Online grinder Gabriel Kollander took the UKIPT Dublin chip lead at the bell with a stack of 151,900, swiping the overall chip lead away from Day 1A’s William Champion. The 23-year-old American, who plays under the name $indabank111 on PokerStars, is playing his first live tournament and, so far, things seem to be going well as he put himself at the front of the line for the €100,000 first place prize. All well except for the small problem of some errant chips, but we’ll come to that.

Before Kollander’s late surge, thanks to a large pot in the final couple of hands, David Brady was leading the race to be Day 1B chip leader with 114,000. Up until then it was looking like it may be a break in conventional poker wisdom; that the largest stack going into Day 2 would be from the first, smaller half of the draw. Brady wore a greedy hat and seemed to play as such, hoovering up chips like cocktail sausages at a Christmas party. It wasn’t blind gluttony. Late on he passed to a single raise on his big blind with relaxed discipline, his opponent flashed aces. Then Kollander came through.

Leading until late: David Brady

The Californian had been studying at the University of Hawaii when Black Friday struck and after some commuting back and forth decided to relocate to Toronto. Somewhat incredibly this is the online grinder’s first major live tournament, but he soon revealed some live inexperience.

Having already bagged his chips, Kollander was in the process of being interviewed by the PokerStars Blog, in the presence of tournament floor staff no less, when he absent-mindedly stuck his hand in his hoody pocket and pulled a couple of low denomination chips out, looking slightly confused as to what they were doing there.

Day 1 chip leader Gabriel Kollander

“Oh, I didn’t even know I had these. Is that a problem?” said Kollander.

The floor staff swiftly indicated that it was. Kollander put them on the table, they weren’t worth much.

“Sorry, I don’t know. I just found them. I think it was when I had that huge pot. I can just forget that I had them. I don’t care that much,” he chuckled, perhaps not realising the gravity of the situation.

UKIPT tournament director Toby Stone was called over.

“This should make a great blog entry. Guy has a load of chips but is an idiot at the same time and messes up the whole tournament,” said Kollander, while waiting for Stone.

“They were in your pocket?” asked Stone.

“I’m sorry,” said Kollander, looking equally amused and surprised by the chips appearance.

“I’m keeping them now. What were they doing in your pocket?” asked Stone.

Kolander explained that he’d won a big pot late on, that some chips must have fallen over the lip of the table – his stack was certainly large enough, that pot messy enough. The story checked out.

Chips, they have a tendency to roll

“You know you can never, ever put chips in your pocket in any tournament in the world?” said Stone.

“I didn’t realise I had. I prefer to display them out front to scare people.”

Stone seemed satisfied it was a genuine mistake, it certainly seemed to be. A lesson learnt for the online player: get better at stacking your betting discs.

Kollander’s topped a 398-strong field, which was exactly twice the size of that yesterday. Just 153 made it through among which were UKIPT Newcastle champion Richard Sinclair (30,100), Mark Muldoon (103,000), Martin Baláž (98,800), Sam Grafton (63,500) and, so we’ve been told, a Big Brother contestant by the name of Glen ‘Spiral’ Coroner (103,000).

Grafton, ‘high in confidence’ after his $234,193 SCOOP result (see 3pm: Getting the SCOOP with Sam Grafton), started badly, down to just 6,000 early on. Quad aces and a set of kings helped breathe life back into his tournament ambitions and he chipped up steadily from there. Come the close of play he had a short stacked WSOPE winner, Scott Shelley, on his right and a big stacked Martin Baláž to his left. Shelley also made it through (32,500). Many others did not.

Sam ‘Sam Squid’ Grafton

Andy Black turned up late, sleeping off the night before we’ve been told, and if the photos are to be believed wasn’t necessarily in the finest of fettle. His UKIPT Dublin adventure didn’t last but with 244 other fallers today he was far from alone. Craig Burke, looking for three from three Season 3 cashes, hit the rail, as did many others; Ian Woodley, Daiva Barauskaite, Damian Porebski, EPT Tallinn runner-up Grzegorz Cichocki, Michael Leedham, Paul Jackson, Albert Sapiano, Mick McCloskey and Ciaran Taggart were just a few players to go. They are now just footprints in the history of UKIPT Dublin.

Andy Black

Focus tomorrow will be on the 244 remaining players, the 153 of today that joined the 91 of Day 1A, and which can make the final 72 places that pay. The prize pool was confirmed late in the day and it looks like a juicy one. This season’s increase in buy-in has swollen the pay outs making some very attractive prize pools. To find out who makes it and who doesn’t, join us from 12 noon tomorrow.

To catch up with the action from today click on the links below. Click here to see combined Day 1 chip counts and here if you you want to see the prize pool.

Levels 1-4
Levels 5-8

All images are copyright of Mickey May and must credited as such. She can kick at head height even with an injured leg, which is something Chuck Norris is unable to.

Tags: action | black | black friday | italian poker tour | portugal | russian | tournaments | WSOPE

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

2.22pm: Back from the break
The remaining players are now back in their seats and level three is underway.

