The Day 2 seat draw below shows that we have 394 players remaining from the 665 that started. Chip leader Nick Yunis, yes he of joint fourth place in the EPT Player of the Year race, sits on table 1 with the likes of Tony Gregg (double PCA final table finisher), Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin and EPT regular Manuel Bevand.

We’re slated to play six 75-minute levels today with a dinner break after the fourth level of the day. We suspect a seventh level may be played if we’re close to popping the money bubble. Click here for live coverage and more features from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Daniel Negreanu will be grinding his 22,400 stack

(Table, seat, name, chips)
1 1 Hafiz Khan 71,500
1 2 Thomas Wahlroos 24,300
1 3 Nicola Bordignon 41,400
1 4 Tony Gregg 34,700
1 5 Nick Yunis  191,700
1 6 Michel Carvin 59,800
1 7 Manuel Bevand 16,300
1 8 Victor Ramdin 7,000
1 9 Vadzim Markushevski 49,500

2 1 Andrew Badecker 83,800
2 2 Beatrice Sitbon 17,100
2 3 Aneris Adomkevicius 46,100
2 4 Aage Ravn 57,200
2 5 Barry Greenstein 71,100
2 6 Christophe Benzimra 25,000
2 7 Claus Bek Nielsen 37,700
2 8 Lawrie Inman 100,800
2 9 Casey Kastle 10,600

3 1 Martin Wendt 53,600
3 2 Suat Uyanik 33,200
3 3 Craig McCorkell 8,500
3 4 Ole Schemion 64,400
3 5 Patrick Renkers 23,700
3 6 Thibaud Genegou 16,900
3 7 Nils Svensson 76,800
3 8 Levon Bouchikian 45,400
3 9 Andrew Pantling  91,500

4 1 Jose Manuel Nadal 69,800
4 2 Andrey Gulyy 59,100
4 3 Philippe Narboni 16,200
4 4 Ricky Tang 23,200
4 5 Andrey Bondar 29,900
4 6 Mats Gavatin 48,100
4 7 Santiago Nadal Sordo 85,600
4 8 Alessio Isaia 139,600
4 9 Stephane Albertini 38,000

5 1 Ermo Kosk 10,600
5 2 Ivan Kudriavtcev 186,200
5 3 Daniel Studer 50,100
5 4 Vito Lonigro 31,900
5 5 Phillippe Rouas 17,800
5 6 Jeffrey Gross 26,800
5 7 Nathan Schoo 65,100
5 8 Emin Aghayev 82,500
5 9 Mick Graydon 40,500

6 1 Daniel Di Pasquale 65,400
6 2 Stephen Reynolds 78,200
6 3 Fioroni Aroldo 11,500
6 4 Vojtech Ruzicka 43,400
6 5 Marc Colomé 34,800
6 6 Andrea Benelli 53,200
6 7 Xavier Detournel 25,800
6 8 Lothar Meier 19,100
6 9 Vladimir Geshkenbein 103,900

7 1 Bryn Kenney 30,600
7 2 Bruno Launais 77,500
7 3 Edward Teems 59,700
7 4 Tom Marchese 112,000
7 5 Sergiy Baranov 23,700
7 6 Clayton Mozdzen 40,700
7 7 Marat Begenov 10,500
7 8 Olivier Douce 48,600
7 9 Kevin MacPhee 16,800

8 1 Mikhail Korotkikh 61,300
8 2 Marc-Andre Ladouceur 101,300
8 3 Adrian Veghinas 84,600
8 4 Dieter Albrecht 42,100
8 5 Cristea Ionut 52,100
8 6 Alain Daien 24,200
8 7 Andrei Stoenescu 17,700
8 8 Evgeny Taranyuk 11,200
8 9 George Danzer 31,200

9 1 Ignat Liviu 36,700
9 2 Rade Jovanovski 16,000
9 3 Sandor Demjan 43,000
9 4 Sorel Mizzi 61,600
9 5 Oleh Okhotskyi 74,000
9 6 Steve O’Dwyer 101,600
9 7 Alexey Sudarikov 22,800
9 8 Ziv Caspi 27,600
9 9 Mikalai Pobal 51,800

10 1 Zoltan Szabo 35,400
10 2 Fowzi Baroukh 28,600
10 3 Lucien Cohen 21,900
10 4 Mickael Tribert 45,600
10 5 Alain Goldberg 74,700
10 6 Vanessa Selbst 54,900
10 7 Yulius Sepman 16,000
10 8 Aubin Cazals 93,500
10 9 Ville Wahlbeck 61,700

11 1 Kenny Hicks 40,000
11 2 Giuseppe Pantaleo 19,600
11 3 Marco Leonzio 58,800
11 4 Mesbah Guerfi 24,300
11 5 David Peters 67,400
11 6 Toby Lewis 12,500
11 7 Scott Seiver 99,800
11 8 Clyde Tjauw Foe 82,600
11 9 Javier Garcia 48,000

12 1 Idris Ambraisse 125,000
12 2 Ariel Mantel 48,200
12 3 John Eames 157,200
12 4 Geert-Jan Potijk 116,000
12 5 Martin Schleich 59,300
12 6 John O’Shea 39,900
12 7 Yury Kerzhapkin 23,600
12 8 Johnny Lodden 12,600
12 9 Tudor Grangure 30,400

13 1 Benoit Albiges 43,400
13 2 Rumen Nanev 51,300
13 3 Jeffrey Hakim 25,900
13 4 George Lind 35,900
13 5 Vanessa Rousso 17,000
13 6 Sam Trickett 65,800
13 7 Nacho Barbero 105,400
13 8 Juan Gonzalez Venzano 85,500
13 9 Griffin Benger 10,600

14 1 Daniele Guidetti 42,300
14 2 Gaelle Baumann 35,400
14 3 Francis-Nicolas Bouchard 26,200
14 4 Mike Carter 12,400
14 5 Basil Yaiche 54,300
14 6 Ramon Romero Lanz 63,300
14 7 Jesse Martin 93,500
14 8 Seamus Cahill 78,900
14 9 Samuel Chartier  18,400

15 1 Bruno Fitoussi  14,000
15 2 Jonathan Villeneuve 58,500
15 3 Jean-Noel Thorel 100,400
15 4 Yannick Del Curto 30,400
15 5 Ognjen Sekularac 47,900
15 6 Igor Malyshkov 20,200
15 7 JP Kelly 83,700
15 8 Sinel Anton 69,100
15 9 Nicolas Chouity 38,700

16 1 Jason Somerville 13,200
16 2 Dimitar Danchev 67,000
16 3 Roman Romanovsky 58,300
16 4 Andrey Zaichenko  42,000
16 5 Mikhail Petrov 19,550
16 6 Dragan Kostic 34,400
16 7 Michael Kolkowicz 93,600
16 8 Justin Bonomo 79,000
16 9 Vincenzo Andrea 26,400

17 1 Matthias De Meulder 23,900
17 2 Leon Viellevoije 30,900
17 3 Kyle Julius 16,600
17 4 Phil Ivey 72,000
17 5 Anton Ionel 7,200
17 6 Sebastian Veghinas 48,600
17 7 Martial Blangenwitsch 60,000
17 8 Andrey Demidov 104,400
17 9 Maksim Kolosov 40,700

18 1 Marc Zaicik 35,800
18 2 Timofey Kuznetsov 99,700
18 3 Humberto Brenes 77,700
18 4 Carlos Sanchez Vegas 53,600
18 5 Kut Fu Chow 27,600
18 6 Daniel Negreanu 22,400
18 7 Marcel Luske 63,200
18 8 Maxim Panyak 6,700
18 9 Elliot Smith 45,700

19 1 Vladislav Varlashin 20,700
19 2 Maria Ho 55,500
19 3 Adham Beainy 47,000
19 5 Maroun Jazzar 25,300
19 6 Walid Bou-Habib 85,700
19 7 Ben Warrington 104,800
19 8 Dermot Blain 66,000
19 9 Marco Falanga 34,300

20 1 Keven Stammen 46,800
20 2 Dmitry Grishin 81,300
20 3 Jose Carlos Garcia 12,100
20 4 Paul Testud 28,900
20 5 Spencer Hudson 57,900
20 6 Bolivar Palacios 65,600
20 7 Giacomo Maisto 23,200
20 8 Kunimaro Kojo 36,900
20 9 Dario Minieri 94,700

21 1 Yann Brosolo 18,200
21 2 Chanracy Khun 43,700
21 3 Andrey Kuznetsov 33,900
21 4 Zachary Clark 24,100
21 5 Michael Telker 60,900
21 6 Ole Nergard 80,500
21 7 Patrick Sacrispeyre 8,500
21 8 Jason Mercier 52,200
21 9 Mickey Petersen 98,800

22 1 Joackim Fissenko 24,000
22 2 Flavius Puica 54,400
22 3 Pavel Gonchakov 67,200
22 4 Christopher Hunichen 32,200
22 5 Annette Obrestad 82,400
22 6 Anatoly Gurtovoy 118,100
22 7 Joe Cada 17,000
22 8 Vincent Verdickt 4,700
22 9 Liv Boeree 44,900

23 1 Amit Makhija 32,000
23 2 Yury Gulyy 26,500
23 3 Joao Nunes 14,000
23 4 Sergey Baburin 21,400
23 5 Fabrice Soulier 73,300
23 6 Jonathan Karamalikis 89,600
23 7 Andrey Danilyuk 60,000
23 8 Terje Augdal 49,500
23 9 Jude Ainsworth 41,000

24 1 Malte Moennig 136,900
24 2 Rasmus Vogt 25,000
24 3 Marcus Hellner 17,800
24 4 William Thorson 31,000
24 5 Marius Pospiech 12,500
24 6 Cengiz Ulusu 114,300
24 7 Alexander Venovski 48,500
24 8 Isaac Baron 40,100
24 9 Pratyush Buddiga 69,900

25 1 Javier Gil Candelas 10,800
25 2 Rodrigo Dos Santos Caprioli 36,800
25 3 Martin Kabrhel 167,800
25 4 Richard Toth 52,900
25 5 Samir Moukawem 24,000
25 6 Bryan Piccioli 60,900
25 7 Oleksandr Vaserfirer  43,200
25 8 Robert Sova 17,400
25 9 Martin Finger 85,900

26 1 Ilan Boujenah 117,000
26 2 Noah Boeken  83,900
26 3 Erik Cajelais 45,300
26 4 Raphael Kroll 27,100
26 5 Chris Oliver 58,900
26 6 Darko Stojanovic 13,300
26 7 Tibor Nagygyorgy 19,900
26 8 Konstantin Tolokno 39,600
26 9 Andrey Pateychuk 67,800

27 1 Thomas Muhlocker 40,200
27 2 Mathew Frankland 81,500
27 3 Frank Koopmann 113,900
27 4 Andrea Dato 30,700
27 6 Ben Vinson 65,500
27 7 Pierre Neuville 51,100
27 8 Janos Molnar 16,700
27 9 Chris Moneymaker 24,000

