PokerStarsBlog.com :: Day 1a

EPT London: Day 1a, Level 6

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 12:54:57 -0800

Live updates from day 1A, level six of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below. The up-to-date selected chip counts are on the chip count page.

Blinds: 200-400/50

6:43pm--Dinner

Players are now on a 75-minute dinner break.

6:42pm--Is it loud in here?

We were very good boys last night. Tucked in bed as early as we could get there, and all that. But, while we were resting, here's what happened at last night's party.

Watch EPT6 London Day 1A: Pokerstars Party on PokerStars.tv

6.40pm: He's a luck sack

Spotting Kevin MacPhee with one of the larger stacks in the room prompted me to investigate in to how this came about. So I crouched alongside him as he told me the story of how he won a 135,000 pot. He saw a [8h][7h]-7 flop whilst holding A-7 and all the chips went it and he saw his opponent held the heavily drawing [6h][5h] for an open-ended straight flush draw. The straight and flush were taken out of the equation when MacPhee boated-up on turn when an eight fell and he managed to avoid the straight flush on river to win the monster pot.

6:24pm: Takes a licking

Mike "Timex" McDonald barely moved as he put out 2,700 on a board of [jh][Ks][2c][7s]. His opponent struggled to find a call, but eventually did. The [9h] on the turn drew another check to McDonald. He looked pained. It was clear he wanted to give his opponent a nice seat on the train to value town (choo-chooooooo!). Instead, he checked behind with his [Kc][Tc] and piled up his chips. He's currently sitting on around 18K.

6.18pm: Not a Goodwin
EPT Barcelona runner-up Marc Goodwin has been eliminated in unfortunate circumstances, You would think getting all in with aces versus queens was a good start and you'd be correct. A great middle would be to flop an ace and that's what happened. The end is a different matter though as by the time we got to the river there were four spades on board and Goodwin's opponent had the all important queen of spades to make a four-flush.

6:03pm--One Time Chip comes out early

We're not saying he used it too early, but...

Markus Gonsalves was all in and against pocket queens. He held [Ad][As], and to our unmitigated surprise, sat back and played his PokerStars Blog One Time Chip.

True to its near-supernatural power, the One Time Chip summoned the [Ac] from the deck and put it out on the flop, virtually sealing the win.

We congratulate Gonslaves for his use of the chip and encourage as many of you as possible to wallow in its power. That said, it's Day 1A. Some of you might wanna hold on to yours until we get near the bubble.

5.55pm: Ludo not so lucky this time
Ludovic Lacay has just been eliminated after running two-pair into a flush. The Frenchman raised from mid-position and was called by the button and the small blind before the flop came [7h][8c][qc]. Ludovic's 1,900 continuation bet was only called by the button to see the [5c] turn. Lacay's plan at this stage was to check-raise all-in with his [qd][8d] but unfortunately for him his opponent made his flush with [6c][tc]. No full house for Lacay as the river came [th] and he quietly got up and left.

EPT London: Day 1a, Level 5

Fri, 02 Oct 2009 11:42:44 -0800

Live updates from day 1A, level five of the EPT London Main Event event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains, Brad Willis and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below. The up-to-date selected chip counts are on the chip count page.

Blinds: 150-300/25

5:40pm-- Maridu is a liar (maybe)

Team reporting here...

As one of us walked by, we witnessed this:

Maria "maridu" Mayrinck moved up to 75,000 after eliminating a player. He shoved on a flop of [2c][9s][9c] with [qc][tc] and Mayrinck called with [2d][2h]. "Good game," said Mayrinck with what looked like genuine sympathy in her heart.

A more jaded reporter from this same humble blog walked by a couple of minutes later.

Through a series of hand gestures and mouthed words, Maria communicated she had 75,000. At this point in the tournament, that's a pretty good number. So, said reporter elbowed his way through the throngs of looky-loos to ask a pretty good question.

"How did you get all those?"

"Flopped a boat," she said. "Made two sets."

And then she said something curious, something that made that little part of the jaded reporter's brain tingle.

