March 2006 Archives

It's shaping up to be a big weekend at PokerStars. From the World Cup of Poker to the final WPT Foxwoods satellites, there's something for every bankroll and dream. Here's a list of events to watch out for this weekend.

PokerStars VIP Club freerolls--All the PokerStars Vip Club freerolls will be running on Saturday, including the first of the Supernova freerolls. Don't miss out on these. It's free money, folks.

One-table tournaments with Tom McEvoy--These events are sold out for the weekend, but there's no reason you can't come watch. What's more, there are tons of opportunities to play single-table events with world champions. Keep an eye under the VIP tab in the PokerStars lobby to use your VIP Player Points to play with the champs for real cash.

2006 World Cup of Poker Team USA and Team Canada FPP qualifiers--This weekend kicks off the 2006 World Cup of Poker. Players in the United States and Canada will have their chance to win their way onto their state and province teams.

Sunday $1 million guaranteed event--The Sunday event just keeps getting bigger and better. This week, the buy-in is $215, which, if you figure a possible triple-digit payday, is not a bad little investment.

Final WPT Foxwoods Satellites--PokerStars has a lot people going to play at Foxwoods. This weekend is your last chance to win a cheap satellite to the big event.

Have a fun weekend, folks!

The PokerStars World Cup of Poker is a worldwide competition between national teams of poker players that pits team versus team and country versus country. You can be among players from all around the world who compete for national pride, bragging rights, and $200,000. Visit the 2006 World Cup of Poker page for more information.

State and province World Cup of Poker qualifiers for the Team USA and Team Canada begin this weekend.

Last year (and, yeah, the year before that), Team Costa Rica won the World Cup of Poker title in startling back-to-back fashion. To read more about Team Costa Rica's World Cup of Poker victory, check out the report from last year's event.

Oh, and in case you didn't hear, it looks like this year's live finals are going to be a summer event in Barcelona, Spain. That wouldn't be a bad vacation, now would it?

This Sunday, the big tournament buy-in was bigger on PokerStars and so was the action. What's more, there was a very familiar name in the final table crowd. Greg "FossilMan" Raymer worked his way through the field to final table the $1,050 No-Limit Hold'em Event, the first of the quarterly PokerStars tournaments. With a prize pool in excess of $1.5 million, you might have expected a deal at the final table, but there was none. When the event was over, the payouts were monstrous. Here are your final table results.

PokerStars $1,050 NL Hold'em Results

1. E-Daddie (Houston, TX) $295,462.00
2. FossilMan (Raleigh, NC) $182,760.00
3. bigbugs (Columbus, OH) $106,610.00
4. Hoss_TBF (Philadelphia, PA) $83,765.00
5. Indiagrace (Cheshire, United Kingdom) $70,058.00
6. Who is next (Amsterdam, Netherlands) $54,828.00
7. Fenster (Jorpeland, Norway) $41,121.00
8. rib n reef (Montreal, Canada) $31,983.00
9. IgorFederal (Campinas, Brazil) $19,494.40

It's shaping up to be a huge weekend on PokerStars. The best online poker tournament site anywhere is starting up a new quarterly event. Four times a year, players will be able to play a big-buy-in event for $1 million guaranteed.

This Sunday at 4:30pm ET, PokerStars will host a $1,050 no-limit hold'em tournament. No matter how many players show up to play, there will be at least a million bucks in the prize pool.

It's not very often you get a chance to play an event of this mangnitude online. The compeition will be good and the potential payoff will be even better.

And if you don't feel like putting up the full $1,050, PokerStars is running satellites all the time. You've got a chance to get into this big event for just a few bucks. You'll find those under Tourney/Satellite in the PokerStars game lobby.

Or, if you're ready to register, click Tourney/Special to register today. Good luck this weekend!

It's amazing how a $215 tournament can turn into a $1+ million prize pool every week. But it's happening every Sunday on PokerStars. This week, it happened again and a lot of people walked away with big money in their pockets. Here are the final table results for this week.

PokerStars $1 million Guaranteed Final Table Results
(based on five-way deal that left $13,000 for first and $7,000 for second)

1. frank-n-cyn (Columbia City, IN) $143,675
2. ab1212 (Grovetown, GA) $69,589
3. confiteor (Roma, Italy) $63,759
4. kanniot (Brecksville, OH) $58,087
5. sailor67 (Heilbronn, Germany) $54,549
6. Anna508 (Whitman, MA) $27,135.00
7. goleafsgoeh (Innisfil, ON, Canada) $21,165.30
8. bails17 (osceola, IN) $15,738.30
9. Miros (Wokingham, United Kingdom) $9,768.60

Saturday night in Florida the Aston Martin Racing team finished the 12 Hours of Sebring endurance race in second and third place after a thrilling finale in the GT1 competition.

The team's two Aston Martin DBR9s (decked out with PokerStars logos) ran faultlessly throughout the race. Between them, the classic green cars, numbered 007 and 009, completed 661 laps of the 3.7 mile Sebring international raceway, covering a total of 2,445 miles at speeds of up to 168mph. Team driver Tomas Enge set the fastest GT1 lap of the race (1min 56.573.sec) in car 007.

The driving team of Pedro Lamy, Stephane Sarrazin and Jason Bright brought Aston Martin number 009 home in second place, with a total of 337 laps, after a long battle with the class winning number four Corvette. After 12 hours of racing, the gap between the pair was 1 minunte 28 seconds. The team's sister car, number 007, driven by Tomas Enge, Darren Turner and Nicolas Kiesa, was involved in another transatlantic tussle with the second American Corvette entry that culminated in a nail biting battle to the checkered flag. Tomas Enge drove a double stint to finish the race third and keep the hard chasing Corvette behind.

The opening round of the 2006 American Le Mans Series (ALMS) started at 10:45 in the morning in dry and sunny conditions. The Aston Martin Racing cars had qualified in first and second place but the early hot and slippery conditions proved tricky for both cars. With limited experience of their new Pirelli tyres, the team had to work hard and learn fast to keep up with the competition.
Darren Turner drove the first stint in the 007 car and held the GT1 lead for the first 20 laps. "I was happy with the start, we got away well and kept a nice pace for the first ten laps but by about lap 14 we really started to suffer with the rear of the car over-steering and by lap 20 I was more concerned with keeping it on track than keeping the opposition behind me."

At the half way point, car number 009 led the team's charge. After making adjustments to the set up of their DBR9, the driving crew of Lamy, Sarrazin and Bright reported improved balance and less of the oversteer that had caused problems earlier. Having completed 165 laps of the 3.7 mile circuit, the 009 Aston Martin held third place in GT1, but slipped one lap behind the leader after being caught behind the safety car. DBR9 number 007 was fourth in GT1, but thirteen laps behind the leader after an incident on lap 121 forced a 20 minute repair stop. The car returned to the garage when the bonnet and part of the front wings, previously damaged in a spin, flew off as it negotiated a high speed section of the circuit.

Nine hours in, with 250 laps completed and headlamps blazing in the darkness, the team was second and third in GT1. A reliable and consistent performance from the number 009 DBR9, together with some mechanical problems for the Corvette ahead, helped move the red-nosed Aston Martin of Lamy, Sarrazin and Bright to second in class. After gaining a position in their own Corvette battle, the number 007 car of Enge, Turner and Kiesa was third.

In the closing stages of the race, the drivers of Aston Martin number 009 consolidated their second place, while in the 007 car Tomas Enge was locked in the battle with the number three Corvette. For the last ten laps the pair was separated by less than a second.

Nice work in Florida!

Aston Martin Racing will start Saturday's 12 Hours of Sebring race from first and second positions in the GT1 class. What's more, the cars will speeding around the track with PokerStars' logo them.

"I'm feeling quite pleased. It's my first qualifying pole in this series and it shows that all of the hard work and testing is paying off," said driver Pedro Lamy. "We've had to adapt to new tires for this race and that's meant a lot of preparation, but I think we've found a good balance with the car now and it felt good on the track. Of course it's nice to be on pole but Sebring's a 12 hour race. It's very long and anything can happen. I hope we will have such a good car in the race."

On Saturday March 18, both of the team's Aston Martin DBR9 racing cars will carry a special PokerStars.com livery when they start the 54th annual Sebring endurance race, the first competition of the 2006 American Le Mans Series. The world-renowned motor race, to be held at the Sebring International Raceway in Florida, will last an exhilarating 12 hours.

"We are delighted to be working with PokerStars.com," said James Turner, Commercial Director of Aston Martin Racing. "The Sebring race marks the start of an exciting relationship between our two organizations and one which has a great deal of potential for growth. Like Aston Martin Racing, PokerStars is a strong, innovative brand with a worldwide presence and there look to be many opportunities for us to work together in the future."

You can watch the race live on the Speed channel beginning at 10:30 AM ET, Saturday, March 18.

It wouldn't be fair to say Jeff Williams was ever a "nobody." He was a young man with friends and an active online poker hobby. You might have known him simply as "yellowsub86." Still, a week ago, Jeff Williams wasn't a "somebody" in the European Poker Tour Grand Final. He was a curly-headed guy with a startling resemblance to a latter-day Bobby Baldwin.

It's amazing how a couple of days can change everything. Even before Jeff Williams captured the EPT title, the Associated Press was calling. That drew the attention of the CNN and ABC networks. By the time Jeff got back to Georgia, his phone was ringing off the hook with media requests. Nearly every national news network and international wire service has reported Jeff's story to the world.

And what does he have to do now? Well, Spring Break is over in a few days and he's going back to school. He tells all the big media he plans to invest a lot of his money.

One wonders how Jeff's college buddies will receive him when classes start back up next week. Even more, how many professors will be asking for poker advice?
Finally, PokerStars Card Room Manager Lee Jones got to spend some time with Jeff in the immediate aftermath of the big win. Lee was kind enough to chronicle his tale for the PokerStars Blog.

Aftermath, afterglow, after a major tournament

by Lee Jones

The immediate aftermath of a large poker tournament is a surreal thing. There's one winner, who's ecstatic (and generally hasn't quite absorbed the enormity of the whole thing yet). There are the runners-up, happy with their big score, but still wondering what would have happened had that four-outer not ended the tournament for them. There are the random players, trying desperately to get in the last sit-and-go in before the tables get shut down.

Then there's the production crew, the event staff, and all the worker bees springing into action to tear down, clean up, vacuum, fold, store, and throw away, all in preparation for the shoe salesmen or building contractors who will next meet in that ballroom.

For those of us on the PokerStars staff, it's a bit like Wile E. Coyote running off a cliff in a Road Runner cartoon. We've been going full speed ahead for a week (or more, in the case of the advance team) to make sure that every 't' is crossed, every 'i' is dotted, and that the players are all getting what they need.

Suddenly, we are done, running on air, with nothing below us.

A winner is crowned, the last lines of the blog have been published, press releases sent out. Now what?

