September 2007 Archives

The 2007 World Championship of Online Poker main event has just kicked off as the richest tournament in online poker history. Nearly 3,000 players are now set to battle for a nearly $7.5 million prize pool.



It's impossible to say what's going to happen over the next 15 hours or so. When the final table hits, players will be looking at a first prize of nearly $1.4 million. There stands a decent chance that we could see online poker's biggest tournament cash ever. An unchopped first prize will award the winner nearly $1.4 million.



As the event gets underway, players begin with 20,000 in chips and will be playing 30 minute levels. To watch, click on "Events" and "WCOOP" in your PokerStars lobby.

Good luck to everyone in the event. We'll see you on the other side.

The Hebrew word “Tzabra” or “Sabra” is used to describe native Israelis. A tzabra is a tough desert plant that thrives under harsh conditions. Under its thorny exterior, the “Tzabra” protects a softer, less severe interior.

It's a perfect analogy for our first PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour Seoul champion, Israel’s Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars).

The soft-spoken 25-year-old showed no mercy during the final table at the Sheraton Grande Hotel. He brought the chip lead to the final table, and was rarely threatened on his way to the $139,872 first prize.

Bachar, who works in the real estate industry in his native Israel, continues great year for poker players from the Mediterranean nation of just over seven million people.

At the World Series of Poker earlier this year, high stakes poker pro Eli Elezra captured his first WSOP bracelet in winning the seven-card stud hi/lo event over poker legend Scotty Nguyen (and winning a 10-1 bet from Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein that he would win a bracelet in 2007).

Final Table Summary:

In contrast to the first APPT final table in Manila last month (which lasted well into the early hours), play lasted less than six hours and 111 hands.

Just three players returned after the dinner break – Sid Kim the chip leader on 983,000, Bachar on 740,000 and Jo Berec on 139,000. It wasn’t long until the chips were flying. On hand 97, Berec moved all-in from the big blind for 116,000, and Bachar called instantly. Berec (Ad 6h) was marginally ahead of Bachar’s Qh 10d, and the Australian made two-pair to double through and spark his comeback.

Five hands later, the heads-up line-up was decided after Bachar and Sid Kim watched a flop of Jc 6c 2s. Both players checked and the turn came 3d. Kim bet 50,000, Bachar raised to 100,000, Kim pushed all-in and Bachar couldn’t get the rest of his chips in fast enough.



The Israeli showed 6h 3c for two pair, while Kim’s Qc 4c gave him a flush draw. However, the 2d on the river missed the American, and he was out in third place.

Unlike the 60-plus hand heads-up battle at the APPT Manila event, the duel between Bachar and Berec lasted just nine hands.

With a chip lead almost 10:1 over Berec, Bachar picked his mark and made the call when Berec pushed all-in with Kd 9c.



Bachar had his nose in front with Kc 10c, but the drama wasn’t over. The flop came Qh Qc 6d, meaning Bachar’s 10 was still in play, but a Ks on the turn threw Berec some more lifelines.

But a meaningless 2d on the river gave Bachar kings and queens with a 10 kicker to win the tournament.

“It was a relief to get over Jozef so quickly,” Bachar said as the enormity of his victory started to sink in. “He’d been so aggressive and unpredictable, but I thought I was in with a good shot even though K 10 isn’t a great hand.”



It’s back to work in Tel Aviv for the modest APPT Seoul champion, but we’re hoping to see Ziv Bachar in Sydney for the APPT Grand Final in December. And that’s probably when you’ll next hear from me – on behalf of the APPT Seoul team, it’s “anyonghi gaseyo” or goodbye, from the Walker-hill Casino in Seoul, South Korea.

By Sean Callander

Just three players are still in the running to claim the first APPT Seoul title. Sid Kim is the new chip leader on 983,000, followed by 25-year-old Israeli Ziv Bachar on 740,000 with Australian Jo Berec the short stack on 139,000.
In the latest action, captured in magnificent images on http://www.flickr.com/photos/9871433@N08/sets/72157602206287029/, we went from four to three when Michel St Pierre was first wounded, then finished off by Sid Kim. On hand 84, the Canadian moved all-in for 260,00 from the small blind. Ziv Bachar, who’s stack was down to 193,000 called for his tournament life. St Pierre showed As Kd, and Bachar Qc Qd. Neither player’s hand improved on a board of 8s 6d 3d 7d 10c, as Bachar doubled through.

On the next hand, the charge of the PokerStars online qualifier came to an end after Kim raised to 60,000, and St Pierre threw in his remaining 66,000.

The Canadian was marginally ahead, holding K h 10d against Kim’s Qc Jc, and he looked set to double-up on a board of 7h 4h 2d 8h. But Kim hit a four-outer (the Jd) to eliminate St Pierre in fourth spot (worth $34,968 in prize money, not bad for an investment of $109).

Bachar’s momentum continued in the torrid half-hour before the dinner break, but Berec went from hero to (almost) zero.
On hand 88, the Israeli and the Australian popped it up to 40,000 apiece pre-flop, before the flop came Ah As 9s. Bachar bet 25,000, but Berec came over the top for his entire stack of 495,000. Bachar called the extra 395,000 in his stack.

Battling for the biggest pot of the APPT Seoul main event, Bachar showed Ac Ks for top pair and Berec had a flush draw (8s 6s). But the turn (Jc) and river (4c) missed Berec, putting a major dent in his stack.



When the trio headed for dinner and their final feed of the tournament (a shame, the buffet rocked), there was clearly a spring in the step of Bachar and Kim but Berec seemed to be looking for an answer to his woes somewhere among the tasty morsels on offer. Wisdom in the watermelon; salvation amid the smoked salmon? We’ll find out in the next few hours.

Limit poker is a dysfunctional marriage of a game theorist and a math wonk. They live in a house that looks like any other house in the poker neighborhood and, on the outside, they seem like a happy couple. Inside, though, the debates rage harder than any daytime soap opera. The math half of the marriage insists there is a correct decision for every card on every street. The game theorist insists there are nuances that can override the math. It is an in-house debate that rages through every game of limit hold'em. In this marriage, there are progeny and it's those people who are limit hold'em winners.

Event #22 of the World Championship of Online Poker drew more than 600 players at $1,050 apiece, all of whom hope to be the perfect child in the imperfect marriage. Nine of those players got closer than the rest.



Seat 1: drbk2 (619733 in chips)
Seat 2: DEVIRUS (1129819 in chips)
Seat 3: emptyseat88 (441326 in chips)
Seat 4: plattsburgh (936478 in chips)
Seat 5: Hansa.no (224548 in chips)
Seat 6: jumper17 (684116 in chips)
Seat 7: BUTCH ACIDY (366173 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (1525467 in chips)
Seat 9: der Falk (232340 in chips)

Der Falk, despite having the chip lead for a good while before the final table, was the first to go. He picked up AK versus BUTCH ACIDY's KK. Der Falk played the hand as hard as he could, but never caught up. He finished in ninth place for $8,008.

Hansa.no was the next to go. Having lost most of his stack to DEVIRUS in a hand that he didn't show down, Hansa.no played A7 for the rest of his chips against emptyseat88's KQ. A queen on the turn ended Hansa.no's day in eighth place. He was awarded $13,552 for his efforts.

BUTCH ACIDY fell on hard times a few hands later and, with only 100,000 chips left, ended up getting QT in against emptyseat88's K6 pre-flop. No queen or ten appeared and BUTCH ACIDY finished in seventh place, a $20,328 payday.

With six players remaining, the chip stacks sized up as follows:

Seat 1: drbk2 (424733 in chips)
Seat 2: DEVIRUS (1234819 in chips)
Seat 3: emptyseat88 (691887 in chips)
Seat 4: plattsburgh (868978 in chips)
Seat 6: jumper17 (1141616 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (1797967 in chips)

There were more cruel rivers in this event than just about any other. The cruelest we'd seen in a while put DEVIRUS out. He flopped a set of deuces against plattsburgh's pair of sixes on a Qd2dJh flop. They capped the betting and got DEVIRUS all-in. The river? Indeed, a six. DEVIRUS finished in in sixth place for a $27.720 cash.

After a short break, emptyseat88 sat on the shortest stack and was ready to pick up some chips. He came in for a raise with Kc7c and called a re-raise from Sowerss. The flop came own 9sKsJh. With top pair, emptyseat88 was in decent shape. Problem was, Sowerss held A7 and an ace came on the turn. No king on the river and emptyseat88 finished in fifth place for $35,112.

Four-handed play lasted for a long while before drbk2 succumbed to the pressure of the bigger stacks and mounting blinds. His last gasp was getting TJ all-in on a 3sQs6h flop. He was up against Sowerss' 78. A seven on the river ended drbk2's morning, out in fourth place and earning $43,120.

Plattsburgh was the neext to find the door. After jumper17 flopped a set against him and took him for half a million chips, plattsburgh only had enough chips to play one more big hand. He decided to go with QsJs. He got it all in pre-flop against jumper17's 77. Plattburgh never improved and was out in third place for $56,056.

Going into heads up play, the remaining two foes had the following stacks:

Seat 6: jumper17 (3334103 in chips)
Seat 8: Sowerss (2825897 in chips)

With a $60,000 difference between first and second, the players thought it better to cut a deal with the following terms.

$108,967.05 -- jumper17
$102,184.95 -- Sowerss

They left $18,000 and the WCOOP bracelet on the table. That's where things got interesting.

After an impressive and hard-fought early battle, jumper17 (at the urging of his opponent) revealed what many people already knew. He is Markus Golser, a tough Austrian pro, known around the world as a fierce competitor.

While Golser had Sowerss on the ropes a couple of times, after a full hour of heads-up play, the stacks were still close to even. Neither player backed down, and for good reason.

Sowerss: i want the full bracelet
Sowerss: i'd almost give u 5k for it
jumper17: me too

After an hour and half, Sowerss had made an amazing comeback and taken a big lead, only to see Golser rebound and recapture his position on top. Then it was even again. Regardless of who came out on top, it was going to be a battle that neither player forgot.

It took a full hour and forty minutes for the heads-up battle to end. Over the course of several hands, Sowerss moved ahead. So many times before, the chip lead had melted back to even. This time, Sowerss held the lead. The final hand saw Golser flopping middle pair, but Sowerss turned a straight and sent Golser out in second place.

