Cricket

ANZPT Perth Day 1b: Levels 1-2 (blinds 100-200)

2:35pm: Ten-minute break

2:30pm: How do you not go broke?

Vesko Zmukic just recalled to us a hand from earlier in the level, that raised our eyebrows. He said that there was a raise to 500 and three callers, including Zmukic in the big blind holding [ad][td]. The flop came [4d][5d][6d] to give Zmukic the ace-high flush and he lead out for 575. Two players called.

The turn was the [3c] and action was checked before the [qd] appeared on the river. Zmukic led out for 1,000 and got one call before the third player raised to 4,000. Incredibly, Zmukic just flat-called as the other opponent folded. Most players would probably stick their chips in there with the ace-high flush but Zmukic saved himself 12,000 and his tournament life as his opponent tabled [7d][8d] for the straight-flush!

2:25pm: Kanaan gone

We just walked past the table that was previously home to Michael Kanaan to discover his seat was empty. It was recalled to us that Kanaan got his chips in with [as][qs] on a jack-high flop with two spades against an opponent holding king-jack. After final-tabling at the APPT Cebu just a few days ago, it appears that Kanaan’s good run is over as couldn’t hit any of his outs to survive.

2:20pm: Lim hurting

Aaron Lim impressed us immensely at this event last year. He proved that he is a super dangerous, aggressive player as he tangled with Grant Levy in some epic hands on his way to a 4th place finish.

Lim picked up an Aussie Millions gold ring earlier this year, but his quest for a repeat final table here in Perth have taken a huge hit. Lim just doubled up a short-stacked opponent after they got it in on a flop of [js][4d][7s]. Lim held [ad][jd] for top pair, top kicker, but his opponent showed [7h][7d] for a set. The turn was the [6s] and river the [ts] to see Lim slip to just 5,400 approaching the first break of the day.

2:05pm: Benton back to where he started

2008 APPT Sydney champion Aaron Benton just had his tournament life on the line. He’d flopped a full house but still had a bit of a sweat against Peter Gilbert.

The chips went in on a flop of [8d][jh][jd] with Gilbert flopping trips with [jc][6c] but Benton’s [8s][8h] were in command. The turn was the [2c] and river an equally bricky [4h] to see Benton double up to just above his starting stack. Gilbert takes a small hit to slip to 43,000.

A swingy start for Aaron Benton in Perth

1:55pm: This show is PG rated

They call him “PG”. It’s not his rating but rather his initials as Peter Gilbert is our early chip leader on Day 1b of the ANZPT Perth Main Event.

We were called to Gilbert’s table when a huge pot had erupted on the board of [ad][5h][as][7c]. Wayne Norman was all in with [ac][th] but found himself in trouble against Gilbert’s [ah][kh]. Norman would need a ten to win or a five or seven to chop, but the river was the [3d] to send him to an early exit and jump Gilbert up to 49,000.

PG is the early chip leader

1:40pm: Rocking it out

We’ve mentioned that there are some redevelopments currently going on here at Burswood. Of course it’s all part of a greater plan to make Burswood into an even bigger and better complex, but long term gain does have some short term pain.

Bryan Huang tweeted this morning about being woken up at 7:30am in the hotel this morning due to the noise from the construction workers, and this afternoon, those lucky enough to be seated in the back of the poker room, will be able to hear nothing but the noise of constant drilling from the adjacent wall. Headphones one time!

Fortunately out on the main gaming floor, we’re treated to nothing but pure 80′s through the casino sound system, much to the delight of PokerNews hostess Nicky Pickering who seems to know the words to every song.

1:35pm: Level up, blinds 100-200

1:25pm: Set for Bryan

We’re not sure of the action, but we caught Bryan Huang tossing out a 5,000-denomination chip so we knew things were serious. The board read [js][ts][6h][2s][8h] and Huang was calling his opponent’s bet. The player tabled [kd][kh] but Huang showed [6s][6d] for a set to rake in a nice pot. Huang is off to a fast start, chipping up to 35,000 in the first level.

1:10pm: A few more names

We’ve spotted a couple more Lackovics with Aleks and Petar both recently taking their seats in the field along with Vince Moro. ANZPT regular Ricky Kroesen is also listed to play today, although his seat currently remains vacant.

1:00pm: Early trouble with the ladies for Mishel

With an early position raise to 250 and a call in front of him, Mishel Anunu three-bet to 700. Action folded back to the EP-player who four-bet to 1,950. That forced a fold from the player in the middle, but Anunu made the call to see a flop of [6s][9s][td].

The preflop aggressor led out with a hefty bet of 5,500 as Anunu sighed, “Argh, I guess you’ve got me,” before open-folding [qc][qd].

Despite encouraging his opponent to show, Anunu would have to dwell on whether he made the right fold, as his opponent quietly slid his cards into the muck and collected the pot.

12:50pm: First bluff of the day

“Well, I’ll see you guys later,” sighed Stev Lackovic as we walked glumly past us.

“You’re out?” we questioned.

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

“I five-bet shoved five-high and he couldn’t fold kings,” chirped Lackovic as a wry grin returned to his face and we realised his tongue was firmly in cheek…and we almost believed him!