The sane thing would be to go to bed. We've all been operating on too little sleep, too many hours on the computer, too many tapas plates, too many Diet Cokes. Surely getting horizontal in the comfortable bed would make sense.

But one can't go from full speed to full stop in zero time. Just like Wile E. Coyote, your legs are furiously spinning and yet there's nothing on which to gain traction.

That, and, well, we want to visit. These are people with whom we've worked for months (or years) and we want to catch up -- we don't see each other often enough. And we want to celebrate the completion of another extraordinary event.

Welcome to the aftermath of the 2006 EPT Championship in Monte Carlo.

10:50 PM. 19-year-old University of Georgia student Jeff Williams' ATo finishes off the UK's Arshad Hussain's A8o, and Jeff is the 2006 EPT Champion. Both players are delightful people, deserving winners, and qualified on PokerStars. Arshad is actually an FPP winner, having invested zero dollars, and turned it into about half a million dollars.

12:15 AM. The pictures are finished, the crew is tearing down the set, the dealers have changed into civilian clothes. The party is over.

12:30 AM. I sit and watch Greg Raymer play Ram Vaswani's hands in a $1000/point Chinese poker game. Greg is, at the moment, a human card rack, crushing his opponents.

12:45 AM. We head over to Jimmyz', apparently one of the chicest of nightclubs in Monte Carlo, if not the whole of Europe. The Lamborghinis and Ferraris are pulling up as we go in, and beautiful people are walking past us. It is indeed a sight to behold, beautiful young people dancing to ear-splitting music with an expensive computer-controlled lighting system illuminating the whole scene. Please note that I can say "ear-splitting" without being an old fart. I grew up on Steppenwolf and the Who. My sons accuse me of playing the stereo too loud in the car. But conversation is impossible and I can't hear Joe Hachem's wife as she tries to describe to us how she and Joe met. Four drinks costs 110 Euros. Maybe I am an old fart.

2:00 AM I head out, thinking I'll go back and see if there is an illicit poker game in the poker room -- maybe they paid a dealer 20 Euros to spread really-this-is-the-last-one sit-and-go. No such luck but I have a nice chat with John Duthie and Thomas Kremser, and we wish each other safe travels as we shake hands and depart.

2:30 AM. I'm told there's a game in a room at the Meridien Hotel with some of the crew and PokerStars staff. That's just a two-block walk from the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel where we're based and the night air feels good. I walk in the lobby and there sits the new champ, Jeff Williams, and his parents, Dave and Cindy. They are eating sandwiches, drinking champagne, and trying to fathom what has just happened. They graciously invite me to sit and visit with them, so we talk about music, school, politics, and very little poker. An occasional stranger stops by to shake Jeff's hand and congratulate him -- it's fun to watch.

3:00 AM. I have noticed music coming from the bar around the corner that doesn't sound like typical piped-in Muzak. Somebody wanders by and mentions that there's a poker game going in the bar. "What's the buy-in?" Our reporter notices Jeff sitting there. "I, um, don't think it would be very interesting to him." I turn to Jeff; his eyes are bright with anticipation. "It's action, isn't it?*" I tell Jeff I'll buy him in for 50% of his action. "40 -- I've got a track record now." "It's a deal."

(*Reportedly what Nick the Greek said, shortly before he died. He'd been asked by somebody why he was playing for very small stakes in a California card room when, decades earlier, he'd gambled bigger than just about anybody in the world.)

We walk around the corner to the bar and sure enough, there's a rocking 10 euro sit-and-go on a (conveniently enough oval-shaped) coffee table. A guy named Jimmy is playing pop song favorites on an acoustic guitar and everybody is singing along. I buy Jeff in and he's heartily welcomed by all the participants. Then Jimmy and I start trading the guitar back and forth on Beatles tunes. I do Norwegian Wood and (in honor of Jeff's PokerStars userid, "YellowSub86") Yellow Submarine. Jeff's parents can see that their son is in his element, and (gratefully, I suspect) head to bed. He is blissfully happy in the game, singing along with the tunes, playing drums with his hands, and trash talking his opponents all at the same time. In short, he looks like a 19-year-old without a care in the world, probably the eye of a hurricane when the world discovers what he's just done. He puts out an all-in raise one one-hundred unit chip at a time, counting them out carefully. "String bet! String bet!" cries PokerStars blogger team member Mad Harper. His opponent ignores her and folds. Jeff turns over AQo, two overcards to the five-card board. "Probably bluffing with the best hand" says I. A few minutes later, he makes a huge bet on the river. His opponent goes into the tank and ultimately calls. Jeff flips over his cards and, without waiting for his opponent to show, says (somewhat reminiscent of the old Chevy Chase routine) "I have two pair; you don't. Give me the pot." This causes me to laugh hard enough to completely destroy the very good rendition of the Who classic See Me Feel Me which I was doing on Jimmy's guitar.

4:30 AM. I regretfully say my good-byes to everybody in the bar. I thank Jimmy for sharing his guitar. Sharing your musical instrument with a stranger is a point of trust and respect, and I was deeply appreciative -- it had been far too long since I'd played a six-string. I walk the two blocks back to the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel and toward my room. At the elevator, I see your intrepid PokerStars blogger, Brad Willis. We'd missed him terribly at the poker game/jam at the Meridien, but were afraid to call his room because of the hour. He tells me that he'd been in the bar in the tournament area and would have loved to have been invited over. He later gives us orders to call him any time day or night for anything that involves a guitar. I send him over there, sure that there is another song or two to be pulled from Jimmy's guitar. Back at the room, my bags are already packed. I shower, put on fresh clothes, and head down to the lobby.

5:15 AM. We say good-byes to players heading out for destinations all over the western hemisphere. Kind of a strange world we live in. "See you in Las Vegas in three months" is a common salutation.

5:30 AM. Greg Raymer, Claudia from PokerStars support, her father, and I pile into a taxi for the incredibly scenic ride back over to the Nice airport. Greg is headed home to North Carolina, I'm off to California for a home visit, and Claudia and her dad are going back to Costa Rica. Modern air travel -- what a concept.

You'll note that nowhere in there did I mention sleep. The bed was, indeed, unmade when I checked out that morning. But those few hours gave me memories that will be with me for a lifetime. I wouldn't trade them for even a real eight hours of sleep.

And with that, I'll again borrow from Nick the Greek.

"I have to let you go."

Links to PokerStars Blog coverage of the 2006 European Poker Tour Grand Final in Monte Carlo:

Monte Carlo Payouts

Monte Carlo Day 1A Coverage

Monte Carlo Day 1B Coverage

Monte Carlo Day 2 Coverage
Monte Carlo Day 3 Coverage

Monte Carlo Final Table Play by Play

Final Table Report

Monte Carlo Results

EPT Photo Gallery

The river card hit. All that mattered to Jeff Williams was that the card was not an eight or a six. For a split second, it appeared the worst possible thing had happened. But, no, no. It was not an eight. It was the half-shape of an eight. It was a three. Williams, perhaps for the first time in three days, exhaled. Then he looked four rows up in the bleachers and gave his parents a look that said, undeniably, "Thank you."

To define a parent's pride, one should look no further than he gut-wrenching days spent by Dave and Cindy Williams as the European Poker Tour Grand Final wound its way through its early stages. Stuck in the middle of Georgia, they knew their 19-year-old son Jeff was half a world away. They knew he was locked in the competition of his young life. They knew huge money was on the line and yet, they were relegated to watching on the PokerStars Blog, clicking refesh every few minutes, and learning that their son's stack of chips was changing with every fevered beat of his parents' hearts.

It is a fifteen hour trip from Atlanta, Georgia, through New York City, to Nice, France, and then a wild taxi ride at 140 kph to Monte Carlo. Along that trip, Cindy Williams held a Blackberry and read the blog as she traveled. Like any poker game, there was the undeniable chance that one turn of an ugly card could render the Williams' trip useless. And yet, they traveled on, with hope and pride swelling in their hearts at every tiresome connection.

Little could they imagine what would happen in the next 24 hours.

The final table of the European Poker Tour Grand final was as diverse as the starting field. Made up of pros and internet qualifiers, it stood out both for its eclectic breed of players and the talent it took to rise to the final eight. Here's how this blog decribed the players as they sat down to fight for the big money:


Seat 1: Marc Karam (Canada) 231,900
Marc hails from Ottawa, Canada and in recent months has developed quite a reputation as a poker player there. After cashing in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, the well-dressed PokerStars qualifier quietly made his way to the final table in Monte Carlo.

Seat 2: Marcel Luske (Holland) 486,000
A player who needs no intrudction, The Flying Dutchman is famous all over the world for his stellar poker play, sharp dress, upside-down sunglasses, and table-side serenades.





Seat 3: Jeff Williams (USA) 495, 700
American University of Georgia Student Jeff Williams (known online as "yellowsub86") traveled from the music capital of the Southeast, Athens, GA, to play in his first major live event. At just 19, he stands to make more money than he's ever seen. As a surprise, the Bobby Baldwin look-alike's parents just dropped in before the final table to root him on. Williams qualified on PokerStars.com.

Seat 4: Ross Boatman (UK) 119,700
Another player in need of no introduction, Ross Boatman is a member of the famous (perhaps, infamous) Hendon Mob. Boatman has been a force at the tables for years and it comes as no surprise to anyone that Boatman is here.



Seat 5: Thierry Cazals (France) 766,650
French management consultant Thierry Cazals makes a profession of turning businesses from failing to success. Now, he has turned several near-death poker experiences into the chip lead at the final table.




Seat 6: Arshad Hussain (UK) 131,600
A well-known UK player with a taste for flashy cars, Arshad Hussain is an FPP qualifier on PokerStars.com. When heads up in his PokerStars qualifier, Arshad's opponent offered him a deal, which he refused, preferring to play in this event than take any cash. He had only 6000 in chips after day one and was feeling horrible about his chances. But in a taxi, a cameraman told him about young Ben Grundy who last year survived on a shortstack all the way to the final table. Arshad has done the same.

Seat 7: Fraser Dunphy (UK) 125,600
Fraser Dunphy is like a lot of recent graduated university students. It's been several months since he graduated. Since then, he's not found himself in a job. Nonetheless, he's found a way to pay the bills. He's been playing poker. He says any money he makes at this final table will be far and away his biggest win. No word on whether he'll keep looking for a job after this.

Seat 8: Aleksander Strandli (Norway) 633,500

Aleksander 'Klinsmann18' Strandli's dream was to join the Norway army equivalent of the SAS. But his nickname of Smaen, which means 'the little one' in Norwegian couldn't have been more apt. Aleksander only weighs 64kg. SAS training involves running around with a 68kg backpack on. Within a few days, Aleksander had dislocated his shoulder and that was the end of that. So young Aleksander, now 21, turns his attention to poker and starts a year of intense online (PokerStars, of course) and Oslo card room performances. In February, an Norwegian online company took Aleks to the EPT Deauville tournament as a blogger. While there, he entered a $500 side event, and won it for 68,000 euros. A few weeks later, he qualifies on PokerStars.com for the EPT Grand Final. And now he's on the final table as second chip leader ...guaranteed at least 84,000 euros even if he goes out in the next five minutes!