Congratualtions to all the players who cashed in Event #22 of the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker.

2007 WCOOP: Event #22 Final Table Results
Based on finishing order and two-way deal that left $18,000 for first place

1. Sowerss (United States) $120,184.95
2. jumper17 (Austria) $108,967.05
3. plattsburgh (United States) $56,056.00
4. drbk2 (United States) $43,120.00
5. emptyseat88 (United States $35,112.00
6. DEVIRUS (Canada) $27,720.00
7. BUTCH ACIDY (United States) $20,328.00
8. Hansa.no (Cyprus) $13,552.00
9. der Falk (Sweden) $8,008.00

Different strokes for different folks – it was interesting to see the demeanour of the players during the break in the APT Seoul final table. First-time final table participants like Norwegian qualifier Seval “Biffen 1” Hægeland and Michel “MSTP007” St Pierre paced nervously outside the ballroom while Jo Berec and Roger Spets looked relaxed and calm after the first two levels. James Honeybone said he’d been happy to stay under the radar during the first two hours.

After a quiet level 17, we’re expecting some fireworks during level 18, especially with Seval Haegeland (107,000) and Sid Kim (96,000) being chipped away.

Hands 36-40: Spets takes the first hand (36) after the break with 20,000 pre-flop raise, and Kim pushes all-in to claim the blinds and antes in hand 37. On hand 38, Berec raises to 24,000 and gets no action. Bachar and Berec check it down to the river on hand 39, and ace-high is enough for Bachar to take the pot on a board of Jh 9h 8c 8d Jd. Hægeland makes his move with an all-in bet on hand 40, but gets no love.

Hands 41-45: Berec takes the blinds and antes in hand 41 with a pre-flop raise of 25,000. Sid Kim is again all-in on hand 42 and after a few moments to deliberate, Roger Spets folds. Berec pumps it up to 26,000 to take hand 43, while St Pierre’s pre-flop raise of 25,000 is enough to take down hand 44. We see a flop on hand 45 between Berec and Haegeland. It comes Qc 10c 5d, and the pot goes to the Norwegian when he pops it up 25,000.

Hands 46-50: Bachar scoops hand 46 with a raise to 20,000 pre-flop. Hand 47 is a carbon copy with Honeybone taking the blinds and antes. Haegeland, Berec and Honeybone see a flop on hand 48 – it comes Qc 10c 5d, and Haegeland takes it down with a bet of 25,000. On hand 49, it’s a three-way pot between Berec, Kim and Spets. The flop reads Js 8s 2h. Kim pushes all-in, and scoops the pot. The Canadian St Pierre gets a walk on hand 50.

Hand 51: Ziv Bachar
Button: Kim (seat 7) – in one of the biggest pots of level 17, Bachar raises to 20,000 and gets a call from St Pierre. The flop is Qd Js 5h. Both players check. The turn is the Jd, St Pierre bets 25,000 and Bachar calls. The river is 5c. St Pierre checks, and Bachar bets 30,000. St Pierre folds and Bachar wins pot of more than 100,000.

Hands 52-54: The pattern resumes on hand 52, with Haegeland raising all-in after St Pierre calls on the button, and everyone folds. On hand 53, Berec bumps it up to 45,000 and gets a call from Kim. The flop is Ad Ah 7c, and it goes check-check. The turn is Qs, Berec requests a count but Kim mucks before he has a chance to take a nice pot. Bachar and Spets butt heads on hand 54 after the Israeli’s raise to 25,000. The flop reads Ac 7h 5d, Bachar bets 20,000 and takes it down. Blinds have just gone up to 5000/10,000 with an ante of 1000.

Hand 55: Sid Kim
Button: Berec (seat 3) – Roger Spets pushes all-in from the small blind with 2d 4h and gets an immediate call from Sid Kim with Ac 7s. The board comes 6h 3h 9h 7d Jd, and Sid Kim doubles through Spets, who is down to just 11,000 in chips.

Hands 56-59:St Pierre takes hand 56 from Kim with a bet of 15,000 after a flop of Kh 8c 3c, and makes it two out of two on hand 57 with a pre-flop raise of 30,000. St Pierre raises to 35,000 on hand 58, but Bachar’s reraise to 95,000 send the Canadian’s cards into the muck. Hægeland takes hand 59 with a pre-flop raise to 25,000. Honeybone gets away from it on hand 60 after his pre-flop raise of 32,000, which Berec reraises all-in. The Aussie shows pocket eights.

Hand 61: Ziv Bachar (Roger Spets eliminated in seventh position, $17,484)



Button: Honeybone (seat 2) – Bachar and Berec call, and Spets is all in for 5500 in the big blind. It’s checked down to the river with the board showing Ad 4h 2c 8h 7s. Bachar shows king-high to win the pot, eliminating Spets Js 5h. However, Roger Spets will go down in APPT history as the first player to reach two final tables.


Latest chip count (final table) Approximate:

• Ziv Bachar 620,000


• Jozef Berec 580,000


• Michel St Pierre 250,000


• James Honeybone 148,000


• Sid Kim 248,000


• Seval Haegeland 26,000

Hands 62-63: On hand 62, Berec raises to 25,000 and Kim calls. The flop reads Qh 8s 7c, Kim bets 25,000 and Berec raises enough to put Kim all-in. He doesn’t take the bait, leaving Berec in the chip lead on 580,000. St Pierre takes hand 63 with a bet of 20,000 when the board of Js Jh 2h 9h 7h is checked to the river.

Hand 64: Sid Kim
Button: Kim (seat 7): Kim raises to 25,000, Hægeland calls and the flop reads Js 8h 3c. Hægeland checks blind, Kim pushes all-in and the Norwegian calls. Kim shows 10s 9s, and Hægeland Jd 8d. The turn is 6h, but Kim hits the Qs on the river for a straight, crippling Hægeland.

Hands 65-70: Hægeland moves all-in from the small blind and gets a call from Bachar. It’s Qd 10h v Qs 7c, and Hægeland’s kicker plays to keep him alive after hand 65. Sid Kim scoops the blinds and antes with a raise of 40,000 on hand 66. Hægeland hangs on again in a chop (Ac 9h v Ad 9d) with Honeybone on hand 67. Sid Kim bets 25,000 on a flop of Kh Qs 2d, forcing Berec and Honeybone to fold on hand 68. St Pierre then gets a walk on hand 69, and Kim takes hand 70 with a bet of 20,000 on a flop of Ks Jh 6s.

Hand 71: Michel St Pierre (Seval Hægeland eliminated in sixth position, $21,855)

Button: St Pierre (seat 8): Hægeland pushes all-in for his last 19,000, and gets a call from Bachar and St Pierre. It’s checked all the way on a board of Kd 10s 9h 10d 2s. Haegeland shows Ks 3c but St Pierre has 10h 7d for a set, eliminating the Norwegian who won his way into the APPT Seoul main event for $1.

At the break, the latest chip count reads

• Ziv Bachar 562,000


• Jozef Berec 547,000


• Michel St Pierre 321,000


• Sid Kim 290,000


• James Honeybone 142,000

Hand 73: Sid Kim
Button: Bachar (seat 1) – Fireworks straight out of the break with the biggest hand of the tournament so far. Kim raises to 28,000, Berec re-raises to 112,000, Kim re-raises all-in and Berec calls. Kim shows Ks 10s and Berec Qc Qd. The flop hits Kim (As Kc 4h) and there’s no help for Berec on the turn (9c) or river (8s). Sid Kim is our new chip leader on 587,000, and Berec is down to 280,000.

Hands 72, 74-75: Berec raises to 36,000 on hand 72 to take the blinds and antes. Bachar’s raise to 36,000 is enough to take hand 73, as is Honeybone’s all-in push on hand 74.

Hand 76: Jozef Berec (James Honeybone eliminated in fifth place $28,412)

Button: Sid Kim (seat 7) – Honeybone moves all-in and Berec re-raises all in for 271,000. Honeybone shows Ad 10d and Berec 8h 8c. The flop comes 10h 4h 2s Qs, but Berec hits the 8d on the river for a set, KOing the young New Zealander.

Note: We’ll no longer be filing hand-by-hand reporting from the final table of the APPT Seoul main event, but keep an eye out for the final results in the coming hours.

The appeal of online poker--or at least part of it--is the ability to play in an event with a relatively small buy-in and have a chance at a major score.

Event #20 of the World Championship of Online Poker had nothing to do with that part of the game's appeal.

At $5,000, the buy-in to the HORSE event was the largest of the entire tournament series. It drew some of poker's top name from both the live and online world. One hundred seventy-seven players threw in five grand a piece for a chance at a $225,000 first prize.

Here's what the final table of the event looked like.



Seat 1: tj_trail (285838 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (246331 in chips)
Seat 3: BUS02 (116856 in chips)
Seat 4: TwinkleStar (95043 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (268092 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (382407 in chips)
Seat 7: ROXY24 (170189 in chips)
Seat 8: Cordelia (205244 in chips)

At the start of the final table, the game was Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo at the 10,000/20,000 limit. TwinkleStar had less than 100,000 in chips. With 8c4c/8d, he came in for a raise and then called a re-raise from BOBALOB who showed a queen up. On fourth and fifth street, TwinkleStar picked up nines and was looking good with two pair. He got a bet in on sixth street, but BOBALOB called and made queens up on the river. TwinkleStars was out in eighth place, cashing for $22,657.

BUS02 came into the final table with the second shortest stack and found the exit shortly thereafter. Reduced to only 43,000 chips, BUS02 got all his chips in with AdKh7c3s showing. We never got to find out what he had in the hole, as hairos pulled a straight flush and and BOBALOB had an 8-low. BUSO2 exited in seventh place for $31,860.

The players took a 30-minute break and came back to 12,000/24,000 limit hold'em, stacked up like this:

Seat 1: tj_trail (341638 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (363231 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (430563 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (443835 in chips)
Seat 7: ROXY24 (97889 in chips)
Seat 8: Cordelia (92844 in chips)

ROXY24 was looking for a double up and came in for a raise with J9. After calling a re-raise from tj_trail, ROXY24 saw the flop: Jc7dKs. Tj_trail bet out, ROXY24 raised, tj-trail re-raised and ROXY24 called. The turn was the 3d. This time tj_trail bet out and ROX24 called all in. Tj_trail held AdTd and had outs to any diamond, any queen, or any ace. The ace fell on the river and ROXY24 was out in sixth place and a $41,595 payday.