12:45pm: A loaded field

There’s a few more familiar faces in today’s field but with all fourteen tables in the poker room and eight overflow tables in use, we’re going to be getting some exercise today marching the aisles of the two areas.

Some of those that we’ve spotted include Kristina Griffith, Aaron Benton, Aaron Lim, Josh Barrett, Jesse McKenzie, Ted Nguyen, Mishel Anunu, Stev Lackovic, Steve Lindeblad, Michael Kanaan, Brian McAllister, Vesko Zmukic and recent ANZPT Sydney champion Gordon Huntly.

We also have one member of Team PokerStars to keep an eye on this afternoon, with Singapore’s Bryan Huang taking his seat in today’s field.

12:35pm: Here we gogo again

We’re back in the Burswood poker room for Day 1b of the ANZPT Perth Main Event, and the news is, that the room is bursting at the seams. When we arrived, there were 190 registrations for today. A few minutes ago, it was confirmed at 210. With a capacity of 220 here, Danny McDonagh has just passed by our desk to mentioned that we may even have alternates today which pushes our total field in excess of 300! Wowsers!

There’s a phrase used here in Australia by players encouraging their friends who are doing well in a tournament. It’s simply “gogogogogogo”. Well, last night we were treated to the original gogo, that is, Gogo’s Madras Curry House only a short drive from the casino here. Thanks to Raj Ramakrishnan, we dined with “Gogo” himself and enjoyed a feast of Indian delights in a friendly restaurant that was adorned with the most incredible cricket memorabilia that you’d ever see. Everything from Haydo’s world record 380 signed cricket bat, to Gilly’s gloves that he wore in his last Test match, and even a pair Sachin’s socks.

So today we hope you will all be inspired by Gogo himself as we say to our Day 1b players, let’s “gogogogo”!

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EPT8 Monaco $25,000 High Roller: The run good myth

“Form” in poker can be a strange old thing. People talk about “run good” as if it’s the sudden equivalent of liquid gold pouring out of bathroom taps. On the other hand, the player “running bad” might feel as though they are trudging through an arid desert without a drop of water in sight. (And even when they do find a well, then winch up the bucket to find it full of sand, maybe with someone else’s bad beat story kindly printed out, rolled up and poking out.)

The kind of players who enter $25,000 High Roller events tend to be less susceptible to the whole superstition thing. They know that a bad run will be cancelled out if they stick with it long enough, and that it’s sensible not to get too carried away by an uptick in form. Even Jason Mercier and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier don’t win every flip they play.

However this event in Monaco affords us the opportunity to conduct a very small investigation into the nature of short-term run good, based on its slightly unusual entry policy.

If you cast your mind back to yesterday, you’ll remember us talking about players re-entering the tournament after losing all their chips. For the first four levels, busted players could cough up another $25,000 and get another 50,000 tournament points. Clearly people didn’t believe that much in run bad if they were encouraged to buy in again.

At the other end of the spectrum, there were also a handful of players in the tournament who had won their seats via a live satellite event on the eve of the big dance. Those players were, by definition, running good, having paid only one tenth of the entry fee to book their spot.

So what became of the re-loaders (ie, those running bad) and the satellite winners (ie, those running good)? Let’s find out shall we.

The players who bought back in yesterday were as follows, and what transpired after they bought a second stack is in brackets:

Re-entries:

Dan Shak (32,500 chips at end of day 1)
Govert Metaal (38,900)
Daniel Negreanu (102,700)
Faisal Alfalasi (Busted)
JC Alvarado (Busted)
Viktor Blom (67,500)
Imad Derwiche (40,100)
Martin Finger (203,700 – top 10 in chips)
Tony Gregg (Busted)
Eui Kim (Busted)
Mikhail Korotkikh (Busted)
Mike McDonald (213,500)
Scott Seiver (Busted)
Roger Tondeur (Busted)

Daniel Negreanu. Has apple. Not afraid to use it

Satellite winners:

David Deutsch (Busted day one)
Vincent van den Fluit (341,200 – second in chips)
Martin Schleich (Busted day one)
Peter Akery (73,600)
Sorel Mizzi (120,200)
Dori Yacoub (Busted day one)
Ivan Kudriavtcev (Busted day one)
Igor Kurganov (279,900 – top ten in chips)
Andries Swart (Busted day one)
Georgios Karakousis (Busted day one)
Ognjen Sekularac (Busted day one)
JC Alvarado (Busted day one)

So seven of the 14 players who re-entered went on to dust off their second stacks too, with only really Martin Finger and Mike McDonald putting their re-entries to really good use.

Martin Finger

On the other hand eight of the 12 satellite winners were out before the end of yesterday, but of those whose survived – in particular Vincent van den Fluit and Igor Kurganov – prospered still. (You’ll notice that JC Alvarado won a satellite, busted, and bought back in. So he fits in both groups.)

I’m not at all sure that this really tells us anything. Indeed, probably all it really does is convince us once again that poker doesn’t really respect the rules of run good or run bad, at least not at this level.

Since all this tortuous calculation began, Viktor Blom has doubled up and then busted from the tournament. And Sorel Mizzi has also lost his 120,000 overnight stack. So any perceived run good that he was experiencing is also over.

Viktor Blom: Buy, bust, re-buy, sleep, bust

And so, they play on. There are 37 players left, meaning eight have departed already. That’s a full table. Now to lose three more.