***

Thierry Cazals lived his poker life on a knife's edge. It had been less than 24 hours since he had pushed in every one of his chips with no more than ace-high and a gutshot straight draw. The young Jeff Williams, with top pair-top kicker, called in a flash. With just one card to come, Williams was more than a 90% favorite to win the hand. French cheers of elation blasted through the tournament room when an eight fell to fill in the gutshot draw and save Cazals' tournament. Less than an hour later, Cazals would call an all-in with the five an two of spades in his hand. He had the flush, but there was no way of knowing if he was anywhere close to good. Nonetheless, his opponent was on a stone bluff and Cazals rocketed to the chip lead.

Now, he sat at the final table and had only played two hands when fate turned her back on him. Cazals raised the 10,000 big blind to 40,000. Fraser Dunphy, short-stacked, pushed all-in. Cazals quickly called the additional 83,000 with AK. Dunphy showed AJ. The board ran out quickly...an eight, a two, a three, a five...a jack. It's impossible to know whether Cazals thought about his four-outer from the night before. However, it's certain Cazals knew that he'd just been beaten by a three-outer. And it wouldn't be the last time.

However, where bad luck was concerned, it was Marcel Luske who suffered the worst. Less than 20 minutes into play, Ross Boatman got all his chips in the middle with AK versus Luske's QQ. A king on the flop and ace on the river doubled-up Boatman and left the Flying Dutchman shaking his head. Within another 45 minutes, Luske came in for a raise with AQ. This time, he called an all-in from short-stacked Arshad Hussain. This time, there was no ace, and again, Luske suffered the worst of it.

As Luske's bad luck drama played out, a battle began to brew between Jeff Williams and Fraser Dunphy. Separated by just a few odd years in age, the two youngsters took to battle. Every time Dunphy would raise, Williams would come over the top and force Dunphy to fold. It happened time and again, until finally Dunphy had enough of it--and had the hand with which to battle. He got all his money in with pocket aces versus' Williams' pocket tens. A ten fell on the flop and Dunphy disappeared as fast as his chips--only now, Dunphy was 84,000 euros richer for his eighth place finish.

It may have been the dynamic of the table or just good old fashioned testosterone. Regardless, the players found themselves picking an opponent and battling with him mercilessly. First it was Williams and Dunphy. Then, it was Husssain and Luske. Then it was Williams and Aleksander Strandli. And then came the fight between Luske and Canadian Marc Karam.

With the blinds now at 7500/15000/1500, Karam came in for a raise to 45,000. Luske called from the small blind. When the flop came out, 3-9-A, Luske moved all in for his final 76,000. And then began an odd conversation. The two men began to chat like they were having tea. In fact, Luske poured a cup of tea and stirred in some sugar while Karam pondered whether to call. Karam counted out his chips, perhaps wondering if Luske was playing the old stop-and-go on him. The question was, how strong was Karam? Apparently, not strong enough, as he soon mucked.

As Luske raked in his chips and drank his tea, the wholesale pillaging of Cazals' stack continued. Hoping to make a flush with a a small spade in his hand and three on the board, Cazals put Hussain all in. Unfortunately for the Frenchman, Hussain had flopped top two pair. Hussain's hand not only held up, it improved to a full house by the river. Again, Cazals' stack took a hit.

Moments later, after doubling up Ross Boatman with AT versus Boatman's 77, Jeff Williams took a shot against the Frenchman. Williams came in for a raise in late position and Cazals made it 190,000 to go from the blinds. Williams decided to put all his money in and Cazals called in an instant with AJ. Williams, on the verge of elimination, elatedly flipped over AQ. Williams' hand held up and Cazals, once the chip leader, fell into a dire set of circumstances.

With that battle complete, the fight between Karam and Luske continued. Perhaps not content to have Luske play back at him on the flop, Karam pushed all in from the button with J7. Luske was happy to call with pocket eights. The flop was meaingless, but the turn and river were both sevens. Luske, who had not yet finished his tea, stuck his finger in his throat and pretended to vomit on the stage. Out in seventh place, he earned 112,000 euros.

Boatman, the other big-name pro at the table, could not get his head above water the whole day. Alhtough he managed to double through twice, it was never enough to overcome his short-stacked start. Finally, after an ill-timed bluff against Jeff Williams, Boatman went for a steal with T6 of clubs. Hussain woke up with a pair of jacks and Boatman was gone in sixth place, taking 140,000 euros back to Hendon.

With three players gone, the match, like most final tables, fell into a long series of blind steals and push-fests from the short-stacks. A dinner break and many hands passed before another player would fall. Williams came in for a raise from the button with A4 of spades and Cazals pushed all-in. Williams, sitting on a huge stack, said, "Let's gamble. I call." Cazals showed AT of clubs. While more of a gamble than Williams likely hoped for, the board laid out two spades on the flop and a heart-breaking ten of spades on the river to send Cazals out in fifth place with 168,000 euros.

With Cazals gone, the four remaining players each found themselves facing nothing but PokerStars qualifiers. None of the players had spent even a fraction of what they could possibly win to enter, least of all Arshad Hussain who was in on an FPP freeroll.

Therein came the time to duel for a bit. The money jumps were suddenly quite substantial. The players began to measure their aggression. Finally, though, the blinds became such that one slip could mean disater. It finally came when Karam wrongly read Williams for a bluff and called a river bet that cost him half his stack. It forced him to move in shortly thereafter will no more than 85 offsuit. Williams woke up with a pair of nines and Karam found the rail, 195,000 euros richer.

With three players remaining, the chips counts were as follows:

Jeff Williams: 1.872 million
Arshad Hussain: 346,000
Aleksander Strandli: 772,000

After a short break, everything started moving fast. Williams doubled up Hussain in short order. And then came the hand of the tournament.

Aleksander Strandli came in for a raise and Williams moved over the top. Strandli looked stricken, looked over his shoulder at his compatriots in the bleachers, and finally called, showing K8. Remarkably, it was good for the momenet, against Williams QT. The board came out quickly, but all anyone saw was the ten on the river. Like a punch to the gut, Strandli was out in third place and earned 251,000 euros.

Those in the business of predicting things might have suggested the heads-up battle could last for a while. Those people would be very wrong.

Within just a few hands came the ultimate hand of the tournament. Hussain got all in with A8 versus Williams' AT. And so, then, we go back to the beginning of this report. As the board laid out a five, a nine, a seven, and a seven...

The river card hit. All that mattered to Jeff Williams was that the card was not an eight or a six. For a split second, it appeared the worst possible thing had happened. But, no, no. It was not an eight. It was the half-shape of an eight. It was a three. Williams, perhaps for the first time in three days, exhaled. Then he looked four rows up in the bleachers and gave his parents a look that said, undeniably, "Thank you."
In a stunning run that saw the 19-year-old American storm through a field nearly 300-strong, Jeff Williams, a freshman at the University of Georgia, won the European Poker Tour Grand Final. For his win, he takes home 900,000 euros.

Click here for a play-by-play of the final table.

Congratulations, Jeff.

EPT Grand Final Results (all prize in euros)

1. Jeff Williams (USA) 900,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
2. Arshad Hussain (UK) 492,000 PokerStars FPP Qualifer
3. Aleksander Strandli (Norway) 251,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
4. Marc Karam (Canada) 195,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
5. Tierry Cazals (France) 168,000
6. Ross Boatman (UK) 140,000
7. Marcel Luske (Holland) 112,000
8. Fraser Dunphy (UK) 84,000
9. Ben Grundy (UK) 56,000
10. Thomas Wahlroos (Finland) 33,500
11. Mark Teltscher (UK) 33,500
12. Matthew Davey (Ireland) 33,500 PokerStars FPP Qualifer
13. Arnuad Mimran (France) 28,100
14. Markus Golser (Austria) 28,100
15. Radu Butan (Canada) 28,100 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
16. Jim Kerrigan (UK) 22,400 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
17. Alain Bilodeau (Canada) 22,400 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
18. Terrence Halliday (UK) 22,400
19. Nick Gibson (UK) 16,800
20. Kim Darling Wittendorf (Denmark) 16,800 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
21. Martin Wendt (Denmark) 16,800
22. Dario Minieri (Italy) 16,800
23. John Kabbaj (UK) 16,800
24. Peter Gould (UK) 16,800
25. Dustin Dirksen (USA) 16,800 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
26. Paul Jackson (UK)16,800
27. Marc Bolliger (Switzerland) 16,800

In a stunning run that saw the 19-year-old American storm through a field nearly 300-strong, Jeff Williams, a freshman at the University of Georgia, has won the European Poker Tour Grand Final. For his win, he takes home €900,000.

Jeff's final hand was ATo versus the UK's Arshad Hussain's A8o. Williams earned his seat in the Grand Final in an online qualifer at PokerStars.com.

Click here for a play-by-play of the final table. A full final table report will be out at a later time. Until then, here is a list of everyone who cashed in the event.

Congratulations, Jeff.


EPT Grand Final Results (all prize in euros)

1. Jeff Williams (USA) 900,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
2. Arshad Hussain (UK) 492,000 PokerStars FPP Qualifer
3. Aleksander Strandli (Norway) 251,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
4. Marc Karam (Canada) 195,000 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
5. Tierry Cazals (France) 168,000
6. Ross Boatman (UK) 140,000
7. Marcel Luske (Holland) 112,000
8. Fraser Dunphy (UK) 84,000
9. Ben Grundy (UK) 56,000
10. Thomas Wahlroos (Finland) 33,500
11. Mark Teltscher (UK) 33,500
12. Matthew Davey (Ireland) 33,500 PokerStars FPP Qualifer
13. Arnuad Mimran (France) 28,100
14. Markus Golser (Austria) 28,100
15. Radu Butan (Canada) 28,100 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
16. Jim Kerrigan (UK) 22,400 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
17. Alain Bilodeau (Canada) 22,400 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
18. Terrence Halliday (UK) 22,400
19. Nick Gibson (UK) 16,800
20. Kim Darling Wittendorf (Denmark) 16,800 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
21. Martin Wendt (Denmark) 16,800
22. Dario Minieri (Italy) 16,800
23. John Kabbaj (UK) 16,800
24. Peter Gould (UK) 16,800
25. Dustin Dirksen (USA) 16,800 PokerStars Cash Qualifer
26. Paul Jackson (UK)16,800
27. Marc Bolliger (Switzerland) 16,800

The European Poker Tour Grand Final final table is set to begin at 3pm (9am ET). Click refresh and scroll to the bottom of this page to see the lastest information.