There’s no easy way to say this but: George Stewart, Marinos Mina, Richard Heelas, Kevin Steele, Dag Ahlse, Michael Watson, Gareth Parry, Darren Sweeney, Stephen Kenna, Roman Dohnal, Romero Borze, Daniel Perez, Jamil Ogunmakinwa, Michalis Michael, Julian Thew and Tomlin Colburn are not back in their seats as they were all eliminated during the first two levels. — NW

2.02pm: Break time
That’s two levels in the books, players are now on a 20 minute break. — NW

1.50pm: Blain picks one off
When you think of Ireland and poker, names like Padraig Parkinson, Fintan Gavin, Roy Brindley and Andy Black come to mind. There are all of the chatty, eccentric, up for the craic type personalities but there is another rarer breed of Irish poker player, the get it quietly type.

One player who fits that mould is Dermot Blain, no table histrionics, no fuss just impeccable table presence and consistency. The young Irishman has a string of impressive cashes to his name including winning the APPT Maccau Main Event in 2009 and a fifth place finish in the WSOPE Main Event in 2011.

I just saw a hand that encapsulated all this, he called a raise of 275 from Matthew Gilmartin and the two of them checked all the way to the river on a board of [2s][Qs][6c][8h][Jh]. At his juncture Gilmartin threw out a bet of 400, no insta-call here from Blain, he made a face that looked like he was chewing a wasp, thought for about 15 seconds and then called.

Gilmartin showed [8s][7s] but Blain had [Ac][Js] to take the pot. — NW

Dermot Blain

1.35pm: One for the cameras
Small round of applause for Damien Quinlivan who just three-barrel bluffed [8h][5h] into a [ad][jd][5d][6s][3s] board. Well, I assume it was a bluff. That would be some pretty thin value betting if not.

Mike Hill had opened the pot for 225 and had picked up three callers, including Quinlivan in the small blind and Mark Spelman in the big.

Flop: [ad][jd][5d]
Quinlivan led 450 and was called by Spelman. The others passed

Turn: [ad][jd][5d][6s]
Quinlivan fired another 1,000 into the pot. Spelman called again.

River: [ad][jd][5d][6s][3s]
Quinlivan confidently – perhaps too confidently – threw 2,600 into the middle. Spelman tank-folded.

Quinlivan took a look at his cards, looked up, caught my eye and showed the table the bluff. Bravo, sir. It was one for the cameras. Mike Hill was still chortling as I walked away. — RD

Mike Hill looking for his fourth UKIPT final table

1.10pm: Tables chips and exits
The table draw has thrown up the odd doozy, which we’ll be keeping an eye on. Like table 42 where Dean Lyall, Jeff Burke, Bastiaan Van Den Brink and Daiva Barauskaite are sat in a row. That table has already seen one elimination, earlier we reported how Van Den Brink had doubled up but didn’t have the name of the first player out. We can now report that the unlucky player to exit was Antonius Van Venrooij.

Meanwhile Richard Sinclair (18,000) and Iwan Jones (17,000) have got off to good starts whilst things have gone south so far for Julian Thew (7,000) and Nick Newport (13,900). — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 50-100

12.50pm: Seat open
By this time on Day 1A two players (including Nick Abou Risk) had been sent to the rail, both as the result of aces versus kings (although the kings won on one occasion). Today it took a bit longer to lose the first player, around 50 minutes in fact.

The identity of the eliminated player is unknown but Bastiaan Van Den Brink was the beneficiary and he told me what happened: “I opened the button with [10][9], he three-bet with [10][5] and I called. The flop came [9][7][5] he c-bet, I called. The turn was a ten he fired a second barrel and I called. The river was a blank, he shoved all-in and I called.”

So two pair against smaller two pair accounts for the first player today, much more interesting than boring aces versus kings. — NW

12.35pm: Walking the floor
This looks to be a great event to play. A lot of players that you might not want to see at your table – think of the likes of Jake Cody, Matt Perrins, JP Kelly, James Keys, Chris Brammer, Rupiner Bedi – aren’t here because of the upcoming World Series, some have headed out early, and because of SCOOP, which has been hitting some unbelievable numbers.

That’s a chunk of tough players who would severely reduce your tournament expectation so to the 500 or so that are playing this €770 main event, well done, you’ve made a fantastic decision.

Among the players today that do have some previous are EPT winner Julian Thew, EPT and UKIPT regular Dermot Blain, Dean ‘deanosupremo’ Lyall and SCOOP hero Sam ‘SamSquid’ Grafton. We’ll be catching up with Grafton at the break to speak to him about his $234,193 bink. He doesn’t know it yet, but we will.

Thew is at a table nearby sporting a small red and yellow dollar bill badge. It’s not a bounty button, it’s a lucky charm from one of his kids: “I thought I’d check out its luckbox potential. I’ll give it a couple of hours,” said Thew.

Fifteen minutes of the first level remain. — RD

Julian Thew

12.20pm: Who’s here?
There’s a much larger field today than yesterday and amongst the 300 or so runners is a sprinkling of stardust. So far I’ve spotted EPT winner Julian Thew, UKIPT Champion of Champions Richard Sinclair who’s resplendent in his usual Day 1 Ed Hardy hoodie.