"I haven't bluffed once," she said.

The reporter let the declaration hang in the air and waited for a punchline. When none came, he said, "Suuuure..."

He walked away wondering how she could lie right to his face.

"Not once!" she yelled behind him.

5.34pm: Team Pro Talk
Team PokerStars Pro Pieter de Korver has won a small pot to get his stack moving back in the right direction. He was sat in the big blind and called a mid-position raise. They both checked the flop before the turn came, giving us a [5c][kh][5d][kc] board. De Korver check-called a 3,100 bet before the [jh] river was checked through. De Korver opened [qh][qd] which was good for the pot and a stack of 21,000.

Captain Yuen
Young British pro Sida Yuen is currently one of our chip leaders with a stack nudging 90,000. Not bad going seeing as he is surrounded by such luminaries as Team PokerStars Pro Johhny Lodden, EPT Barcelona runner-up Marc Goodwin and Mark Telcher.

As I was observing his play he was involved in pots with two of these players and won them both. The first one was just as I arrived at the table he was heads-up in a blind battle with Mark Telcher. They both checked the turn with around 7,000 in the pot to give us a [3s][4c][7s][td][qh] board. Telcher led out for 5,500 and Yuen made the call prompting Telcher to tap the table in recognition that the call was good. Yuen opened [jh][jd] before scooping in the pot.

The next hand he three-bet Marc Goodwin's late position raise from the small blind. Goodwin called but folded to Yuen's bet on the [3d][2s][2d] flop. "I'll have a hand against you some time" said Goodwin as he gave up the pot.

4:52pm--Kings still win

Last we wrote of Joep van den Bijgaart, the Dutch Team PokerStars Pro, he was pushing his kings around, killing his opponent's queens, and doubling up to 42,000.

Just now, our Dutch friend appeared on our perch overlooking the tournament floor and shrugged his shoulders. "Queens against kings," he said.

It happened on the first hand after the break. Raise, three-bet, four-bet, five bet, ship it...done.

The 80,000 pot went to his opponent with whom he'd been tangling all afternoon.

"He was three-betting me and four betting me with 6-3 suited," Van den Bijgaart said and wandered off to look for other action.

Better luck next time, Joep.

4:47pm--Action!

The second 15-minute break of the day is now behind us and the players are once again in action. Now...with antes.

EPT London: First plane to Stockholm

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 12:27:00 -0800

And so the carnage begins. The Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson is the first faller from those we're following closely here. He was deeply involved in countless pots early on, getting to the flop and turn and missing them all, having to fold to sizeable bets from his opponents.

Evenutally, he flopped top pair with 7-9, re-raised an early-position raiser, and found his last 1,600 in the middle when an ace turned. By that point, his opponent's A-6 had outdrawn him and the Swede is out.

He's in good company on the rail, where Chris Ferguson, John Kabbaj, John Phan, James Akenhead and half of the Hendon Mob - Joe Beevers and Ross Boatman - are also lurking. Better news for Barny Boatman, who has about 20,000, with Max Pescatori and Beth Shak also chipped up in these early days.

EPT London: Suarez swerves all-in to double up

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 11:10:21 -0800

It may be early but there's still room for 'drama' hands, like pocket aces calling a king-queen all-in.

Making that death rattle noise that anyone would make holding the king-queen, Mr Saurez, the player whose tournament life was at stake, stood up ready for an honourable exit. He picked up his glasses case, phone, paperback and newspaper, his coat all ready on.

But this was one of those hands you could see coming...

9-8-J-A-T

Then another noise. This one came from the rest of the table, like they'd all just watched a particularly hard football tackle.

Suarez was back in chair and the tournament. Book down, glasses too. Coat still on though.

EPT London: Table Tsar Kravchenko

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:50:49 -0800

PokerStars qualifier Nik Persaud is out. The details are sketchy but from what he told me it was a cavalier move. "At least I went out in style" he said.