3:28pm--Blinds are 5000/10000/1000. Play is beginning.

3:32pm--On just the second hand of the tournament, Thierry Cazals (who hit a four-outer to stay alive last night) just got a taste of his own medicine. Cazals came in for a raise to 40,000. Fraser Dunphy pushed all in for 123. Cazals called. Dunphy showed AJ to Cazals' AK. The board came out 823/5/J to double Dunphy up.

3:32pm--On just the second hand of the tournament, Theirry Cazals (who hit a four-outer to stay alive last night) just got a taste of his own medicine. Cazals came in for a raise to 40,000. Fraser Dunphy pushed all in for 123. Cazals called. Dunphy showed AJ to Cazals' AK. The board came out 823/5/J to double Dunphy up.

3:35pm--Arshad isn't going to get blinded out here. He just pushed in on the fourth hand of the finl table, but got no call. On the next hand, he raised again, this time just to 30,000. Again, no call.

3:39pm--Ross Boatman just doubled up after pushing all in in early position with AK. Marcel Luske woke up in the big blind with pocket queens, but a king on the flop and ace on the river doubled Boatman's chips.

3:45pm--Fraser came in from early position, Jeff Williams made it 200,000 to go. Fraser thought fo a good while before mucking. If you failed to catch it above, Williams parents dropped out of the sky this morning after flying all night from America to see their son play.




4:00pm--Bored out there? Sorry. If someone even says raise (or anything that sounds like it), everybody folds. The action will pick up in a minute or two, I'm sure.

4:03pm--Just as sure as I type the words, Fraser Dunphy comes in for a raise, and once again, Jeff Williams decides to come over the top of him. Just like last time, Fraser laid it down. Williams has played two pots, both of them picking off Dunphy.

4:09pm A small tangle between Cazals and Hussain in an unrasied pot went no where fast as Hussain mucked his hand.

4:19pm--It's hard to put Thierry Cazals on a hand, but when he re-raises to 150,000, it's enough to scare Ross Boatman out of a hand--after a considerable amount of thought.

4:28pm--Raise fold. Raise fold. Raise. Think. Fold. Such is the first level of final table play.

4:34pm--Marcel can't catch any luck today. He calls an all-in with a big pair, and gets out-raced. This time, he comes in for a raise with AQ, calls Hussain's all-in re-raise and finds he's up against pocket queens. Marcel loses again, and Hussain doubles up.

4:38pm--Action! Unfortunate action, as it turns out for Fraser Dunphy who is eleated to have his pocket aces all-in against Jeff Williams pocket tens. The elation evaporates when a ten appears on the flop. No ace and Dunphy is out. Dunphy earns €84,000 for his eigth place finish.

4:44pm--Hey, all you guys at PokerPoker.ca, it's not much, but since I know you're watching, Marc (or, Myst if you prefer) just picked up a few chips with a strong re-raise.

4:52pm--Marc comes in for a raise to 40,000. Not sure how much it affected everyone's decision, but it looked like Ross Boatman prematurely exposed both his cards before everyone had time to act. Regardless, Marc picked up the blinds and antes.

4:54pm--Marcel comes in for a raise and Hussain pushes all in. Last time this match-up happened, Hussain held queens to Marce's AQ. This time, Marcel spends several minutes chatting with Hussain, standing up, looking out from his sunglasses, hands in and out of his pockets, tiilting his head, asking if Hussain has queens again. In short, Marcel really doesn't want to fold. But ultimately, he does. Sure enough, I think Arshad just showed...a five...to the crowd.

4:59--We're on a ten-minute break

5:09pm--Fresh chip counts:

Marc 272K
Marcel 174K
Jeff 664K
Ross 187K
Thierry 745K
Arshad 324K
Aleksander 626K

5:15pm--Players are returning to their seats. In an homage to the old "Late Night Poker" days, Thomas Kremser is calling the action while the love of his life deals.

Blinds are up to 7500/15000/1500

5:21pm--Aleks limps from small blind, Marc raises to 35K more from big blind, Aleksander lays down his hand.

5:29pm--Tough hand for Jeff Williams scores Aleksander a 200K pot. Aleksander bumped it to 50K and Williams made it 190K to go. Aleks thought for all of five seconds before announcing all in. Williamns folds pretty quickly.

5:32pm--Marc picked up another pile of blinds and antes with a standard raise.

5:38pm--Marc raises to 45K from the button, Marcel calls in the small blind. Flop is 39A. Marcel moves all in for 76K. Marc and Marcel chat like they are having tea. In fact, Marcel pours a cup of tea and stirs in some sugar while Marc ponders his move. Marc counts out his chips, perhaps wondering if Marcel is playing the old stop-and-go on him. Question is, how strong is Marc? Apparently, not strong enough. He mucks.

5:41pm--Happy birthday, Joe Hachem!



5:45pm--Poker is a funny game. Although Marc has played as tight/aggressive game as anybody here, the moment his opponents smell blood, they attack. Marc, undaunted by his laydown against Marcel, comes in for a raise in the cutoff two hands later. This time, Jeff Williams pushes all in from the small blind. Marc eventually mucks again.

5:48pm--It's not been 24 hours since Thierry made a flush with the highest card in his hand being a five and became the chip leader. He tried it again in a battle of the blinds with Arshad. This time, he still needed on spade to come, holding 3-5 with one spade. on a board of 4TJ (three spades). Arshad with JT and the fopped two pair is happy to get his chip in versus the loose Frenchman. no spade on the turn and a jack on the river gives Arshad the full house and he doubles though.

5:52pm--Welcome to Action Beach. Ross gets all his chips in with 77 versus Jeff Williams (who called the all-in) with AT. Jeff doesn't improve and the Hendon Mobster doubles through.

6:00pm--This was an interesting little hand. In a battle of the blinds between Marcel Luske and Jeff Williams, Luske limped in and Jeff checked his option. Marcel then checked blind...and so did Jeff! The flop came out 4Jx. Then the turn was a queen. Marcel bet out the size of the pot and Jeff moved all in. Marcel thought for a second before mucking. Jeff showed him a queen.

6:10pm--Well, as Mad once told me, some said it would end in tears. In this case, it didn't necessarily end, but I have to think Thierry is thinking about crying. It appared the action went: Jeff came in for the standard raise, Thierry re-raised to 190K, Jeff moved all in, and Thierry called. All in pre-flop with AJ suited versus Jeff Williams AQ suited. Thierry failed to improve. His slide from the chip lead continues. Jeff, who had taken some seriou hits is back on track.

6:15pm--Okay, took a few minutes to sort out the massive chip movement. Joe Hachem is now on the mic and calling the game. I would like to have a chip count, but play continues unabated. We'll have to wait until the next break.

6:17pm--When I do this kind of thing, I say "Woops." Marc Karam is saying something else. Marc tried to steal from the button with J7o and ran into Marcel Luske's pocket eights. The flop was worthless...then the dealer ran out...runner-runner sevens. Marcel stood, stuck his finger in his throat, and pretended to vomit on the stage. Still, even for a pro, €112,000 is nothing to puke about.

6:29pm--Ross Boatman just committed half his stack to a pot on a AJx flop. Jeff Williams check-raised him all in and Ross mucked, leaving himself barely 120K to play with.

6:35pm--Marc just picked up a small pot. As he was raking his chips, his railbrd gave him a cheer. He cocked his head, laughed, and only said, "Suited."

6:41pm--It appears Aleksander has been hit with a ten-minute penalty. Near as I can tell, Thierry moved in from the button and Aleksander (in the big blind) exposed his cards before Arshad could act in the small blind. Arahad eventually folded. Now Aleksander is watching the action from the bleachers. That's tough.

6:44pm--With Ross and Thierry shortstacked on his left, Jeff is taking full advantage of his lead, moving all-in whenever it is only he and the others left to act.

6:48pm--And that's it for Ross Boatman. All in from the button with T6 suited in clubs versus Arshad's pair of jacks, Ross fails to improve and is out in sixth place for €140,000.

6:51pm--Break time.

7:02pm--Fresh (approximate) chip counts:

Marc: 350K
Jeff: 1 Million
Thierry: 120K
Arshad: 670K
Aleksander: 750K

7:08pm--Players are returning to play 45 minutes before a dinner break.

Blinds: 10K/20K/2K

7:14pm--Greg Raymer is now calling the action. While I'm not much of a shoutout kind of guy, I'd like to thank all the PokerPoker.ca crowd for reading here. I also hear there's a ton of people back in Georgia watching Jeff's progress here. Thanks for reading.

7:17pm--Some people might start calling Jeff Williams a bully. Marc raised from the small blind and Jeff came over the top all in. Marc didn't like his hand well enough to call and laid it down.

7:23pm--While the action has slowed down a bit, I thought I might let you in on the pre-tournament betting lines from the BlueSquare folks.

Marcel Luske 11/4
Alexander Strandli 7/2
Thierry Cazals 4/1
Jeff Williams 5/1
Marc Karam 8/1
Arshad Hussain 9/1
Ross Boatman 9/1
Fraser Dunphy 12/1

7:29pm--A brief moment of excitement and Thierry moved in from the cutoff and gets a call from Aleksander in the small blind. Marc considers playing but folds. As it turns out, both Thierry and Aleksander hold AJ Thierry's is suited, but it is irrelevant, and the pot is chopped.

7:34pm--Thierry lives at Marc Karam's expense. Short-handed now, Marc likes his A8 and raises from the cutoff. Thierry pushes from the small blind. It's not too much more for Marc to call. Thierry shows AT, makes a ten on the turn and doubles through. Marc likely lost about 100K on that pot.

7:44pm--Arshad comes in for a raise to 50K and Aleksander comes over the top all-in. Arshad gets a look on his face that says, "What the hell does that bet mean?" It would be a reasonable question. It was, in fact, the definition of "overbet." Arshad must have something nice, because it pains him to fold. AK? Pocket jacks? Hard to say. Regardless, he has to feel good because Aleksander shows him pocket queens. Arshad undoubtedly made a good laydown there.

7:47pm--Jeff Williams just loves to re-raise from the big blind. Facing a button raise to 60K from Aleksander, Jeff comes over the top for more than 150K more. In the past, Jeff has folded to an all-in re-raise. Aleksander doesn't look like he can play his hand for that much. However, maybe he's just a good actor. No, in fact, he doesn't want to play.

7:50pm----Marc moves all in but gets no action (regardless of whether he wanted any). Blinds and antes will have to do.

7:54pm--So, Jeff has his eyes on Marc and UNDER THE GUN asks how many chips Marc has. It happens to be 126K straight. Jeff raises to 80K and picks up the pot.

7:55pm--Thierry moves all in for 94K. Folded around to Jeff who has to call 74K more. He says "Alright" an calls. Thierry has KQ to Jeff's QJ. They both flopped their queen. Jeff opens up an open-ender on the turn, but doesn't develop and Thierry doubles up.