Cordelia was the next to go. Tj_trail rivered a flush on a 4s9cTh7c8c board to put Cordelia on life support. Cordelia was all-in in the big blind on the next hand and couldn't find a winner. For fifth place, Cordelia picked up $55,755.

Despite being the only person at the final table interested in a deal, tj_trail could not stop winning. Whether it was a rivered flush or a flopped full house, he won hand after hand and, before long, was up over 800,000 in chips.

The hold'em round simply belonged to tj_trail. After it was over, he held a firm lead.

Seat 1: tj_trail (859527 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (303462 in chips)
Seat 5: BOBALOB (187407 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (419604 in chips)

The beginning of the Omaha/8 round cut further into BOBALOB's stack. His frustration started to set in and he gave some clue as to his identity.

BOBALOB: this is sick 4th in both the biggest horse events of the year.

While he managed to double up and stick around for a while longer, he finally got his remaining chips in with KhKsJd6s. It was both a good and bad flop, KcQcTc. While tk_trail didn't hold clubs, he did have AAJx for the flopped straight. The board didn't pair and BOBALOB was out in fourth place for $71,685.

All the while, hairos was making a steady climb and, midway through the O8 round, had moved up to the chip lead. At the same time, tj_trail fell all the way back to third place after losing a 300,000 chip pot when svesken rivered two pair, nines and threes.

As the game turned to Razz, the chips stacks looked a lot different than they did an hour before.

Seat 1: tj_trail (409248 in chips)
Seat 2: svesken (588648 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (772104 in chips)

Razz was unkind to tj_trail. Where he had the chip lead for a good long while, he had fallen back during the O8 round. The Razz round--and svesken--proved to be his undoing. Over the course of 20 minutes in Razz, his opponents beat him up. TJ_trail sat incredulous as his stack dwindled down to nearly nothing. The more he didn't believe his opponent had made their hand, the more they actually did. The final nail came After losing with a ten-low to svekson's six, Tj_trail finished in third place, earning $103,987.

Here's how the stacks looked going into heads-up play.

Seat 2: svesken (1056144 in chips)
Seat 6: hairos (713856 in chips)

Within a few minutes, hairos had drawn even with svesken and the players decided to chop up the money. They left $26,000 on the table and and took $176,921 a piece.

In the end, hairos picked svesken apart piece by piece over half an hour and finished him off to pick up the extra cash and the gold WCOOP bracelet.

2007 WCOOP: Event #21 Final Table Results
Results based on finishing order and two-way deal that left $26,000 for first place

1. hairos (Denmark) $202,921.00
2. svesken (Denmark) $176,921.00
3. tj_trail (United States) $103,987.50
4. BOBALOB (United States) $71,685.00
5. Cordelia (United States) $55,755.00
6. ROXY24 (Canada) $41,595.00
7. BUS02 (United States) $31,860.00
8. TwinkleStar (United States) $22,567.50

A few nervous poker players have just made their way into the TV studio for the final table of the APPT Seoul main event in the Walkerhill Sheraton Grande Hotel on the outskirts of the South Korean capital.

It’s drizzly and gloomy outside, but the lights are shining bright here at the final table – we’ve actually relocated upstairs to one of the Sheraton Grande ballrooms from the Walker-hill Casino. Once again, the 441 team have done a great job with the set: it promises to be one of the finest televised poker products you’ll ever see.

Paul Adams, an American who lives just to the north of Seoul, has added a distinctly East Asian feel to the final table by discarding the suit and tie he’s worn in the past two days for a traditional Korean outfit called a hanbok. In terms of final table fashions, Adams is already a clear winner.

Like the APPT Manila final table, we have a league of nations battling for the title: an Israeli, an Australian, a New Zealander, a French-Canadian, a Swede-based in Malaysia, a Norwegian and a trio of Americans who all make their home in South Korea.
The 25-year-old Isareli Ziv Bachar is our chip leader on 415,000, with Australian Jo Berec close behind on 350,000. The remaining seven players are covered by 70,000 in chips, so it promises to be a fierce battle for the title. Blinds are starting at 3000/6000 with a 500 ante, and the dealer button will start with Michel St Pierre in seat eight.
Keep an eye on our blog throughout the day for regular updates.

• Seat 1: Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars, 415,000 in chips)


• Seat 2: James Honeybone (nzvr4poker on PokerStars, 171,500 in chips)


• Seat 3: Jozef Berec (jbjeoli on PokerStars, 350,000)


• Seat 4: Daniel Schreiber (rekrul on PokerStars, 185,500 in chips)


• Seat 5: Paul Adams (zadignose on PokerStars, 184,000 in chips)


• Seat 6: Roger Spets (titantilts on PokerStars, 168,000 in chips)


• Seat 7: Sid Kim (110,500 in chips)


• Seat 8: Michel St Pierre (MSTP007 on PokerStars, 149,500 in chips)


• Seat 9: Seval Hægeland (Biffen 1 on PokerStars, 127,500 in chips)

Previous APPT Posts:

APPT Seoul: Last nine decided in battle for APPT Seoul glory

• APPT Seoul: Qualifiers have a tale to tell to folks back home


• Was there something in the food?


• Chinese Poker, it's anyone's game


• A Case of Tae Kwon Woe


• Schreiber stays on top in race for Seoul crown


• ‘Rekrul’ rules late on day one


• Mercier makes her move


• Quality field takes aim at Team PokerStars


• Who are those masked men?


• Seoul Tournament Kicks Off

Here's a list of poker players, who are also members of an exclusive club.

Brandon Schaefer (USA); Jeff Williams (USA); Gavin Griffin (USA); Magnus Petersson (Sweden).

As of tonight, there's another name to add to the subscription list: Joseph Mouawad. He comes from Lebanon and he's the most recent champion of a European Poker Tour event who won his seat in the tournament after succeeding in a PokerStars.com satellite event.

Joseph Mouawad: the latest EPT champion

It's only exaggerating the truth slightly to say that these are the people who stump up about the equivalent of a small blind on a cash table and turn it into the equivalent of ten years' wages for the average banker. Like turning a toothpick into a lumberyard, as one poker sage once described it.

Mouawad won £611,520 in today's tournament in London, the second stop-off during season four of the EPT. He beat 391 other players, who each parted with £5,200 for their seat in the Grosvenor Victoria casino. But only Mouawad, a property developer from Beirut, can walk out onto the Edgware Road as the new champion. And with that chunk of cash in his pocket.

We convened at 3.30 p.m, with the following people holding the following chips:

Florian Langmann - Germany - 927,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 780,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Marcel Baran - Germany - 583,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 477,000 (PokerStars double shootout qualifier)
Antony Lellouche - France - 466,000
Paul Mendes - England - 282,000
Ian Cox - England - 234,000
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 190,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)

All eyes were on Florian Langmann, the reigning German poker champion, who came to the final table with the chip lead. But neither he, nor anyone else around the table, was willing to put too much at risk during the early stages, and that allowed the young Swede named Fredrik Haugen to haul his way up the chip ladder.

Fredrik -- a 19-year-old PokerStars qualifier (surprise, surprise) -- was the short stack, but shoved it in time and again early in the day to surrender that ignominous title.

Ian Cox, from Poole, England, was the victim of many of these powerful plays and soon found himself peering over the shortest stack. Without many other options, he pushed it in from the button behind king-seven. Florian Langmann called from the small blind with king-three, a dominated hand. But a three on the flop ended it for Cox.

Next out was the only other remaining Briton in the field: Paul Mendes, from London. In each of the preceding three seasons, the London leg of the EPT had always produced a home champion, John Shipley, Mark Teltscher and Victoria Coren.

But when Mendes's king-ten couldn't overtake the ace-king of Antony Lellouche, the run of British champions was over.

That left six, and the big stack was still Langmann's. But not for long. Mouawad had played solidly throughout all three days so far, but had also demonstrated a keen ability to change gears when the situation demanded it.

Sensing an opportunity here, Mouawad, who has played poker for 15 years, put his entire tournament life on the line with ace-king, calling a huge bet of Langmann's. The German held 4-4 and was visibly sickened by the call, even more so when an ace flopped and a monster pot, the largest of the tournament so far, went to Joseph.

Joseph's stack contained more than two million in chips and that allowed him to pick off some of the remaining players. It was barely a ripple in the Atlantic for Joseph to call Anthony Lellouche's all in with 23,000, the Frenchman having been crippled in a massive pot against Marcel Baran, another PokerStars qualifier from Germany.

Mouawad only had jack-two, but had hit both on the flop. Lellouche's ace-five had been outdrawn and he was out the door.

That left five players, four of whom had qualified on PokerStars. There was Mouawad, of course, Marcel Baran, Fredrik Haugen and Josh Egan, from New Zealand, all of whose adventure began on the online tables of PokerStars.

But when something had to give, it was Haugen. Florian moved all in pre-flop, clearly just hoping to pick up the blinds and antes. But he ended up picking up much more: Haugen called with ace-jack, which couldn't retain its lead against Langmann's queen-ten.

Haugen took £124,342 for fifth place, which is a lot of buy-ins in cyberspace.

So, down to four. And one of them, Josh Egan, must have been licking his lips. Egan, known as Tycoon_Kid on PokerStars, is something of a specialist in single-table events. Proof? Well, he won back-to-back double shoot-outs to earn his place in both the Barcelona and London EPTs. That, essentially, is winning four sit n goes in a row, which the number-crunchers have determined is a 6,642 to one shot.

However, he couldn't quite make it one in a million, or so, when Florian Langmann managed to get all Josh's chips in the middle behind king-jack. Langmann had aces - the first time today, he claimed - and they stood up. The Tycoon_Kid is on his way back to New Zealand with £152,880. Someone else can do the calculations as to how impressive a mark up that is, but his initial outlay was only $215.

That left three players, which quickly became two. Marcel Baran, another PokerStars qualifier, might have been quiet at the table, but had nonetheless made all the right moves when necessary, getting his chips in when ahead, keeping them out the way when behind.