Also spotted were UKIPT Galway runner-up Ronan Gilligan, UKIPT Nottingham S2 fourth place finisher Tim Bettingen, Paul Jackson, Nicholas Newport and UKIPT Killarney champion Femi Fakinle.

True to form Fakinle was involved in a pot as I passed his table, he bet 600 on the river of a [8c][6d][8h][4h][9s], his opponent called but mucked when Fakinle showed [8s][6h] for a full house. Keep an eye on the chip counts page, where we’ll be keeping track of the names, notables and big stacks as stories develop on Day 1B. — NW

Femi Fakinle

12pm: And we’re off…
The clock is running/the cards are in the air/add your own ‘the tournament has begun’ euphemism here. — RD

11.50pm: Day 1B revving up
Today’s looking like a busy one. Plenty of players milling around and making their way to the tables. We had 199 player yesterday, 91 of whom made it through the eight one-hour levels. We’ll be playing the same today: no dinner break and done by 9pm. Lovely. The board is currently showing 300 players so we can expect a field of 500-plus.

We can break the news that the defending champion Dutchman Joeri Zandvliet will not be defending his title. He’s in Ibiza at the Estrellas Poker Tour trying win a new one instead.

Loading up the starting stacks

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Dublin (in order of score out of ten they give Ballymaloe relish): Rick Dacey (8 – it’s tangy, tasty and just a little bit naughty) and Nick Wright (7 – it’s no Devonian chutney, but it’s close).

Tags: 2011 | action | Battle of the Planets | european | julian-thew | news | TOC | wcoop | WSOPE

Great strides have been made to make poker if not a more welcoming place to women, then certainly more accessible. While tournament fields are hardly equality levelled it’s certainly no surprise for any table to have one or two female players seated at it. While the internet provides the playground for online poker, which of course knows no gender boundary, it also provides the anonymous forum for cowardly comments and unaccountable trolling.

While it’s not a major problem, thankfully increasingly less so it seems, it is an issue that some high profile women in the game have had to come to terms with. Few more so than Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree who’s been in the public eye of poker since successfully auditioning for a reality TV poker show. In the aftermath of that Boeree made a few tournament scores before hitting the big time with that €1,250,000 EPT San Remo title but was forced to deal with some snide comments, both online and off.

“I guess that it’s annoying but actually I just don’t care anymore to be honest. I used be very paranoid about it but after San Remo and some other results, including online where I’ve been killing it, I just don’t care anymore. It’s quite nice to have disassociation from that now,” she said with some obvious relief and a chuckle.

Liv Boeree at EPT Deauville

But how do you best distance yourself from some of the more unsavoury and juvenile comments? What approach would you recommend to those entering the game?

“Develop a thick skin and develop it quickly. It can be really hurtful, really, really, really hurtful. Unfortunately it’s always going to exist, there’s not much that you can do about that. I’d say either avoid reading it, that’s the number one thing, but if you can’t, such as someone tells you about it, then just be prepared to have a thick skin and believe in yourself. That’s the best thing that I can recommend,” said Boeree, whose $2,138,989 in live winnings prove to be the best response, putting her eighth in the women’s all-time money list.

While the ‘haters-gonna-hate’ motto is a good one to brush off unfounded criticism, Boeree easily has enough ammunition to fight back against any detractors. Her online results – remember the ‘killing it’ comment? – are painfully good according to tracking sites: $380,935 won for a net profit of $162,681 for a *rub your eyes, now rub them again* overall ROI of 75%.

‘If this was a mouse in my hand I’d be crushing you’

Any argument levelled by, let’s face it, jealous online critics that she just happened to run good in one tournament simply doesn’t wash. Her online record is just too impressive with firsts in a WCOOP $100 Second Chance ($40,448) and the Sunday Warm-Up ($147,781) backed up by other victories in notoriously tough online comps such as the $109 and $109 rebuy.

However when it comes to live performances no-one is as tough on Boeree as she is on herself. When asked how much pressure she feels to score another title or final table I barely get a chance to finish the question:

“All of it. Yup, all of it,” she said quickly.

And where does that pressure come from? Inward from yourself or outward from other people?

“Both, I think. Definitely inward, definitely outward,” said Boeree.

Boeree, 8th on the women’s all-time money list

Poker as we know can be a fickle game, the turn of a card rocketing one player to a major final table and another player to the rail. The successful grinders know that it’s about consistently getting yourself into the position where you stand a chance of making the money that matters. This is something that Boeree has done multiple times; 37th in the $25,000 WPT Championship ($40,855), 36th in last summer’s €10,000 WSOPE main event (€27,500) and 12th in the £3,500 English Poker Open (£9,500).

Any of those could have gone differently, but we don’t operate on a coulda, woulda, shoulda system in poker. That’s just variance, I’m afraid. Will Boeree score another live final table soon? While you can’t guarantee it, she’s certainly got the credentials and competiveness to do so. She’s currently on 45,000 here and set to cruise through to Day 2. She’s got a good record against Italian opposition, you know…

Is it just sponsored female players in the spotlight that have to deal with a (thankfully very limited) number of abusive online critics? It seems not.

