It's that time again, when we dust off the old chestnut, dragged from one EPT event to another, and forecast the likelihood of a first "second" time EPT winner. Numerous one time ("one time!") champions arrived in Copenhagen to contest this one, five of whom were still standing, or sitting, when day two opened its doors this afternoon.
That number would soon be cut by two when Peter Jepsen (EPT4 Warsaw) disappeared, his 22,400 stack sucked up by unseen forces of the day two juggernaut. Then Reuben Peters (EPT3 Dublin) who had rallied earlier from his initial 14,000, was no more, gone the same way.
Andreas Hoivold (EPT3 Dortmund) looked a lock to join them just an hour ago, losing out big time with his A-K against A-Q. But with admirable fortitude, and a Scandinavian stubborn streak, the Norwegian bounced back to a still cagey but better than nothing 26,000, describing his last level with an up and down wave of the hand.
That leaves Arnaud Mattern and Noah Boeken...
Noah Boeken
The Team PokerStars Pro Boeken has previous in Denmark, having won the EPT Copenhagen's first incarnation when he defeated Ram Vaswani to become Exhibit A in the case proving young kids with laptops were the new overlords in poker's hierarchy.
Mattern's success came four seasons later and was no less impressive, a top draw scrap against the likes of Kristian Kjondal, Gino Alacqua and Marcus Golser, which inked the Frenchman's name into the EPT Who's Who.
So it's Hoivold, Boeken and Mattern ensuring the history book keepers remain on guard this week.
Team PokerStars Pros Marcin Horecki and Isabelle Mercier
The news elsewhere is not good for the Team PokerStars Pro stable. Following Isabelle Mercier out the door is Marcin Horecki. The Pole's departure was quick but you suspect painful, running kings into aces before pushing his last in with K-J against A-Q.
