REPORT & UPDATES DAY 1 - FLIGHT 2

Chip counts at the end of the second flight of the first day:

All in all, Mr. Mimran will be the overall chipleader into the second day, as he's got more chips than Jen Mason, the chipleader from the first flight. (Results of the first flight can be found at the bottom end of this page.) Strong Austrian Markus Golser, a regular in the big games in and around Vienna, is in very good shape as well. All the players from both the first and the second flight will be in action tomorrow - so I hope you guys will be present again around 2 p.m.

A huge blow for Barny Boatman at the televised table. He bet all-in with KQ on a flop Q 4 3 in a raised pot. After long deliberation, Richard Ashby decided to call all-in for about 6,000 or so with the J T. A club on the river kept him alive, and severely crippled Barny, who was now down to 5,000.

And just three hands later, the same player finished off the Mobster. Barny raised all-in to 5K with 2 2 and got called by Ashby's K Q . The flop came with a queen, but still gave him a live flush draw with his 2 , as it was Q 5 3 . Any club or deuce could have saved him - but he caught neither. Barny out, and Richard Ashby now has about 39,000. 

Also at the televised table: A double up for John Kabbaj. All-in with AQ against Kristian Ulriksen's QQ, he flopped what he wanted: an ace. John now has 17,000.

So all in all, we've had an exciting second flight of the first day. Play has come to an end now, with slighly more than 60 players left. And just like yesterday, I will try to give you all the names & chip counts of the remaining players - provided I will get these figures in time from Mr. Kremser. If not, I will simply put them here tomorrow around noon.

Anyway, from Monte Carlo it's goodbye from me - See you all tomorrow!

The what I called "thoughest table of all" has now finally become the TV-table. Reigning champion Rob Hollink is seated here with Deauville winner Mats Iremark, young gun Kristian Ulriksen, experienced top pros John Kabbaj and Barny Boatman, and finally Richard Ashby, the highly aggressive and successful "Chuffty" in the big online games. All in all, not an easy table by any means. But despite the aggressive tendencies that many of the players have, the pots stay remarkably small - possibly because they all recognize the high calibre of the opposition.

And as we are reaching the end of the second flight of day 1, all the big gunners / early bust-outs have gathered for a 10,000 Euro winner-take-all sit'n'go. Joe Hachem, Carlos Mortensen, Noah Boeken and Patrik Antonius are some of the participants there. Despite the big attention that this side event is gathering, I will try to stay focused on the EPT Grand Final for you though. In this event, Greg Raymer is starting to run into trouble with just 9K now, and Alan Betson has just busted out. We will play for about 30 more minutes, and then we will wrap it up for today.

Going into the last level of the day, 150-300 with a 25 ante, this what I have been able to come up with:

• Sverre Sundbo 39K (who has been getting a massage from his girlfriend for the past three hours! I advised her to charge the regular fee of 50 to 100 Euros per 30 minutes - but she continues to do it for free)

• Theo Jorgensen 6K
• Edgar Skjervold 34K
• Roy van der Locht 10K
• Mickey Wernick 30K
• Markus Golser 37K
• Henrik Olander OUT
• Josefine Karlsson 9K (Erik Sagstrom's girlfriend)
• Victoria Coren 15K
• Andy Black 11K (just lost a huge pot with AA against an Arnoud Mimran's A3 that turned into a flush)
• Arnoud Mimran 65K (the current chipleader)
• Karin Lundgren 13K
• Jan Boubli 14K
• Ben Grundy 29K
• Rob Hollink 22K
• Richard Ashby 16K
• John Kabbaj 11K
• Barny Boatman 8K
• Andreas Hagen 6K
• Greg Raymer 13K
• Alan Betson 8K
• Antony Lellouche 18K
• Juha Helppi OUT
• Patrik Antonius OUT
• John Gale OUT
• Tony Cascarino OUT
• Haim Kakoun 15K
• Surinder Sunar 38K
• Kevin O'Connell OUT
• Ross Boatman 38K
• Mark Teltscher 9K (just lost a huge pot when on the turn 976K, with 5K in the middle, he raised his opponent's 3K bet to all-in. His opponent called 6,700 more all-in with bullets, and they were good against Teltscher's KQ) 
• Ingemar Backman 9K
• Johan Storakers 12K
• Kristian Ulriksen 35K