Click here for live updates, chip counts and payout information from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

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EPT8 Monaco $25,000 High Roller: The return

The High Rollers are back in Monaco today. Less than 11 hours after bagging up their stacks at the end of Day 1, the 45 survivors from a heated opening ten levels in this $25,000 buy in event have returned to push on through, into the money and then on to an eight-handed final table.

Trimming a field of 45 down to the mandatory eight can often take some time. But bubble play at a High Roller event tends to be markedly less tortuous than it can be in any regular tournament. Having wagered a quarter to play, most aren’t really concerned with picking up a slight return on their money. It’s all about a big score, and today’s the day they will be trying to get a stack to go into the deepest stages.

As action progresses – and it is due to begin at noon – you can follow blow-by-blow coverage and chip-count updates on our live coverage pages. We will apply a smattering of colour on the rest of the Blog.

So settle down and we’ll begin. Here are the starting tables and stacks, etc.

Day two table and seat draw
(Table, seat, player, chips)

45 1 Liv Boeree 112,600
45 2 Mike McDonald 213,500
45 3 Faraz Jaka 109,300
45 4 Phil Ivey 271,500
45 5 David Sands 139,300
45 6 Joseph Elpayaa 121,200
45 7 Martin Finger 203,700
45 8 Andrew Badecker 350,000

46 1 Max Lykov 96,200
46 2 Peter Akery 73,600
46 3 Alexander Uskov 261,900
46 4 Artem Litvinov 227,400
46 5 Oleksii Kovalchuk 88,400
46 6 Haralabos Voulgaris 125,500
46 7 David Peters 80,100
46 8 Philip Gurian 77,600

47 1 Vincent van der Fluit 341,200
47 2 David Williams 90,000
47 3 Alexander Venovski 51,800
47 4 William Reynolds 203,700
47 5 Philipp Gruissem 170,800
47 6 Grayson Ramage 29,100
47 7 Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom 67,500
47 8 Sorel Mizzi 120,200

48 1 Igor Kurganov 279,900
48 2 Alex Bilokur 141,400
48 3 Nathan Schoo 63,300
48 4 Zachary Clark 96,700
48 5 Chris Moorman 261,700
48 6 Noah Schwartz 230,200
48 7 Michael Telker 112,400

49 1 Dominykas Karmazinas 29,000
49 2 Dan Shak 32,500
49 3 Govert Metaal 38,900
49 4 Patrik Antonius 307,500
49 5 Richard Lyndaker 124,700
49 6 Imad Derwiche 40,100
49 7 Andrey Pateychuk 108,000

50 1 Daniel Cates 34,000
50 2 Jason Somerville 52,400
50 3 Roman Romanovsky 201,100
50 4 Daniel Negreanu 102,700
50 5 Sami Kelopuro 310,000
50 6 Bryn Kenney 261,300
50 7 Justin Bonomo 204,200

Andrew Badecker: chip leader

Click here for live updates, chip counts and payout information from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

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EPT8 Monaco $25,000 High Roller: Badecker heads glittering field

When Lex Veldhuis became one of the first players knocked out of today’s €25,000 High Roller event in Monaco, Alexandre Gomes was moved to his seat at table 48. When Jonathan Duhamel busted from the same table a couple of hours later, Patrik Antonius was rotated in.

Liv Boeree spent a good portion of the day sat next to Phil Ivey. When the table broke, she found herself beside Faraz Jaka. Daniel Negreanu bounced around the room, past Viktor Blom, Isaac Haxton, Max Lykov, ElkY et al.

This was one of those poker tournaments, where the only soft spot was on the shoulders of the participants, who have the kind of bankroll sufficient to have their bodies massaged into steak tartare.

There were stars of the game at every single table, making it one of the most fiercely contested tournaments of the week. And it wasn’t exactly a small field. This has become the biggest High Roller event we have ever seen on the EPT. There were 133 entries at €25,000 a pop. It means that the winner, crowned on Tuesday, will get €1,080,000. And they will have earned every penny.

The opening flight today lasted 10 one-hour levels, at the end of which 46 players remained. The man with the most was the American Andrew Badecker, who signed for 350,000.

Andrew Badecker, High Roller leader

His closest challenger is Vincent van den Fluit, with 341,800 and then a whole raft of talent not so far behind. Sami Kelopuro is there, with 310,000. Antonius is there, with 307,500 and Ivey has 271,500.

Vincent van den Fluit

Sami Kelopuro

This field also still contains Justin Bonomo (204,200) hot from a Super High Roller success, and a smattering of Team PokerStars Pro: Daniel Negreanu (102,700), David Williams (90,000), Viktor Blom (67,500) and Boeree (112,600).

Liv Boeree and Daniel Negreanu

We return to the Salle des Etoiles at noon tomorrow to play down to our final table. No matter how big the reputations there are only eight spots there.

Take a look back at all of today’s coverage:

Balancing act begins
Before you win two, win one
A round with the high rollers
Rolling ever higher
It’s not cricket

Thanks to the photos of Lina Olofsson today. More of the same Swedish stylings tomorrow. Goodnight.