A different path for Alex Kravchenko. He may not play in a cavalier fashion but Kravchenko also cuts an impressive figure at the table. May be it's his rock steady hand, his mirrored glasses or glacial expression, but something makes Alex the dominant presence at any table. It's probably the same in the restaurant at dinner.

His latest hand started with Alex raising pre-flop from middle position, then raised by the big blind before he called. The flop was dealt, Kc-Ks-9s. Kravchenko's opponent, complete with a standard issue hood and considered expression, tapped the table. Kravchenko did the same.

The turn came the Ts. The face behind the mirrored shades doesn't flinch, even when the action is checked to him. The Russian placed 800 into the pot, getting called. Then the river card, the 3h. Again, no movement from Kravchenko until the action is checked to him. Then, with a concise and efficient flourish of his arm, he bet 2,400.

His opponent sat riffling for a bit. It seemed he was set to fold until he made a blink-and-you'll-miss-it call. A mistake it turned out, watching as Kravchenko turned over his 4s-6s for a flush. Good for the pot and an early boost for the Team PokerStars Pro.

EPT London: Bullet-point bulletin - No2

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 10:20:13 -0800

As alternates still buzz around the building, including the likes of Erica Schoenberg and David Benyamine, both of whom are on the waiting list for a seat, the early chip leader seems to be the former EPT champion Mark Teltscher, who already seems to have doubled to 20,000 which probably also accounted for our first departure. There'll be one of those alternates now in that seat, so we can't even tell who it was.

But here's some more information:

There's an early table of death contender in the bar area. In a row, we have: Alexandre Gomes, Isaac Haxton, John Kabbaj and Chris Ferguson.

Haxon also wins quote of the level: "We're going to have fun!" he says, as his pre-flop bet to 300 is bumped up to 1,500 by the player in the big blind. "But not yet," he continues, and folds.

Local table: Again all in one line are Vic regulars Nick Gibson, Tony Cascarino and Teltscher.

Double Deeb: Both Freddy and Shaun Deeb are in the building and in the day 1a field. The seasoned veteran and the internet sensation are not related, despite what you might read elsewhere. Or here.

Familiar faces from EPT battles past: Previous winners Pascal Perrault (Vienna, season one); Patrik Antonius (Baden, season two); Gavin Griffin (Monte Carlo, season two); Jason Mercier (San Remo, season four); Joseph Mouawad (London, season four).

And others: Joe Alpayaa, Annette Obrestad, Phidias Georgiou.

EPT London: Bullet-point bulletin - No1

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:32:24 -0800

The frantic, frenetic action of the EPT has begun. As usual, we'll be bringing you all the colour and features from on and off the tournament floor, but sometimes it's better to just out point all the crucial facts in a list. Here's the first of our regular bullet-point bulletins from EPT London:

Play is underway on day 1A. Players started with 10,000 in chips and the full structure is HERE.

The full number of runners will not be known for another couple of hours. It's already a sell-out, but there is a long list of alternates who will be accepted until the end of level two.

Team PokerStars Pros in today's field are: Alex Kravchenko, William Thorson, Chad Brown, Victor Ramdin, Alexandre Gomes, Gavin Griffin, Luca Pagano, Vicky Coren, Vanessa Rousso.

Other notable faces include: Henning Granstad, Barny Boatman, Kathy Liebert, Michel Abecassis, Freddy Deeb, Annette Obrestad, John Kalmar, Jani Sointula, Jason Mercier, Jeff Lissandro, Arnaud Mattern, Pascal Perrault, Joe Beevers, Chris Ferguson, Mark Teltscher.

EPT London: Coren's second title plan takes minor dent

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 09:20:51 -0800

The first big pot of the day erupts, breaking the seal on the day. Well, not that big come to think of it. When the hand got to the river I counted six green chips in the pot. That made for a haul worth 150.

It featured Team PokerStars Pro and former EPT London winner Vicky Coren who, from the big blind, had checked down the hand in tandem with her opponent over in seat eight.

The board read Qh-Jd-Kd-4d before seat eight chanced it with a bet of 100. Vicky made the call, tentatively showing a 6d, but beaten by the narrowest of margins, a 7d. Not a huge win but you've got to start somewhere.

