Boucher, regarding his pre-flop call. Bet he wishes he hadn’t now.
Hand 5 – Button with Philippe Boucher
Atanas Gueorguiev opens to 11,000 from his short stack, under the gun, and everyone is convinced by that, folding.
Hand 6 – Button with Zimnan Ziyard
Ferit Gabriellson opens to 10,000 under the gun, early position clearly now being the new black. Massimo Di Cicco calls from the small blind, leaving himself only about 40,000 behind. It’s heads up to a flop of Kâ™ 3♥ 8♣ .
Di Cicco checks and Gabriellson tosses out an exploratory 10,000 bet. Di Cicco folds quickly.
Hand 7 – Button with Massimo Di Cicco
Again an under-the-gun raise, this time from Pascal Lefrancois. It wins uncontested.
Hand 8 – Button with Atanas Gueorguiev
It is folded to the recently short-stacked Boucher, who moves all in for about 45,000. Ziyard doesn’t wait too long to call and everyone else gets out the way. Then they chuckle as Boucher shows A♦ Q♣ and Ziyard shows A♣ Qâ™ .
“I’ve got two flush draws,” Boucher says, but then notices that Ziyard has one of his draws covered.
“I’m favourite, right?” says Ziyard. They both agree on that.
The flop comes 9♣ Q♦ K♦ and Ziyard says, “Ah, now you are.” The 5♦ elicits a, “S**t,” from Ziyard, but the 2♣ is a blank, so they chop.
That’s the end of the “round with”, but shortly afterwards Boucher built his stack up again, eliminating Atanas Gueorguiev. It’s still a thoroughly exciting table and worth watching for the remainder of the day.
*****
A chat with Zimnan Ziyard
Shortly before the bubble burst, and before the orbit described above, Sarah Grant of PokerStars.tv chatted with Zimnan Ziyard. Here’s what he had to say:
*****
Palindromic Narcissism
Here’s a post on PokerStars Blog containing a picture of Luke Reeves reading a post about Luke Reeves on PokerStars Blog.
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