Click here for live updates, chip counts and payout information from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

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EPT8 Monaco: Guignon leads as epic day slims Grand Final to eight

There was a moment tonight when the PokerStars Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final showed the first sign of coming to life, after a week of tense action that has now trimmed a field of 665 to just eight.

It happened nine-handed, in a simple hand checked to the river which was won by Lucille Cailly, the first woman to reach the last eight of the EPT Grand Final. Surprised to win the pot, Cailly leapt up, prompting the French rail to burst into a spontaneous Mexican wave. It was the first noise this event has featured all week, apart from that lunatic on Day 2 who three-outered a guy.

The feature table

Most impressed with this vocal support was card caller Robbie Thompson, who grinned like he’d just seen an old friend turn up out of the blue. “I finally got a gallery,” he said to Cailly. “Make sure you bring them with you (tomorrow). They’re gonna rock the house!”

To a man like Thompson, a gallery is crucial to generate an atmosphere to work in, and he may now just get one. The Grand Final will always be a draw for poker fans, and what they’ll see tomorrow is a final table of unfamiliar faces. But it promises to be an intriguing one, led by the chip leader tonight Bernard Guignon.

Chip leader Bernard Guignon

Guignon had been among the also-rans when play started just after noon today. Back then it was Geert-Jan Potijk out front, but the Dutchman would be one of two chip leaders who shined brightly before crashing out. Potijk eventually went out in 14th place, sent there by Daniel Gomez, one place before the man who replaced him as leader, Ben Vinson, out in 13th.

Geert-Jan Potijk

Gomez took over the lead when the remaining nine players convened around the feature table for what would be five more hours of play. But soon it was Guignon who took command, the oldest player at the table. Having first seen off Pratyush Buddiga, he then took chips from Clayton Mozdzen to move up to four million. His final thrust saw off Alex Mostafavi in ninth place, bringing play to a close minutes before 1am.

Daniel Gomez

So it’s Guignon in the lead with 4,900,000, followed by the seven other finalists eyeing the €1,500,000 first prize, that you may not have heard of before.

Sergio Castellucio is perhaps the most familiar. The Italian has several EPT cashes including a 16th place finish in this event back in 2009. He moves up and down the leader board today, recovering from an early hit against Anatoly Gurtovoy. He bagged-up 1,410,000 tonight.

Sergio Castellucio

The other familiar face is Lucille Cailly, who survived an eventful day to secure her first EPT final table, the biggest result of her career so far, becoming the first woman to reach the last table of an EPT Grand Final.

Cailly put in a stellar performance yesterday, as madness ensued around her. Today she set out in the same spirit, busting Andrew Pantling in the first hand before out-flushing Michael Dietrich. Then the first set back for Cailly, one which may prove a pivotal moment. Spotting an opponent on tilt, she ran pocket threes into aces, halving her own stack.

Lucille Cailly

Crucially, Cailly didn’t let this error ruin her shot at the title, and after a cigarette got back to work, reclaiming her lost chips and more, bagging up 2,865,000 tonight.

Mohsin Charania has shown promise this week, leading for much of Day 2 and maintaining a stack of fighting weight. The American returns with 2,215,000 tomorrow after spending much of the day under the television lights today. This is only his second EPT cash finish.

Mohsin Charania

Rodrigo Caprioli is one of the other dark horses at the final, as are Michael Dietrich, with fewer results to analyse, although Caprioli did reach the final two tables at EPT London in 2009.

Rodrigo Caprioli

A last word for Clayton Mozdzen. The Canadian couldn’t watch when his tournament was on the line yesterday, but was able to sit through a couple of all-in moments to secure his return tomorrow with a stack of 1,430,000. Only last month he finished 14th in the EPT Madrid main event, beating that this week to reach his second EPT final, following EPT Warsaw in 2009.

Clayton Mozdzen

Mozdzen got unlucky early on then doubled up, catching an ace on the turn to beat Anatoly Gurtovoy’s pocket kings. Back in Madrid an ace on the turn had cost him his tournament life, now Mozdzen was seeing the roles reversed. After finally dodging some unconventional play from Mostafavi, and doubling up with nine players left, he secures his place in the last eight.

His comments this afternoon speak of how important an event like this is to a player.

“I’ve been here a few times and it’s been so close yet so far, so I know the results I’m used to,” he’d said. “I told myself this one is different, just gonna let everything take its place. I’m very confident everything’s gonna go well though.”

Seat 1 – Rodrigo Capriolo, Brazil, 2,945,000
Seat 2 – Bernard Guignon, France, 4,900,000
Seat 3 – Michael Dietrich, Canada, 1,550,000
Seat 4 – Sergio Castellucio, Italy, 1,410,000
Seat 5 – Mohsin Charania, United States, 2,215,000
Seat 6 – Daniel Gomez, Spain, 2,665,000
Seat 7 – Clayton Mozdzen, Canada, 1,430,000
Seat 8 – Lucille Cailly, France, 2,865,000

Those that had shined this week were one by one rendered surplus to requirements as a steady stream of main event players made their way to the pay-out desk in a day that lasted 13 hours.

Key departures included Pantling, in the first hand of the day, shortly followed by Vadzim Kursevich, this season’s EPT Deauville winner, denying those who lend weight to that sort of thing, a first double winner.