28 1 Klimashin Nikolaevich 80,400
28 2 Habib Esses 12,600
28 3 Matt Perrins 95,100
28 4 Chao Fei Wang 44,700
28 5 Adria Balaguer 18,700
28 6 Fady Kamar 62,300
28 7 Martins Adeniya 24,900
28 8 Vadzim Kursevich 53,300
28 9 Anders Berg 31,800

29 1 Jason Wheeler 112,900
29 2 Erich Kollmann 12,300
29 3 Martin Staszko 26,600
29 4 Juha Lauttamus 35,700
29 5 Vladimir Troyanovski 86,700
29 6 Michael Watson 45,800
29 7 Mikhail Semin 59,000
29 8 Roberto Menache 68,200
29 9 Emile Petit 21,000

30 1 Andres Artinano 125,200
30 2 Jamie Rosen 9,100
30 3 Damien Rony 49,900
30 4 Paul Vas Nunes 21,700
30 5 Imad Derwiche 27,400
30 6 Vasili Firsau 87,300
30 7 Jonathan Azoulay 33,700
30 8 Adam Levy 66,800
30 9 Oleg Larichev 41,300

31 1 Thomas Dolezal 54,700
31 2 Kristian Lunardi 20,200
31 3 Lucille Cailly 63,500
31 4 Jonathan Ben Soussan 99,000
31 5 Paul Berende 82,100
31 6 Rupert Elder 36,100
31 7 Andrew Dean 14,300
31 8 Simeon Naydenov 28,200
31 9 Tony Viklund 46,000

32 1 Christopher Brammer 67,500
32 2 Igor Sharaskin 47,300
32 3 Ghosn Fadi 30,400
32 4 Mikhail Ustinov 58,000
32 5 David Vamplew 15,500
32 6 Franck Blanc 160,800
32 7 Dorde Jovanovic 40,000
32 8 Pedro Pellicer 21,400
32 9 Ana Marquez 85,200

33 1 Nikolay Losev 59,500
33 2 Michele D’Aniello 71,500
33 3 Michael Dietrich 88,600
33 4 Vadim Vadimovich Belov 22,100
33 5 Dan Shak 33,200
33 6 Jean-Philippe Piquette 15,110
33 7 Mikael Azoulay 41,200
33 8 Omar Jadaa 27,200
33 9 Stephen Chidwick 49,000

34 1 Tobias Reinkemeier 35,625
34 2 Eric Qu 51,600
34 3 Riu Cao 90,600
34 4 Jan Petersen 61,200
34 5 Daniel Gomez 41,800
34 6 Chady Merhej 75,300
34 7 Yngve Andersen 20,200
34 8 Giulio Mascolo 10,210
34 9 Tauras Narmontas 27,600

35 1 Salman Behbehani 41,400
35 2 Shane Sigsbee 52,300
35 3 Carlos Mironiuk 75,700
35 4 Philip Gurian 19,300
35 5 Samantha Cohen 93,500
35 6 Jorge Galino Lopez 5,100
35 7 Torsten Brinkmann 24,200
35 8 Emanoil Savin 60,700
35 9 Robert Shields 32,900

36 1 Oleksii Kovalchuk 65,600
36 2 Adrian Schaap 76,400
36 3 Erik Seidel 56,500
36 4 Hamad Almannai 91,400
36 5 Joao Ribeiro 29,600
36 6 Alexander Uskov 36,000
36 7 Talal Shakerchi 45,100
36 8 Viktor Ivanov 13,800
36 9 Amichai Tzvi Barer 22,900

37 1 Anton Thorarinsson 22,100
37 2 Bruno Lopes 57,600
37 3 William Reynolds 29,900
37 4 Jeffrey Rossiter 39,600
37 5 Pius Heinz 87,100
37 6 Thomas Gabriel 68,500
37 7 Tristan Clemencon 121,100
37 8 Marvin Rettenmaier 45,400
37 9 David Sonelin 12,200

38 1 Faraz Jaka 42,900
38 2 Salvatore Bianco 71,600
38 3 Martin Vallo 88,600
38 4 Kevin Vandersmissen 29,700
38 5 Michael Winkels 16,100
38 6 Angel Guillen 60,200
38 7 Viacheslav Goryachev 51,100
38 8 Ilkin Amirov 36,000
38 9 Toni Judet 22,500

39 1 John Andress 41,900
39 2 Marco Della Tommasina 60,200
39 3 Chris Moorman 19,100
39 4 Jorge Carlos Delgado 73,800
39 5 Joris Springael 11,600
39 6 Guillaume Darcourt 49,500
39 7 David Sands 160,300
39 8 Thomas Mjeldheim 34,600
39 9 Liutauras Armanavicius 25,500

40 1 Freddy Deeb 114,600
40 2 Ibrahim Ghassan 20,900
40 3 Daniel Reijmer 32,100
40 4 Antonino Venneri 15,000
40 5 Joel Bez 45,000
40 6 Georges Ghossan 53,500
40 7 Ondrej Vinklarek 83,200
40 8 Fatima Moreira de Melo 61,500
40 9 Philipp Gruissem 24,600

41 1 Isabelle Mercier 23,900
41 2 Jonathan Turner 40,200
41 3 Noshrevan Gadelia 1,000
41 4 Cristiano Guerra 31,400
41 5 Kenny Hallaert 61,300
41 6 Dan Abouaf 89,100
41 7 Alessandro De Michele 49,800
41 8 Jesus Esteve 75,200
41 9 Alain Roy 16,400

42 1 Anatoly Chen 26,200
42 2 Eduardo Borio Carlini 21,300
42 3 Philip Parsons 67,300
42 4 Georges Dib 96,300
42 5 Dori Yacoub 14,100
42 6 Oleg Bychkov 82,600
42 7 Sandra Naujoks 37,100
42 8 Leo Margets 55,100
42 9 Borge Dypvik 46,200

43 1 Dominykas Karmazinas 81,600
43 2 Bernard Guigon 57,300
43 3 Joep van den Bijgaart 13,400
43 4 Mohsin Charania 68,300
43 5 Reza Mostafavi Tabatabaei 110,900
43 6 Mathieu Clavet 30,100
43 7 Jose Angel Latorre 46,800
43 8 Jesus Cortes 23,500
43 9 Freddy Darakjian 39,900

44 1 Robert-Andrei Pescaru 27,600
44 2 Andoni Larrabe Sánchez 181,300
44 3 Max Martinez 63,400
44 4 Jason Gray 34,600
44 5 Melanie Weisner 15,900
44 6 Sergio Castelluccio 83,100
44 7 Sergey Kishnev 50,600
44 8 JC Alvarado 43,000
44 9 Antoine Saout 22,300

Tournament snapshot
Level 9: blinds 400-800, ante 100
Players: 394 of 665
Click here for live coverage and more features from The PokerStars and Monte-Carlo®Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Tags: australia | Baltic Poker Festival | barry-greenstein | european | france | news | pius heinz | pokerstars macau | portugal | Tony G | victor-ramdin | videos

Today is what we like to call a ‘fulcrum’ day: the turning point of the tournament. The bubble will burst, the post-bubble flurry will take place and a selection of players set to make the final table will make themselves known. At the moment chip leader Mike ‘Timex’ MacDonald looks likely to cruise into the latter stages in good position but plenty of other berths exist in the final 24.

Stay with us for live updates, features and videos throughout the day at the PokerStars Blog.

The seat draw

1 1 Javier Ferrero 129,000
1 2 Tome Moreira 144,800
1 3 Jason Duval 195,700
1 4 Anestis Pantazidis 100,500
1 5 Pedro Pellicer 63,400
1 6 Denis Noykin 78,400
1 7 Mike Adamo 46,700
1 8 Andries Swart 339,100

2 1 Siyu Sha 274,500
2 2 Yorane Kerignard 35,900
2 3 Igor Malyshkov 149,000
2 4 Vadim Markushevski 116,200
2 5 Alex Kravchenko 52,000
2 6 Juan Jose Chavez 76,700
2 7 Mihails Morozovs 94,900
2 8 Nicolas Levi 202,900

3 1 Koen De Visscher 59,900
3 2 Ben Spraggons 77,800
3 3 Mateo Sempere 113,600
3 4 Susen Petr 35,100
3 5 Kevin MacPhee 181,700
3 6 Cristian Tardea 83,100
3 7 Yury Gulyy 139,200
3 8 Jose Manuel Nadal 212,100

4 1 Richard Van Schendel 49,500
4 2 Jacob Rasmussen 141,500
4 3 Ivan Kuziv 106,500
4 4 Fraser Macintyre 210,800
4 5 Olivier Busquet 80,500
4 6 Joep van den Bijgaart 27,400
4 7 Jose Rodriguez Espades 65,400
4 8 Yordan Dimitrov 180,600

5 1 Jan Collado 83,500
5 2 Matthew Wood 41,900
5 3 McLean Karr 230,700
5 4 Dmitry Vitkind 368,000
5 5 Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes 186,100
5 6 Juan Manuel Perez 71,200
5 7 Paco Torres 52,700
5 8 Massimo Di Cicco 161,000

6 1 Joao Ribeiro 51,600
6 2 Ricardo Ibanez Rodriguez 172,200
6 3 Guiu Kim Jung 95,200
6 4 Alexander Petersen 190,900
6 5 Mike McDonald 409,800
6 6 Hugo Felix 131,200
6 7 Konstantin Aleynik 68,100
6 8 James Wilson 27,100

7 1 Martino Chiodo 191,500
7 2 Fadhil Farag 129,000
7 3 Henrique Pinho 61,400
7 4 Ilan Boujenah 271,000
7 5 Mikhail “innerpsy” Shalamov 172,600
7 6 Ondrej Vinklarek 47,200
7 7 Robert Cezarescu 100,100
7 8 Josef Bachar 77,900

8 1 Tristan Clemencon 152,300
8 2 Clayton Mozdzen 218,400
8 3 Jose Giunta Rufino 38,100
8 4 Dobromir Nikov 186,800
8 5 Maksim Semisoshenko 68,200
8 6 Rupert Elder 79,800
8 7 Mark Jansen 113,800
8 8 Antonio Gonzalez 52,400

9 1 Anton Kraous 19,500
9 2 James Sudworth 69,100
9 3 Juan Navarrete 194,200
9 4 Ruben Setien Herrera 80,100
9 5 Yann Dion 219,800
9 6 David Gomez Morante 50,000
9 7 Igor Sharaskin 111,500
9 8 Konstantinos Nanos 170,400

10 1 Cesar Garcia Dominguez 80,100
10 2 Kenny Hallaert 102,900
10 3 Ivan Tikhov 141,700
10 4 Marius Ion Geanta 69,600
10 5 Jordi Martinez 189,100
10 6 Taylor Paur 238,200
10 7 Javier Santos Mielgo 48,400
10 8 Ebony Kenney 32,700

11 1 Ismail Erkenov 54,000
11 2 Andrei Stoenescu 197,400
11 3 Diogo Borges 71,600
11 4 Javier Rojas Mederos 38,100
11 5 Rebecca Gerin 119,900
11 6 Ricardo Tavares 264,300
11 7 Angel Guillen 95,000
11 8 Anders Andersen 142,500

12 1 Manuel Sanchez Morito 23,200
12 2 Javier Etayo 329,400
12 3 Iakov Indenbaum 173,400
12 4 Borge Dypvik 136,200
12 5 Barny Boatman 81,700
12 6 Erich Kollmann 275,500
12 7 Yury Kerzhapkin 51,100
12 8 Tommy Per Bondergaard 69,500

13 1 Gianluca Marcucci 118,000
13 2 Javier “El_Cañonero” Dominguez 141,700
13 3 Anibal Figueiredo 73,000
13 4 Melanie Weisner 43,200
13 5 Johnny Lodden 180,900
13 6 Roberto Fernandez De Frutos 86,500
13 7 Toby Lewis 243,200
13 8 Mathew Frankland 57,000

14 1 Efren Garcia 133,200
14 2 João Paulo Simão 169,800
14 3 Frederik Jensen 404,500
14 4 Jean-Pierre Petroli 102,700
14 5 Dermot Blain 75,000
14 6 David Benyamine 55,500
14 7 Michel Dattani 197,300
14 8 Joao Barbosa 45,000

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | belgian poker series | entertainment | france | gambling | planets | Super Tuesday | videos | wcoop | world-series

Vadzim Kursevich is sitting front and centre of the EPT Deauville final table, arms resting around his stack. Just a few yards away sits Russian Andrey Pateychuk, who won EPT San Remo earlier this season for €680,000, railing the Belarusian who has been the most active player at this final table.