Melanie Wesiner, the fast talking and often acerbic American, has had to deal with bouts of chauvinism but – and this is unlikely to surprise you if you’ve met her – she seems to enjoy meeting any abuse head on.

“I guess it depends on what kind of mood I’m in. If I’m in a playful mood I’ll just troll them right back but I rarely turn the chat off because I’d hate to miss someone saying something that is indicative of anything. I got into the habit of either trying to play it off or not responding and not dignifying it, if you know what I mean. I play a lot of heads up sit-and-gos and there’s a lot more chat in those than in MTTs,” said the American.

Melanie ‘Callisto 5′ Weisner

Weisner, one of the up and coming women in the game with $419,071 in live cashes and six EPT main event cashes, plays under the name of Callisto 5 and oddly enough shares a near identical online tournament profit as Boeree with $162,207. The success no doubt helping the 25-year-old to be typically whimsical about online trolling.

“People like to try and tilt you. In heads up sit-and-gos I get a lot of whining and general insults, people just trying to piss me off but I’ve got a really good handle on that. The plan is usually to just try to give them some kind of bad beat and then make their lives hell. I try not to get too dirty into it but if something’s really funny then I appreciate it. It’s part of the culture, you know what I mean? Honestly, I think it’s a real mistake for anyone to take themselves too seriously in internet poker,” said Weisner.

Well put, Ms Weisner. Let the cards do the talking.

Tournament snapshot
Level 7: blinds 250-500, ante 50
Day 1B players: 295 of 392
Click here for live coverage and more features.

Tags: Battle of the Planets | chat | game | micromillions | team pokerstars pro | twitter | World Series of Poker | WSOPE

The cards are in the air in The Star Poker Room as the opening flight of the ANZPT Sydney $2,200 Main Event is underway. It’s the first event of Season 4 of the PokerStars.net Australia New Zealand Poker Tour and, traditionally, the largest of the tour.

Over the years, Sydney has been home to some of the Australia’s great sporting events, so it’s no surprise that the harbour city also has a special place in the history of Australian poker. That history dates back to 2007 when Sydney school teacher Grant Levy claimed the first million dollar win by an Aussie on home soil when he took down the inaugural APPT Sydney title.

With further local victories in the APPT to Martin Rowe (2008), Aaron Benton (2009) and Jonathan Karamalikis (2010), poker in Sydney was thriving and the ANZPT enjoyed the success of that growth.

The first ANZPT Sydney event was back in 2009 where a staggering 493 players took to the felt – a number that remains an ANZPT record. Back then we were down on the main gaming floor as Paren Arzoomanian was a popular winner, defeating Lisa Walsh heads-up to collect a massive $246,500 – another ANZPT record. John Caridad, Australian Poker Hall of Famer Billy Argyros, Joel Dodds and David Zhao were also part of a stacked final table.

In Season 2 it was another huge field as 446 players continued to secure Sydney’s place as the most popular destination of the tour. Angelo Hanataj came from relative obscurity to win the title and $219,432 in prize money. Mike Ivin was runner up with Michael O’Grady and John Maklouf also featuring on the final table.

Last year we saw 393 players in action for the ANZPT Sydney Main Event with Michael Kanaan emerging with an impressive victory over a talented final table. Kanaan grabbed $195,714 for his win with young guns Alex Lee, Stevan Chew and Jay Kinkade also in contention on the final day of play.

While we haven’t seen too much of Arzoomanian or Hanataj in recent times, Kanaan is proving himself to be a player of the future after backing up with a 5th place finish in The Star Summer Series Main Event last December for another $67,500 in prize money.

Kanaan is part of today’s Day 1a field for the ANZPT Sydney as he looks for a solid defence of his crown. He won’t have it easy today with a super-stacked line up this evening. We have WSOPE bracelet winner Andy Hinrichsen, previous APPT Sydney champions Aaron Benton, Jonathan Karamalikis and Grant Levy, ANZPT Melbourne champion Martin Kozlov, ANZPT Adelaide winner Octavian Voegele, international superstars Jim Collopy and Dan Kelly, 2012 Aussie Millions champion Oliver Speidel, and Australian Poker Hall of Famer Billy “The Croc” Argyros.

And that’s just to name a few! There are plenty of notables from Australia and New Zealand here this evening as The Star Poker Room is at capacity – even with a couple of overflow tables stretching out into the nearby Oasis Lounge. This bodes well for another massive field here in Sydney.

Those players will be making headlines over the next four days as we look to bring you all the stories from the floor of the 2012 ANZPT Sydney Main Event.

Tags: Asia Pacific Poker Tour | Baltic Poker Festival | belgian poker series | eureka poker tour | festival | hall of fame | Music | pokerstars | season 4 | Super Tuesday | wcoop

Welcome back to the final day of the European Poker Tour main event in Madrid where we await the coronation of a new champion, a title worth €545,000.