Vadzim Kursevich

Jason Wheeler would soon join him on the rail, as would one of the standout players of the past month Pratyush Buddiga, who was busted in 16th place by Guigon who slow rolled a pair of kings. No back-to-back final tables for Buddiga, or finished eighth in Berlin a week ago.

Pratyush Buddiga

After Potijk in 14th and Vinson in 13th, the other Vadzim, Markushevski, departed in tenth, a reversal of his form earlier in the day that had taken his stack up to two million.

When Mostafavi departed, a man who started the day with a short stack and an entirely different name (Reza Mostafavi Tabatabaei) in ninth place, the day was finally over, the final eight in place, and just one more day to play.

Vadzim Markushevski

Before that, catch up on all the action from today, as well as chip counts and official pay-outs, on the official live coverage page. Links to all of today’s articles and interviews can be found below.

Playing 26 to the final table, €1,500,000 to be won

Kursevich out, double dreams over for another season

Slow playing on the outer tables

Wheeler keeps on rollin’ (then crashes)

Humbled at the payout desk

Mozdzen looking to improve on previous result

Last lady standing unperturbed by first setback

Joining the winners roll is…

The trophy is within reach

It leaves just one more day of main event play in this eighth season of the European Poker Tour and it all begins tomorrow at the slightly later time of 1.30pm with a one hour delay to the EPT Live coverage which starts at 2.30pm. You’ll see all the action there, with all the hole cards, until we have a new EPT Grand Final champion.

Monaco, again

If you want more poker check out Howard Swains’s reports from the €25,000 High Roller event which plays ten levels today.

Until tomorrow, it’s goodnight from Monaco.

All photography &copy Neil Stoddart

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EPT8 Monaco: The trophy is within reach

Facing inwards from the spectator gantry around the new TV table are neon strips, flashing lights, all manner of diodes, screens and mirrors. If you were to stand close to the entrance on the right-hand side of the set you might be able to spot one more mirrored surface, if you were brave enough to dodge past the low swinging TV jib. Nestled on the end – shiny side facing in, red side facing out – is The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final trophy.

No doubt it’s been surreptitiously placed there for artistic shots from the crane but where are the guards? Sure, there’s some local constabulary loitering beneath the stage and, more dangerously, a jacked-up Red Bull Robbie Thompson prowling around the final table, but there doesn’t seem to be anyone keeping an eye on the actual trophy. You could have it away quite easily, you know, if you were so inclined to not-so-petty theft.

ept monaco_day 4_trophy.jpg

The trophy

You wouldn’t get the €1,500,000 first place prize money of course, but at least you’d have that big red spade. Not that we’re trying to encourage kleptomania, nor are we suggesting that such things jump to mind with the prospective of a second 14-hour-odd looming on the immediate horizon. Coming from someone that once woke up with a misappropriated BAFTA television award on their kitchen table I can heartily recommend leaving the trophy exactly where it is.

Tournament snapshot
Level 29: blinds 40,000-80,000, ante 10,000
Players: 9 of 665
Average stack: 2,216,500
Click here for live coverage and more features from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.

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EPT8 Monaco $25,000 High Roller: It’s not cricket

As our American friends tend to enjoy repeating, the great game of cricket can be impenetrable to people who don’t really understand its subtleties. It is indeed the sport in which a game can take five days to complete and even then no one wins.

Another of cricket’s unusual quirks is that for long periods, even the most avid follower will not really be able to tell who is in the lead. “Who’s winning?” someone might ask late on day two, and the cricket fan will likely reply: “Difficult to say really” before rambling on about the state of the pitch, the importance of the next partnership, overcast weather conditions due for day five and such like. You will often be well advised to wander away and leave them to it.

Major poker tournaments can be a lot like cricket in this regard. Once the felt starts cracking early on the fifth day, it can be much more difficult to get a read on the tricky players. And flushes are far more common under overcast skies.

Of course not. That is a joke. That is a cricket joke. But the wider point is this: much like cricket it can sometimes be really difficult to know who is winning a major poker tournament for much of the time. A player can double up on the first hand and surge to the top of the leader board, but the chances of them still being there at the end are very slim indeed.

Similarly we almost never see a pillar-to-post champion. You can be chip-leader at the end of the day before the final, but if you have a stinker when the tournament gets to the business end, your dreams will be in tatters.

The high roller event

As reporters, all we can really do is write what is happening at any one time, without any specific inside knowledge as to its longer-term relevance. A player getting knocked out is terminal for him or her, but the winner of the hand is only marginally more likely to go on to climb the winner’s rostrum.

At the moment, my colleague Donnie Peters is writing the hand-for-hand updates on this EPT High Roller. And he is also updating the chip count page. You can easily follow all that by clicking in the usual place, and that offers the most traditional answer to the question “Who’s winning?”

However we can also offer a brief snapshot, to tell you what’s going on right now in the tournament room. Its relevance is unclear. But it is only marginally less relevant than the chip-counts.

Boeree mixing it with Ivey
Few players over the past few years have been more focused and committed on a career in poker than Liv Boeree. She is the player who went from rank amateur on a reality show to the dizzy heights of EPT champion and Team PokerStars Pro. And almost all of it was due to hard work, persistence, and knowing how to grasp opportunity when it is presented.

