Looking strong: ElkY

by Simon Young

Welcome back for the final day of the EPT Copenhagen, when 12 players will return to try and reach the final table, and then push on to claim the first prize of about €550,000.

The weather outside here in Denmark is again wet and bleak. No better place to be, then, than inside the Copenhagen Casino for some of the best action in town.

Chip leader Richard Toth, from Hungary, will surely have slept well after the late finish last night. He has 611,000 chips, but is not that far ahead of Sweden's Anders Wijk with 562,000.

Team PokerStars' ElkY - Bertrand Grospellier from France - starts in third place with 455,000. He had one of those incredible "up and down" days yesterday after starting with only 14,000, well below the room average.

However, he shot out of the starting blocks and started rising through the field - first up to 25,000, then 50,000 and quickly to 185,000. Some setbacks saw him yo-yo down and up again before he used his aggression to take advantage of players looking to consolidate their cash positions. That late charge saw him end the night looking strong enough to mount a serious challenge today.


Chip leader: Richard Toth

Toth, however, will be a difficult nut to crack. He has burst onto the scene in the last year, including a superb second in the World Series of Poker $1,500 No Limit event in the summer. That result got him $330,000, but he made another big cash by winning the Austrian Classics €3,000 European Masters Event in October, pocketing another €100,000.

The Hungarian crept up almost unnoticed yesterday, as did Anders Wijk. He is more inexperienced, although he finished a credible seventh at the Nordic Masters of Poker in Sweden last April for a €22,000 pay day.

We have four PokerStars qualifiers still in this hunt. While Sweden's Magnus Petersson and Erik Lindberg are more comfortable in chips, France's Alexandre Poulain, on 166,000, needs to find some action.


Having a ball: Cole Morrow

Bottom of the pile, but having the time of his life, is Canadian student Cole Morrow. He won his seat here in Denmark in a PokerStars frequent player point satellite, so is effectively here for nothing. In return he will get at least €24,000 today.

With blinds starting at 6,000-12,000 and 1,000 ante, he does not have the luxury of waiting for a good hand. Looking relaxed and sipping coffee at the bar just now, he said: "I think you will see me making a move with any picture card quite early on. I had a great day yesterday - doubling up against ElkY at one point, and then winning a three-handed all in with my K-K.

"Whatever happens, I have had a great experience here."

This blogger's tip for the title at the start of yesterday's play, Norway's Jan Sjavik, is still in, but on 128,000. It looks tough for him get back in good shape, but Sjavik has had a run great result recently, including third in the London EPT last September, and a final table at the Masters Classic in Amsterdam.


Jan Sjavik


Magnus Petersson


Samir Shakhtoor


Erik Lindberg


Alexandre Poulain


Anders Wijk


Theo Jorgensen


Thomas Holm


Mark Petersen