7:58pm--Furiously chewing on his gum, Marc moves in from the button. He doesn't get any action, but picks up the blinds and antes. His gum chewing slows down. On the very next hand, Marc moves in again. He asks for action this time, but doesn't get it.

7:59pm--On the last hand before the dinner break, Marc moves in AGAIN. And AGAIN, everybody folds. We'll be back in one hour.

8:52pm--Fresh approximate chip counts:

Marc: 215K
Jeff: 1.38 million
Tierry: 170K
Arshad: 550K
Aleksander: 720K

9:08pm--We're back underway.

9:09pm--Not a bad start for Marc. On the first hand he gets a walk in the big blind.

9:10--Arshad raises to 50K and Marc immediately moves all in, shouting, "Let's gamble, baby." This will be the fifth consecutive hand Marc has take down, if Arshad folds. Obviously Marc coulbe be moving with ATC here. Who know. As Arshad considers, Marc says, "It's not a big hand." Thing is, Marc's stack represents about half of Arshad's. TO gamble here could put Arshad on the shortstack if he loses. Marc is now talking up a storm, revealing real or fake details about his hand. Two minutes pass and Arshad seems stricken with pain. Finally, he folds.

9:15pm--Finally, Marc pump-fakes with his chips and folds the first hand out of the last six. That leaves Jeff to raise from the small blind, enough to put short-stacked Tierry all in. Jeff's move here has become pretty predictable. As someone said earlier, it's straight out of the Hoyt Corkins school of poker. Nonetheless, Jeff shows an ace as Thierry mucks.

9:17pm--From the button, Jeff makes it 60K to go. Tierry moves all in from the small blind. Arshad folds. Jeff would have to call 79K more. If he was at all big, this is pretty much an insta-call. Finally he says, "Let's gamble, I call." Jeff shows A4 of spades. Tierry shows AT in clubs. Board comes 6cjcKs/2s. Now Jeff has a spade draw. THE TEN OF SPADES FALLS ON THE RIVER and Tierry Cazals exits in fifth place. He earns €168,000.

9:20pm--Quick note: Every one of the four remaining players qualified for their seats in PokerStars.com satellites. Not to mention, Arshad Hussain is here on a complete freeroll, having won his seat in a Frequent Player Point freeroll.

9:27pm--A bit of a delay here. I can't confirm what's happening, but with four players remaining, I think everyone can guess.

9:37pm--Okay, despite rampant specualtion, it appears we're going to play on as normal.

9:41pm--Since that little interlude, the action has dried up just a tad. Marc lost a few chips (okay, around 45K) in a battle of the blinds that didn't go to showdown, but other than that...WAIT...

Aleksander comes in for a raise to 45K and Marc comes over the top for more than 230K. That, friends, is quite a raise. That wins him a pot.

9:47pm--Mark raises to 60K, looks at the table and says, "Re-raise me." Jeff obliges and re-raises to 250K. Uh-oh. Looks like Aleksander is counting his chips. This could be a dangerous spot for Jeff. Nevermind, we're back to Marc, who looks plainly at Jeff and says, "I think you're full of it." Still, Marc could be full of it as well. The amount of time that has eleapsed since the action came back to him likely tells the story. Marc isn't calling. He turns over AT offsuit and mucks.

9:58--Jeff comes in for a raise to 65k and Aleks calls from the big blind. The flop comes down 6s9s5h. Both players check. The turn is the 8h. Again, the players check. The river comes as the jack of hearts. Alekander bets 50K, Jeff raises to 130K. Aleks calls. Both players show a seven for the straight. Aleks had an ace, Jeff had a three. Split pot.

10:02pm--Bad time to read Jeff for a bluff. Marc and Jeff check down the board until the river, where Jeff bets 60K. Marc calls and then mucks when he sees Jeff's jack-high flush.

On the very next hand, Marc (down to 120K or so in chips) moves all in and Jeff instantly calls. Marc shows 85o. Jeff shows a pair of nines. The flop came down 574, giving Marc a pair and a gutshot draw. The turn was a deuce, giving Marc four more outs(Misread that one). But the river was another four and Marc has been eliminated in fouth place, earning, €195,000.

10:11pm--Fresh chip count:

Jeff 1.872 million
Arshad 346K
Aleksander 772K

10:23pm--We're on a bit of a break here. Play will resume shortly.

10:28pm--We're back underway.

10:31pm--Wish I had the hand history on this one. All I know is that Jeff pushed on the river, Arshad called, and had the winner. Arshad just doubled up.

10:41pm--With the shortstacks gone and Arshad having doubled up, we're back to playing poker again. The push-fest is over and players are dueling a little bit. What first looked like an early night may not be now.

10:49pm--And as sure as I predict dueling poker being played, the two biggest stacks decided to hit each other with frozen ropes. Aleksander came in for a raise, Jeff came over the top, Aleksander thought for a moment and then called with K8. Jeff looked disgusted and flipped over QT. The board ran out...and spiked a ten on the river. Aleksander was eliminated in third place and earns €251,000.

10:51--In the process of running that last hand down, another hand developed. Missed most of, but I know there was an ace and jack on board. With more than 250K in the pot, Jeff bet 250 on the river and Arshad folded. Lee Nelson, by the way, agrees with Lee Jones, that Jeff Williams looks a lot like a latter day Bobby Badlwin.

JEFF WILLIAMS WINS, AT vs A8 all in pre-flop. details to come.

Jeff called Arshad's all in. Arshad flipped A8o. Jeff celebrated and turned over ATo. The board came out 597/7/3. Jeff wins it.

After a long hard day of poker, eight players remain and will hit the TV table tomorrow. Here are your final table players, their nationalities, and chip counts. Play resumes at 3pm Saturday. We'll be here with full coverage starting then.

EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final

Seat 1: Marc Karam (Canada) 231,900
Seat 2: Marcel Luske (Holland) 486,000
Seat 3: Jeff Williams (USA) 495, 700
Seat 4: Ross Boatman (UK) 119,700
Seat 5: Thierry Cazals (France) 766,650
Seat 6: Arshad Hussain (UK) 131,600
Seat 7: Fraser Dunphy (UK) 125,600
Seat 8: Aleksander Strandli (Norway) 633,500


Day 3 Afternoon Coverage
Day 3 Evening Coverage

Day 3 Coverage of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo will be featured here. Click refresh and scroll to the bottom of this post to see the lastest coverage. Again, many thanks to the newly formed Team Blog: Nigel, Russell, and Mad. Without them, this job doesn't get done.

Click here for Day 3 Afternoon Coverage and results

8:48pm--The players who actually ate dinner are letting their food settle, while the others who were too nervous to eat are letting their stomachs gnaw on themselves. Thirteen players remain. Blinds will be moving up to 4000/8000/800 when we come back. We'll make an effort to get a good chip count when the players get back to their seats.

In the meantime, here are some results from the semi-finals of the EPT Battleship Event, courtesy of Mad Harper.

Noah "Exclusive" Boeken has won his sem-final match in the EPT Battleship against Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier. With a Jack high rainbow flop, Noah went all in with AJ. ElkY thought for a bit, then called with J 10. Elkyu was short stacked with around 600. The turn was a Queen, the river helped no one and Noah went into the final with Jacks and the Ace kicker. ElkY went back to bed $2,400 richer.

Aviation is pilot Bernd "copi" Stadlbauer's expertise but out at sea - in the EPT Battleship semi-final - it was Thomas "Fougan" Fougeron who showed his nautical skills. The short-stacked Austrian Boeing 767 pilot flies home tomorrow - with someone else at the helm -$2,400 richer and Thomas went through to the final against Noah Boeken, who had defeated ElkY in the other semi-final match.

Bernd, 30, who qualified for the 2005 WSOP on PokerStars, started with the hand with QJ. Thomas had A4 of hearts, so both paired up with the AQ7 flop. But nothing arrived on the turn or river to help out the delightful Bernd.

Final results coming in just a moment.

9:08pm--(More Mad Harper greatness) The final of the EPT Battleship Poker Tournament was both short and sweet. Both Noah and Thomas were keen to resume their seats in a $1,000 EPT Grand Final side event so neither was in a lingering mood. Fast and furious action ensued, culminating in a slightly odd final hand. Noah, sitting on around double Thomas's chips, raised pre-flop with K, 10. Thomas called.

The KQ7 flop gave Noah top pair and he moved all in. Thomas muttered something in French which neither semi-fluent tournament director Lee Jones, nor quarter-fluent bloggeress Mad Harper could interpret. Whatever it was, Thomas decided to call with his pocket 8s. Hmmmmmmmm.

The turn brings an Ace, and the river a Jack - giving Noah a straight he didn't really need to bank a $7,200 top prize in his PokerStars account. Thomas won $4,000 for second place.

9:35pm--Fresh chip count:

4000/8000/800

BOATMAN,ROSS 456K
GRUNDY, BEN 350K
WILLIAMS, JEFF 349K
CAZALS, THIERRY 320K
LUSKE, MARCEL 230K?
TELTSCHER,MARK 200K
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 166K?
MIMRAN, ARNAUD 160K
KARAM, MARC 150K
DAVEY, MATTHEW 135K
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 130K
DUNPHY,FRASER 100K
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 95K

9:46pm--And suddenly it sounded like the elephant River Dance on the top of the poker room. Large explosions rocked the building, enough to make even a calm reporter's insides feel like they were underneath a jack hammer. In the middle of it, Arnaud Mimran put every one of his chips in the middle, nearly 160K. The flop was T34 and Jeff Williams was agonized. The explosions drew the attention of the crowd which ran em asse to the windows to see an apparent fireworks show going on within mere feet of the building. And yet, Williams had to make a decision. "I hat to put them on the line like this," he said, looking at his chips. "But I'm going to. Don't show me two jacks please." Arnaud obliged...and turned over two queens. With a look of pain, Williams flipped AT. He didn't improve and lost a nice chunk of his stack.

9:58pm--GULP.

I can't believe I just saw THAT.

Arnaud Mimran, fresh off of pushing his stack above 300K pushed in HIS ENTIRE stack with AcQx on a three-club board. No pair. Nothing but ace-high on the river. It appears he hoped Theirry Cazals couldn't call for that much with the ace of clubs unaccounted for. In fact, Cazals could call...with the 5 and 2 of clubs. Cazals now has a monster stack...uncounted as of it, but safe to say, Cazals is the chip leader. Just now, Mimran found the door, placing 13th and cashing for €28,100.




10:09pm--After coming into today second to last in chips, Matthew Davey, Frequent Player Point qualifier, has finally bid the Grand Final goodbye. All-in preflop with AJ, he gets a grudging call from Jeff Williams, who shows AQ. A queen on the flop and a blank on the turn seals the deal. Davey places 12th and cashes for €33,500. Nice work, sir.