Liv Boeree, high rolling

For all amateur poker players in the modern game, the pinnacle of achievement is playing against Phil Ivey, still clearly in the top three poker players alive, and maybe in the top one. Young players have gone to sleep for about the past 10 years dreaming one day of locking horns with Ivey.

For Boeree, that dream is now reality. In this High Roller event, she is now to Ivey’s immediate left – and she is making her positional advantage pay. Boeree has about 30,000 more chips than Ivey and is really putting him to the test.

Just recently, Boeree, on the button, had bet 21,000 on the river, looking at a board of [4d][4c][6d][as][9s]. Ivey was deep in contemplation, his unflappable demeanour visibly undermined. He counting out calling chips, then counted out raising chips, then put them down again. He peeled off his headphones and tossed them on the table. He looked to the sky, then to the ground. Then he called and was shown [6c][6h]. Ivey scooped up the sixes, put them with his own hand, and tossed the four cards into the muck.

Boeree is not only tangling with Ivey, she’s putting him to the test.

Hello, the internet
You might have heard by now that Viktor Blom is the man behind the Isildur1 account. His online performances have probably been watched by more people than any other player’s. Today he is back in the live environment, playing his second $25,000 bullet in the High Roller. And yet it must be like home from home.

Viktor Blom

Also on Blom’s table this evening are Bryn “BrynKenney” Kenney and Sami “LarsLuzak” Kelopuro, two other huge online players. Alex Kravchenko and Dan Shak, live pros both, are also involved on that table. It could yet get very ugly indeed.

How about this for tough
Lex Veldhuis busted some time ago from one of the most difficult tables ever assembled in live poker. And Mike Watson has also now bust from there. But no worries, because this slab of felt is still a beast: Alex Gomes sits with Sorel Mizzi and Max Lykov and Patrik Antonius and Ivan Demidov.

Rather them than me.

Click here for live updates from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

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APPT Cebu: Dancing in Mumbai

The Indians are passionate people. They know what they love, and they love what they know. Just look at their passion towards another great game in cricket. It’s a religion in India, and Sachin Tendulkar is their God.

Well, we might be starting to see the dawning of a new age in the Asian poker world. The game is starting to develop some strong roots in India, and the scary thing is, if this religion takes hold, there are over 1.2 billion reasons why it could be the home of the next poker boom.

There have been several events recently held in Goa and the Indians are starting to perform strongly in major Macau events. Take for example Sangeeth Mohan’s final table bubble at the APPT Macau late last year, or Abishek Goindi’s runner-up finish at the Macau Poker Cup in February. The signs are definitely there. PokerStars are even running qualifiers to the Casino Royale Cup – to be held from June 21-24 on a cruise ship that is India’s largest floating casino. Imagine how many entrants they will get for that event if one of the Indians is victorious here at the APPT Cebu?

We already took a closer look at overnight chip leader Amir Varma’s play earlier in the day. Whatever he’s doing, it seems to be working, as he’s the first player to crack the one million chip mark for a clear chip advantage right now. Next best is Sameer Rattonsey as the Indians are currently sitting one-two in this event and looking pretty confident.

With countrymen Abishek Goindi cheering from the rail, and Indian cult hero Sangeeth Mohan watching intently while playing in the side event on a nearby table, there is plenty of support here for Team India. They could be dancing in the streets in Mumbai come Monday night.

With just ten players to go, we’re currently playing two five-handed tables, looking to bust one more player before we call it a day. No one is really short, with Antoine Amourette aggressively pushing his short stack to stay alive while Sungsik Bae recently lost a pot to slip to the bottom rung of the ladder.

Who will break the deadlock?

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UKIPT Nottingham: Day 3, level 19-20 updates (5,000-10,000 1,000 ante)

1.45pm: Premiums not at a premium
Sometimes hands play themselves and when two premiums collide that’s usually the case.
Bjorne Lindberg found pocket jacks, James Cummings pocket kings and it all went in, Cummings that at risk player with the effective stack of 378,500.

The flop of [9d][8d][Kd] raised a few eyebrows as it gave Lindberg more outs, the [10c] turn even more so, but the [5s] river was a blank. Cummings up to nearly 800,000 whilst Lindberg was left severely depleted with just 100,000. — NW

1.35pm: Exits
There’s no easy way to say this but Lee Dixon, Neil Rogers, Mark O Connor, Richard Evans, Neil Harvey, Kin Wong, Jonathan Mccann, Mukesh Morjaria, Paul Haycock, Nathan Kiely, Gareth Teatum, Michael Leng, Sami Yusuf and Pawel Czartoryski won’t be having to pull a sicky tomorrow to get off work as they’re all out. — NW

1.25pm: Czartoryski and Leng, opposite ends of the Scrabble spectrum, both out
An ace in the small blind with a short stack is plenty enough to get them in, especially if it’s been folded to you. But if the big blind, also with a short stack, then wakes up with an ace, it’s all going to be about the kickers. And even then there’s still the bonus out-draw button.

To decipher this wordy intro: action was just folded to Pawel Czartoryski and Hasmukh Khodiyara in the blinds and they got all their chips in. Czartoryski had [ac][9s] and Khodiyara had [ah][7s], and his stack of 245,000 was the one under threat.