EPT London: About last night...

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 08:26:14 -0800

You might have heard that PokerStars held a little get together last night. You may even have been there. Either way the photographic evidence is here in all it's glory, telling the story of how the EPT was greeted on its way in to London...

Team PokerStars Pros were just one part of the scenary...

EPT London: London calling

Wed, 01 Oct 2008 07:40:31 -0800

The red buses and telephone boxes, the policemen in funny hats, the black cabs, the palace and Her Majesty peeking out through the curtains; Oxford Street, Parliament, the Thames, Marble Arch, palace guards in red tunics and bearskins, heavy traffic and bookmakers on every corner. They're all getting mentions again in the PokerStars blog - it can only be the start of the EPT London.

Those images may be the 'quick flick through the tour book' view of London, but that scenary doesn't change much when you look out of any window high up in this city. And this week the various sights and sounds of the Edgware Road bring together something else this week - several hundred members of poker's elite at the famous 'Vic' Casino.

Last year it was an unassuming realtor from Beirut, Lebanon, Joseph Mouawad who played his way to a first prize of £611,500. The year before it was Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren in a memorable home field victory that, as the champagne corks popped, made her into an EPT legend. Who's it to be in season five?

We're not averse to strained analogies in our coverage so it's enough to say that unlike the British weather (and we'll try to make only brief references to that) there'll be nothing predictable about the tournament this week. Only to say that when the winner holds aloft the trophy this Sunday it won't be without having played the tournament of their life over four hard days of play.

But we wouldn't want it any other way.

We expect a field chock full of familiars, including enough sparkling Team PokerStars Pros to rival the lights on the nearby Telecom Tower. They include EPT Player of the Year Luca Pagano, previous winner Vicky Coren, Hevad Khan, Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown, Alex Kravchenko, Victor Ramdin, Gavin Griffin... I could go on.

There are all sorts of sights for any visitor of London to grow fond of, but for those whose work begins today in the Victoria Casino the only sight they're interested in is the ultimate prize, the EPT title and a bag of pounds sterling (double that for dollars) come Sunday.

That's all ahead of us and we'll have details of who else graces this European home of poker in a short while. Before then here's a reminder of what's in store...

Watch EPT LONDON 08: Welcome Party on PokerStars.tv

EPT London: Fitting welcome as tour rolls into town

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 20:32:16 -0800

By Howard Swains

It could be Barcelona, it could be Monte Carlo. It could be Las Vegas, Copenhagen, Warsaw or Dortmund. It could be any country, any culture, any time zone in the world. But some things are constant, and we're grateful for them to keep our feet firmly rooted to the ground.

The welcome party to a PokerStars EPT event is one of those things. We know what to expect and it always delivers: lavish setting, great company, spectacular entertainment, free-flowing refreshment and an enraptured atmosphere of anticipation for a week of poker to come.

So it was at Cafe de Paris tonight in London's West End, where the great and the good of the European poker scene gathered to prepare for the first day of competition on the second event of season five of the EPT. While the fish and chips were offered to guests, Joe Hachem, (un)fresh from a 30-hour plane journey to get here, seized the microphone to talk to the crowd and introduced the all-new EPT welcome video, on screens surrounding the dance-floor. It looked a bit like this:

Watch EPT London 08: A Taste Of Things To Come on PokerStars.tv

And once that had stirred up the excitement, it was time for the burlesque dancers to take to the floor - or rather to take to a big spherical cage, where there were feathers, powder, enigmatic lighting and the result of hours of practise on a trapeze. It was, well, wait for the pictures.

So tomorrow is day 1a, the first of two opening days where half of the field attempts to survive with enough chips to challenge Thursday's survivors on day two proper on Friday. Then over the weekend, they play down to a final table and a winner, who will be good for £1m.

Team PokerStars Pro are out in force. The PokerStars Six, otherwise known as the Million Dollar Men or the November Nine are also in the city. This is going to be one of the toughest tournaments ever witnessed in poker. But we're brave enough. Follow it all here.