After starting the day in second place with 5,670,000, Kursevich has been up and down more than the Belarusian Ruble (currently 8,372 to the dollar) and is currently languishing in third place out of five with 3,565,000 – but that’s not a result of simply blinding out. Play started badly with a four million flip gone wrong to Vuong Than Trong and another big pot lost to Bruno Jais, but ‘VadziMoney’ pulled himself back into the action with a series of bluffs and value bets – notably stealing a chunky pot after barrelling queen-high into Than Trong across two streets. Then he doubled Yorane Kerignard calling the Frenchman’s shove light with [ah][4h]. Kerignard’s pocket sixes held up. Then he doubled him up again, this time calling with ace-queen into queens.

Than Trong (left) and Kursevich at the final table

At no point has Kursevich slowed, stalled or taken a rest. If we’d sat marking off the number of pots Kursevich had played (we haven’t) we could tell you his VPIP (we can’t). What we can say is that he’s been playing. A lot. It’s as if he thinks he’s the best player at the table, which if he does he’d have good reason to.

Kursevich was part of a five-way chop in the WCOOP main event last year as well as claiming a third-place finish at EPT Berlin for €300,000. We saw a different Kursevich there; a tighter, more conservative performance where Kursevich was a fringe character hiding beneath a large hood in the shadow of the likes of Ben Wilinofsky, Max Heinzelman, Martin Jacobson and Joep van den Bijgaart. Here in Deauville the hood is down and Kursevich is carrying himself as if he feels he should win. Would it be fair to say the EPT Berlin final table was stronger than the final eight here in Deauville? I’d say so and I’m guessing that Kursevich would agree which may be why he’s been pursing pots so aggressively. Should Kursevich have won any of those all-ins thing could be very different here. Than Trong, for one, wouldn’t have his 9,320,000 chip lead, he’d be out.

Kursevich chipping up (yet again)

Moments after this post went up Kursevich opened to 525,000 from the small blind into Paul Guichard and snap-called when Guichard shoved his big blind. Kursevich held [ah][ks], Guichard [ac][qd]. That held to win Kursevich the 7,640,000 pot putting him back into second place and Guichard out of the top two for the first time today.

Tags: 2011 | Baltic Poker Festival | belgian poker series | berlin | ept | france poker series | latin-america | poker | portugal poker series | wcoop

Table Seat Name Chips
1 1 David Dayan 37,600
1 2 Jorge Galino Lopez 46,500
1 3 Pavel Gomerov 28,200
1 4 Andras Kovacs 60,200
1 5 Fabrice Maltez 72,500
1 6 Jean Rohr 55,700
1 7 Thomas Launay 29,000
1 8 Roman Gorskiy 13,300
1 9 Abdel Kader Boukbir 43,100

2 1 Jordan Mitev 65,900
2 2 Alain Roy 99,600
2 3 Jake Cody 78,400
2 4 Tobias Peters 39,800
2 5 Pedro Rafael Lourenco Zagalo 35,100
2 6 Marko Neumann 67,600
2 7 Yohann Aube 54,600
2 8 Leo Laslandes 25,400
2 9 Mohamed Benchaa Djelloul 14,900

3 1 Didier Laurent 23,400
3 2 Joseph Benchimol 93,300
3 3 Jan Bendik 26,400
3 4 Joseph Carlino 24,600
3 5 Philip Jacobsen 32,800
3 6 Oscar Serradell Iscla 36,800
3 7 Thomas Macdonald 19,900
3 8 Bruno Benveniste 58,600
3 9 Ekrem Sanioglu 20,000

4 1 Othonas Katakis 34,900
4 2 Patrick Nataf 49,600
4 3 Chakib Bennani 44,900
4 4 Stephan Gerin 56,200
4 5 Victor Martin Goisset 46,500
4 6 Kevin Vandersmissen 58,800
4 7 Clement Beauvois 34,500
4 8 Andrey Baturin 37,600
4 9 Henri Boutboul 24,900

5 1 Gianfranco Mazzariello 33,000
5 2 Beyhan Bal 23,000
5 3 David Colin 55,600
5 4 Yury Gruzdev 103,100
5 5 Joni Jouhkimainen 43,400
5 6 Lionel Rozenberg 36,100
5 7 Sebastian Winkler 59,300
5 8 Ronan Monfort 32,400
5 9 Mark Jansen 31,800

6 1 Govert Metaal 71,700
6 2 Bernard Graffouillere 34,200
6 3 Raymond Santucci 20,300
6 4 Dan Djorno 64,700
6 5 Joann Lenne 44,300
6 6 Julien Ehrhardt 90,000
6 7 Mohsin Charania 41,400
6 8 Andrey Danilyuk 34,800
6 9 Arthur Alabart Urgelles 44,500

7 1 Etienne Archambeaud 75,800
7 2 Jonnie Sonelin 84,100
7 3 Jean Jacques Amiel 45,900
7 4 Mario Puccini 11,200
7 5 Jean Montury 62,000
7 6 Valentyn Shabelnyk 60,200
7 7 Stephane Noel 41,100
7 8 Marc Zaicik 33,000
7 9 Philippe Riminucci 22,700

8 1 Daniel Reijmer 79,200
8 2 Andre Vieira Andrade 72,900
8 3 Samuel Wrobel 44,800
8 4 Steve Fierens 31,500
8 5 Florian Desgouttes 70,700
8 6 Arnaud Mattern 6,300
8 7 Michael Abehassera 59,600
8 8 Nicolas Chouity 57,100
8 9 Nazim Guillaud 18,300

9 1 Samphane Phomveha 84,300
9 2 Giacomo Fundaro 35,600
9 3 Pierre Guillaume Calamusa 44,100
9 4 Andreas Klatt 26,900
9 5 Guy Tomaselli 48,000
9 6 Romain Pierre Robert Destouches 38,500
9 7 Fabian Holling 87,500
9 8 Aubin Cazals 39,400
9 9 Georg Lehmann 96,900

10 1 Daniel Cascado 23,900
10 2 Gabriel Houle Morin 72,400
10 3 Jean Pasqualini 41,800
10 4 Harry Loria 6,300
10 5 Claude Marbleu 69,600
10 6 Philippe Narboni 19,700
10 7 Nikolaus Teichert 74,400
10 8 Florent Leprovost 16,300
10 9 Rodolphe Rey 50,500

11 1 Abdelkader Chetioui 23,300
11 2 Lauri Pesonen 33,200
11 3 Ari Engel 53,600
11 4 Dan Murariu 49,500
11 5 Aleksander Pereworucha 45,000
11 6 Mikael Cavailles 42,000
11 7 Olivier Bayle 16,700
11 8 Max Silver 32,300
11 9 Thomas Petit 54,800

12 1 Atanas Gueorguiev 31,800
12 2 Francois Robert 38,400
12 3 Grzegorz Derkowski 29,600
12 4 Daniel Moller 17,900
12 5 Pierre Deville 7,900
12 6 Bernhard Mossner 43,800
12 7 Nacho Barbero 106,300
12 8 Elie Ghazal 28,300
12 9 Marc Inizan 50,000

13 1 Denis Cheremisin 65,000
13 2 Teddy Kefalas 30,000
13 3 Vesa Leikos 78,000
13 4 Ludovic Voisin 56,800
13 5 Iulian Georgian Ruxandescu 36,600
13 6 Gaelle Baumann 38,600
13 7 Costa Bataille 56,000
13 8 Thomas Pinet 51,200
13 9 Jason Wheeler 36,300

14 1 David Baker 104,500
14 2 Heinz Kamutzki 67,900
14 3 Cedric Weinberg 9,300
14 4 Andrey Veselov 35,300
14 5 Michael Fratty 18,400
14 6 Seth Davies 76,700
14 7 Mathieu Biague 29,500
14 8 Kristijonas Andrulis 162,600
14 9 Mihai Manole 56,100

15 1 Ben Warrington 81,100
15 2 Javier Contreras 46,600
15 3 Nelson Subtil 14,000
15 4 Joe Ebanks 27,600
15 5 Craig Cockburn 16,900
15 6 Arthur Claudet 86,000
15 7 Remy Biechel 29,400
15 8 Cyril Amira 23,800
15 9 Christopher Brammer 80,700

16 1 Pierre Milan 96,900
16 2 Kunimaro Kojo 24,500
16 3 Remi Marlair 67,200
16 4 Israel Amoyal 10,100
16 5 Otto Sandstrom 14,300
16 6 Vuong Than Trong 43,300
16 7 Fabien Baldeli 38,400
16 8 Matthieu Lamagnere 66,800
16 9 Dren Ukella 50,600

17 1 Stephane Chaintrier 11,100
17 2 Maciej Lipny 27,100
17 3 Antoine Junillon 86,300
17 4 Freerk Post 35,200
17 5 Pierre Fehner 95,500
17 6 Carlos Da Silva 61,900
17 7 Anton Ionel 45,400
17 8 Bartosz Kocinski 142,000
17 9 Rony Halimi 49,300

18 1 Thierry Navarro 6,500
18 2 Marc Uzan 43,400
18 3 Mikka Anttonen 19,600
18 4 Fabrice Yoni Journo 55,800
18 5 Matthew Haugen 121,200
18 6 Christos Coufogiorgis 47,700
18 7 Gabi Habchi 22,700
18 8 Artem Litvinov 96,400
18 9 Dermot Blain 11,400

19 1 Witold Krawczyk 116,700
19 2 Benjamin Hannuna 60,700
19 3 Grzegorz Gosk 20,600
19 4 Ashadally Adam 28,500
19 5 Stephane Tayar 21,700
19 6 Frederic Brunet 68,600
19 7 Cedric Seguin 7,000
19 8 Stephane Narboni 18,600
19 9 Vadim Holomejev 52,800