So who are the eight players who will contest the final table, from a field that was 477 strong earlier in the week? Read about all the contenders below…

Still wondering…

Seat 1: Ricardo Ibañez Rodriguez, 34, Leon, Spain – 3,216,000
Ibañez is a 34-year-old welder from Leon who decided to enter EPT Madrid on a whim. “I follow my heart, not my head,” he said. He rarely plays online but does play live cash games and tournaments as a hobby. He has been playing poker for a few years and his biggest cash prior to this event was in a tournament in Salamanca, for around €3,000.

Seat 2: Frederik Jensen, 30, Copenhagen, Denmark – 2,144,000
Frederik Jensen is a regular face on the international poker circuit and marked himself out as one of the game’s rising stars in 2010 with an EPT Vilamoura final table, a runner-up spot in the Aussie Millions and third place in a major EPT Grand Final side event, totalling $1.3m. Last year, however, was a somewhat less fruitful year for Jensen on the live circuit, with just $115,013 of cashes. Jensen is also an internet pro, playing as “Fred_Brink” and won the PokerStars Sunday Million in 2008, earning $204,000.

Seat 3: Fraser MacIntyre, 39, Ayr, Scotland – PokerStars qualifier – 2,473,000
Fraser MacIntyre is very much a veteran when it comes to poker. He’s been playing it as a hobby for about 20 years but as semi-professional player for the past two. The rest of the time he runs a pub and nightclub in his home town of Ayr. He plays online cash games and satellites as well as live tournaments; his previous biggest cash was winning a WSOPE side event in Cannes last year for €16,900. MacIntyre qualified for Madrid through PokerStars’ Step satellites and has also won a seat to LAPT Sao Paulo. He’s been supported back home by his wife and four kids and here in Madrid by his friend, Mike Hill, a fellow player.

Seat 4: Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes, 46, France – 1,452,000
Rap star Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes is one of those rare people who seems to excel in everything they do. As a teenager he was an outstanding football player and nearly turned pro when he was offered the chance to play for the town of Lens. “I didn’t do it,” he said. “I went to New York instead.” At the time Lopes was the National Break Dance Champion of France and for next three years he and his friends made a living busking as break-dancers and graffiti artists. In 1987 Lopes formed NTM – originally as a graffiti group then as a rap outfit. “Kool Shen” became a major star and the group went double-platinum. Lopes’ hit “Un Ange dans Le Ciel” has had more than five million hits on YouTube.

Lopes first started playing poker (five-card draw) when he was 13. He then forgot all about poker for 25 years until he saw it on television in 2005. He began playing EPTs in Season 5 and min-cashed EPT San Remo. The following year, he cashed in San Remo again, and then had a deep run at the EPT6 Grand Final, finishing 42nd for €30,000. His biggest cash was in January when he beat a 108-strong field at the 2012 EFOP in Paris for €100,000. He was an overnight chip leader at EPT Deauville a few days later, eventually finishing 73rd for € 11,000. Last month he came seventh at WPT Mauritius. His live tournament winnings now total nearly $400,000 but he still earns his main living from music. This is his fifth EPT Main Event cash.

Seat 5: Andrei ‘Andr31123′ Stoenescu, 23 Bucharest, Romania – 1,974,000
High stakes cash game pro Andrei Stoenescu bust Mike ‘Timex’ McDonald to set the final table after winning a huge 1.9m flip with his big slick flopping Broadway against the Canadian’s flopped set of tens. The board failed to pair and McDonald was sent to the rail.
Although this is only the second EPT he has ever played, Stoenescu is far from a poker novice. His daily online grind is at the $5/$10NL up to $50/$100NL tables and his best online tournament score was for $115,000 when he chopped a Sunday major heads up. He went on to win then. Here Stoenescu aims to become the first Romanian EPT winner.

Seat 6: Ilan Boujenah, 23, Jerusalem, Israel – 1,382,000
Boujenah got his start in poker playing in underground games in Israel, and then began playing online. Eventually, he became a mid-stakes Omaha player and dabbled in multi-table tournaments as well. Because poker is illegal in Israel, Boujenah began commuting to France to play in casinos. This season is the first that Boujenah has travelled the European Poker Tour circuit, and so far he’s cashed in both the EPT Deauville main event in January, as well as the EPT Prague main event in December.

Seat 7: Jason Duval, 21, Quebec – PokerStars qualifier – 963,000
Duval’s full-time job is studying for a Business degree at Université Laval, and he’s just one session away from finishing. In his spare time he plays poker — live cash and online MTTs. At the prodding of his friend Yann Dion, Duval bought into a direct entry satellite for this tournament on PokerStars, and a win there allowed him to secure his seat and join Dion here at EPT Madrid. Four days later, he’s sitting at the final table with a real shot at the trophy and some serious bragging rights back home. He’ll begin the final day with 963,000 chips. It’s his first ever event on the EPT circuit and the largest live tournament he’s played.