But when the board ran [7h][as][4c][6s][2s], the smaller kicker had come good and Czartoryski was left with about ten big blinds. They went in soon after and ended up being added to the stack of Chris Brammer. Czartoryski is out.

Brammer is now actually up beyond a million chips, having also accounted for Michael Leng in the past couple of hands. Leng had [as][8h] to Brammer’s [9d][9c] and the pocket pair stayed good. Leng is also on the rail. — HS

1.20pm: No stopping the runaway train: Huge pot for Ahmed
There is no stopping Iqbal Ahmed, he’s up to 2,400,000 after accounting for Nathan Kiely, himself one of the big stacks at the start of play.

I only saw the river action but with a full board of [2h][Jh][8c][4d][7c] on the felt and around 450,000 in the pot, Kiely (big blind) led out for 210,000 leaving himself a similar amount back. Almost instantly Ahmed announced all-in, but there was no snap decision from Kiely.

He leaned back in his chair and began talking the hand through, some of it was inaudible but he clearly said: “All I can beat is a missed flush draw, that’s all I can beat.”

After a few minutes he eventually announced call, Ahmed showed the nuts [10c][9c] and Kiely said: “that’s sick, so sick,” and showed the ahead to the river [Kc][Kd]. — NW

1.10pm: Bad light stops play
It’s just not cricket! The remaining tables are each being moved in turn to a different area in Dusk Till Dawn due to bad lighting in the current area that they’re in. Tournament staff will be adding three minutes to the clock so that the players don’t lose out. — NW

1pm: Van der Vliet accounts for Haycock
A couple of the players around table 74 were left muttering “standard, standard” as a disconsolate Paul Haycock prepared to take his leave. In truth it was the kind of thing we see every day in these big events – ie, a pretty grim out-draw – so although it was standard in one sense, it was still galling in another.

Haycock had got it all in pre-flop with [10s][10d] versus Scott Van Der Vliet’s [ac][10h]. The flop was [qh][9s][9d], which was OK for the pocket tens, but the [ad] turn certainly wasn’t. The [qs] river finished it.

Van der Vliet has about 450,000 now, 200,000-odd of which used to belong to the late Haycock. — HS

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 5,000-10,000 1,000 ante

12.50pm: Aces hold in huge pot
Such has been the propensity of big pairs to be cracked during this opening level of the day Majid Iqbal must’ve feared the worst when he found aces. A flurry of raises and re-raises pre-flop saw Liam Batey six-bet shove all-in with [Ah][Qc] and Iqbal call all-in for 386,000 with the aces.

The board of [2h][10d][8h][7s][7d] was positively pedestrian compared to some we’ve seen so far today and Iqbal doubled to nearly 800,000 whilst Batey slipped to 500,000. — NW

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Liam Batey

12.45pm: Pearce flops set, busts Evans
Big hand here for Richard Pearce, who has just knocked out Richard Evans and all but doubled his own stack. It was folded to Pearce in the small blind and he raised to 17,000. Evans defended the big blind with a call and they saw a [kc][8c][3d] flop. Pearce checked and Evans announced that he was all in. Without even needing a count, Pearce instantly called and flipped [kh][kd] for flopped top set.

Evans had [7d][9c] and even his faint hopes for a dramatic outdraw were quashed when the turn paired the board. Tournament officials measured out the stack sizes before confirming that Pearce did indeed have Evans covered and now stack about 300,000. — HS

12.42pm: Pavlikova lays the trap, Ahmed dances round it
As the short stacks continue to throw their holdings into the middle with gay abandon, things slow down remarkably when two of the big players get involved. Iqbal Ahmed just opened from the cut off to 16,000 and Veronika Pavlikova called from the big blind. The flop came [ad][5d][2d], which was checked through, and they also checked the [4s] turn.

The [6s] rivered and Pavlikova bet 35,000. Ahmed seemed to be calling more out of curiosity than anything else and threw in few chips. Pavlikova tabled [kd][10d] for the flopped nuts. Ahmed clearly hadn’t caught up sufficiently to pay her off. — HS

12.40pm: Jacks cracked
Kin Wong’s rollercoaster opening level continues as he just doubled up Paul Haycock. The latter got his last 85,000 in with [9c][7c], Wong found pocket jacks and made the call. The flop of [9h][7c][Qc] was the wrong one as far as Wong was concerned and he couldn’t re-suck on the [8s] turn or [Ac], he’s now down to 55,000.

More all-ins and outs than a hokey-cokey contest on table 74. — NW

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Kin Wong

12.35pm: Exits
There’s no easy way to say this but if you’re on you’re way to rail Danny McHugh, Edward Roger, Mateusz Matla, Richard Milner, Tina Bandyle, Phil Long, Mani Elmarsson or David Prince then turn that car around and head back where you’ve come from. They have all exited in the opening 30 minutes of play. — NW

12.33pm: Kings cracked
I only caught the hand live at the all-in stage, but given what was in the middle there had certainly been some medium to heavy pre-flop action. Anyway on the felt was a flop of [Qc][Jc][Qd] and Lee Dixon with [Kd][Ks] and Przemek Piotrowski holding [As][Qs] had all their respective chips across the line.