10:30pm--Huge hand for Jeff Williams. With play folded around to Ross Boatman on the button, Boatman made it 24,000 to go. Williams peered down at pocket queens and made it 90K to go. Boatman thought for a moment and then pushed all in. Williams exploded with frustration, fearing he would call and see kings or aces. Finally, he realized he had no choice, made the call, and Boatman showed him pocket tens. By the turn, Boatman had a gutshot draw to give him six total outs. None of them materialized and Williams has moved to likely second in chips.

10:36pm--By the time I made it back to Jeff's table, he had picked up pocket queens again. This time, he was up against Thierry Cazals. The flop came ace-high and Thierry moved all in. Half the room heard Jeff say, "fold," but Theirry was sure he heard "Call." He was already celebrating when he learned he was not going to pick up another 400,000 chips.

The table said, "He said fold."

The rail said, "He said fold."

The dealer said, "He said fold."

"God, I fold," Jeff muttered.

The pot cost Jeff some chips, but he is still in good shape.

11:06pm--Players are on a 15 minute break with 11 competitors remaining. Things will get interesting here, with blind going up to 5000/10000/1000

11:25pm--Fresh Chip Count

BOATMAN,ROSS 140K
GRUNDY, BEN 268K
WILLIAMS, JEFF 464K
CAZALS, THIERRY 850K
LUSKE, MARCEL 379K
TELTSCHER,MARK 156K
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 58K
KARAM, MARC 156K
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 180K
DUNPHY,FRASER 184K
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 160K

11:48am--Mark Teltscher is a tremendous player, no doubt. I like his game and his reads. This time though, he couldn't talk himself out of calling an all-in with top pair-six kicker on a board that had three spades on it. I suspect he read Aleksander Strandli for a bluff. Regardless, Strandli held the stone cold nuts. Teltscher has been crippled and Strandli doubled through.

11:59pm----Mark Teltscher has busted. Working on getting the details of that one. Update from Mad: Mark Teltscher had already raised all-in pre-flop four times in a row and survived. He couldn't resist a fifth attempt with 78 suited in hearts. PokerStars qualifier Alexsander Strandli calls it with pocket Queens. The flop A, 10, 7 doesn't help either but the two Aces that follow give young Alex an unbeatable full house... and send Teltscher home in 11th place with €33,500.

12:09am--Aleksander Strandli went from short-stacked to having big chips in just thirty minutes. His gain came at the expense of poor Thomas Wahlroos who called Strandli's all-in with his pair of jacks. Strandli held AQs. The flop was benign but the turn and river were both aces. Wahlroose finishes in tenth place and cashes for &euro&33,500.

12:15am--And just as quickly as I can type, we are down to the TV table. Ben Grundy reportedly lost a sizable pot against Mercel Luske, then got AJ in versus pocket nines and lost. He finishes in ninth place for €56,000.

12:20am--So, we're working on getting a final chip count, but here are your final table players:

BOATMAN,ROSS
WILLIAMS, JEFF
CAZALS, THIERRY
LUSKE, MARCEL
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD
KARAM, MARC
DUNPHY,FRASER
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER

12:29am--Hereya go:

EPT Monte Carlo Final Table

Seat 1: Marc Karam (Canada) 231,900
Seat 2: Marcel Luske (Holland) 486,000
Seat 3: Jeff Williams (USA) 495, 700
Seat 4: Ross Boatman (UK) 119,700
Seat 5: Tierry Cazals (France) 766,650
Seat 6: Arshad Hussain (UK) 131,600
Seat 7: Fraser Dunphy (UK) 125,600
Seat 8: Aleksander Strandli (Norway) 633,500

Day 3 Coverage of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo will be featured here. Click refresh and scroll to the bottom of this post to see the lastest coverage. Again, many thanks to the newly formed Team Blog: Nigel, Russell, and Mad. Without them, this job doesn't get done.

1:59pm--The 31 remaining players are taking their seats. For a look at how they made it this far, see the Monte Carlo Day 2 Coverage links. Four players who are sitting right now will walk away with nothing. Right now, with blinds going up to 1500/3000/300, Jan Boubli (EPT Barcelona winner) is in the moost danger with his meager 6500 in chips.

2:05pm--I've just been told that this tournament has recently been confirmed as having the biggest prize pool ever outside of the United States (created completely buy player buy-ins). These PokerStars qualifiers have to be happy about that.

Jeff Williams (Cash Qualifier)
Dustin Dirksen (Cash Qualifier)
Arshad Hussain (FPP Qualifier)
Radu Butan (Cash Qualifier)
Kim Darling Wittendorff (Cash Qualifier)
Alain Bilodeau (FPP Qualifier)
Matthew Davey (FPP Qualifier)
Jim Kerrigan
Marc Karam

2:14pm--In a hand that was both surprising and, well not, Jan Boubli becomes the 31st place finisher. Thomas Wahlroos came in for a large raise, Jan Boubli pushe din his remianing 6500 chips, and Arnaud Mimran announced he was all in. All of us expected to see, at the worst, AK. Wahlroos shrugged and folded. Boubli showed A4o. Mimran showed...J8 suited. He ended up making both his jack and his diamond flush.

2:26pm--Tony Chessa just had his aces cracked by jacks. Subsequently, he says he will push his stack in blind from the big blind. Everyone else folds around to him...he turns over pocket tens.

2:31pm--Tony Chessa has been eliminated in 30th place. He got his pocket fives in versus Radu Butan's nines. Butan flopped a set, Chessa made a heart draw on the turn, but Butan made a full house on the river.

2:32pm--Johnny Lodden is out in 29th place. He got his AJ in versus Jeff Williams' 56. The board came 964/4/9.

2:36pm--With 28 players remaining, we are on the bubble and dealing hand for hand. As the action slows down a bit, I have to think Matthew Davey should be feeling quite fortunate right now. He began the day with 27,300 in chips, barely enough to survive a few rounds. Now, he actually has a chance to cash.

2:41pm--I won't call it fearless, but I will call it a nice display of heart. On the bubble, Matthew Davey pushed in his remaining chips with a pair of tens. Martin Wendt called with K5 offsuit. By the river, Wendt had a gutshot draw to go with his overcard. None of the six outs materialized and Davey doubled up.

2:49pm--This, I suppose, IS fearless, but no surprise coming from Martin Wendt. He pushed with K9 suited in clubs on the bubble. Thierry Cazals called wih pocket jacks. Wendt flopped two clubs and made another club on the river to double through.

3:13pm--So, what do you do when you flop the nuts? It's always an interesting time among the synapses. So, Thomas Wahlroos holds A9 suited in diamonds, has his opponent bet into him on an ALL DIAMOND FLOP, and then jokingly says, "Well, I guess I'm all in." Thusly, he pushed in his chips and exposed his hand. One problem...his opponent hadn't acted on the raise yet. Exposing your hand before your opponent acts is a no-no. What's more, it gave Wahlroos' opponent a chance to fold a very good hand...top pair, with the king of diamonds. And to make matters worse, Wahlroos' was assessed a ten-minute penalty. So, now he has to sit out for ten minutes on the bubble. While I can think of worse times to be penalized, sitting out is never good. Oh, and I can't reprint Wahlroos' reaction. In so many words, he indicated he had just copulated with himself.

3:19pm--Russell reports Dustin Dirksen is on a slow burn, down from 148,000 in starting chips to now less than 40K.

3:27pm--The self-help book should be titled, "How to survive being all-in on the bubble" by Matthew Davey. The PokerStars FPP qualifier just survived a 77 vs. A3 all in. Davey took some sort of rune rock out of his pocket and spun in three times before making his decision. Apparently, the rock said to push all-in. Smart rock. Davey just doubled up.

3:41pm--Thoms Kremser, the tournament director, has canceled the break at the ened of the level, vowing to push through until the bubble bursts. We're now at 2000/4000/400.

3:45pm--Paul Jackson just doubled through Ross Boatman, AJ vs QJ.

3:55pm--"He's done it again, hasn't he?" That was the question from across the room as I ran back to the computer. Indeed, Matthew Davey just picked up pocket queens vs. Jeff Williams pocket eights. Davey=still alive.

4:08pm--Frode Fagerli just busted on the bubble after Alan Bilodeau limped from the small blind with tens. Fagerli thought to pick up the blinds and antes and went for a steal from the big blind with J7 suited. He flopped a seven, but didn't improve further. We're on a 25 minute break.

4:17pm--Matthew Davey now has his wife and beautiful baby daughter on the rail. An emotional Davey sends a message to geflepoker.se. "I hope to do you proud guys"

4:21pm--Just announced: Frode Fagerli will not walk away empty-handed for his bubble finish. PokerStars will give him a free entry and hotel room next year at the EPT Grand Final here in Monte Carlo.

4:29pm--Players are getting ready to resume, in the money.

4:49pm--Updated chip counts

MIMRAN, ARNAUD 300K
WILLIAMS, JEFF 278K
GOLSER, MARKUS 180K
CAZALS, THIERRY 50K
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER (Unknown--at feature table)
DUNPHY,FRASER (Unknown--Feature table)
GRUNDY, BEN 200K
DIRKSEN, DUSTIN 35K
TELTSCHER,MARK 140K
KARAM, MARC 120K
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 110K
HALLIDAY,TERENCE 90K
KABBAJ,JOHN 50K
KERRIGAN, JIM 53K
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 80K
GIBSON,NICK 75K
BUTAN, RADU 120K
BOATMAN,ROSS 165K
WITTENDORFF, KIM DARLING 72K
BILODEAU, ALAIN 80K
WENDT,MARTIN 45K
MINERI, DARIO 40K
LUSKE, MARCEL 120K
GOULD,PETER 55K
DAVEY, MATTHEW 60K

4:58pm--Mark Bolliger exits in 27th place. Paul Jackson out in 26th. Both earn €16,800

5:05pm--Dustin Dirksen has departed in 25th place for €16,800. With only 34,200 left in his stack, he pushed under the gun with 7T. Ross Boatman called with 99 and his hand held up.

5:19pm--Peter Gould and Mark Teltscher went to the races for all of Gould's chips. Gould held TT to Mark's JA. The door card was an ace and Gould departed in 24th place for €16,800.

5:21pm--Seconds later, John Kabbaj tried his hand with pocket tens as well. Chip-herder Arnaud Mimran went with his KJ and made two pair. Kabbaj finishes in 23rd for €16,800.

5:24pm--Faster than I can type, players fall. Dario Minieri just put in his short-stack with A8o versus Marcel Luske's pocket kings. No ace or draw appeared and Dario left in 22nd place earning €16,800.

5:41pm--The biggest pot of the tournament...was sort of anticlimatic. Facing an early position raise from 3000 t 12,000, Marcel Luske made it 52K to go. After several minutes of consideration Kim Darling Wittendorff pushed all in for more than 50K more. Marcel called. Both players held AK.