20 1 Clement Thumy 91,000
20 2 Rodrigo Milo Scartezini 43,400
20 3 Yi Li 22,400
20 4 Martins Adeniya 115,200
20 5 Ahmed Abd El Fatah 64,600
20 6 Guillaume Marechal 19,300
20 7 Philippe Ma 162,200
20 8 Gabriel Nassif 40,100
20 9 Herve Boulan 30,100

21 1 Ilan Boujenah 90,600
21 2 Rodrigo Zimmermann 47,000
21 3 Alessio Isaia 19,200
21 4 Narcis Olaru 32,400
21 5 Jean Daligault 39,200
21 6 Eddie Tasbas 13,700
21 7 Pierre Barthelemy 99,800
21 8 William Basset 25,800
21 9 Athanasios Laliotis 76,000

22 1 Alexander Dovzhenko 41,200
22 2 Andries Swart 12,500
22 3 Artem Metalidi 22,600
22 4 Davd Pagnard 34,000
22 5 Ruud Van Lanen 30,000
22 6 Eric Fourniols 40,200
22 7 Gheorghe Sandulescu 66,000
22 8 Philippe Gellman 27,500
22 9 Thierry Kwasny 56,800

23 1 Ion Pavel 31,500
23 2 Sylvain Taddei 35,700
23 3 Robert Cazali 29,600
23 4 Jeremie Guez 26,500
23 5 John Gale 47,400
23 6 Yom Tov Peretz 60,000
23 7 Viktor Gerasymenko 37,800
23 8 Michel Dominique Dubert 61,100
23 9 Pim Van Riet 109,500

24 1 Richard Finney 39,500
24 2 Martin Lesjo 28,900
24 3 Ondrej Vinklarek 111,100
24 4 Spencer Hudson 42,200
24 5 Steve Samuel Berdah 22,600
24 6 Damir Kanjcevic 69,800
24 7 Dmitry Shchepkin 13,600
24 8 Chuc Hoang 39,700
24 9 Georgios Karakousis 33,500

25 1 Jean Luc Dehertogh 40,000
25 2 Hussein Kansoun 58,100
25 3 Vasyl Dovzhenok 13,000
25 4 Gaetan Deneuve 40,800
25 5 Ralph Kalman 98,900
25 6 Gilbert Diaz 50,700
25 7 Victor Delmas 39,900
25 8 Antoine Saout 12,300
25 9 Yoni Simeon Houri 39,300

26 1 Eeki Ruponen 93,000
26 2 Antonio Buonanno 70,300
26 3 Sergio Castelluccio 92,800
26 4 Abdellatif Salah 64,800
26 5 Laurent Dumontier 40,500
26 6 Benjamin Saboy 58,700
26 7 Jean Louis Perez 28,700
26 8 James Mitchell 80,000
26 9 Gerard Zeitoun 54,800

27 1 Jessy Marillaud 34,200
27 2 Jean Philippe Sales 37,800
27 3 Jamel Hassani 47,500
27 4 Patrick Guintrand 19,975
27 5 Rebecca Gerin 53,000
27 6 Praz Bansi 46,400
27 7 Jason Tompkins 58,700
27 8 Pierre Drochon 32,000
27 9 Rumen Nanev 69,500

28 1 Sebastien Baudon 54,500
28 2 Guillaume Humbert 25,100
28 3 Kirill Zapletin 75,900
28 4 Mustapha Kanit 77,000
28 5 Mickael Sebban 10,900
28 6 Sampsa Hytonen 58,900
28 7 Wiik Kenneth 23,800
28 8 Jeremy Nock 11,100
28 9 Matthias De Meulder 8,900

29 1 Leroy Vermeulen 13,300
29 2 Hugo Lemaire 63,900
29 3 Marchel Masaladzhiu 114,600
29 4 Ronan Collet 7,200
29 5 Christophe Malaurie 23,700
29 6 Seamus Cahill 24,900
29 7 Christophe Dartagnan 13,100
29 8 Anton Thorarinsson 27,100
29 9 Sigurd Eskeland 75,300

30 1 Andrew Abernethy 32,100
30 2 Paul Berende 40,200
30 3 Roddy Assous 28,500
30 4 Mayu Roca Uribe 103,500
30 5 Paul Guichard 90,000
30 6 Dan Vlad Tudorache 30,600
30 7 Davidi Kitai 58,600
30 8 Toufik Ouirini 166,800
30 9 Joffrey Thery 30,000

31 1 Luis Rodriguez Cruz 19,200
31 2 Christophe Denizart 62,800
31 3 Armanavicius Liutauras 9,700
31 4 Chris Karagulleyan 108,700
31 5 Vytautas Paukste 14,100
31 6 Fabrice Gouget 45,100
31 7 Jeremie Sarda 55,200
31 8 Stephane Dossetto Magnani 64,300
31 9 Alice Taglioni 60,100

32 1 Mick Graydon 58,100
32 2 Oscar Kemps 40,200
32 3 David Sonelin 50,800
32 4 Raphael Kroll 132,000
32 5 Kristof Segers 20,600
32 6 Cathy Serrat 18,500
32 7 Bo Sehlstedt 24,700
32 8 Tilmann Raschke 23,400
32 9 Peter Akery 39,100

33 1 Leonard Truche 96,600
33 2 Fernandez Alejandro 56,000
33 3 Julien Claudepierre 128,200
33 4 Mickael Gathy 51,500
33 5 Zbib Ayman 25,000
33 6 Liv Boeree 34,700
33 7 Joseph Mouawad 55,800
33 8 Niclas Martinsson 38,300
33 9 Alessandro Speranza 36,500

34 1 Yoann Amaudry 111,600
34 2 Jean Philippe Roosens 13,100
34 3 Sven Ellrich 38,400
34 4 Amirouddine Alibay 46,000
34 5 Denis Patout 102,500
34 6 Salman Behbehani 69,900
34 7 Xavier Lorin 94,500
34 8 Fernando Brito 17,700
34 9 Ibrahim Ghassan 31,600

35 1 Christophe Benzimra 47,400
35 2 Michele Beyret 54,200
35 3 Ismail Erkenov 35,700
35 4 Botond Balazs 55,000
35 5 Simon Taberham 83,400
35 6 Herve Halfon 47,600
35 7 Shannon Shorr 75,300
35 8 Julien Robert 95,200
35 9 Georgios Kapalas 86,900

36 1 Carlos Nelson Queiroz Ferreira 22,100
36 2 Frederic Moulin 22,000
36 3 Michael Bjorn 90,600
36 4 Thomas Osterfeld 40,000
36 5 Suat Uyanik 21,200
36 6 Pierre Cecco 83,300
36 7 Julien Paul Marie Degand 41,600
36 8 David Truan 36,000
36 9 Jean Francois Rigollet 30,000

37 1 Tolik Shkoyan 26,400
37 2 Matthias Habernig 26,800
37 3 Mikhail Lakhitov 39,600
37 4 David Moton 38,800
37 5 Ferdinando D’Alessio 43,800
37 6 Dylan Smith 20,500
37 7 Olivier Rogez 15,100
37 8 Saul Berdugo 130,900
37 9 Xavier Detournel 128,800

38 1 Fernando Cimaglia 63,600
38 2 Jorge Gillen 55,300
38 3 Jean Marc Rigaill 97,400
38 4 Adrien Cervetti 37,200
38 5 Jeremy Berton 25,900
38 6 Agris Klaise 117,700
38 7 Michel Leibgorin 38,000
38 8 Joakim Lofgren 173,000
38 9 Ludovic Lacay 68,800

39 1 Vanessa Rousso 96,900
39 2 Fehmi Cherif 76,800
39 3 Nicolas Lambert 53,500
39 4 Manfred Sierke 53,000
39 5 Stephane Monaco 46,700
39 6 Daniel Bevilacqua 14,400
39 7 Benjamin Saada 59,000
39 8 Elie Payan 141,800
39 9 Jean Pierre Koskas 35,200

40 1 Mickael Guegan 5,600
40 2 Finn Zwad 33,600
40 3 Bihan Benjamin 17,200
40 4 Pierre Nousse 53,100
40 5 Mikhail Korotkikh 55,000
40 6 Marius Pospiech 45,600
40 7 Pavel Perfilov 100,300
40 8 Christian Togsverd 69,600
40 9 Jean Baptiste Varvat 38,400

41 1 Jerome Zerbib 52,800
41 2 Salomon Harroch 54,600
41 3 Alexander Hering 15,900
41 4 Toby Lewis 93,200
41 5 Michael Maitre 33,500
41 6 Yannick Malard 36,200
41 7 Serge Adelski 22,400
41 8 Maksim Semisoshenko 33,000
41 9 Mario Cordero 28,400

42 1 Jerome Orain 48,900
42 2 David Lichentin 62,300
42 3 Eric Sadoun 31,700
42 4 Michel Abecassis 87,200
42 5 Leandre Omeir 125,900
42 6 Frederick De Vis 14,700
42 7 Oleg Mosienko 29,000
42 8 Yannick Massa 71,000
42 9 Mikhail Petrov 58,100

43 1 Egils Upitis 14,200
43 2 De-Long Moet 52,500
43 3 Matthieu Vizioz 11,100
43 4 Ruben Visser 43,600
43 5 Peter Traply 20,800
43 6 Guillaume Wilhem 98,300
43 7 Andrey Chesnokov 6,600
43 8 Carlos Lopez 79,600
43 9 Jason Hallee 89,900

44 1 Maximilian Lehmanski 119,400
44 2 Thibaud Guenegou 30,300
44 3 Cesar Garcia Dominguez 104,000
44 4 Bruno Jais 51,200
44 5 Jean Yves Malherbe 57,000
44 6 Patrick Gastaldi 47,700
44 7 Jonathan Concepcion 36,100
44 8 Mykola Chornyi 27,400
44 9 Eric Nhouyvanisvong 32,500

45 1 Tony Blanchandin 55,900
45 2 Kara Scott 38,200
45 3 Antonio Guerrero 31,700
45 4 Julian Kabitzke 58,700
45 5 Michel Drhey 24,000
45 6 Ignat Liviu 53,400
45 7 Jean Pierre Lacombe 34,200
45 8 Fowzi Baroukh 47,000
45 9 Scotty Nguyen 33,100

46 1 Choua Sitbon 63,700
46 2 Pierre Portier 23,100
46 3 Henri Layani 23,600
46 4 Mikael Guenni 56,200
46 5 Jean Jacques Zeitoun 85,500
46 6 Tapio Vihakas 28,400
46 7 Teresio Ciancanelli 10,600
46 8 Jean Jacques Mars 45,300
46 9 Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes 32,300

47 1 Daniel Amara 18,000
47 2 Steven Emile Moreau 16,000
47 3 Aurelien Guiglini 133,700
47 4 Jeremy Palvini 19,600
47 5 Mihails Morozovs 12,800
47 6 Marius Torbergsen 26,400
47 7 Sebastian Muller 49,800
47 8 Daniel Conte 27,400
47 9 Brahim Oubella 90,900

48 1 Stephan Bartelheim 17,400
48 2 Guilhem Delaporte 12,100
48 3 Jannik Moser 131,400
48 4 Sergey Samsonenko 58,900
48 5 Magnus Borg Hansen 34,300
48 6 Julien Ferey 76,300
48 7 Plamen Nikolov 86,900
48 8 Olivier Ferrage 62,800
48 9 Benjamin Martin 11,400