Liz Lieu is out! The elegant Vietnamese had no less than 24K when she arrived at the TV table - but four hours later, all these these chips were gone. With about 6K left, she flopped top pair / decent kicker with her Q9 on a flop 965. If I rephrase correctly what Liz told me, she was in the big blind, and then got check-raised from 600 to 1,200 by the small blind. She decided her top pair was good and reraised to 4,000. But as it happened, she was up against the nut straight - meaning she was drawing extremely thin. The best hand held up, and the woman who regularly crushes $400-800 cash games was out. One comfort: She has confirmed that from now on she will be participating at every EPT event - which means you can all look forward to a new regular in my photo gallery.

Also out is Brian Wilson, the man who had recovered so well. If I am not mistaken, he had his aces cracked down the line, but I will try to find that out for you.

In about 30 minutes or so, I will provide you with a latest chip count.

A few recent developments:

1. Out of the 'stars' of this event, we still have Liz Lieu, Greg Raymer, Patrik Antonius & Rob Hollink in. Neither one of them has more than just an average stack though.
2. Rob has just, as he eloquently stated, "bluffed off 5K in a stupid manner". The man who is always so critical of his own game, still has about 16K left.
3. The action is very slow at the moment. With the blinds at 100-200 and a 25 ante, there is not much chip movement, and we still have 109 players in contention. By the way, just like yesterday we will play down to 6 levels. This means we will probably play on until about two in the morning.
4. An interesting pot has more than doubled up Alan Betson. With Andreas Hagen in the 200 big blind, Greg Raymer made it 600 to go from early position. Juha Helppi reraised him 1,450 more, and then Alan moved all-in for another 2K. When Greg got out of the way, Juha said: "Well, unless you have aces, I should call here". He did make the call with an A Q and was dominated by Betson's A K . A king on the flop settled things, and Alan, who had been shortstacked all day, is now back at 11,500.
5. Another great comeback has been pulled off by Brian Wilson. Having been down to just 10% of his initial 10K, he is now is holding no less than 12,000 again - a resurrection in line with what Isabelle Mercier managed to do yesterday. 
6. Playing in his usual solid fashion is Surinder Sunar. He has more than double what he started with. And taking into account he is not someone who loses chips easily, one could say he is off to a great start.

An official press release:

The PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final has kicked off at the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel with 298 players - generating a record-breaking top prize of €900,000. The high turnout has smashed the 2005 record by 87 players, making it the richest tournament ever held in Europe, with a prize pool of nearly €3,000,000 ($3,552,000).

The five-day €10,000 No Limit Texas Hold'em tournament started yesterday (March 7) with the first of two Day One flights. Out of yesterday's 147 starters, 65 remain. A further 151 players took their seats today for Day 1b.

For those interested: Exact information on the names & nationalities of all participants can be found at the site of the sponsor.

In the meantime, I will be out again to follow the action for you - and maybe shoot a few pictures here and there. 

A little story about the exit of Joe Hachem - in the words of Teresa Nousiainen, one of the excellent dealers we have here. She was pushing to Joe's table when the following hand came up. Joe had AK and was up against pocket deuces. The flop came A62 rainbow, and as Teresa said: "This would already be tough to get away from for him, holding top pair / top kicker on a non-descript board. But then a king came on the turn to even improve Joe further to top two pair. There was just no way for him to avoid going broke - and this is indeed what happened." Anyway, thanks to Teresa for this story - I guess I couldn't have said it any better myself.

After over four hours of play, this is how things look:

• (TV table) Liz Lieu 6K, Edgar Skjervold 25K
• Mickey Wernick 19K, Markus Golser 23K, Henrik Olander 4K, Ken Lennaard 3K
• Noah Boeken OUT (was down to 5K when with the T 8 he flopped a pair of tens and a flush draw. He was up against the nut straight, also made three tens on the turn but in the end could not improve enough), Peter Eichhardt OUT, Karin Lundgren 9K, Jan Sorensen 5K
• Rob Hollink 18K (has just won a pot with JJ on the cutoff against the button's TT. On a flop 229 Rob meekly check-called, and the rest of the hand went check/check), John Kabbaj 6K, Barny Boatman 16K, Carlos Mortensen OUT
• Andreas Hagen 10K, Alan Betson 4K, Antony Lellouche 13K, Juha Helppi 7K
• Patrik Antonius 9K, John Gale OUT, Tony Cascarino 3K
• Victoria Coren 16K, Alex Leviev 8K, Richard Ashby 5K, Mark Boudewijn OUT
• Haim Kakoun 11K, Surinder Sunar 21K
• Kevin O'Connell 2K, Erich Kollmann OUT, Ross Boatman 24K, Mark Teltscher 25K 
• Nicolae Simcelescu OUT, Ingemar Backman 18K, Sverre Sundbo 12K, Joe Hachem OUT, Ben Grundy 23K, Morten Erlandsen 9K
• Johan Storakers 13K, Tony Bloom 11K
• Brian Wilson 5K (down from the just 1K he had after just 45 minutes of play)
• Steve Vladar 12K
• Andy Black 19K
• Greg Raymer 14K (talking non-stop; and yes, his opponents are constantly listening), Pascal Perrault OUT, George McKeever 11K, Jan Boubli OUT

If my information is correct, Gus Hansen has not made one of his "fashionably late" appearances. But all in all, still a lot of big names in action. Blinds are now 100-200, and we have about 125 players left. 

The first chipcount after about 90 minutes of play:

• Mickey Wernick 14K, Markus Golser 9K, Henrik Olander 12K, Ken Lennaard 9K
• Peter Eichhardt 8K, Karin Kundgren 9K, Jan Sorensen 9K
• Rob Hollink 12K, John Kabbaj 3K, Barny Boatman 10K, Carlos Mortensen 6K
• Andreas Hagen 8K, Alan Betson 8K, Antony Lellouche 14K
• Patrik Antonius 8K, John Gale 11K, Tony Cascarino 9K
• Haim Kakoun 9K, Surinder Sunar 10K
• Kevin O'Connell 14K, Erich Kollmann 8K, Ross Boatman 12K
• Nicolae Simcelescu 9K, Ingemar Backman 16K, Julian Gardner OUT, Joe Hachem 8K, Morten Erlandsen 10K
• Johan Storakers 9K, Tony Bloom 10K
• Brian Wilson 1K (having lost a massive pot with queens against aces) 
• Steve Vladar 9K
• Andy Black 9K
• Liz Lieu 10K, Edgar Skjervold 9K, Pascal Perrault 10K
• Jan Boubli 9K
• Victoria Coren 10K, Alex Leviev 10K, Richard Ashby 8K
• Mark Boudewijn 8K, Greg Raymer 12K, George McKeever 9K
• Ben Grundy 16K
• Noah Boeken 8K, Sverre Sundbo 13K, Mark Teltscher 11K (table full of young guns. If I'm not mistaken, Noah & Mark even have a little bet on who is wearing the most beautiful headphone. For those who don't know, Mark & Noah are actually good friends.)

As to the big names: Chris Moneymaker has ben unable to get here because of other obligations, and Erik Seidel will almost certainly not particiate after all.

Anyway, that's it for the first chip count. Once I have any definitive info on the total number of players and / or any spectacular developments, I will let you guys know.

Blinds now 50-100, with almost all of the players still in.

With no signs of Erik Seidel & Chris Moneymaker just yet, here are the big names that I have spotted - and their respecitive seats at the table. We have started with 10,000 in chips, blinds 25 and 50.

• Mickey Wernick (1/2), Markus Golser (1/4), Henrik Olander (1/7), Ken Lennaard (1/8)
• Peter Eichhardt (3/4), Karin Kundgren (3/5), Jan Sorensen (3/6)
• Rob Hollink (4/1), John Kabbaj (4/5), Barny Boatman (4/7), Carlos Mortensen (4/8)
• Andreas Hagen (5/1), Alan Betson (5/6), Antony Lellouche (5/8)
• Patrik Antonius (6/1), John Gale (6/6), Tony Cascarino (6/8)
• Kevin O'Connell (8/1), Erich Kollmann (8/4), Ross Boatman (8/6)
• Ingemar Backman (9/2), Julian Gardner (9/3), Joe Hachem (9/4), Morten Erlandsen (9/5)
• Johan Storakers (10/5), Tony Bloom (10/8)
• Brian Wilson (11/5)
• Steve Vladar (12/8)
• Andy Black (13/1)
• Liz Lieu (14/3, Edgar Skjervold (14/7), Pascal Perrault (14/8)