His elimination hand was no different, although his pocket fours were only a marginal favourite over his countryman's king-seven. And Langmann, who had lost a huge pot with fours earlier in the day, also watched them outdrawn again, this time to his profit. An ace flopped and Marcel missed his two outs: he was heading back to Germany with £203,840.

So, we were heads up. It was Lebanon versus Germany, and neither was going anywhere fast.

As in most heads-up battles, it was this way and that, but Joseph never really surrendered his chip lead. It all ended when both players limped to a flop and hit a pair. But Joseph's queens were bigger than Florian's nines. And another queen turned to give Joseph the money.

And there ended the EPT London, where PokerStars qualifiers ruled the roost. The four who made the final table ended up with more than a million pounds between them.

Anyone know a property developer who might know a good spot for a lumberyard?




Quotes:

Joseph Mouawad, winner

"It was a great experience; I didn't expect it at all. It was fun and a big achievement and I went up against some good players. But I never thought I'd win the championship.

"I've played casinos in Lebanon where a lot of people are starting to play. People know about Joe Hachem who's from Lebanon."

On the call with ace-king:

"We talked about the hand in the break and he said: 'How can you call with ace king?' I said: 'How can you go all in with a pair of fours?' But at the time I thought 'what the hell' and I played my intuition."

"Sometimes you get nervous but again you get used to it. He had more experience than me so I played my game. I thought if it happens it happens."

"I promised my son I'd buy him a car, so he'll get a car."

Florian Langmann, runner-up

"There was always a chance I could win, even with the short stack. At one point [Joseph] had all the chips while the others had just a few hundred thousand each. I had to push in all the time. Then Antony made his move so I waited until he went out.

"Heads up is always a gamble. He played very strangely and I tried to hit something but I didn't. I'm always trying to win but you don't expect it. This is really great."

EPT London final table results and payouts:

1st -- Joseph Mouawad -- Lebanon -- £611,520 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
2nd -- Florian Langmann -- Germany -- £346,528
3rd -- Marcel Baran -- Germany -- £203,840 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
4th -- Josh Egan -- New Zealand -- £152,880 (PokerStars double shoot-out qualifier)
5th -- Fredrik Haugen -- Sweden -- £124,342 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
6th -- Antony Lellouche -- France -- £97,843
7th -- Paul Mendes -- England -- £77,459
8th -- Ian Cox -- England -- £57,075

Click HERE for complete list of payouts.

Pictures (c) Neil Stoddart.

Joseph Mouawab, PokerStars qualifier from Lebanon, wins EPT London and £611,520

10.15pm: Florian Langmann, Germany, eliminated in second place, winning £346,528
That's it. It all goes in on a flop of queen-nine-six and Florian has a pair of nines, Joseph a pair of queens. The turn brings another queen and that's trips and the title for the man from Lebanon.

10.10pm: A scary board of 4-9-5-8-7. Florian bets 300k, Joseph called immediately. Just king high for the Florian, a pair of sevens for Joseph in a pot that had crept up to 900k.

10.00pm: Florian takes a step towards levelling his stack against that of Joseph, winning a 900k pot, when he made a full house, nines over aces. Joseph had called Florian’s big bet on the river adding a little extra to Florians’ stack.

9.45pm: Not much to report at this stage other than a few pots split evenly. Joseph still holds the overwhelming chip lead.

9.25pm: Joseph wins a pot worth over 500k when he moves all-in over a 240k raise from Florian after the flop was dealt 6-9-J. The expectation was for Florian to call but instead he mucked his cards.

9.05pm: Players take a break for a quick leg stretch, comfort stop and a sip of water before heads-up action begins.

9.00pm: Marcel Baran, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, eliminated in third place for £203,840
The story has ended for one PokerStars qualifier. All in with 4-4 it was countryman Florian Langmann calling once again, this time with K-7. Unfortunately for Marcel he was behind from the start when a king hit the flop with no four coming to his rescue.

8.45pm: Josh Egan, New Zealand, PokerStars double shoot-out qualifier, eliminated in fourth place for £152,880
When Josh Egan moved in all he could hope for was that his K-J would give him a chance. Unfortunately for him Florian Langmann had found aces and called immediately. The flop brought a jack but that alone was not enough. The Kiwi, with handshakes all round, was eliminated.

8.40pm: We're four-handed now, three of whom are PokerStars qualifiers, proving once again what we already knew about these internet players. Once more: they're quite good, on the whole. Joseph Mouawad is king of the castle still, by some significant measure, and so the other three remaining are playing all-in poker. No one is calling just yet, but they surely will very soon.

8.25pm: Fredrik Haugen, Sweden, eliminated in fifth place for £124,342
Florian moved all-in pre-flop and found Fredrik calling with A-J. Q-T for Florian, covering the Swede. The flop brought a ten and the turn brought another. It was all over for Fredrik whilst Florian’s revival continues.

8.10pm: Florian Langmann’s tournament looked all but over, except for a three way hand that has revitalised his chances. Following a bet from Marcel Joseph called before Florian moved all-in for 134k. Both Marcel and Joseph called but after a 9-3-6-3-2 board Florian’s 4-4 was good with both Marcel and Joseph mucking their cards. Florian triples up.

8.00pm: Antony Lellouche, France, eliminated in sixth place for £97,843
In a quiet hand that almost passed by unnoticed, Frenchman Antony Lellouche left the tournament stage when his last 23k was swallowed up by Joseph Mouawad’s juggernaut stack.

7.55pm: Marcel bets and Antony Lellouche decides it’s his moment to push all-in. Thinking it over Marcel eventually calls showing 8-8. Antony can only manage 7-3. The board quickly reveals nothing to help the Frenchman and Marcel doubles up again. After the smoke clears Lellouche is left with just 23k.

7.50pm: After that huge pot went towards Joseph, he has taken a commanding chip lead. The latest counts:

Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 2,237,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 592,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Antony Lellouche - France - 324,000
Marcel Baran - Germany – 276,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Florian Langmann - Germany – 254,000
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 222,000 (PokerStars double shootout qualifier)

7.40pm: Florian Langmann and Fredrik Haugen split a pot when Florian moves in with A-3. Fredrik called with A-2 with a high board. Back to where they started.

7.25pm: A Florian raise, followed by a Joseph re-raise, followed by a Florian all-in move. Joseph called for what would be a race for his tournament life. A-K for Joseph, 4-4 for Florian. “I didn’t think you’d call that” said Florian turning his cards over. An ace hit the turn, and king hit the river. PokerStars Qualifier Joseph Mouawad doubles up.

7.20pm: Big double up, to 458,000, for Fredrik Haugen. Antony Lellouche made a button raise after it was passed to him, and Haugen, the PokerStars qualifier from Sweden, moved all in. Lellouche was committed and called with 5h-6h, which was especially weak against Haugen's pocket fives. No six appeared and Haugen took it down.

7.10pm: Players are back from the dinner break, and Joseph Mouawad is already firing: moving all in when an ace appeared on the turn in a pot against fellow PokerStars qualifier Marcel Baran. There was no raising pre-flop but Joseph bet out on a flop of Qh 10c Jc and Marcel called. Marcel folded, though, to that big turn bet.

6.00pm: An old fashioned aces versus queens hand develops with Marcel Baran all-in with the rockets. No help for Josh Egan and his queens as Marcel doubles up.

Latest chip counts as players take a dinner break:

Florian Langmann - Germany – 1,241,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 716,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Marcel Baran - Germany – 656,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Antony Lellouche - France - 601,000
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 457,000 (PokerStars double shootout qualifier)
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 263,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)

5.45pm: A slight lull broken by two consecutive all-ins from PokerStars qualifier Marcel Baran. It brought us some high drama for a few moments but each time Marcel found no takers.

5.35pm: The big stacks -- or, rather, stack -- is now dominating. Florian Langmann has extended his lead with a number of strong pre-flop re-raises, taking a couple of pots from Josh Egan. Antony Lellouche is also joining in the fun, and has also pinched a couple of smaller pots. Six handed still here.

5.25pm: Paul Mendes, England, eliminated in seventh place for £77,459
The EPT London has always had an English winner – not so this year as Paul Mendes is eliminated, all in with K-T and called by Antony Lellouche holding A-K. First card out of the deck was another ace, ultimately condemning Mendes to the rail.

5.20pm: After Fredrik Haugen bets 55k pre-flop Kiwi Josh Egan pushes all-in for 329k. Fredrik calls, showing A-T. Josh is ahead with pocket Queens and makes a set on the flop. No further help for the Swede and Josh doubles up.

5.10pm: Marcel Baran makes it 50k pre-flop with Joseph Mouawad calls. On the flop of 7d-9s-Ts Marcel again leads, betting 100k which prompts Joseph to push all-in. After some thought Marcel calls showing J-9. Joseph is ahead though with A-Th. The turn brings another ace, the river a jack. Two pairs each but Joseph’s aces double him up.

5.05pm: Ian Cox, England, eliminated in eighth place for £57,075
We've lost one. It's folded round to Ian Cox on the button, and he moves all in for about 150,000. Florian Langmann calls from the small blind. Langmann, the chip leader, has king-three and is dominated by Cox's king-seven. But the three comes on the flop and Florian's one pair takes it down, eliminating the Englishman.

5.00pm: Wags in the press room are already predicting a long night. We've only had one all-in called so far - the Lellouche hand reported at 4.45pm - and there's not much gambling going on. Fredrik Haugen has been busiest and has moved up a couple of places as a result.

4.45pm: Anthony Lellouche is the first player to move all-in with a caller. Chip leader Florian Langmann did the calling, showing 6-5s. A-T for the Frenchman who paired his ace on the flop, doubling up. Lellouche now third in chips.

Chip counts:

Florian Langmann - Germany - 759,000
Marcel Baran - Germany - 714,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Anthony Lellouche - France - 660,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 579,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 465,000 (PokerStars double shootout qualifier)
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 342,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Ian Cox - England - 227,000
Paul Mendes - England - 178,000

4.35pm: It's been the short stack who's been bullying the table so far today, and Fredrik Haugen just took another pot of 205,000 from Ian Cox with a re-raise after an ace-high flop. Cos had about 40,000 invested, but folded when faced with Fredrik's 105,000 bump.

4.30pm: Still no eliminations from the final table, with chips sliding this way and that but no significant moves up or down the leaderboard. Calm before the storm?