49 1 Antonio Gonzalez Miranda 26,500
49 2 Yohann Lablanche 19,500
49 3 Tome Moreira 40,800
49 4 Patrick Caveriviere 27,000
49 5 Manuel Bevand 28,500
49 6 Marc MacDonnell 110,900
49 7 Todd Bruce Terry 38,400
49 8 Michael Dogliani 31,100
49 9 Vikash Dhorasoo 52,000

50 1 Gheorghe Gradinaru 35,900
50 2 Joseph El Khoury 52,000
50 3 Patrick Sacrispeyre 40,700
50 4 Filip Verboven 40,100
50 5 Philippe Ktorza 48,100
50 6 Mikael Johansson 66,800
50 7 Rob Stain 49,600
50 8 Andre Corredoira Blanco 73,300
50 9 Bernard Guigon 43,100

51 1 Antoine Dodivers 27,900
51 2 Slobodan Bjelobrk 22,700
51 3 Frederic Hebette 66,100
51 4 Rory Brennan 49,400
51 5 Anthony Pacini 51,900
51 6 Amir Salhani 191,100
51 7 Jorn Walthaus 30,800
51 8 Wesley Wiemes 63,900
51 9 Roger Hairabedian 61,800

52 1 Samlane Phomveha 66,700
52 2 Ioannis Fatouros 53,000
52 3 Nicolas Renee 42,600
52 4 Vladimir Faubert 30,400
52 5 Pascal Aznar 14,300
52 6 Marco Della Tommasina 60,600
52 7 Candido Goncalves 71,600
52 8 Yorane Kerignard 88,100
52 9 Mark Emberson 51,000

53 1 Albert Sebag 39,100
53 2 Mendel Benoit 29,400
53 3 Sergey Baburin 104,400
53 4 Byron Kaverman 16,800
53 5 Alex Meierhofer 24,400
53 6 Anthony Neto 24,800
53 7 Zimnan Ziyard 39,200
53 8 Lucille Cailly 28,600
53 9 Sergey Lebedev 53,800

54 1 Oleksandr Vaserfirer 30,500
54 2 Andrey Gulyy 43,100
54 3 Douglas Ferreira 36,200
54 4 Benjamin Vinson 12,400
54 5 Javier Etayo 46,700
54 6 Christophe Rusca 28,900
54 7 Denys Drobyna 26,600
54 8 Hugo Felix 19,000
54 9 Yann Le Nir 74,900

55 1 Philippe Sintes 60,800
55 2 Dan Carter 76,700
55 3 Yury Kerzhapkin 49,900
55 4 Cyril Pusset 68,100
55 5 Nicolas Dervaux 34,600
55 6 Henrique Pinho 55,400
55 7 Nicolas Cardyn 52,500
55 8 Yvan Maghrabi 40,600
55 9 Bruno Launais 19,600

56 1 Gereon Sowa 77,900
56 2 Vadzim Kursevich 114,800
56 3 Karim Thierry Ahras 10,700
56 4 Sebastien Boyard 79,800
56 5 Campan Cristian Marius 56,500
56 6 Walid Bou-Habib 52,700
56 7 Petru Moraru 26,700
56 8 Franck Kalfon 42,400
56 9 Jonas Lauck 16,200

57 1 Paulino Dos Santos Subtil 66,800
57 2 Marcin Horecki 38,700
57 3 Steven Van Zadelhoff 52,900
57 4 Yves Victor Hallague 25,500
57 5 Imad Derwiche 50,400
57 6 Serge Candin 31,500
57 7 Ilya Grinin 18,300
57 8 Luca Pagano 46,900
57 9 Fatima Moreira De Melo 81,000

58 1 Jean Charles Valois 64,400
58 2 Olivier Piechaczyk 17,400
58 3 Christopher McClung 69,700
58 4 Michael Schurpf 59,000
58 5 Nicolas Chappuis 42,500
58 6 Martin David Grive 38,600
58 7 Ville Hakulinen 21,600
58 8 Mesbah Guerfi 13,800
58 9 Anthony Picault 40,800

59 1 Roland Larsson 13,700
59 2 Mohamed Aissani 41,600
59 3 Marion Nedellec 71,600
59 4 Joep Van Den Bijgaart 21,400
59 5 Anthony Di Zazzo 73,300
59 6 Kevin MacPhee 10,300
59 7 Roman Romanovskyi 69,300
59 8 Mathieu Gallois 75,400

60 1 Glen Cymbaluk 31,700
60 2 Charles Halimi 30,500
60 3 Leonid Bilokur 42,300
60 4 Sebastien Comel 91,100
60 5 Jean Pierre Petroli 45,300
60 6 Bohdan Kozhokar 36,800
60 7 Christian Aris 46,500
60 8 Pierre Canali 40,600

61 1 Aliaksei Vesialou 30,200
61 2 Karim Lehoussine 91,300
61 3 Madi Macalou 30,400
61 4 Ilan Boubli 68,200
61 5 James Dempsey 50,900
61 6 Evgeny Shanurin 49,900
61 7 Etienne Moudaress 15,100
61 8 Ludovic Riehl 86,100

Tags: archives | christian | ept | france poker series | italian poker tour | SCOOP | season 8 | sunday-million | Super Tuesday | TOC | World Series of Poker | world-series

As a child, I’d start crying before a Peanuts cartoon even ended. Why? Because I knew when the show was over, months would pass before another one would be on the air. I hated for things I loved to end. As I’ve matured (and the peanut gallery can keep its snickers quiet), I’ve put an end to the incessant crying, but I still can’t help feeling my heart twinge when something fun passes its halfway point. That’s where we sit this morning as the Spring Championship of Online Poker dives headlong into its final week.

This morning marked the re-start of two identical events from Sunday. At this hour, the $22 buy-in of Event #19 has re-started, and antonioverga of Belgium leads the field with just a couple of tables remaining. More than $40,000 is on the line for first place. The $215 buy-in of that event saw a 39th place finish by Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann. In the big buy-in of Event #19, Team PokerStars Pros Joep “Pappe_Ruk” van den Bijgaart and Lex Veldhuis among final 22. They are led for the moment by blumenkind53. Top prize in that contest is $188,100.

Joep van den Bijgaart

Event #20 (which looks spookily like Event #19) will re-start in just a few hours. In the low buy-in of that contest, assCARDSsin from Russia holds lead in field of 22,065 with 24 players remaining. First place will award more than $44,000. In the medium buy-in, Lithuania’s samirua sits on top of the final 47 after outlasting more than 6,400 players. Finally in the $2,100 buy-in, Israel’s yosef12 leads the final 24 players in the run for the $253,048 first prize.

While those events are looking for their winner, here’s a look at the latest Inside SCOOP webcast. This time they get a few words from Team PokerStars Pro Alex Gomes, who recently made the EPT Grand Final final table.

To quell any halfway-mark tears you might be fighting, here’s a look at a replay of the Event 17-H final table. The PLO table features delegator, Us_Alex, HN Kakaroto, e1mdopptoweliestar and adiprene1.

Finally, here’s what is on tap for today:

Sunday May 15 SCOOP schedule

Event #21: NL Hold’em / PL Omaha Low ($16.50, $162, $1575) 11:00 ET

Event #22: NL Hold’em–4max ($33, $320, $3,150) 14:00 ET

Event #23: PL Omaha — Turbo, 1 Rebuy, 1 Add-on ($11, $109, $1,050) 17:00 ET

By this time next week, there will be no more SCOOP events to enter. Do it now before it’s impossible to hold back the tears anymore!

Tags: 2011 | back-the-tears | ept | event | joep van den bijgaart | leads-the-field | lithuania | online-poker | pokerstars | russia

You gotta hand it to our writer Kristin Bihr. She was on the schedule last night to write one wrap-up. She ended up watching three final tables. Why? Well, she found a couple of SCOOP showoffs. As she reported last night in “Two final tables, one victory as Hood_Ace takes down Event #10-M ($320 Stud),” not one, but two players managed to make two final tables last night during the PokerStars Spring Championship of Online Poker. UhhMee final tabled Event #9-High for $28,000 and made the final of the $320 Stud event. Not to be outdone, Hood_Ace won Event #10-Medium ($320 Stud), and notched a third place finish in Event #10-High ($3,150 Stud).

Forget multi-tabling. How about multi-final-tabling

While Bihr might have been on the big stories of the night, there were many others happening all over the PokerStars tables. Here’s all the big showdowns from overnight.

Event #9: Mixed Hold’em (6-Max)

($22 6-Max Mixed Holdem): Christian129 Cruises in Victory

-DrawingDad- not drawing dead–German wins Event #9: Mixed Hold’em $215 buy-in

SCOOP: O Canada! StatusUp holds off Russian charge in Event 9-High

Event #10: 7-Card Stud — 14:00 ET

Rey_Pajote cheats death in Event #10-L ($33 Stud)

Two final tables, one victory as Hood_Ace takes down Event #10-M ($320 Stud)

One for Uruguay as HN Kakaroto captures Event #10-H ($3,150 Stud)

If you’re looking for more in-depth coverage of this week’s action, you really should be checking out the Inside SCOOP webcast. It’s running every night during SCOOP. We have the most recent replay right here, featuring interviews with SCOOP watch winner Koen De Visscher and Team PokerStars Pro Joep van den Bijgaart.

If you’d like a little more video action on the day, you really should check out the recap of the big Heads-Up event from a couple of days ago. Just click on the video below to get it started.

Finally, here’s what’s on tap for Thursday:

Event #11 PL Omaha — Heads-Up Match Play ($22, $215, $2,100) — 11:00 ET

Event #12 NL Hold’em — Knockout ($27, $265, $2,600) — 14:00 ET

If anyone manages to be a showoff with a couple of final table in both of those events, we’ll be happily surprised. Paging Mr. Blom?

Tags: event | made-the-final | match | mixed-hold | online | online-poker | pokerstars | spring | stars-spring | video

2.10pm: End of level
That’s the first small break of the day. Two levels down, seven more to go. — RD

2.09pm: Blom in bloom
Viktor Blom is talkative this afternoon. He was midway through recounting a story but it was difficult to gauge who was keeping up. Former EPT Vilamoura Antonio Mathias certainly wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell if this was due to the language barrier, or the story being above his head.

Either way Blom has been active in these first two levels, and in good spirits. On a flop of [6h][2h][as] he made it 625 from the small blind, which Thomas Mercier (“big guy with the beard”) called.

The turn came [ah] which Blom checked, before urging Mercier not to bet too much as he went for his chips. Mercier listened, but bet anyway, 1,600 total, forcing Blom to fold. – SB

2.08pm: Williams in trouble
David Williams is down to 11,000 after running the second nut flush into the ace-high flush. That one’s always going to get expensive. — RD

2.05pm: Why fold to Blom?
Why would you ever fold ace-high to Victor Blom? Surely it’s got to be good at least half of the time? Okay, perhaps not, but given his betting behavior you’d be excused for calling down.