• Jan Boubli (15/6)
• Victoria Coren (16/4), Alex Leviev (16/6), Richard Ashby (16/7)
• Mark Boudewijn (17/1), Greg Raymer (17/3), George McKeever (17/5)
• Ben Grundy (18/1)
• Noah Boeken (19/4), Sverre Sundbo (19/5), Mark Teltscher (19/7)

As I already wrote yesterday, the second flight of the first day will have many big names. They include:

Joe Hachem (the reigning World Champion)

Reigning World Champ is in the house

All in all, something exciting to look forward to, I would say. Play will begin at 2 p.m. local time, say in about 45 minutes or so.

 

CHIP COUNTS DAY 1 - FLIGHT 1

Wednesday, 08th of March 2006 03:12 AM

Things look good for the chipleader after day one, Jen Mason. Even more sop because the two other big stacks have lost some chips near the end of the day. (See yesterday's report.) On the other hand, big names like Marcel Luske, Mads Andersen, Isabelle mercier and also Johnny Lodden have accumulated quite a bit of chips late in day 1. We have lost Roland De Wolfe though. The WPT France winner accumulated a big stack early with his loose / aggessive style of play but got unlucky on a few occasions, and is now out. 

Isabelle happy after her resurrection at the end of day 2

Chip counts after day 1 - flight 1:

GALINIE, LAURENT	2325
ABECASSIS, MICHEL	2400
HROUDA-RASMUSSEN, CLAUS	3275
KERRIGAN,TYRONE	4350
ESKILSSON,HANS	4975
VANELLI,OLIVIER	5250
BUENO, PATRICK	5900
MARTINSSON, TOMAS	6800
HASLAM, PETER	8575
CHESSA,TONY	8625
GOODWIN,MARK	8925
GRUNDTVIG, CHRISTIAN	9300
TESTUD, PAUL	9425
GIRDWOOD, IAIN	9875
THOMAS, JASON	11050
STRANDLI, ALEKSANDER	12200
PALMIERI, MICHEL	13000
ALCANSAK,AYAN	13450
BJORIN,CHRIS	15700
DAVIDSEN,PETER	17200
PEDERSEN, REHNE	17525
DUNWOODIE, THOMAS	17850
NYSTAD, ROBERT	17875
WENDT,MARTIN	18025
ZATZEK, DEREK	18450
RAPP,STEFAN	18600
WEST,RICHARD	19150
FAGERLI,FRODE	20350
VESTBO, SVEN	20600
KRAVCHENKO, ALEX	20725
SWARTLING.PETER	21150
LASZCZ, XAVIER	21325
PAGANO, LUCA	21325
MAZZA, BRUCE STANTON	21625
SHIPLEY, JOHN	21900
SHTRAX, RICHARD	22125
STEVIC,ALEXANDER	22175
TORBEY, SAMI	22250
LANGE, KELLY	22325
GLOIER, MATTHEW	22475
WITTENDORFF, KIM DARLING	23150
BILODEAU, ALAIN	23225
GOULD,PETER	24000
ROPER, PAUL	24100
JACKSON,PAUL	26875
SEJOBERG, GUSTEN	27200
GIBSON,NICK	27425
MEIJBERG,ABEL	27875
HAAKENSON, ERIK	29875
YOUNG, SIMON	30050
VASWANI,RAM	31000
GERASIMOV, KIRILL	31125
DAVEY, MATTHEW	32300
MERCIER, ISABELLE	32825
KARAM, MARC	34425
LOMAS, DANE	35925
LUSKE, MARCEL	36475
HALLIDAY,TERENCE	37450
LODDEN,JOHNNY	42150
ANDERSEN,MADS	45875
WAHLROOS, THOMAS	46275
BRISCOE,LEE	49100
WILLIAMS, JEFF	52925
ANTON, IONEL	58050
MASON,JENNIFER	62500