Seat 8: Nicolas Levi, 29, France – 709,000
This is Levi’s second final table of Season 8, and third EPT final overall. Last December Levi finished third at EPT Prague for €270,000 and in Season 3 he made the final of EPT Dortmund, finishing in seventh place for € 85,700. Levi came across poker quite by accident seven years ago while he was studying computer science in the UK. On his laptop Levi discovered “a totally different game, a mix of psychology and mathematics. From the very first hand, I thought ‘this is the game for me’. Beating chance seemed a very exciting challenge.”
Since then, Levi has become a regular on the international poker scene. Outside of the EPT, Levi has achieved numerous other deep runs; his four WSOP finals include fifth in the 2010 WSOPE Main Event for £208,119 and sixth in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Hold’em Championship for $114.525. Levi been based in the UK since 2000 – and in London for the last four years.

Tags: archives | deg | European Poker Tour | france | gambling | game | news | tournaments | wbcoop | world-series

2.15pm: Three more eliminated
Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov looked half asleep at the table today. If he needs sleep that much he can now do so all afternoon as he has been eliminated.

Jan Bendik, who made the EPT San Remo final table, has departed as well and was shortly followed by Salvatore Crapanzano.

That’s two levels down, the updates will continue in a new post. — MC

2.10pm: Cheerful little earful
Calling the clock on yourself is not that unusual, but it’s at best an unconventional play. But Andreas Imhof was up against an unconventional player in Kroustalis Panagiotis who had moved all-in for 13,000 on a flop of [5h][td][ad]. Perhaps this was his best option. And besides, Imhof is not a text book player himself.

At first the floor person didn’t quite understand. Who had called the clock exactly? There seemed no need. No one was asking for it? No one except for Imhof.

“In which case you have one minute to act,” said the floor person back tracking.

In the event Imhof didn’t need the full minute. He flicked his cards away, then again as if swatting a fly that wasn’t there.

Almost forgotten was Torsten Brinkmann, also in the hand. He called, showing [5d][5c]. Panagiotis turned over [ah][ks].

The turn came [ts], the river [2h].

“Good luck,” said Panagiotis graciously. His first live tournament experience brought to an abrupt halt.

Suddenly Dario Minieri spoke.

“What did you think about for five minutes?” he asked. “You were thinking for five minutes.”

Imhof didn’t really have an answer to this, only to say that he couldn’t work out Panagiotis’s range. But what about Brinkmann.

“I forgot about him,” he said. “I am minimum as good as he is,” he added, pointing at the now vacant seat of Panagiotis.

Dario Minieri

“Yes but what’s going on after three minutes,” Minieri pressed. “What are you thinking in the fifth minute?”

Imhof admitted he had no answer.

“I’m just curious,” added Minieri. — SB

2.05pm: Don’t bluff this Russian
“Nice call, oh my god!” said Leon Bogorachaner to Dmitry Stelmak after he called 10,000 bet on the river of a [tc][6h][6s][6d][6c] board. There was around 13,000 in the middle and Stelmak had called with [qh][jc], chopping with Bogorachaner who opened [qs][7s].

“I could understand with a king or an ace, but a queen?” the Israeli went on. Stelmak just sat and smiled. — MC

2pm: Spring is in the air (inside the Hilton)
A quick saunter around the tournament floor revealed the following developments (and inadvertently made me feel a little like David Attenborough studying the early blossoming of spring in a Czech poker tournament):

- Johnny Lodden snap-folds his late position c-bet to a raise on a [3c][5s][js] flop.

- James Mitchell appears to be in full Christmas mode resplendent in a dusty green wooly sweater and burgundy bobble hat.

- Pierre Neuville found a fold on a [as][3c][kd][tc][6c] board and was shown [js][qd] for the nuts. Good pass.

- Dario Minieri looks like he means business. A scowl is plastered to his face, a large stack of 47,000 already building in front of him.

- John Tamaras, third place finisher at EPT Loutraki, wins a pot with two-pair yet remains silent. That won’t last long. The Greek, a high stakes blackjack player by his own admission, is not afraid to get involved in verbal warfare and tangled with the likes of Roberto Romanello and McLean Karr on his way to that last final table.

The early stages are as much about not doing something stupid as they are about exploiting the softer spots. Headphones on, kindles out, get grinding. — RD

1.52pm: The Vandermissen
Kevin Vandermissen is one of nine players to fall this level. The Belgian lost most of his chips with pocket aces to an opponent who flopped a full house after checking in the dark. His last 3,800 chips went in when he squeezed with ace-queen only for the initial raiser to have ace-king.

He is joined by eight other players on the rail that include: Kroustalis Panagiotis, Vladimir Mihailov, Javier Etayo, Lubomir Kudlicka, Marko Serdarusic, Jonathan Roy and Michael Bjorn. — MC

1.40pm: Bonavena blow up
The sight of Salavatore Bonavena knocking his chair to the ground – or rather trying to if the table hadn’t got in the way – is not one you’d normally associate with the happy-go-lucky Italian. Obviously we had to find out what had caused the Bonavena blow up.