The turn and river came [9h][5c] the stacks were close and Dixon initially thought he was out, but after count he was left with 45,000. — NW

12.30pm: Wong begins comeback
Mani Elmarsson is cursing his luck having just lost a race to Kin Wong. Wong had been left cripplingly short after that skirmish with Robert Baguley and got his last 65,000 in with [as][qh]. Elmarsson made a standard call with [10s][10d] but the [2c][7c][3h][9h][qd] board meant he was counting out about half his stack to slide it across the felt. — HS

12.27pm: Bandyle banished by Clarke
Tina Bandyle is the first casualty from Table Terror. Tim Clarke got her, hitting a king with his ace-king to beat Bandyle’s pocket threes. That will be the third table to break today, so the rest of the field had better look out when those players are scattered among it.

We are down to 70 already. Our nine starting tables are down to eight. — HS

12.26pm: Long gone
The exits continue as Phil Long has followed Mani Elmarsson out the door. Coming back with just 115,000 he three-bet all-in with [Ks][Jc] but Keith Ridley had opened with a genuine hand – [Ac][Qh] – and made the call. Neither connected with the board and Ridley motors on to 750,000. — NW

12.25pm: Wong wrong, Baguley bags
Robert Baguley has just doubled his short stack to about 240,000 after he flopped a flush with [3d][4d] on a [6d][jd][7d] board. The [qs][js] of Kin Wong couldn’t catch up on the [ks][7s] turn and river. Wong is now clinging on. — HS

12.20pm: First exit
Mani Elmarsson is the first today to feel the sharp pain of having his tournament life extinguished. He moved all-in for 65,000 from the small blind with [8d][6h] but Scott Van Der Vliet found pocket queens in the big blind.

The flop of [Jc][6d][8h] saw Elmarsson take the lead, but the [Jd] turn gave it back to Van Der Vliet and he even improved on the [Qh] river to recoup some of his earlier losses. — NW

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Scott Van Der Vliet

12.15pm: Bullies and the bullied
Any table featuring Iqbal Ahmed today was always going to be a tough one, but when you add Veronika Pavlikova and Tim Clark to the mix, it’s going to be even harder. Pavlikova flexed her muscles early, three-betting from the big blind after Nathan Kiely had tried to pinch it from the small blind. Kiely folded. And then Ahmed joined the party, opening from early position and getting no callers.

The relative short stack of Richard Pearce then made its way into the middle. He open shoved from early position and Tina Bandyle surrendered her big blind. Not many flops being seen over there on table 11 in the early stages. — HS

12.10pm: First double up
The first double up of the day has seen Bartek Palka double through Scott Van Der Vliet. The Pole, three-bet all-in with [Ah][Kd] Van Der Vliet made the call with pocket eights but failed to hold on the [10s][Kc][2d][6c][6h] board. Palka up to 200,000, Van Der Vliet down to 115,000. — NW

Poker reporters do a lot of stupid things during the course of an average day. But more foolish even than the OK-one-more-for-the-road or the It’ll-be-fine-it’s-only-been-sitting-there-three-days is the attempt to predict how long it will take to reach a certain number of players.

Today our target at UKIPT Nottingham is to reduce a returning field of 76 to a final table of eight, and we can’t resist the guessing game. Yesterday they fell about one per minute, at which rate we’ll be done before 1.30pm. But the wise estimates set the line at about seven to eight levels, taking us closer to 9pm.

We shall see, of course. But one thing is for certain: if Iqbal Ahmed continues his form from yesterday, it could be over before it has even begun. He was utterly sensational, but today will be in everyone’s sights.

Click through to the day three seat draw. And then join us back here for all the action. — HS

Iqbal Ahmed, the man to catch

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EPT8 Madrid: The Reign in Spain falls mainly on everyone else…

After speaking to some members of the Spanish media it turns out Spain are pretty good at pretty much everything (“Do you want us to name the sports we’re not good at?”).

As well as being the current soccer World Champions they lead the world in indoor soccer, handball, water polo, all sorts. There is one failing, at least where the European Poker Tour is concerned, and that’s the complete absence of a Spanish champion.

Spaniard Ricardo Rodriguez leads on the feature table, a tough place to thrive featuring Bruno Lopes, Taylor Paur, Mike McDonald and Ilan Boujenah. It puts him in position to reach the final. But can he win?

“We ask that ourselves, we don’t know,” said Alex Hernando of the Spanish poker website Poker10. “The fact is that the main option was in Barcelona last summer, four Spaniards at the final table.”

That day ended in disappointment for the home rail. Juan Manuel Perez finished in seventh place and Tomeu Gomila in in fifth. One of the country’s best players, Raul Mestre, finished in fourth while Dragan Kostic fell one place short in second. For some reason the Spanish just can’t break their duck (that’s a cricket reference, a sport Spain are NOT good at).

So which player is the most likely to win on home soil?

Spain’s last hope? Ricardo Rodriguez leads on the feature table

“The one who’s on the TV table,” said Hernando, confessing no prior knowledge of the unfamiliar Rodrigues. “The fact is that he’s an unknown player so we don’t have any information about him. But (at this point Hernando laughed) at every EPT we say ‘that’s the one who will win’, but…”

We’ll find out soon enough. Five started today, three are left. Time might be running out.

Tournament snapshot
Level 22: blinds 8,000-16,000, ante 2,000
Players: 17 of 477
Average stack: 841,500
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