4.15pm: The biggest pot of the day so far goes to Marcel Baran, who makes a king-high flush on the turn and manages to get Anthony Lellouche to pay him off on the end. It's worth 382,000.

4.00pm: First big hand, and it's PokerStars qualifier versus PokerStars qualifier. Double shootout maestro Josh Egan makes a small pre-flop raise and Fredrik Haugen moves all in. The pot is 313,000 and Josh has a real decision to make. He counts, he riffles, he chews gum. He counts, he riffles, he chews again. He folds and Haugen starts counting.

3.50pm: Florian Langmann flexes his muscles and picks up another uncontested pot. We've seen some flops but no showdown yet.

3.40pm: As expected, play is cagey in the opening exhanges. With blinds at 6,000-12,000 and a 1,000 running ante, no one is under any immediate threat. Antony Lellouche nicks a couple of small pots, before Fredrik Haugan slides a large percentage of his short stack into the centre to take a pot from Marcel Baran, uncontested.

3.30pm: Play is underway on the final table. We'll have full updates until the final hand.

By Sean Callander

The field for tomorrow’s APPT Seoul final table has been decided. Play wound up shortly after 12.30am when PokerStars qualifier Ulf Martensson was eliminated in 10th spot.

After a raise from Jozef Berec, Martensson pushed all-in from the big blind with Ah 5h. Berec showed Jh 10h, and made a straight when the board came Kd 9d 8s 2d Qs. The Swede departed, but was more than happy to collect $6557 for his $109 investment in a PokerStars qualifying tournament.

For the record, Kent Justice (USA) finished 11th, another American Michael Collins bowed out in 12th position, Norway’s Heige Vatne was 13th and Hong Kong player Elton Tsang was 14th. We also crowned the inaugural Chinese Poker champion, with PokerNews marketing director Gareth Edwards taking the chocolates over another Australian, James Potter.

Final table profiles

Seat 1: Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars, 415,000 in chips): For such a small nation, Israel has an impressive two-from-two record at APPT events. Following on from Maor Feldinger’s final table appearance in Manila (he finished fifth), his countryman Ziv Bachar has emulated that feat by making the last nine in Seoul. The 25-year-old from Tel Aviv, who works in the real estate industry, started his own business 18 months ago. He brings considerable poker experience to the final table, having finished ninth in the 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas (worth $95,000) and was victorious in the € 500 No Limit Hold'em Event at last year’s PokerStars EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo (worth €54,400). Bachar, who won a Sunday Warm-up on PokerStars just a fortnight ago, won his way into the APPT Seoul main event visa a $109 satellite on PokerStars. He is the chip leader heading into the final table.

Seat 2: James Honeybone (nzvr4poker on PokerStars, 171,500 in chips): This 23-year-old from Hamilton on New Zealand’s North Island is one of poker’s true believers. He’s a real student of the game, and loves talking hands and poker folklore at every opportunity. Just about to wrap-up a business management course, Honeybone’s poker education is also coming along in leaps and bounds. After cashing for more than $US80,000 in the 2006 Barcelona Poker Classic, he has continued that solid form with cashes in the 2007 NZ Poker Championships and the 2007 Victorian Poker Championships. He’s also etched a permanent mark in the APPT record books, by winning the first tournament ever held as part of the new tour: the PHP5000 Manila Cup at last month’s APPT event in the Philippines. His girlfriend Jacqui will be the first to congratulate him if he gets over the line.



Seat 3: Jozef Berec (jbjeoli on PokerStars, 350,000 in chips): Barely known outside his native Melbourne, the performance of Jo Berec in the APPT Seoul main event might make the poker world start to sit up and take notice. The 48-year-old pro player has been in a hot vein of form over the past 12 months. He won the $550 No Limit Hold’em title and $74,000 at the 2007 Aussie Millions, and backed-up with victory in the Victorian Poker Championships main event (worth just over $250,000) two months ago. Berec, who led the field for a significant part of day two, emigrated to Australia from Hungary more than 20 years ago and formerly ran a business with his brother before turning his full-time focus to poker.



Seat 4: Daniel Schreiber ("rekrul'member of Team PokerStars, 185,500 in chips): Having won the 2007 WSOP $5000 Heads-up event, at the age of 22, Daniel Schreiber became the fifth youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever. Schreiber, who had never cashed in a prior WSOP event, defeated Mark Muchnik by winning both matches in the finale to earn $425,594. The first match took 79 hands while the second lasted only 11. The field of 392 players was the largest heads-up hold 'em tournament in history. Formerly ranked #1 in the USA for the strategy video game Starcraft, Schreiber moved to South Korea in 2004 from Commack, New York, to compete as a professional gamer. Yet, he found his true calling as an online poker pro while playing on Pokerstars. Daniel Schreiber is a member of Team PokerStars.




Seat 5: Paul Adams (zadignose on PokerStars, 184,000 in chips): It’s been an unforgettable two days for 39-year-old Korean-based American Paul Adams. Originally from New York City (where he earned a degree in film and TV production from New York University), Adams has not only qualified for his first major final table, he found out during a break on day two that his wife is pregnant with their first child! Adams learned to play poker as a youngster and fondly remembers his first experience of Texas Hold’em at the Bullwhackers Casino in Blackhawk, Colorado. An English teacher at a private academy, he has lived in Korea for 18 months.



Seat 6: Roger Spets (titantilts on PokerStars, 168,000 in chips): This 40-year-old Swede burst onto the APPT scene with an impressive showing in the opening event in Manila. After leading at numerous times on day two, he eventually bowed out in sixth position (worth $26,966). Not bad for a player making his first live tournament appearance. Spets, who runs a wealth management company in Malaysia, joined the APPT Seoul field along with fellow final table participants from Manila, Japan’s Kazuhiro Sato and runner-up Ira Blumenthal. However, Spets enters the record books as the first player to feature at two APPT final tables. Spets has been playing poker for only two and a half years, starting out in home games before turning his focus to cash games and sit ‘n’ goes on PokerStars.



Seat 7: Shinhan Sid Kim (110,500 in chips): No Korean players are permitted to play in the Walker-hill Casino, but Shinhan Sid Kim comes as close to a local as anyone in the APPT Seoul field. Kim was born in Korea but moved to the USA as a four-year-old. After growing up in Ventura, California, he returned to Korea 10 years ago. Now 38, he’s turned more than 20 years of poker experience into a final table berth in his first major tournament appearance. Kim, who battled a short stack for much of the event but struck when it mattered, operates a chain of hagwons (or private schools) throughout Korea and also provides opportunities for Koreans to learn English through his own radio show and his own line of books.



Seat 8: Michel St Pierre (MSTP007 on PokerStars, 149,500 in chips): The sole North American to make the final table of the APPT Seoul main event, Michel St Pierre is originally from Repentigny in Quebec, Canada but now resides in Montreal. A contractor who works in property development, he has been playing poker for about three years and has considerable experience in a number of major Canadian poker tournaments. The 29-year-old qualified for the long trek from the east coast of Canada to East Asia via a $109 buy-in tournament on PokerStars, where he holds Goldstar status. St Pierre is hoping the “jouissance” (or enjoyment) he’s been experiencing in South Korea will continue all the way to the APPT Seoul title.



Seat 9: Seval Hægeland (Biffen 1 on PokerStars, 127,500 in chips): It’s been a massive month for Norwegian poker after 19-year-old Annette Obrestad won the 2007 WSOP Europe main event. Seval Hægeland is hoping to follow in her footsteps with victory in the APPT Seoul main event. A native of Lyngden in southern Norway, the father-of-two qualified for his trip to South Korea via a $1 buy-in tournament on PokerStars for Nordic players, outlasting a massive field of more than 800 players. The 40-year-old bricklayer has been a lifelong poker player, and first picked up on Texas Hold’em about four years ago. He’s hoping to use the experience he picked up in last year’s PokerStars EPT event in Barcelona to steer him to victory in Seoul.

By Sean Callander

“There are eight million stories in the naked city; this has been one of them” was the tagline to the classic 1948 movie of the same title. There aren't exactly eight million PokerStars qualifiers at the APPT Seoul, but there are eight in the final 16, chasing the APPT title at the Walker-hill Casino tonight.

One of those players is Seval Hægeland, a bricklayer from the town of Lyngden in the south of Norway. After conquering a field of more than 800 players to qualify for a trip to South Korea via a $1 buy-in tournament, Hægeland has steadily amassed chips throughout the tournament to be perfectly poised for a shot at the final table. He’s currently fourth in chips, on 200,000.

And even better yarn is emerging with the performance of young Israeli Ziv Bachar. A final table finisher at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2006 (he won $95,000) and victor in the € 500 No Limit Hold'em Event at last year’s EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo (worth €54,400), Bachar is the new chip leader on 430,000. He won his way to Seoul on the back of a $109 satellite on PokerStars.



However, the dream has ended for another PokerStars qualifier, Germany’s Uwe Braukhoff. The freeroll winner grimly hung on after losing much of his stack to Hægeland just prior to the last break, then pushed all-in with pocket 10s.
The call came from another PokerStars qualifier, Swede Ulf Martensson, with Ah Kh. Martensson missed his overcards but rivered a flush on a board of Jh 9c 7s 5h 3h. Braukhoff takes home $4371 for his 15th placing, not bad for an investment of $0.



Braukhoff can also claim that he outlasted the final member of Team PokerStars Pro still in the running for the silverware, Isabelle ‘No Mercy’ Mercier. Short-stacked for much of the day, Mercier endlessly searched for opportunities to double up, but they proved few and far between. Eventually she ran into, you guessed it, James Honeybone. She pushed in for her last 40,000 and received an insta-call from the New Zealander.



He showed pocket aces against Mercier’s pocket eights, and just to rub salt into the wound, Honeybone hit an ace on the flop to send the French-Canadian glamour to the rail.


We’re just three spots away from deciding the final table line-up for tomorrow.

Chip count, day 2 (approximate)

• Ziv Bachar (Israel) 430,000


• Jozef Berec (Australia) 250,000


• James Honeybone (NZ) 240,000


• Seval Hægeland (Norway) 200,000


• Daniel Schreiber (USA) 140,000


• Paul Adams (USA) 126,000


• Roger Spets (Sweden) 90,000


• Shinhan Sid Kim 85,000


• Ulf Martensson (Sweden) 75,000


• Kent Justice (USA) 70,000


• Michel St-Pierre (Canada) 60,000


• Michael Collins (USA) 50,000

Previous APPT Posts:

• Was there something in the food?