5:44pm--Martin Wendt falls to Jeff Williams. Wendt gets in QJo versus Williams' pair of jacks. The pot was worth about 90K. Williams is on a major rush and may have the chip lead. Wendt will be rushing for the bar...or the bank with €16,800 for his 21st place finish.

Seconds later, Kim Darling Wittendorf decided to play his whole stack with AK suited. Ran into Ross Boatman's pair of ace. Wittendorf takes 20th place and earns €16,800.

5:59pm----Fresh chip count

MIMRAN, ARNAUD 330K
WILLIAMS, JEFF 419K
GOLSER, MARKUS 175K
CAZALS, THIERRY 60K
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 65K
DUNPHY,FRASER 180K
GRUNDY, BEN 200K
TELTSCHER,MARK 160K
KARAM, MARC 132K
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 130K
HALLIDAY,TERENCE 43K
KERRIGAN, JIM 75K
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 100K
GIBSON,NICK 80K
BUTAN, RADU 130K
BOATMAN,ROSS 335K
BILODEAU, ALAIN 110K
LUSKE, MARCEL 210K
DAVEY, MATTHEW 92K

6:08pm--Aleksander Strandli just doubled through Nick Gibson with AJo vs. Gibson's QJs.

6:10pm--Blinds are 3000/6000/600

6:13pm--Nick Gibson has been eliminated in 19th place after getting shortstacked and putting KTo in versus Marcel Luske's KQs. Gibson wins €16,800.

6:52pm--Would you believe the Southern Europe's internet connectiono just went to sleep for half an hour?

6:55pm--Quick update on what you've missed while we've been in the dark:

--Terrence Halliday went out in 18th place after his KQ failed to outdraw Thomas Wahlroos' AA. Halliday cashes for €22,400.
--Thieryy Cazals doubled through Arshad's Hussain's 44 with TT and then doubled through Jeff Williams after catching a four-outer on the river.
--Arshad 88 vs Alain Bilodeau's 44 results in Alain's 17th place departure. Bilodeau makes €22,400.
-- We re-draw for the final 16 players at two tables.

7:05pm--Fresh Chip counts:

BOATMAN,ROSS 387K
WILLIAMS, JEFF 366K
MIMRAN, ARNAUD 281K
GRUNDY, BEN 225K
TELTSCHER,MARK 220K
LUSKE, MARCEL 217K
KARAM, MARC 170K
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 166K
CAZALS, THIERRY 159K
DAVEY, MATTHEW 126K
DUNPHY,FRASER 126K
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 121K
BUTAN, RADU 118K
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 100K
GOLSER, MARKUS 65K
KERRIGAN, JIM 30K

7:20pm--Jim Kerrigan just got unlucky. His TT flopped a set, but the board ran out a straight for Fraser Dunphy's AJ. Kerrigan departs in 16th place for €22,400.

7:37pm--It was a heartbreaking defeat for Radu Butan. All-in pre-flop with pocket eights versus Ben Grundy's AK, the first four crads on the board are meaningless. The river spiked a king. Grundy had turned away and didn't even ee the river fall. "I had given up," he said. Grundy has moved within sniffing distance of the chip lead. Radu takes home €28,100.

7:41pm--Battleship news, courtesy of Mad:

It was a pretty easy start for Noah Boeken in his EPT Battleship semi-final match against Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier today because ElkY was fast asleep in his hotel room. EPT winner Ram Vaswani offered to play in ElkY's place (an offer Noah politely declined) but eventually, some 12 minutes late, ElkY rushed in saying his alarm had failed to go off.

Meanwhile, at the next door table, the Thomas Fougeron / Bernd Stadlbauer match was going pretty evenly with no massives wins or losses. Then the whole match was struck by a Monte Carlo internet meltdown and had to be paused. It's running again now.

7:44pm--On a flop of K94, Theirry Cazals bet out and Markus Golser pushed all in. Markus grimaced when Cazals called. Markus showed 95 to Theirry's KQ. THe turn and river didn't help Golser and he departed in 14th place for €28,100.

7:49pm--Players will be heading for their dinner break in just a couple of minutes.

Chip Counts Below

It's just after 3am and the poker room is awash with the news that Greg Raymer just pocketed the $160,000 first prize in the first-ever $20,000 Sit & Go here in Monte Carlo. Raymer got heads up with Perr Ummer and came from behind to pocket the monster prize.

Day 2 Afternoon Coverage
Day 2 Night Coverage

In the EPT Grand Final, 31 players remain. When we return at 2pm Friday, players will fight to make it to the top 27 and then the final eight.

Here are the chip counts for the beginning of Day 3:

MIMRAN, ARNAUD 226800
WILLIAMS, JEFF 204900
GOLSER, MARKUS 183100
CAZALS, THIERRY 166300
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER 163300
DUNPHY,FRASER 152300
GRUNDY, BEN 151000
DIRKSEN, DUSTIN 148000
TELTSCHER,MARK 132700
KARAM, MARC 119300
HUSSAIN, ARSHAD 102300
HALLIDAY,TERENCE 92700
KABBAJ,JOHN 91400
KERRIGAN, J 89200
WAHLROOS, THOMAS 89100
GIBSON,NICK 84900
BOLLIGER, MARK 79000
BUTAN, RADU 77200
BOATMAN,ROSS 74400
WITTENDORFF, KIM DARLING 72000
LODDEN,JOHNNY 68100
BILODEAU, ALAIN 62200
WENDT,MARTIN 58200
MINERI, DARIO 55100
CHESSA,TONY 55000
LUSKE, MARCEL 53900
JACKSON,PAUL 40800
GOULD,PETER 39500
FAGERLI,FRODE 30400
DAVEY, MATTHEW 27300
BOUBLI,JAN 6500

Play is about to resume for the night. We will cover the action all night long. Hit refresh to see the latest news at the bottom of this post. Many thanks to Nigel, Russell, and Mad for their help on the tables.

Click here for Day 2 Afternoon Coverage

8:49pm--Sixty-five players are finding their seats to play at 600/1200/100. Fresh chip counts have been posted at the top of this page. Continue to hit refresh tonight for the latest action. If you've missed any of today's action, you can catch up by clicking the Afternoon Coverage link above.

9:09pm--Say howdy to Nick Gibson who now has a pile of Lee Briscoe's chips in front of him. Gibson value bet 15,000 his set of threes on the river (board was king high) and seemed surprised to get a call from Briscoe and his pair of jacks. Still working to get a chip count on Gibson, but suffice to say he has...well, more.

9:12pm--Um, yeah. That pot was even bigger than I thought. Gibson is sitting on about 145K now.

9:20pm--Speaking of important pots, PokerStars qualifier Matthew Davey wasn't looking for a call when he pushed all in against Alexander Grishchuk. Davey held a pair of nines on a king-high board. Grishchuk took forever to call all in, finally showing KQ for the win. Davey is now in a bad way.

Going back to Nick Gibson's table: If you had to pick a table to avoid, it would be that one. Gibson, Ross Boatman, and Martin Wendt are all there and have chips. Ugly, I say.

9:36pm--Fifty-eight players remain. As a reminder, we'll be playing down to 27 or through two and half more levels, whichever comes first. Me? I think we won't hit the money tonight (27 pay). Still, the chips are flying here. While this is no secret to most European players, I'm learning now how good Johnny Lodden is. Frankly, the guy scares me.

10:04pm--BIG bust out as Nathan Hargis just got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He raised, got re-raised, and pushed pre-flop with his 40k. He is immediately called by the kid, Jeff Williams, who turns over AA. Nathan rather reluctantly shows his QJ. Hargis made his queen on the flop, but never gets better. Great sportsmanship ensues as Nathan wishes Williams well AND means it. Williams now has around 90K in chips.

In other news, a big hand developed between Arnaud Mimran and Nick Gibson. The board reads 10A724 and with around 60k in the pot Arnaud bets all-in for another 60k. After a long period in the tank, Paul Gibson folded. Arnaud cheers and shows QJ, a complete bluff.

10:12pm--PokerStars FPP qualifier Arshad Hussain is not messing around anymore. After a rather quiet day, he has chipped up to around 85K, putting him about 30K ahead of the current chip average.

10:19pm--It's not quite a fairy tale ending for Kelly Lange (FPP qualifier), certainly one of the bright young stars here showing true poker and sportsmanship form throughout. The man who was denied marrying his sweetheart here due to visa issues has just left us. Being fairly short-chipped at around 15k he bet all-in with AJ only to come up against JJ. The flop gave him two diamonds to math the two in his hand. Unfortunately just like the visa department, he gets no help from fourth street or the river (both spades) and he leaves a happy man as he has just had his picture taken with one of his table opponents, the inimitable Marcel Luske.

10:55pm--Blinds are up to 800/1600/100. With that, fresh chip counts are up as well.

10:57pm--As I'm getting help from Mad, Nigel, and Russell, the updates are much easier. If you aren't already familiar with Mad's distinctive style, perhaps I should point out the following item on Jen Mason is her's. Otherwise, you might think we men have started hanging out in the ladies room.

Sitting away from the action, having a quiet and slightly illegal cigarette in the ladies' toilets, I find Linda Mason, mother of one of our favourite players, BlondePoker blogger Jen Mason. I discover that poker goes back a long, long way in this particular family. Jen, now 25, was taught how to play by her mother - at the tender age of six. In turn, Linda, now 56, was taught poker by her grandparents when she was only four. And if Linda's grandparents Mr and Mrs Fox learned poker at similarly young ages, then we're talking at least a century of genetic poker expertise behind Jen's superb performance at the EPT Grand Final.

Linda said: "To be honest, poker is all Jen has ever wanted to do. She's very very bright - she studied Classics at Oxford. But she never wanted an academic career. She started off as a dealer at the Gutshot club. Then she started playing poker online a lot, then she started blogging for BlondePoker. But what she really wants to do now is turn pro." As I write this, Jen's table has just been moved to the televised table where, with 88,000 she's up against the likes of Marcel Luske, Surinder Sunar and Dustin Dirksen.

Also, if you missed it, Jen qualified for this event in a BlueSquare points competition that took much work and even more effort to win.

11:05pm--Russell reports that the Nick Gibson table is as action packed as might be expected. Martin Wendt recently picked up a pot worth more than 30K without ever showing down his hand. Ross Boatman just picked up a 42K pot when someone bet into him with pocket fours on a trash board. Boatman had queens and further increased his chip stack to more than 100K.

11:11pm--Straight off of the feature table, and not long after it's straight out of the tourney as we move to 49 players remaining. Haim Kakoun's 66 went down to Terry Hallidays' JJ. Terry now sitting comfortably on around 100k.

