Ship it: ElkY

by Simon Young

Team PokerStars' ElkY is on one of those hot runs poker players dream of. Starting today on just 14,000 chips, he has now soared to more than 160,000. The Frenchman, well known for his online game, has been splashing around in a succession of pots and, like a huge container ship, looks very difficult to stop.

One early gain saw him take a huge pot off Troels Berg. on a flop of 8-4-7 and turn of J, ElkY bet 7,500 and met a call. When the river came a 3, Berg bet 25 and ElkY made a great call, showing K-J for the winner. Berg muttered something and mucked.

Soon after, ElkY won another biggie, taking on a shorter stack pushing with 8-8. ElkY had K-Q suited and the queen on the flop sealed another win. A minor setback followed when his K-J was no match for A-10. Two aces on the board was a bit of overkill.

Another big winner was England's Nick Slade, he pushed with A-A and got a call from unlucky PokerStars qualifier John Shipley, holding K-K. No help, and a mountain of chips moved Slade's way, sending him to more than 130,000. Shipley's strangled cry of anguish was the most emotion he has shown in two days of play.


Man with the bullets: Nick Slade

Meanwhile PokerStars' T J Cloutier is still on the feature TV table, making it difficult for us to count his stack. But, reckon it to be about 59,700, give or take a bit. Another PokerStars high-flyer is Peter Fischer, who cash twice in last summer's WSOP. He's on 153,000.


Big stack: Peter Fischer

Blinds are currently 1,500-3,000 with a 300 runing ante. Some 50 players remain, and with the cash positions starting in 40th, expect a slight slowdown in the carnage as the bubble approaches.