• Chinese Poker, it's anyone's game


• A Case of Tae Kwon Woe


• Schreiber stays on top in race for Seoul crown


• ‘Rekrul’ rules late on day one


• Mercier makes her move


• Quality field takes aim at Team PokerStars


• Who are those masked men?


• Seoul Tournament Kicks Off

Seat 1: Ian Cox, 45, UK – 234,000
Of all today’s final table players, Ian Cox, a poker pro & sports bettor from Poole, Dorset, has the most experience beneath the studio lights. His first live poker came after qualifying online for the 2005 Poker Million and he’s played in three later TV tournaments. Cox spent 11 years terrorizing fixed odds bookmakers with his knowledge of golf betting, before moving to the exchanges. He took up poker while waiting for market moves. Three final tables from 11 live events in 2006 and six from 14 this year attest to the skills of a natural.

Seat 2: Florian Langmann, 24, Germany – 927,000

Florian, the reigning German champion, carries the chip lead to the final table of the EPT and is enjoying the best year of his fledgling poker career. A professional player taking a break from studies in Dresden, he made two final tables in this year's Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas and cashed in EPT Dortmund last year. Oiginally from Verden in Germany, Florian usually plays high-limit SNGs on PokerStars.

Seat 3: Anthony Lellouche, 27, France – 466,000

Parisian Antony Lellouche mainly plays live poker in high stakes cash games around the world. He is both respected and well-liked by his peers and mentors, including the “godfathers” of French poker Claude Cohen and Jan Boubli. Antony turned pro nine years ago, honing his skills at the smallest limit games at the Aviation Club. Fearless and intuitive, Antony has already made two WSOP final tables and come close in two EPT Grand Finals – 12th in 2005 and 21st in 2007. Today gives him his biggest tournament payout to date.

Seat 4: Fredrik Haugen, 19, Sweden, PokerStars cash qualifier - 190,000
Fredrik, from Gothernburg, is already a highly experienced poker player. With EPT final tables often dominated by Swedes, Fredrik is – unusually - the last Swedish survivor at EPT London and, being the short stack, his task is hardest. One thing in his favour is his girlfriend Elvedina who made the journey with him, providing moral support from the rail. She admitted to being “very nervous” but Fredrik looks far more relaxed. His previous biggest win was 32nd place at EPT Dortmund last year.

Seat 5: Josh Egan, 23, New Zealand, PokerStars double shoot-out qualifier - 477,000

Student Josh has had a "massive roller-coaster" at the London EPT. Down to 3,000 in chips on Day 1, three great hands (fives, sixes and kings) turned it around for the 23-year-old from Auckland. Josh also qualified for the Barcelona leg of this year's EPT via a double shootout, on the same day that he also won his double shootout ticket to London -- four sit and go wins back-to-back, a 6,642 to one shot. He also previously qualified for the 2006 World Series where he came 602nd for $20,000. His strategy for today is suss out the table – and avoid chip leader Florian Langmann.

Seat 6: Marcel Baran, 28, Germany, PokerStars cash qualifier – 583,000

Marcel, from Aschaffenburg in Germany, has been pro for two years after quitting his job as a web developer. The decision has paid off as he’s now on the verge of his biggest cash yet. Marcel took up poker after coming home late one night and catching TV highlights of EPT Season 1. He is now set to improve on his previous best - 11th (€25,870) in EPT Dublin. “I’m not nervous. I’m only nervous when I’m all in. In a hand, I’ve no time to be nervous!”

Seat 7: Paul Mendes, 44, UK - 282,000

Londoner Paul has been a striking figure at EPT London thanks to his distinctive Stetson– a gift from Vegas. He said: “I wear it for special occasions – and this is certainly one of those.” Today’s final table place is by far Paul’s biggest result to date. His previous biggest win was £1,200 after coming 8th in a tournament in Edinburgh a couple of years ago. The 44-year-old screenplay writer took up poker when he was working in a petrol station. He was invited to a game by some regulars, won the game and hasn’t looked back since.

Seat 8: Joseph Mouawad, Lebanon, PokerStars cash qualifier - 780,000

It was nearly over before it began for Joseph Mouawad. He planned to come here with friends but when they cancelled, he nearly did too. Thankfully he changed his mind and is now 2nd in chips. “My friends are following the action from home instead. They’re very excited.” Married with three children, the real estate developer from Beirut began playing poker nearly 15 years ago. He took up Hold’em two years ago when it became popular in his local casino. Today will be his best result yet. “I’ll be nervous for the first 15 minutes - but then I’ll get going.”


Back row L to R: Antony Lellouche, Florian Langmann, Fredrik Haugen, Ian Cox
Front row L to R: Josh Egan, Marcel Baran, Paul Mendes, Joseph Mouawad

All pictures (c) Neil Stoddart

Credit: Neil Stoddart

Hello and welcome back - for the final time - to London.

It's final table time on the second stopping point of season four of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT). We've been holed up since Monday at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in Great Britain's venerable capital.

And late last night, we lost the 384th player from the 392 who entered the event, leaving us with the following eight who'll fight it out for the big money:

Florian Langmann - Germany - 927,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 780,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Marcel Baran - Germany - 583,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 477,000 (PokerStars double shootout qualifier)
Anthony Lellouch - France - 466,000
Paul Mendes - England - 282,000
Ian Cox - England - 234,000
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 190,000 (PokerStars cash qualifier)

A reminder of what they're playing for:

1st -- £611,520
2nd -- £346,528
3rd -- £203,840
4th -- £152,880
5th -- £124,342
6th -- £97,843
7th -- £77,459
8th -- £57,075

The final table is due to begin at 3.30 p.m. GMT, which is 10.30 a.m. ET. We'll have photographs and biographies of all the contenders before then, and then all the action as it happens.

By Sean Callander

Normally break time in a major tournament is like holding a red flag to a bull. Players go away and consider their position, and many return with a new found determination to make something happen. Usually, that means it’s time to push.

Well, the remaining 21 players in the PokerStars.net APPT Seoul main event have decided one thing – they want the money. A full level (with blinds at 1200/2400 and 400 antes) has passed without a single elimination.

But that’s not to say there hasn’t been any action – most of which has surrounded the excitable young New Zealander James Honeybone. Former chip leader Daniel Schreiber and Honeybone have butted heads on numerous occasions, but it was Schreiber who dealt a major blow to the Kiwi’s stack.

On a flop of Ad 9h 4h, Honeybone moved all in for 76,500 with Ah 3h. Schrieber made the call with Ac Qd. Honeybone’s nose was in front when a 3s came on the turn, but an unlikely 4c on the river negated Honeybone’s two pair as Schreiber’s queen came into play.

However, he quickly rebounded by doubling through Korean-based American Clarence Abrams. All-in pre-flop with pocket aces, Abrams (with pocket 10s) made a set on the flop but an ace on the turn breathed new life into Honeybone’s challenge.

But just when we thought it was safe to back into the water … a massive pot has followed the first two eliminations (Clarence Abrams and Beng Hong Ker) in more than 80 minutes.





On table one, Danny Purkins (pocket fives), Uwe Brauckhoff (pocket eights) and Seval Hægeland (As 10s) were all-in on a board of 3s 5s 8s. Hægeland, who qualified for the tournament via a $1 tournament on PokerStars, hauled in a massive pot when his nut flush held up. Purkins is out, and the German freeroll winner Brauckhoff has lost a substantial slice of his stack.





Meanwhile on table two, the charge of PokerNews marketing manager Cory-Ann Joseph ended in two hands, firstly when her pocket twos ran into Michael Collins’ eights; then her A 5 failed to improve against Bachar Ziv’s nines.



Then suddenly, the bubble burst after just two rounds of hand-for-hand when Haward Speer, a PokerStars qualifier from Germany, was knocked out in 17th position. With 16 players remaining, players have been redrawn into two tables (half of who qualified for their seats on PokerStars). Now it gets serious.



By the way, a quick mention about the great work of our two local photographers Byong Kwan and Jae Hoon. Covering their first major poker tournament, the two young snappers have been doing a terrific job. To check out some samples of their work, check out http://www.flickr.com/photos/9871433@n08. BY the way, if you see a name mispelled, or even see a picture of yourself and we didn't put your name right, please drop a line through Flickr, We'll do what we can to fix it up.

Chip count, day 2 (approximate)

• Jozef Berec (Australia) 400,000


• Bachar Ziv (Israel) 240,000


• Seval Hægeland (Norway) 230,000


• Daniel Schreiber (USA) 195,000


• Roger Spets (Sweden) 145,000

Previous APT Posts:

• Chinese Poker, it's anyone's game


• A Case of Tae Kwon Woe


• Schreiber stays on top in race for Seoul crown


• ‘Rekrul’ rules late on day one


• Mercier makes her move


• Quality field takes aim at Team PokerStars


• Who are those masked men?


• Seoul Tournament Kicks Off

Imagine this scene.

It's been a bloody fight on an Old West street. The shoot out has been blazing for fourteen hours and all but two of the gun fighters lay dead in the dirt. The two remaining foes are trading bullets and staring at each other across a High Noon landscape. One fighter falls, gutshot, and bleeding in the dirt. He's still breathing, but could succumb to his injuries at any moment. Maybe even resigned to his fate, the bloodied man raises his head and down the barrel of the standing cowboy's gun.

Click.

It would seem too good to be true. The gun is jammed.

Now, the bleeding man has a choice. He can empty his gun into his defenseless opponent. Or, he can say, "Oh, I'll wait. Unjam your pistol and we'll resume when you're ready."

Yeah, that kind of thing didn't happen in the Old West, and, frankly, that kind of thing doesn't happen in poker very often. In a world where angle shooters are everywhere, catching a break in poker is rare. And yet, that's what happened in Event #20 of the 2007 World Championship of Online Poker, a $530 Triple Shootout.

However, we're getting ahead of ourselves.

Seven hundred and twenty nine people packed the triple shootout event. To make the final table, players would have to win two single tables in a row. These nine did just that.