The ruffled Swede just double-barreled into two players, including the bushy-bearded Thomas Mercier, on a [3s][3c][9d][tc] board and showed [5d][6h] for the naked bluff when he took the pot. Blom continuing to chip up, interesting to rail. — RD

Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom

2pm: Ramzi beats up on Team Pros
Ramzi Jelassi just tangled with Team PokerStars Pros Pieter de Korver and Juan Manuel Pastor and came out on top.

The three players made it to the turn where the board read [7d][8d][kc][4d]. The Swede led out for 650 and both opponents called quickly. The river came [4s] and a 4,500 bet from Jelassi was enough to make both opponents fold.

Chip count at the end of the hand:

Ramzi Jelassi – 26,600
Juan Manuel Pastor – 27,800
Pieter de Korver – 26,600 — MC

1.55pm: Thorson up
William Thorson just took a pot from Eugene Katchalov. On a board of [qs][8c][ad][as][2h] Katchalov made a bet, which the Swede called. For Katchalov [kc][ks] but Thorson took it, showing [ah][jc]. – SB

1.50pm: Barberella versus Barbero
Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero was saying that he was still trying to wake up, just before he lost a hand.

He raised to 400 from mid position and was called in three spots en route to a [9c][ac][2d] flop. He c-bet for 650 and was only called by Laura Cantero on the button who, in her silver wig, looked straight off the set of the Barberella movie.

The turn came [8d] and the Argentine check-called a 2,300 bet to see the [qc] river. He checked again and this time faced a 7,000 bet from Cantero. Barbero checked how many chips he had left (25,000) and elected to fold. — MC

1.40pm: Prominent players
Unsurprisingly, the first levels aren’t always alight with action. Or at least if they are I’m not there when it happens.

There has been some preliminary groundwork on tables chock-full of those players you might describe as “notable” or “big”, or to use the German vernacular, “prommie”.

Over on the far side of the room Johnny Lodden spars with Victor Ramdin and Ludovic Lacay

Lodden has taken the odd pot pre-flop and uncontested. Then he backed out of a five-way hand, won by a “never seen him before” player.

Then Lodden opened for 300 from what was effectively the cut off, there being an empty chair between himself and Ramdin on the button, who called, as did Lacay in the small blind.

Alas, this hand would also soon be over, the flop coming [ac][9s][2s]. The action as folded to Ramdin who bet 1,000, taking the pot. – SB

1.35pm: Coren in bad position
Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren is showing a small increase, up to 33,000, but that healthy start is far outweighed by the fact that she has Swedish EPT Copenhagen runner-up Per Linde, and former world champ Joe Hachem, on her left. It’s hardly the most fortuitous of table draws. – RD

Vicky Coren looking across to Hachem and Linde

1.28pm: The gambler
“Jani is a gambler”, said a Finnish reporter, referring to Jani “KObyTAPOUT” Vilmunen. One player who doesn’t need to be told that is Kevin MacPhee.

The American is down to 8,000 after seven-bet shoving pocket kings into the Finn, who called off with big-slick. The ace came and it left MacPhee is a state of full blown tilt. Let’s hope he can get his head back together and realise he still has more than 50 big blinds to play with. — MC

1.21pm: Blom watch
Viktor Blom is in the house. Well, to be more specific, he’s sat in a chair two seats to the right of Australian Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem (yes, Joe’s brother). Blom already has a lot of chips (45,000) in front of him in a range of denominations and seems happy to open pretty much every pot. After catching trips on the river against Hachem to score a nice pot, the next few he open raised and passed on the flop. I think it’s fair to say that his pre-flop opening range is pretty wide. — RD

1.10pm: Late arrivals to the ball
Max Lykov has won an early pot from two other players at his table, neither of which was Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who has now taken a seat at the Russian’s table.

Elsewhere Viktor Blom is on the ascendant, seizing a pot from a French player, showing [qd][9h] on a board of [js][7c][qs][9d][3d], to which his opponent folded sharpish. – SB

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier still happy after his high roller victory

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

1.05pm: Channing all-in
I walked past Neil Channing’s table and he informed me that he has already been all-in. He said he got involved in hand with a gent at the other end of the table who’s been in almost every pot.

Channing raised to 225 to face a three-bet to 650 from that player. The Brit put in a four-bet to 3,025 and was called. The flop came down [7][6][2] and Channing used all the chip denominations available to him to bet 6,625 but was raised to 15,000. Channing moved all-in and his opponent tank-folded pocket eights face-up. He’s up to 41,000 as a result. — MC

1pm: A page turner
Poli Rincon, who used to dazzle on the football fields of Spain before attempting the same at its’ poker tables. That attempt hasn’t gone to well right now, having lost out in a big hand against Kristoffer Thorsson.

Thorsson, who has adopted the habit of reading a book as he play, something we do (let me just finish this paragraph….) while working on the blog, had just shown [6d][7d] on a board of [4s][5s][jd][3c][6c]. Money was going in and it was all coming back one way.

Thorsson up to 47,000. Rincon ruing the day. – SB

Poli Rincon: ‘Are you blind, ref?’

12.54pm: Don’t cry, Wolf
Elmar Dirnberger, aka ‘The Wolf’, has lost half of his stack. It’s not a great start for the cheroot-smoking Austrian. After calling a three-bet pre-flop, Dirnberger called another three-bet on the [qd][5h][6d] flop for 5,750, another 7,000 on the [7c] turn before tank folding to a 15,000 shove on the [ks] river. — RD

Elmar Dirnberger

12.48pm: Fashion watch
Players beware! Roberto Romanello is wearing a novelty Spanish matador hat. Last time that I recall him sporting a ridiculous piece of headgear was at EPT Prague which he won for €640,000. That time round it was a headband with a shock of fake hair. — RD

12.40pm: Rent-a-quote quiet
Neil Channing is one of those players that I consider a rent-a-quote when you’re reporting live from the tournament floor. He’s almost always talking, either to an individual or to the table at large. And when he’s not enaging those directly around him he’s usually hollering over to someone a couple of tables away.

I’ll hone in on Channing, I thought, he’ll be good for some overheard banter. Not so. Despite a quick exchange of pleasantries Channing is staying quiet. It is level 1, I suppose, and for a man more nocturnal than not this is still very much the morning. Give him a cup of tea. — RD

12.35pm: The field
We’ve pretty much got the line-up we expected. An all-star line-up that contains the same Season 7 flashbacks we noticed yesterday. EPT Deauville finalist Alex Wice is in one corner, at the same table as EPT Berlin finalist, and Team PokerStars Pro Joep van den Bijgaart.

Max Lykov, who reached tine final table in San Remo, plays today, wearing a rather nice tank top; his countryman Alex Kravchenko (currently on 29,900) sits a few tables along.
Who else? Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso play today, as does Daniel Negreanu who sits a few seats along from Jose Barbero. Up one table is Raymond Wu, all the way from Asia, in another direction is Neil Channing, all the way from Maida Vale.

Galen Hall is taking his seat, as is Xuan Liu. And who’s that saluting, sitting next to yesterday’s High Roller runner up Benny Spindler? It’s the lone wolf himself, Elmar Dirnberger. – SB

12.25pm: Team Pros on the go
Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Ivan Demidov have shown their table what they’re all about very early on.

Katchalov is to the left of Nam Le and three-bet his 250 button raise to 1,500. Le called to see the [kd][2d][9s] flop but folded to a 2,000 bet.

Moments later, on another table, Ivan Demidov was three-way to a [td][5h][4d] flop. One opponent bet 450 but the Russian check-raised to 1,350 from the small blind. Both his opponents folded. — MC

12.10pm: Cards are in the air
Make that ten minutes. — SB

12pm: Minutes away
Play is due to start in five minutes. — SB

11.55am: When you’re smiling…
Gloria Balding introduces Day 1B with some help from Alex Kravchenko…

11.45am: Players arriving
We’re all in place, with the happy, smiley faces of hopeful poker players filing into the casino to sign up and sit down. As we said, yesterday there were 302 players, of which 132 will return tomorrow. Here’s a list of all of them.

The contrast from outside to inside Casino Gran Madrid is quite a stark one. Outside, it’s hot, sunny and the air is filled with the smell of scorched clutch. Inside, the sweet scent of vanilla, the look of elegant lighting and the happiness that comes with being close to great wealth. — SB

10.30am: Welcome to Day 1B
On to Day 1B in the Madrid Grand Final. Yesterday a field of 302 took their seats, an all-star cast of poker’s aristocracy. Today, you can expect the same, only on a larger scale as the second flight effect takes effect.

As we write players are making the short hop, skip and mini-bus jump from the city to the Casino Gran Madrid. So are we for that matter, and they’ll be full details of what’s in store today after the players arrive, and after we catch up to them, pretending we were here all along.

Stay tuned. — SB

Casino Gran Madrid

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Madrid (in order of money lost on yesterday’s Kentucky Derby): Stephen Bartley (significant losses), Marc Convey (could have been worse) and Rick Dacey (quick weep and everything’s fine).

Tags: berlin | cards | fashion | french | house | isildur1 | joe hachem | language | madrid | spain | swedish | table | TOC

2.10pm: End of level
That’s the first small break of the day. Two levels down, seven more to go. — RD

2.09pm: Blom in bloom
Viktor Blom is talkative this afternoon. He was midway through recounting a story but it was difficult to gauge who was keeping up. Former EPT Vilamoura Antonio Mathias certainly wasn’t, but I couldn’t tell if this was due to the language barrier, or the story being above his head.

Either way Blom has been active in these first two levels, and in good spirits. On a flop of [6h][2h][as] he made it 625 from the small blind, which Thomas Mercier (“big guy with the beard”) called.

The turn came [ah] which Blom checked, before urging Mercier not to bet too much as he went for his chips. Mercier listened, but bet anyway, 1,600 total, forcing Blom to fold. – SB

2.08pm: Williams in trouble
David Williams is down to 11,000 after running the second nut flush into the ace-high flush. That one’s always going to get expensive. — RD

2.05pm: Why fold to Blom?
Why would you ever fold ace-high to Victor Blom? Surely it’s got to be good at least half of the time? Okay, perhaps not, but given his betting behavior you’d be excused for calling down.

The ruffled Swede just double-barreled into two players, including the bushy-bearded Thomas Mercier, on a [3s][3c][9d][tc] board and showed [5d][6h] for the naked bluff when he took the pot. Blom continuing to chip up, interesting to rail. — RD

Viktor ‘Isildur1′ Blom

2pm: Ramzi beats up on Team Pros
Ramzi Jelassi just tangled with Team PokerStars Pros Pieter de Korver and Juan Manuel Pastor and came out on top.

The three players made it to the turn where the board read [7d][8d][kc][4d]. The Swede led out for 650 and both opponents called quickly. The river came [4s] and a 4,500 bet from Jelassi was enough to make both opponents fold.

Chip count at the end of the hand:

Ramzi Jelassi – 26,600
Juan Manuel Pastor – 27,800
Pieter de Korver – 26,600 — MC

1.55pm: Thorson up
William Thorson just took a pot from Eugene Katchalov. On a board of [qs][8c][ad][as][2h] Katchalov made a bet, which the Swede called. For Katchalov [kc][ks] but Thorson took it, showing [ah][jc]. – SB

1.50pm: Barberella versus Barbero
Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero was saying that he was still trying to wake up, just before he lost a hand.