EPT London: The home leg

Tue, 30 Sep 2008 03:47:37 -0800

Of all the regular stopping points through five seasons of the European Poker Tour, only four have been visited during every renewal. There's the sun-kissed Costa Brava coast of Barcelona, where season five got underway earlier this month, and early next year, we'll be braving the Scandinavian madness and winter chills of Copenhagen. Then at season's end, there'll be the glitter of Monte Carlo for the typically shimmering Grand Final, the place where the curtain comes down on what is always another record-breaking tour.

This week, however, we're in London, England, where things are slightly different. There's no beach, for starters, and no roof-top swimming pool at the hotel. Just as well really, because there's scant chance of blistering sunshine, or even beautiful snow-fall to line the streets in picture-book white. There are no lagoons and multi-million dollar yachts, few Ferraris sweeping through Casino Square.

Why, then, does London remain one of the most popular stopping points on the EPT? Simple answer: there's no place like home.

For many of the PokerStars EPT family - the pioneer John Duthie included - London is where we belong. It's where all our flights to the further flung districts of Europe originate, and it's where we all return, sun-baked and frazzled when the tournaments are done. It's grey, it rains frequently, and even the buses are red with embarrassment over how much a taxi ride costs. But it's what we all know, it's what we all grudging love, and it's always a spectacular tournament, whatever else we can say.

This year, there's also the not-inconsiderable carrot of a guaranteed £1m first prize. At least. It will probably be more.

As usual, we'll be at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino on London's Edgware Road. Down one end of the street is Marble Arch, then Park Lane snaking down the side of Hyde Park.

We're not too far from Buckingham Palace, Oxford Street, Piccadilly Circus and Covent Garden. Take an hour with any moderately equipped camera and you could put together a catalogue of postcards to send home. A typically huge number of PokerStars qualifiers from around the world will probably be doing just that as they acclimatise to Great Britain, in preparation for the first day one tomorrow.

As ever, the qualifiers are joined in the field by some of poker's heaviest heavyweights, representing Team PokerStars Pro. Take a deep breath and run through the full list of those appearing here this week. There's Daniel Negreanu, Greg Raymer, Joe Hachem, Chris Moneymaker, Humberto Brenes, ElkY, Isabelle Mercier, Luca Pagano, Dario Minieri, Chad Brown, Noah Boeken, William Thorson, Vicky Coren, Hevad Khan, Vanessa Rousso, Alex Kravchenko, Victor Ramdin, Alexandre Gomes, Barry Greenstein, Gavin Griffin, Andre Akkari, Katja Thater and Marcin Horecki.

If I had the time and about 150 more fingers or toes, I'd count up how many World Series, WPT or EPT wins are contained among that lot. Just as a précis, there are three World Series main event champions in Moneymaker, Raymer and Hachem, a few more 2008 WSOP bracelets on the wrists of Minieri, Negreanu, Gomes and Greenstein. And in season three, Coren was EPT London champion - she's another on home turf.

Then, as if that wasn't enough, we're joined also this week by all members of the PokerStars Six, that dominant sub-set of the November Nine who will contest the World Series main event final table next month. That means Ylon Schwartz, Darus Suharto, Ivan Demidov, Peter Eastgate, David "Chino" Rheem and Dennis Phillips all take their place. And that's not even mentioning another clutch of PokerStars sponsored players: you can also add Boris Becker, Kathy Liebert, Gualter Salles, Anthony Holden and the most recent EPT champion Sebastian Ruthenberg to the list.

It's going to be a busy one, which is why we're all going to need to make the most of tonight's party at Cafe de Paris on Coventry Street. There, we'll be mingling among the honoured guests and enjoying the always fine food and wine. And the best thing is that you can join us too if you want. Click HERE and print out the invitation below and get yourself along. All are welcome.

So we'll either see you tonight, or hope to know you're there reading about all the action as the players chase the top prize over the coming days. Stay tuned.