Seat 1: adotlee
Seat 2: lyerly_
Seat 3: "Dumping"KGB
Seat 4: Cobra234
Seat 5: Nutedawg
Seat 6: Zock'n'Rock
Seat 7: THE__D__RY
Seat 8: AJunglen7
Seat 9: pannipha

With 3000 in chips and super-low blinds, there was less action at the beginning stages and more questions about the conspicuous absence of Cobra324. Apparently, he was taking a little nap and missed quite a few orbits before making it to the table. In the meantime, "Dumping"KGB jumped out to early lead after rivering a spade flush in a hand against Zock'n'Rock. Zock'n'Rock was not deterred however, and over the next half an hour managed to work his way up over 4,400 in chips.

The first huge confrontation of the third round came when lyerly_ and "Dumping"KGB were all-in pre-flop. At the 25/50 level, it would take a lot to get all the chips in the middle. No surprise then that both players had aces. Drama came up on the turn when a third spade appeared on the board. Lyerly_ held the ace of spades. No spade on the river saved "Dumping"KGB an ugly beat and play resumed.

It only took a few hands before the action monster raised its ugly head again, and this time, the ugliness prevailed. After raising and calling a re-raise from Cobra234, AJunglen7 saw a flop of Tc2c4s. When Cobra234 bet out, Ajunglen7 raised, and Cobra put him all-in. AJunglen7 couldn't have been happier to call. He'd flopped a set of fours, good enough to beat Cobra234's pair of kings. Cobra234 was out a few hands later in ninth place, cashing for $3,645.

Lyerly_ must have been a little misty about missing his freeroll a few hands earlier. Just a few hands after Cobra234 went out, Lyerly_ went head to head with adotlee. Both held AK, but lyerly_'s was suited in spades. They got it in pre-flop and saw two spades on the flop and one on the river to send adotlee out in in eighth place, a $6,561 payday.

The beginning hour of the third round had been void of big action until those hands happened. Suddenly, things were getting crazy. Witness Nutedawg raising to 241 and AJunglen7 putting him all in for another 1,000. AJunglen7 held KQ suited in spades to Nutedawg's AT. This time, all three spades fell on the flop and Nutedawg was out in seventh place. He earned $10,206.

Players took a thirty-minute break and came back to some tighter play. After ten more minutes of small action at the 50/100 level, the chip stacks looked like this:

Seat 2: lyerly_ (2508 in chips)
Seat 3: "Dumping"KGB (4542 in chips)
Seat 6: Zock'n'Rock (5300 in chips)
Seat 7: THE__D__RY (4585 in chips)
Seat 8: AJunglen7 (7560 in chips)
Seat 9: pannipha (2505 in chips)

Zock'n'Rock moved into the lead after playing AQ against AJunglen7's AK. While both players played the hand relatively carefully, the queen on the flop gave Zock'n'Rock the chip lead. It was a position he clearly relished. A few hands later, he called a 1350 bet from THE__D__RY on a Qc5d4c8sAs board with a pair of nines. THE__D__RY held KcJc for the busted flush draw. Zock'n'Rock's chip lead got even bigger and he held close to half the chips in play.

The final table had not yet seen a brutal suckout. THE__D__RY was the unfortunate victim of the first. Lucky enough to get pocket aces all-in against lyerly_'s AcQc, THE__D__RY likely threw up in his mouth a little when he saw the flop 9TJ with two clubs. The turn meant nothing, but the river was a king, filling in lyerly_'s straight and sending THE__D__RY out in sixth place with a $14,580 cash.

Pannipha had not been playing a lot of hands, but by this point also didn't have a ton of chips. When he came over the top of an AJunglen7 raise, he didn't have enough chips to force a fold. While Pannipha held AK, AJunglen7's Q4 turned a four and sent Pannipha out in fifth place. He picked up $20,047.

Here's what the chip stacks looked like after the hand:

Seat 2: lyerly_ (4953 in chips)
Seat 3: "Dumping"KGB (1897 in chips)
Seat 6: Zock'n'Rock (12190 in chips)
Seat 8: AJunglen7 (7960 in chips)

On the short-stack, "Dumping"KGB was looking for a chance to double up. When Zock'n'Rock came in for a raise, "Dumping"KGB pushed with AT. He was in bad shape. Zock'n'Rock held pocket queens. "Dumping"KGB didn't improve and finished in fourth place for $27,337.

Three-handed play was tough, but did not see an exit before the next break. Zock'n'Rock had moved his chip stack above the 15,000 mark. AJunglen7 was in second place with 6,400. Lylerly_ was not too far behind with 4,700. When the players returned from break, they faced 100/200 blinds.

Within a few hands after play resumed, the shorter stacks went to war. AJunglen7 raised from the button, lyerly_ re-raised from the small blind. After thinking for a bit, Ajunglen7 pushed and lyerly_, who had moved up to second place in chips, called with pocket tens. AJunglen7 called with A9, a hand rendered useless after a ten came on the flop. AJunglen7 was out in third place and cashed for $36,450.

Seat 2: lyerly_ (10693 in chips)
Seat 6: Zock'n'Rock (16307 in chips)

Zock'n'Rock quickly chipped up to 18,000 and kept the aggression on. Lylerly_, however, would not back down. He waited for his spot and then bet out on a Jh 9c 3d flop. Zock'n'Rock raised and lyerly_ moved all-in. Zock'n'Rock thought for a second before folding and moving lyerly_ up above 12,000 in chips. Just a few hands later, though, he gave all of it back after Zock'n'Rock flopped trip eights and rivered a full house.

The players then settled into a chip-passing rhythm that would've been hypnotic if not for the money on the line. Just when the rail started to get dreamy, the first huge confrontation hit. Zock'n'Rock held 66 to lyerly_'s pocket nines. Lyerly_'s hand held up, and for the first time, he held the chip lead. Now, it was his turn to turn up the aggression. After an entire game on the offensive, Zock'n'Rock was set back on his heels and suddenly had only 7,000 chips.

What might have turned into a quick bloodbath soon came to a standstill as lyerly_ lost his internet connection. This was the moment in which Zock'n'Rock had a choice. He could blind lyerly_ out or he could exhibit something far too rarely seen in poker: sportsmanship.

Only six hands went by before Zock'n'Rock asked tournament adminstrators to pause the event. As the rail waited, this appeared in the chat box.

StaffBryanS [Supervisor]: We have reached lyerly on the phone. He is dashing to a friend's house. Approximately 15-20 minutes, okay?

Zock'n'Rock: well alright, I hope I dont fall asleep by then. Gonna make some more coffee heh.

Twenty more minutes passed before lyerly_ re-appeared and said, "Thank you for the respect and consideration."

In a Western made by Disney, these two men would've stood up from the ghost town dust and headed to the saloon for a root beer. However, Disney doesn't cotton to poker and poker tournaments don't end with two people standing.

With lyerly_'s virtual gun un-jammed, the fight resumed, and it was short. Zock'n'Rock's dying gasp was an all-in bluff with 63. It ran directly into lyerly_'s pocket sevens and never caught up.

While Zock'n'Rock finished in second, his sportsmanship alone gained him respect, something a poker player simply can't buy. So, respect to Zock'n'Rock and congratulations to lyerly_ for winning Event #20 of the World Championship of Online Poker.

2007 WCOOP: Event #20 Final Table Results

1. lyerly_ (United States) $76,545.00
2. Zock'n'Rock (Germany) $51,030.00
3. AJunglen7 (United States) $36,450.00
4. "Dumping"KGB (United States) $27,337.50
5. pannipha (United Kingdom) $20,047.50
6. THE__D__RY (United States) $14,580.00
7. Nutedawg (United States) $10,206.00
8. adotlee (United States) $6,561.00
9. Cobra234 (Denmark) $3,645.00

By Sean Callander

The PokerStars.net Asia Pacific Poker Tour is breaking new ground in this emerging poker region, but it’s a case of back to the future in Seoul thanks to a unique addition to the tournament schedule.

Although Chinese Poker is one of the most popular forms of the game – especially among poker’s top players – the addition of Chinese Poker to the list of events on the APPT Seoul schedule has set tongues wagging all over the poker world.
So why is Chinese poker (sometimes called Russian Poker or 13-card Poker) so popular? Well, it’s easy to play, the rules are basic, luck generally overrides skill (although there is still a significant component of skill to the game) and it’s a great game to play heads-up.

They’re just some of the reasons that you’ll often see a gaggle of pros huddled in the corner of a poker room, in a hotel room or just about anywhere there’s enough space to deal the cards.

Legend has it that Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein provided Phil Ivey with the excuse to attend the 2005 Monte Carlo Millions after agreeing to play Chinese Poker with him high above the Atlantic. Ivey went on to win the tournament and the $US1.6 million first prize. Greenstein is also said to have dropped $US1.5 million to high-stakes rival/friend Ted Forrest in a month-long game of Chinese Poker.

While Chinese Poker returns to the tournament spotlight here at the Paradise Walkerhill Casino, the game experienced a moment in the sun during the mid-1990s. At the 1995 and 1996 WSOP tournaments, two Chinese Poker events were held in each year ($1500 and $5000 buy-ins).
Let’s hope that Chinese Poker is back to stay, thanks to the PokerStars.net APPT.

Meanwhile, it’s chaos in the main event with players still dropping at an astounding rate. Jozef Berec looks almost assured of a final table berth after taking a massive pot against Singapore’s Zhiwei Ang. The Australian said he had a great read on Ang, who pushed all-in after the turn on a queen-high board with A K. Berec called and showed K Q, and made two-pair when a king hit on the river.

Ang has been one of the stories of the tournament. The quietly-spoken but fiercely competitive young student was among the chip leaders at the end of day one before walking into Berec.

However, his countryman Beng Hong Ker, who qualified for this event via a $109 buy-in event on PokerStars, remains in the hunt with more than 45,000 in chips.




Another player to make a move is Seval Hægeland. Amazingly, the Norwegian player earned his trip to Seoul in a special $1 buy-in tournament for players in the Nordic region. He’s sitting above 100,000 in chips. Just 21 players remain, an agonising five spots short of the money with less than an hour until the dinner break.