The board read [qs][4s][tc][9h][8s] with [qd][qh] in front of Bonavena, [js][jd] in front of Nicolas Leger. All the money had gone in on the flop with Bonavena needing to avoid running cards to stack up to 65,000. Running cards had appeared leaving Sal Bon with just 5,000 left and an unusually sullen look on his face. Leger up to 60,000. — RD

1.35pm: 42nd Street fighter
Lex Veldhuis is playing today and is sat just one table along from ElkY, who he recently beat in a kick boxing match for a $200,000 prize pool. We hope no punches will be thrown today!

The Dutch Team PokerStars Pro is going along very nicely after he got three streets on value out of Timofey Vekshin to move up to more than 42,000 chips. The action was three-way to a [5h][jd][qs] flop and Velduis’ 800 bet was called by Jens Robin Colbin in the big blind and Vekshin from under the gun.

The turn came [6c] and the action was checked to Veldhuis who bet 2,300. Vekshin was the only caller to the [3h] river where he checked to Velduis for a third time, who bet 6,500. Vekshin threw in a 25 denomination chip to represent a call but mucked upon seeing his opponent’s [ad][qc]. — MC

1.20pm: I was doing all right
There’s a slight dispute on Fabrice Soulier’s table regarding which players must show cards and in which situation. Ivo Donev, playing at a nearby table, comes over to watch. If you bump your car at the lights perhaps, anywhere in Europe, Ivo Donev will appear, leaning on your bonnet, as you swap addresses with the guy in the white transit van.

Elsewhere Calvin Anderson just moved up to around 37,000 after a hand with Kroustalis Panagiotis. Anderson had made it 700 in middle position, which Panagiotis raised to 3,000 in the cut off. Andersen responded by making it 5,500 at which point Andersen shoved. Panagiotis called, showing [ac][qd]. He was up against the [ah][ad] of Andersen.

The board ran [9c][3d][7h][2d][8h] during which Andersen read a book. Panagiotis threw his hands up in the air.

“It’s my first time live,” he said, to the understanding of the rest of the table who were in the process of reverse engineering the hand. – SB

1.15pm: Blain tank fold
A return to WSOP winner Pius Heinz’s table saw Dermot Blain in the action again, this time seemingly making a big fold on the river of a [js][4s][tc][ks][4d] board. Blain had called 3,400 on the turn but the 11,000 bet from Yann Brosolo on the river was too much. Blain initially looked like calling. He pursed his lips in a silent whistle then wiggled his eyebrows but as time wore on that crying call seemed to become less likely as the Irishman looked to protect his 28,000 remaining chips. He eventually passed. Brosolo showed no sign of relief or exultation. Probably a good fold by Blain. — Rd

WSOP Main Event winner Pius Heinz

1.05pm: Sprung from the tournament early
It wasn’t quite as quick as yesterday but a player has managed to loose 300 big blinds in the first level today. We don’t have details of his exit but Joris Springael is the first player out. — MC

1pm: Mattern looking to end a barren EPT spell
Arnaud Mattern is a player that seems to like getting involved from the get-go. That policy is borne out again today with an under-the-gun open to 250, a call from PCA third place finisher Anton Ionel and a 375 c-bet into a [9c][5c][8c] flop. Ionel check-called the flop but passed to a 1,000 on the [qh] turn. Mattern hasn’t cashed in an EPT this year* and the competitive Frenchman will no doubt want to take this last chance for a 2011 EPT flag. — RD

* He has had success in other tournaments.

12.55pm: The difficult road to a second title
There are many former EPT champions in the room and they have been or will be mentioned throughout the event. There are four of them in one small corner of the room and these four happen to have drawn fairly difficult table draws providing an extra obstacle in which to pass in order to break new ground.

Mike MacDonald also claimed back-to-back EPT Dortmund titles a few seasons back when he was still a teenager. He’s in his twenties now and is sat with fellow twenty-some-things Paul Berende and David Sonelin, who are well used to making deep runs at EPTs.

One table along sits the only Antonio Mathias. The man from Portugal, whose wife cooks a mean Rabbit stew (apparently), has to deal with Irish hot shots John O’Shea and Jude Ainsworth. The mixed game specialist and Team PokerStars Pro are sat right next to each
other.

Two tables along from there is a very strong table that contains two-time bracelet winner Praz Bansi, former EPT Copenhagen winner Anton Wigg, and Johannes Strassmann who has made numerous EPT final tables. Good luck to thee rest of their table.

Right next to that table sits Rupert Elder who won San Remo in season seven. He has position on Mick Graydon, Ivan Demidov and Guiseppe Pantaleo. — MC

12.50pm: What lurks beneath
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Martin Hruby’s eyes. The Czech Team PokerStars Pro always wears small dark glasses, frequently matched with a small hat (no hat today though). What is he hiding? Do his eyes spin like fruit machine reels as a flop is dealt landing, landing on $ $ when he flops large and a lemon and cherry when he whiffs? Unlikely, but I’m sure something must lurk beneath. — RD

Martin Hruby

12.40pm: Things are looking up
At this event 12 months ago Dario Minieri arrived two hours late and proceeded to play half-a-dozen hands in a row. Or at least it seemed like he did. This year he’s here on time but the same urge to get stuck in remains.