11:18pm--Breaking side game news...Not to be outdone by the $10,000 Sit and Go from last night, players are lining up for, indeed, a $20,000 SNG. I took a quick peek at the table. I've found Greg Raymer, Patrik Antonius, Erik Sagstrom, and a few other familiar faces. So far they have nine players. If they make ten, the winner walks with $140,000.

11:25pm--The tenacious Richard Shtrax has finally given up the ghost. He got his remaining chips in with AK against Mark Teltsher's KT. What seemed an easy win turned ugly when Teltsher flopped a gutshot draw and it got there. Shtrax walked out saying, "If I had been up against deuces, I would've felt better about it." Nice run, Richard. You were a pleasure to have around.

11:45pm--Side game news...the $20,000 SNG is now sitting 12-handed. Joe Hachem and Carlos Mortensen joined the game. Yeah, that's a $240,000 prize pool. For a freaking sit and go.

11:49pm--A reader has just pointed out that Alexander Grishchuk is not only a great poker player. He is also the 12th best chess player IN THE WORLD. Thanks for the tip!

11:47pm--Roman Yitzahki is out.

11:52pm--Radu Butan, the man that's impossible to hate, has just pulled a whole warren out of the hat. He goes all in on the flop as he finds a match for the king in his AK hand. Only to be called and for his opponent to show AA. Radu gasped as a K comes on fourth street to complete his set and horribly busts the aces to take a pot of 70k. Still, everyone seems to like the guy. Go figure.

11:54pm--Arshad Hussain has just taken a big pot. The PokerStars FPP qualifier picked up about 68k pot. Arshad raised to 5K and his opponent called to see the flop came 6s8c2c. Both players checked. The turn came an ace of spades and Arshad bet out another 5k. The opponent bet out and Arshad called. When the river came as another ace, Ashad's opponent moved all in. Arshad thought forever before calling. His opponent showed his bluff (JT). Arshad breathed a sigh of relief and turned over his AT.

12:01am--Oh, the poker world can be so lonely (unless your wife girlfriend is permanently behind the ropes and therefore 100% behind you). We all need that support, not least of all Radu, who received such love from from his lovely wife girlfriend after he folded a pot he's already fed around 50k into. Jeff Williams pushed him off the pot and then rubbed salt into the sore by showing K10 offsuit with a flop of Jc2c6s. Radu said he had two pair. Williams has chipped up to more than 140K

12:03am--As a tournament reporter, I do my best not to play favorites, but my heart was behind fellow journalist Jen Mason. My sometimes co-blogger Howard Swains just reported to me that my hopes for Jen have been dashed. While the exact details of Jen's departure escape me at the moment, I hear another of my favorites interests, Dustin Dirksen, knocked Jen off the feature table just moments ago. Very good run, Jen. You should be proud of yourself.



12:21pm--If a cat has nine lives - FPP qualifier Matthew Davey is a lion. At the moment, he is feeling quite sheepish. "I'm going to get slagged on all the poker sites," he said a second ago. "I feel bad for the guy. I play him online all the time." What happened? If I understood Matthew correctly, he called an all-in that he didn't know he was calling. Or maybe he knew.. I'm not quite sure. All I know is, he had K7 suited in spades to his short-stacked opponent's AKo. The flop gave him the spade flush draw and the turn gave him the nuts. This was all after having previously been forced by the escalating blinds to go all in with his 7k a few hands previous. It aroused the interest of Jeff Williams who called him with JJ. On this occassion Davey's very mediocre hand of A3 was supplemented by matching both cards. Davey has sprung back to life. And you folks in the poker forums keep yourr traps shut. Davey already feels bad enough.

12:30pm--Dustin Dirksen cannot be stopped. He is the clear chip leader with more than 288,000. In other news, Karin Lundberg is out. Matthew Davey has 27K. Radu Butan has 58K. Arshad Hussain has 94K. More chip counts coming after this break is over. We're heading into the final level of the night.

12:49pm--Dustin Dirksen continues his massacre, recently crippling Marcel Luske. In other news, Erik Haarken's dynamic run has come to a close. A fresh chip count will be up in the scrolling bar at the TOP of the screen in just a few minutes.

1:05am--New chip counts are up. Look for the scrolling bar at the very top of the screen. They don't include everybody still in, but we have most of the mjor stacks and notable players. One hour remains to play tonight. Forty players remain, which means 13 players will walk away without cash. Chances are we won't get anywhere close to the money tonight. That is what tomorrow is for.

1:21am--Only Beating Air - but actually also the rest of the field! Despite successive losses for massive pots (around 100k) Dustin Dirksen is hanging strong. Having lost to Tierry Cazal's QQ and then folded against Alexander Strandli with what turned out to be top two pair and declared he was 'only beating air'. Normal order was almost immediately restored as he took out an opponent with pocket K's winning one of the days biggest pots-- aound 150K.

1:25am--Jeff Williams carries on his relentless roller coaster ride taking out Paul Maxfield's big slick with a queen on the flop to supplement his QJ. Thirty-seven players remain. That means 10 until the money. By the way, about three hours ago, I said we would finish with 36 players tonight. My line may be in trouble.

1:42am--My line was worthless. I hope you took the under. We're down to 33 players, the lastest bust being the ever-emotional Kristian Ulriksen who had the misfortune of picking up pocket kings when Mark Teltscher picked up pocket aces.

2:02am--31 players remain. Rob Hollink was just eliminated when his AQ ran into QQ. Alex Grishchuk was just eliminated when he pushed with KQo. Jeff Williams called with 55, flopped a set, and sent the chess champ to the rail. In other news, Greg Raymer is heads up with Per Ummer in the $20,000 sit and go.

2:20am--Players are wrapping up for the night. Don't expect any more busouts before morning. We'll be collecting the official chip counts within the next hour or so. Of all the news that is fit to print, perhaps the biggest is that Ben Grundy, perpetual shortstack, now has a nice stack to play, courtesy of Dustin Dirksen. Grundy played for all his chips, not an insubstantial amount, on AQ after re-raising from the big blind with AQ. Dustin put him all in and Ben decided he'd rather play a coin flip than come back tomorrow with 45K. As it turned out, Dustin had A3. Ben now looks to have more than 150K. We'll be back with the official chip count here in a bit.

2:43amTHIS JUST IN...for the second consecutive night, a member of Team PokerStars and a World Series of Poker champion has won a HUGE sit and go here in Monte Carlo. Greg Raymer just defeated eleven other players in a $20,000 SNG to gross $160,000. Greg seems, in a word, pleased.

Play is about to begin for the day. We will cover the action all day long. Hit refresh to see the latest news at the bottom of this post. Many thanks to Nigel and Mad for their help on the tables today.

1:59pm--As players find their seats, many eyes are on Jen Mason, journalist/poker player, who earned her way here through an unusual comp, appropriately titled Unusual Suspects .

Blue Square Poker's Unusual Suspects competition was a competitive sponsorship program in which Jen took on several top UK professionals and up-and-coming players in a variety of different online and offline events. Jen outlasted nine other players including EPT regulars 'Burnley' John Falconer, Simon Nowab and 2005 European number one Mickey 'The Legend' Wernick, to win the first prize of a seat at the EPT Grand Final.

The players earned points for outlasting each other in tournaments in Brighton, Sheffield, Helsinki and the EPT French Open in Deauville, where Jen finished on the bubble. After each round of events the players with the least points were eliminated, until the ten strong field was gradually whittled down to just three. The final three (Jen, Burnley John and James Dempsey) then played-off against each other in a series of heads up tournaments to decide the winner, from which Jen emerged victorious.

2:07pm--132 players begin play with an ante of 50 and blinds at 200/400.

2:12pm--Isabelle Mercier's day begins badly. She just lost a monster pot to Ross Boatman. On a board of 6K966, Isabelle shows AA to Boatman's 99. Isabelle looks in the air and says, "Why am I not late today? I am always late!"

2:20pm--Greg Raymer is making his short-stacked intentions very clear this afternnoon. He's been all-in two out of three hands. No one took him on. Haim Kakoun thought about it and folded - showing an A. Greg said he had small pair.

2:34pm--Johan Storakers first to bust out having been on 15k overnight. His chips going to Bobby Baldwin look-alike Jeff "yellowsub86" Williams already sitting pretty with 53k. Both players sat on the same table as PokerStars FPP qualifier Matthew Davey who is still holding his own.

2:38pm--Aberc Assis and Laurent Galina have both been eliminated.

2:52pm--Jeff Williams can't be stopped. On a board of K572K Williams came out for a 12.275k and pushes FPP-qualifier Matthew Davey off a pot already worth nearly 20k.

2:56pm--Isabelle Mercier's day has gone from horribly bad to much worse. Her pocket aces have just been cracked again, this time all-in pre-flop against pocket kings. A king fell on the board and Isabelle has fallen to 2000 in chips.

2:58pm--Simon Young moved to one of the Young Gun tables where Roman Yitzhaki and the confident Dario Mineri (a very sharp dressed younger-than-young looking 21-year-old) become his adversaries.

3:08pm--Team PokerStars' day is abysmal. Greg Raymer has just left the tournament. Short-stacked, he got his pocket jacks in...against pocket kings. Moments later, Lee Nelson, in an attempt to isolate himself with another player, ran his AK into the big blind who woke up with pocket aces. Nelson is still alive but not faring nearly as well as he did to start the day.

3:28pm--Kristian Ulriksen, who spent the latter part of yesterday in an emotional state that many would call tilt, seems to have arrived today with a clear head and fearless attitude. Without showing his cards, Ulriksen just pushed in his stack on a 692 flop and forced his opponent to lay down an overpair. Ulriksen piled his chips into a giant haystack and smiled what has become a very familiar grin.

3:44pm--Dustin Dirksen just busted Anthony Lellouche. Anthony came in for a raise, Dirksen re-raised with AK, Lellouche pushed, and Dirksen called. Lellouche showed AJ. Players are on a 15 minute break. Chip counts coming at the top of your screen soon.

3:47pm--Arnaud Mimran, the overnight leader, is down from 88K slightly to 72K. Biggest mover so far today is Karin Lundgren up from 22K to 75K.

4:10pm--I wish this picture had a happy ending.



Isabelle Mercier, shortstacked after having her aces cracked twice in one level, went all-in for 3000 chips and a pair of threes. With a lot of money in the pot and hoping her opponents were on overcards, she had some hope, but still reason to pray. Ultimately, she ran into a pair of nines, supplemented by a nine on the flop...and a nine on the river.

In other news, Theo Jorgensen has busted. And Radu Butan has doubled up at Jeff Williams expense. On a flop of 1045, Radu bet 2.5K into a pot of 5K. Jeff Williams spent a few minutes of consideration before putting Radu all-in. Radu took ages to call, but finally did, saying he put Williams on a flush draw. Radu showed JT to better Jeff's A5. A jack on the river cemented the issue and Radu doubled up to nearly 40K. His wife gave him a kiss from the rail and Radu Butan is back in the game.

4:30pm--Mickey