Chip count, day 2 (approximate)

• Jozef Berec (Australia) 220,000


• Daniel Schreiber (USA) 158,000


• James Honeybone (NZ) 142,000


• Seval Hægeland (Norway) 115,000PokerStars Qualifier


• Cory-Ann Joseph (Australia) 79,000

Previous Posts:

• A Case of Tae Kwon Woe


• Cory-Ann waves the flag for females, felines and the Land Down Under


• Schreiber stays on top in race for Seoul crown


• ‘Rekrul’ rules late on day one


• Mercier makes her move


• Quality field takes aim at Team PokerStars


• Who are those masked men?


• Seoul Tournament Kicks Off

By Sean Callander

If Cory-Ann Joseph’s grin gets any broader, the top of her head is going to snap off! She is one of two female players still in the hunt for the APPT Seoul crown (along with Isabelle Mercier) and one of only two Australians still in the field (there’s also chip leader Jo Berec).

But the main reason for Cory-Ann’s joy is happening thousands of miles away at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Australia. For sports fans out there, it’s the biggest weekend for Aussie football followers, with the grand final of the Australian Football League being played.

Cory-Ann’s favourite side, the Geelong Cats, haven’t won a premiership since 1963, but they ended the 44-year drought with the greatest winning margin in League history in a one-sided game against the Port Adelaide Power. A quote Cory? “Go the Cats!”

As if to celebrate, Cory-Ann just took down a nice pot against Swedish player Roger Spets, when her pocket kings held firm against Spets’ K 10. She’s now third in chips, trailing only Daniel Schreiber and her countryman Berec.

Other big movers in the first two levels on day two of the APPT Seoul main event include James Honeybone, who’s up to 125,000 after taking a slice of Jo Berec’s stack. However, Berec quickly made amends by eliminating young US player Alex Fitzgerald. Honeybone also claimed the scalp of Isaac ‘The General’ Galazan, who’s K Q failed to improve on a board of Jd 6c 5d 10d Js against the Kiwi’s pocket sevens.



We’ve also lost Jimmy Cha, a local poker icon who proved a popular addition to the line-up for this event. Cha’s pocket kings ran into Ryan Collett’s pocket aces, and the board provided no favours. We’re down to 30 players, just 14 short of the money.

Day 2 chip count (approximate):

• Jozef Berec (Australia) 180,000


• Daniel Schreiber (USA) 132,000


• Cory-Ann Joseph (Australia) 98,000


• Bachar Ziv (Israel) 82,000


• Heige Vatne (Norway) 78,000


• Roger Spets (Sweden) 73,000


• Kent Justice (USA) 70,000


• Ryan Collett (USA) 70,000

Latest placings:

• 37 - Ruizhong Chen (Switzerland)


• 38 - Anthony Rafter (Ireland)


• 39 - Jonny Vincent (Australia)


• 40 - Shannon Hudson (USA)


• 41 - Naohiko Yamazaki (Japan)


• 42 - James Potter (Australia)


• 43 - Tomonaga Masaaki (Japan)


• 44 - Jacques Zaicik (France)


• 45 - Jimmy Cha (USA)


• 46 - Michadel Walker (USA)


• 47 - Paul Roper (Ireland)


• 48 - Karsten Jensen (Denmark)

No matter whether it's the World Championship of Online Poker, the World Series, or your local bar league's yearly championship series, when it starts getting toward the end, the pressure to put up a good score starts to mount. With only three days left in the 2005 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker, the $530 Pot-Limit Omaha event drew all kinds of wild gamblers to compete for the $523,000 prize pool. More than 1,000 runners jumped into the Friday event. One hundred fifty-three of them got paid, bot only nine could say they made it to the final table. There, the gold WCOOP bracelet and some big money waited for first place.



Seat 1: buck21 (675653 in chips)
Seat 2: cpfactor (346548 in chips)
Seat 3: Gu Minda (254942 in chips)
Seat 4: tralaira (321000 in chips)
Seat 5: Taknapotin (610847 in chips)
Seat 6: muzzu (278486 in chips)
Seat 7: Egar1m (130656 in chips)
Seat 8: villepn (398332 in chips)
Seat 9: Niiiv (121536 in chips)

The first big hand of the final table saw a rough runner-runner beat for villepn. On a 5dJs2c flop, muzzu re-raised villepn all-in. Villepn had flopped a set of fives. Muzzu only held JdAhKh4d for a pair of jacks and a gutshot draw. A running king and jack, though, pushed the pot the muzzu. His reponse? "Uuups."

Villepn said nothing. Or, at least, we couldn't hear it. His neighbors? That may be a different story. Villepn was left with 128,000 in chips, while muzzu moved up into second place.

Gu Minda was the next to double up after flopping jacks full of sevens against Taknapotin and getting paid off. That hand cut Taknapotin down to less than 300,000 in chips. He wasn't around for much longer. He came in for a raise with 9cQc7dTc and called a re-raise from buck21. It was the kind of flop that was going to get Taknapotin all in: 7cQd8s. With two pair and the open-ended draw, Taknapotin got his money in to see buck21's As3s7sAd. When the board paired eights on the turn, buck21 moved ahead in the hand and Taknapotin missed his myraid of outs. He finished in ninth place for $6,014.

Niiiv didn't have a lot of chips at the start of the final table and wasn't able to climb out of the hole. Niiiv re-raised all-in with KdKc4hQd versus villepn's 8c8sAc9h. An eight fell on the flop, Niiiv never caught up, and ultimately finished in eighth place for $10,460.

It took a few more minutes for the action to heat back up, but when it did, it was hot. Gu Minda flopped quad aces and got paid off by buck21. Then villepn got all in with aces and flopped a full house versus cpfactor.

Aces worked for those players, but failed Egar1m. He got all-in pre-flop with them against buck21's 8d9c7hQs. Buck21 flopped two pair and rivered a boat to send Egar1m out in seventh place and a cash of $10,206.

Seconds later, cpfactor went on a run and doubled up twice, once against muzzu (in which his aces held up) and once against villepn (in which he cracked aces). After that, play slowed down for a while. Some measured action led up to a big confrontation between villepn and tralaira. Villepn held queens pre-flop to tralaira's kings. Villepn couldn't suck out and was reduced to getting his remaining chips in against two players. While, the rail never saw his hand, he coudn't beat Gu Minda's trip threes and exited in sixth place for $14,580.

Five handed, the stacks looked like this:

Seat 1: buck21 (1345638 in chips)
Seat 2: cpfactor (350432 in chips)
Seat 3: Gu Minda (901980 in chips)
Seat 4: tralaira (153000 in chips)
Seat 6: muzzu (386950 in chips)

Sitting third in chips, cpfactor came in for a raise and got action from Gu Minda. The flop came down Ks8d4d and both players checked. The turn was the Ts. Gu Minda bet out and cpfactor raised. Gu Minda put him all in and cpfactor called. Cpfactor held 8c7sTdQd to Gu Minda's JsKhTc9s. A king on the river solidified Gu Minda's winning hand and cpfactor was out in fifth place, cashing for $26,934.

Within the next few hands, tralaira was down below 100,000 in chips and got all-in on a 999 flop. Bad timing, for sure, as Gu Minda held the case nine and put tralaira out in fourth place, a $33,472 payday.

Buck21 took three-handed play as an opportunty to slowly build his stack and, before long, had more than two million chips. His stack grew even bigger when his pocket aces held up against muzzu's 7hTsJs7s. Muzzu finished in third for $41,840.

Heads-up, buck21 had a better than 2:1 chip lead and refused to talk about a deal, saying it was "only a 60k difference." Gu Minda accepted the denial and set about chipping into buck21's lead. He nearly did it in less than 15 minutes. Finally, buck21 said okay to a chop. It took a while to negotiate it, but the deal ended with $16,000 left on the table and the players getting the following payouts.

buck21 - $81,262
Gu Minda - $77,053

It took a while, but buck21 prevailed. He gradually worked Gu Minda down to a 1:4 deficit. All the money eventually went in after Gu Minda turned two pair. At the same time, buck21 had turned his Broadway straight. Gu Minda didn't boat up on the river and finished in second place.

Congratualtions to all the people who cased in Event #19. Final table results are below.

2007 WCOOP: Event #19 Final Table Results

1. buck21 (Canada) $97,262
2. Gu Minda (France) $77,053.00
3. muzzu (Finland) $41,840.00
4. tralaira (Spain) $33,472.00
5. cpfactor (United States) $26,934.50
6. villepn (Finland) $20,397.00
7. Egar1m (United States) $15,167.00
8. Niiiv (United States) $10,460.00
9. Taknapotin (United States) $6,014.50

By Sean Callander


A word of warning for any aspiring poker players out there who plan on crossing a member of Team PokerStars with a poorly timed raise or a horrible suckout on the river. They now have the power; the power to fightback!

Prior to the start of day two here in South Korea for the inaugural APPT Seoul event, Team PokerStars sampled some local culture with a visit to the Korea Taekwondo Tae Jeong Club – their lesson may not have added much to a centuries worth martial arts’ tradition on the Korean Peninsula, but it certainly provided plenty of side-splitting moments for the PokerStars Pro and assembled media.



Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, Isabelle Mercier, Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Tuan Lam suited up in traditional costume, went through some stretching exercises and then it was time to kick some bags and break some blocks!

Taekwondo is the national sport of South Korea and sparring, kyeorugi, is a recognised Olympic sport. Roughly translated, 'tae' means to destroy with the feet; 'kwon' to strike or smash with the hand; and do is the 'path', 'way' or 'method". In English it can be understood as; “the way of the feet and fist”.

Joe Hachem, who has years of karate experience under his belt, certainly showed some fists of fury when he shattered five wooden blocks with a single blow. During last night’s dinner break, Joe warned that he had some steam to let off – indeed, sparks literally flew as the timber shattered into several pieces.

Despite playing through to the end of day one and only catching a few hours’ sleep, Isabelle Mercier was full of energy and used her kickboxing background to deliver some ferocious kicks. ‘No Mercy’ shared an ominous message after the session finished: “I think I’ll break some blocks if I make the final table, that way no-one will ever mess with me.”



Mercier is now back in the Walker-hill Casino poker room battling it out to live up to her promise of making the final table.
The new chip leader is Australian Jo Berec, who just took down a massive pot to move ahead of last night’s chip leader Dan Schreiber to 190,000. Berec, who won the Victorian Poker Championships main event in his home casino Crown in Melbourne, has been in terrific form and will be a tough man to break down today. Only 35 players remain in the race for the title, with the top 16 players chasing the money.