He raised to 400 from mid position and was called in three spots en route to a [9c][ac][2d] flop. He c-bet for 650 and was only called by Laura Cantero on the button who, in her silver wig, looked straight off the set of the Barberella movie.

The turn came [8d] and the Argentine check-called a 2,300 bet to see the [qc] river. He checked again and this time faced a 7,000 bet from Cantero. Barbero checked how many chips he had left (25,000) and elected to fold. — MC

1.40pm: Prominent players
Unsurprisingly, the first levels aren’t always alight with action. Or at least if they are I’m not there when it happens.

There has been some preliminary groundwork on tables chock-full of those players you might describe as “notable” or “big”, or to use the German vernacular, “prommie”.

Over on the far side of the room Johnny Lodden spars with Victor Ramdin and Ludovic Lacay

Lodden has taken the odd pot pre-flop and uncontested. Then he backed out of a five-way hand, won by a “never seen him before” player.

Then Lodden opened for 300 from what was effectively the cut off, there being an empty chair between himself and Ramdin on the button, who called, as did Lacay in the small blind.

Alas, this hand would also soon be over, the flop coming [ac][9s][2s]. The action as folded to Ramdin who bet 1,000, taking the pot. – SB

1.35pm: Coren in bad position
Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren is showing a small increase, up to 33,000, but that healthy start is far outweighed by the fact that she has Swedish EPT Copenhagen runner-up Per Linde, and former world champ Joe Hachem, on her left. It’s hardly the most fortuitous of table draws. – RD

Vicky Coren looking across to Hachem and Linde

1.28pm: The gambler
“Jani is a gambler”, said a Finnish reporter, referring to Jani “KObyTAPOUT” Vilmunen. One player who doesn’t need to be told that is Kevin MacPhee.

The American is down to 8,000 after seven-bet shoving pocket kings into the Finn, who called off with big-slick. The ace came and it left MacPhee is a state of full blown tilt. Let’s hope he can get his head back together and realise he still has more than 50 big blinds to play with. — MC

1.21pm: Blom watch
Viktor Blom is in the house. Well, to be more specific, he’s sat in a chair two seats to the right of Australian Team PokerStars Pro Tony Hachem (yes, Joe’s brother). Blom already has a lot of chips (45,000) in front of him in a range of denominations and seems happy to open pretty much every pot. After catching trips on the river against Hachem to score a nice pot, the next few he open raised and passed on the flop. I think it’s fair to say that his pre-flop opening range is pretty wide. — RD

1.10pm: Late arrivals to the ball
Max Lykov has won an early pot from two other players at his table, neither of which was Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, who has now taken a seat at the Russian’s table.

Elsewhere Viktor Blom is on the ascendant, seizing a pot from a French player, showing [qd][9h] on a board of [js][7c][qs][9d][3d], to which his opponent folded sharpish. – SB

Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier still happy after his high roller victory

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

1.05pm: Channing all-in
I walked past Neil Channing’s table and he informed me that he has already been all-in. He said he got involved in hand with a gent at the other end of the table who’s been in almost every pot.

Channing raised to 225 to face a three-bet to 650 from that player. The Brit put in a four-bet to 3,025 and was called. The flop came down [7][6][2] and Channing used all the chip denominations available to him to bet 6,625 but was raised to 15,000. Channing moved all-in and his opponent tank-folded pocket eights face-up. He’s up to 41,000 as a result. — MC

1pm: A page turner
Poli Rincon, who used to dazzle on the football fields of Spain before attempting the same at its’ poker tables. That attempt hasn’t gone to well right now, having lost out in a big hand against Kristoffer Thorsson.

Thorsson, who has adopted the habit of reading a book as he play, something we do (let me just finish this paragraph….) while working on the blog, had just shown [6d][7d] on a board of [4s][5s][jd][3c][6c]. Money was going in and it was all coming back one way.

Thorsson up to 47,000. Rincon ruing the day. – SB

Poli Rincon: ‘Are you blind, ref?’

12.54pm: Don’t cry, Wolf
Elmar Dirnberger, aka ‘The Wolf’, has lost half of his stack. It’s not a great start for the cheroot-smoking Austrian. After calling a three-bet pre-flop, Dirnberger called another three-bet on the [qd][5h][6d] flop for 5,750, another 7,000 on the [7c] turn before tank folding to a 15,000 shove on the [ks] river. — RD

Elmar Dirnberger

12.48pm: Fashion watch
Players beware! Roberto Romanello is wearing a novelty Spanish matador hat. Last time that I recall him sporting a ridiculous piece of headgear was at EPT Prague which he won for €640,000. That time round it was a headband with a shock of fake hair. — RD

12.40pm: Rent-a-quote quiet
Neil Channing is one of those players that I consider a rent-a-quote when you’re reporting live from the tournament floor. He’s almost always talking, either to an individual or to the table at large. And when he’s not enaging those directly around him he’s usually hollering over to someone a couple of tables away.

I’ll hone in on Channing, I thought, he’ll be good for some overheard banter. Not so. Despite a quick exchange of pleasantries Channing is staying quiet. It is level 1, I suppose, and for a man more nocturnal than not this is still very much the morning. Give him a cup of tea. — RD

12.35pm: The field
We’ve pretty much got the line-up we expected. An all-star line-up that contains the same Season 7 flashbacks we noticed yesterday. EPT Deauville finalist Alex Wice is in one corner, at the same table as EPT Berlin finalist, and Team PokerStars Pro Joep van den Bijgaart.

Max Lykov, who reached tine final table in San Remo, plays today, wearing a rather nice tank top; his countryman Alex Kravchenko (currently on 29,900) sits a few tables along.
Who else? Chad Brown and Vanessa Rousso play today, as does Daniel Negreanu who sits a few seats along from Jose Barbero. Up one table is Raymond Wu, all the way from Asia, in another direction is Neil Channing, all the way from Maida Vale.

Galen Hall is taking his seat, as is Xuan Liu. And who’s that saluting, sitting next to yesterday’s High Roller runner up Benny Spindler? It’s the lone wolf himself, Elmar Dirnberger. – SB

12.25pm: Team Pros on the go
Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov and Ivan Demidov have shown their table what they’re all about very early on.

Katchalov is to the left of Nam Le and three-bet his 250 button raise to 1,500. Le called to see the [kd][2d][9s] flop but folded to a 2,000 bet.

Moments later, on another table, Ivan Demidov was three-way to a [td][5h][4d] flop. One opponent bet 450 but the Russian check-raised to 1,350 from the small blind. Both his opponents folded. — MC

12.10pm: Cards are in the air
Make that ten minutes. — SB

12pm: Minutes away
Play is due to start in five minutes. — SB

11.55am: When you’re smiling…
Gloria Balding introduces Day 1B with some help from Alex Kravchenko…

11.45am: Players arriving
We’re all in place, with the happy, smiley faces of hopeful poker players filing into the casino to sign up and sit down. As we said, yesterday there were 302 players, of which 132 will return tomorrow. Here’s a list of all of them.

The contrast from outside to inside Casino Gran Madrid is quite a stark one. Outside, it’s hot, sunny and the air is filled with the smell of scorched clutch. Inside, the sweet scent of vanilla, the look of elegant lighting and the happiness that comes with being close to great wealth. — SB

10.30am: Welcome to Day 1B
On to Day 1B in the Madrid Grand Final. Yesterday a field of 302 took their seats, an all-star cast of poker’s aristocracy. Today, you can expect the same, only on a larger scale as the second flight effect takes effect.

As we write players are making the short hop, skip and mini-bus jump from the city to the Casino Gran Madrid. So are we for that matter, and they’ll be full details of what’s in store today after the players arrive, and after we catch up to them, pretending we were here all along.

Stay tuned. — SB

Casino Gran Madrid

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Madrid (in order of money lost on yesterday’s Kentucky Derby): Stephen Bartley (significant losses), Marc Convey (could have been worse) and Rick Dacey (quick weep and everything’s fine).

Tags: cards | ept | french | isildur1 | joe hachem | joep van den bijgaart | river | silver | swedish | time | TOC | victor-ramdin

7.38pm: More for Chouity
Nicolas Chouity just nudged his stack up closer to the 90,000 mark in a hand against Peppino Finocchi. Fabio Vitale opened for 675 which Chouity raised to 2,775 from the cut off. While Vitale would go on to fold, Finocchi called for a flop of [ac][kh][js]. Finocchi checked to Chouity who bet another 4,150, enough to force out Finocchi. Chouity up to around 87,000. – SB

7.30pm: Ring of champions
Stephan Fajg and Michael Tureniec were both drawn at table 47 today and both have since been moved to table 24. If it wasn’t bad enough for Fajg to have the EPT Copenhagen champion move with him, he now had to contend with three more EPT champions. Sebastian Ruthenberg, Christophe Benzimra and Roberto Romanello are all to his right now.

Fajg and Tureniec might’ve brought some history with them too as they just tangled over two consecutive hands that saw the elimination of Tureniec.

Firstly Tureniec raised to 600 from second position and the Frenchman defended from the big blind to see a [as][3s][7s] flop. He check-raised Tureniec’s c-bet and that was good enough to make him fold.

The next hand Tureniec raised to 600 from under-the-gun and was called in one spot before Fajg three-bet to 1,850 from the small blind. Tureniec thought for two minutes before four-betting all-in for around 7,000. The caller folded before Fajg took another two minutes to call.

Tureniec: [9c][9s]
Fajg: [as][jh]

The board ran [tc][3h][kc][7h][ah]. The river was the killer blow to Turemiec’s tournament life. — MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 200-400, ANTE 50

7.20pm: Split dinner
Like yesterday there will be a split dinner break today. The first wave is now leaving the tournament room on their way tot he buffet. They will return in one hour when the remainder of the field, having played their level 6, will do the same. — SB

7.12pm: Big stacks
A quick look at the top of the tree shows that Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser is leading with 131,000. Other big names include Ted Forrest (82,000), Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst (85,000) and last year’s Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity (85,000). — RD

7.05pm: Looking like you know something
With a board reading [6c][2h][tc][2d] and 11,000 in the pot, Nicholas Chouity was considering his options. Next to him was Claudio Cecchi of Italy, his only opponent in the hand who was about to spend the next seven minutes making some people feel uncomfortable. And by “some” I mean “me”.

Chouity bet 7,000, all while Cecchi was staring at him. This was not subtle staring, trying to catch a flicker of something on his face without him noticing, this was like a staring contest, a kids game where the first to flinch loses. That he was sitting directly alongside Chouity made it all the more weird. Try it now, turn to the person next to you and lean over to look them directly in the face (better make this a loved one). See how long it takes them to lean back or slap you in the face. Go do it now, I’ll wait here…

Cecchi kept up his invasion of personal space, pausing only to call, throwing in the correct number of chips before continuing his campaign of intimacy. Goodness knows what Cecchi was now expecting to see, being as close to Chouity as dentist, or a nit nurse. Others at the table looked to be feeling uncomfortable on Chouity’s behalf.

As for Chouity he didn’t notice that Cecchi was staring until the [ad] river card was dealt. I imagine the effect on the EPT Grand Final Champ was an unusual one, to suddenly turn around and notice an odd looking man staring at you from a few inches away – kind of like riding the top floor of a London bus, when you realise the drunk guy with the open bottle of Thunderbird has woken up and feels chatty.

Chouity did exactly what you would do in a situation such as that. He pretended he hadn’t noticed. Then he bet 14,800.

Cecchi had about 20,000 behind and now tanked for several minutes. Sticking with the whole London bus routine, Cecchi began tapping Chouity’s arm, talking to him. Chouity ignored this completely, perhaps reassured by the armed guards on the other side of the rail. When Chouity didn’t respond Cecchi reverted to staring again, lowering his head until his ear almost touched the table. It was clear to everyone but Cecchi that the answer he was looking for was most definitely not on Chouity’s face, nor up his nose. Chouity called the clock.

Cecchi took the full minute, folding with two seconds remaining. Chouity showed him [6h], moving up to 70,000.

Chouity mentioned the staring; Cecchi replying with chilling frankness, that he would have kept it up for two hours had Chouity not called the clock. I would have called the clock in that case. — SB

7pm: Giggling schoolboys
James’ Keys and Sudworth are sitting next to each other guffawing like a pair of naughty schoolchildren at the back of class. Keys is down to 15,000 while Sudworth has crept up to 45,000. They both look happy enough with their table and given the limping going on maybe that shouldn’t come as a surprise.

A middle position limp from Aleksey Churbanov was quickly raised by Sudworth to 1,100 from the cut-off. Sudworth bet 1,200 into the [qd][2h][as] flop and took the pot. Was that pre-flop raise for isolation, value or a bit of both? You decide.

Their current school report would read ‘James Sudworth: underperforming, must focus on the job at hand’ and ‘James Key: must try harder.’ — RD

6.50pm: Carter building up
Former EPT Barcelona winner Carter Phillips is up to 55,000 after sniffing out a bluff from Sebastien Comel.

The turn had already been dealt and Phillips was in the big blind where he check-called a 1,400 bet from Sebastien Comel on the button. The final board read [jh][4d][6s][ac][5s] and Phillips faced a 5,000 bet when he checked again. He called once more and didn’t have to show down as Comel mucked his hand. — MC

6.40pm: Team Pro news in brief
A look around some of Team PokerStars Pro in the right hand half of the tournament room threw up some varying stories of success.

“On a rush”, said Lex Veldhuis to Liv Boeree after she successfully three-bet two opponents off a hand to move up to 17,000.

Doing worse or little better that Boeree are Johannes Strassmann (18,000), Johnny Lodden (14,000) and EPT Berlin finalist Joep van den Bijgaart (12,000).

Ivan Demidov is struggling to get out of the blocks with 31,000 but Fatima Moreira de Melo (54,000), Angel Guillen (47,000) and Pierpaolo Fabretti (47,000) are all fairing much better. — MC

6.25pm: Visser leading the way as play resumes
As we enter the fifth level of the day Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser seems to be leading the way with 107,000 chips. He just Tweeted the following:

“Running really well today, just won 85k flip to get to 107k. Made a flush with QQ vs AKo on Axxxx average stack is 33k” — MC

Ruben Visser is atop of the field

PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT San Remo (in order of how likely their football team will get relegated): Stephen Bartley (Tranmere Rovers are just safe), Marc Convey (Crystal Palace are 99% safe) and Rick Dacey (Sunderland have stopped the slide but could still go down).

Tags: angel | barcelona | clock | italy | liv boeree | london | sudworth | team pokerstars pro

3.40pm: No jokes for Naujoks
Team PokerStars Pro Sandra Naujoks is down to 18,200 after running into and paying off Thomas Meyer Swensen and his nut flush.

The German pro raised to 375 from second position and Swensen peeled from the big blind to see the [4s][qs][td] flop. Naujoks bet 500 and the Norwegian check-called to the [5s] turn where he led for 1,000. Naujoks called and also called a 2,600 bet on the [ac] river. Swensen tabled [as][2s] for the nuts and Naujoks folded to drop to 23,200. — MC

3.35pm: Black and Silver
“I’m running ridiculously hot. I’m up to 80,000,” said Max Silver. The young Brit first came to my attention during the first season of the UKIPT where he made two final tables, winning UKIPT Dublin, where he now lives. He’s close friends with two-time UKIPT winner Nick Abou Risk, EPT London winner David Vamplew and Andrew Ferguson , who is currently sat behind him at the next table. Next to Ferguson is Andy Black, yes, he of the mad monk moniker.

“He’s stalking me, you know,” said Silver of Black. “He’s everywhere I go.”

“Yeah,” interjected Black in a languid drawl before adding, “I keep seeing you getting lots of chips and then losing them.” Cue ribbing from Ferguson about Silver getting coolered with ace-rag against aces. — RD

3.25pm: Looking the part
Michal Polchlopek certainly looks like a professional poker player, short blond hair, clearn looking and young with an as yet inability to grow facial hair. He and Angel Guillen just contested a pot, the Pole winning the hand from the Team PokerStars Pro after betting 9,000 into a 7,000 pot on a board of [9c][7s][as][qs][5s]. Guillen in the cut off tanked, then folded. – SB

3.15pm: Sudworth wins first battle of Britain
James Keys is an in form player this year after his runner-up performance at the Aussie Millions a few months back. The only notable name at his table is sitting directly to his right and is fellow British pro James Sudworth. The two know each other well so there will probably be some extra dynamic to the hands they both play.

The first battle we witnessed went to Sudworth. He three-bet to 1,000 from the cut-off after an early position raise. Keys called from the button as did the original raiser to see the [5h][8h][5s] flop. Sudworth continued with a 1,675 bet and only Keys called as the other player folded out of turn.

The turn came [2c] and there was no slowing Sudworth as he fired in 3,600. It was enough to shake off Keys who folded to drop to 25,000. Sudworth is up to 35,000. — MC

3.05pm: Polar opposites
Today the Casino San Remo poker floor is packed to the rafters. Well, to the alcoves if we’re going to be precise. At the far, far end of the tournament floor, through a portal of sorts, there are six tables with a wide mix of players. At one end you have the tight but multiple cashing Nicolo Calia, a player who openly shows his love of the game, and at the other you have the cold aggression of Michael Tureniec, the EPT Copenhagen winner, who beasts every table he plays and seems to find it easier to five-bet jam than smile.

Tureniec is yet to get going but a couple of seats around from him is Thomas Traboulsi who made the final few tables at EPT Berlin. An unorthodox player to say the least, it could be interesting to see Tureniec tear into Traboulsi because the German may well call him down light. Traboulsi has picked up a couple of early pots. — RD

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

2.45pm: Fernadez busts but there is a Silver lining
Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernadnez busted just as the first level was coming to an end.

The Brit raised to 300 only to face a three-bet to 1,000 from Fernadez. He responded by four-betting to 2,450 and the call was quick in coming. The flop fell [2c][6c][3c] and Silver c-bet for 3,150. The Argentine thought long and hard at this juncture before raising to 10,050 and then calling all-in for 24,000 when Silver set him in.

Silver tabled [kc][kd] to Fernandez’s [ac][kh]. The [6s][9s] changed nothing and the two shook hands before the Argentine made his exit. Argentina is a long way to come to play 55 minutes of poker but Silver doesn’t care as he now has a 58,000 chip stack. — MC

2.30pm: Obligatory Wolf post
Two former champions line up alongside each other, Roberto Romanello and Christophe Benzimra. Opposite them is Elmar Dirnberger who I suspect feels he deserves to be an EPT champion. Basically I agree.

It’s not that Dirnberger boasts any extraordinary talent, just that what talent he has is dressed up to the nines in performance and devoid of any affectation. For instance the cheroot he has in his mouth at all times, is probably the one he sleeps with. The nickname he gives himself – “The Wolf” – is probably the one his mother uses, and the straight back, lean forward posture ensures he’s ready for anything. He’s his own biggest fan, capable of lifting the roof as he shouts affirmations of his ability in the third person. Amid a field of egos Dirnberger believes his to be better. It’s brilliant.

Benzimra, a former EPT Warsaw winner, opened for 150 which Dirnberger called. The flop came [kc][jh][4h] and with it the high point of the hand, a bet of 375 from Benzimra, called by The Wolf. As far as action goes that was all of it. The [qc] turn was checked by both players, Dirnberger, acting first, and clawing at the table to signify his choice of action. The same went for the [6c] river card where both players showed ace-eight to split the pot. – SB

2.20pm: The unfortunate nation of Kevinstan
Ever since Kevin Stani took the EPT Tallinn crown he seems to have been cursed with grim looking starting table draws. At EPT Snowfest he was drawn on a table that held three EPT winners as well as EPT leader board legend Luca Pagano.

Here it’s a little less brutal, but must still have elicited an early afternoon groan. On his direct left is EPT Berlin winner Ben Wilinofsky, a player of quality and full of confidence after steamrolling our most recent EPT final table. Two seats on from the Canadian is Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov, a beast of a player from Russia who you’ll know best from two years back when he made two deep WSOP runs; second place to Peter Eastgate in the Main Event for $5,809,595 and third in the WSOPE for £334,850. — RD

2.10pm: The room is almost full
Players are still coming through the doors to take their seats and the room is starting to look full. Some interesting table line ups are starting to emerge.

Defending champion Liv Boeree isn’t too happy with her draw. She has fellow Team PokerStars Pro Lex Velduis and Alex Wice to her left.

Luca Pagano has similar problems to his left in the shape of Max Greenwood, Erik van den Berg and Oliver Busquets.

Joep van den Bijgaart and Fatima Moreira de Melo both represent Holland but will have to battle past each other. The extra interesting dynamic is that Moreira de Melo is sat along side the effervescent Italian Fabrizio Ascari. He’ll either make her laugh incessantly or drive her mad. — MC

2pm: On the conveyor belt tonight!
A few of those playing today are mentioned on the chip count page. They include Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri, Luca Pagano, Barry Greenstein, Liv Boeree, Salvatore Bonavena, Bertrand Grospellier, Sebastian Ruthenberg and new boy Pier Paolo Fabretti. — SB

1.55pm: From the tournament floor
Gloria Balding introduces Day 1B of EPT San Remo…

1.50pm: Welcome to Day 1B
Welcome back to an overcast San Remo for Day 1B of the European Poker Tour Main Event. Yesterday 438 players took their seats, albeit delayed by two hours, playing nine levels. We have the same in store today.

Play was set to begin “no earlier than “1.30pm. It’s now closing in on 2pm and there’s still no sign that we’ll be under way any time soon.

Regardless of when things kick off you’ll find live updates of everything right here on the PokerStars Blog. – SB

NOTE: Apologies for the delayed updates. This is owing to catastrophic internet failure which has now been remedied, or so we’re told.

San Remo in the sunshine (taken yesterday)

PokerStars Blog reporting team in San Remo (in order of specific time they last had an unfettered internet connection): Stephen Bartley (1.03pm today), Rick Dacey (3.08am this morning) and Marc Convey (3G access prior to take off at Heathrow Airport).

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