He just won a first pot, then another, raising to 1,400 from the small blind, announcing the figure with his work voice. His two opponents called for a flop of [4c][jc][7d]. Minieri announced “twenty-seven fifty”, using two hands to throw the chips forward. That did it.
“I bluff,” said Minieri smiling as the chips were pushed his way.

“That’s why you are sponsored by PokerStars,” said one opponent laughing.

“Bluff,” admitted Minieri.

Elsewhere Bertrand Grospellier has arrived at his seat at the same table with Jonathan Duhamel. Dag Palovic has arrived on the arm of Martin Hruby, wearing a dress he just doesn’t have the hips for. – SB

12.25pm: The Wooooorld Champion
Pius Heinz won the WSOP Main Event last month bagging himself a trifling $8,715,368. After all that fanfare of the November Nine, glitz and glamour of the victory, you’d think that the German was ten feet tall with fireworks firing out of the side of his head. In reality, he’s just a guy sitting at a table getting dealt two cards from the same deck as everyone else. No complimentary aces, no silver service sets or butler-delivered coolers. He passed the first three hands that I saw him dealt, all of which were in late position no less. Poker doesn’t afford automatic privilege.

Dermot Blain is sat two seats to Heinz’s left and took a five-way pot down firing two barrels and could prove to be the German’s first sticking point here in Prague. The Irishman has had three deep EPT runs as well as a recent WSOPE final table.

You can hear the new Team PokerStars Pro speaking below. — RD

12.15pm: Play starts
With only a slight delay considering the numbers pouring through the door, cards are now in the air. No exact figure yet but the room is roughly twice as full as yesterday. — SB

11.55pm: Can’t get started
Unless we miss our guess we will not be starting on time. The queue for registrations has now reached the door (with about 70 people waiting). — SB

11.40am: Nice work if you can get it
Welcome back to Prague for the second day of the European Poker Tour main event. It’s a beautiful day in this beautiful city but for the modest (immodest) outlay of five grand you could be right here, tucked up inside the Prague Hilton for eight levels of the best poker in the world.

Of course there are a few caveats to that. There’s no guarantee that you’ll keep your seat for that long. Yesterday the first player was gone in a little more than ten minutes and a bad hand can strike at any moment. Plus there’s that five grand to think about.

The Prague Hilton

Still, it has proven enough to attract a sizable field (the expression we use when we don’t have an exact figure) to the underground levels of the Hilton. These are the people to whom life’s trials are an irrelevance. These are the people you see with expensive headphones, with speedy boarding, and with little regard for any degree of Christmas cheer in the real world outside.

Real life, with bills and obligations, is for wimps. Their life begins when play starts at 12noon. – SB

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Prague: Marc Convey, Rick Dacey and Stephen Bartley.

Tags: business | christmas | czech | jude ainsworth | pca | pokerstars | pokerstars macau | rio | SCOOP | Super Tuesday | UKIPT

6.25pm: End of level
It’s another break and the players are shuffling out of the tournament room. — RD

6.20pm: Stacking up
There’s a couple of larger stacks already emerging, two of which are at the same table, the one vacated by Chris Brammer. Jamie Flynn is up to 55,000, Mark MacDonald is on close to 40,000 and Johnny Wilson a more modest 27,000.

All three of the aforementioned players were involved in the last hand. MacDonald opened under-the-gun for 450 and was called, also in early position, by Flynn before Wilson three-bet to 1,700 from the big blind. Both called. Wilson c-bet 3,000 into the [qh][9c][ac] flop and was quickly min-raised to 6,000 by MacDonald. Flynn moved out the way and Wilson shoved. Quick fold from MacDonald. — RD

6.05pm: Exits
Recent exits include: Andrew Ferguson and UKIPT Manchester runner-up Mateusz Warowiec. — NW

5.55pm: Play it again Kevin?
Kevin ‘Lovejoy’ O’Leary is down to 3,900 and told me, “I want to play Day 1B!” O’Leary often uses a plastic giraffe as a card protector and strangely enough two other players in the field – Luke Fields and Dan Morgan – are also using them today. “My lawyers will be in touch,” said O’Leary. — NW

Kevin O’Leary: getting the lawyers in!

5.52pm: O’Rourke backs in
Gavin O’Rourke was a breakaway chip leader at the end of the first ever UKIPT Day 1 but had failed to convert that into a cash finish. He did, however, just manage to convert a nut flush draw into top pair with [ad][td] on a [3d][7h][jd][jc][ah] board. That 3,000 pot propped him back up to his starting stack. — RD

5.45pm: Vamplew gets some back
Earlier we reported that EPT London winner David Vamplew was down to 2.600 after getting rivered in a large pot. He’s got some back but is still grinding a short stack. I saw him move all-in for 2,075 into a pot of 2,300 with a board of [7d][10s][Jd][6c] his lone opponent, Liz Kelly, gave it a good old think up before folding her hand. — NW

5.35pm: King Kirby
An interesting hand just played out at table 17 with Owen Robinson a keen observer. From the hi-jack Anthony Lynch made it 400 to play and was flat called by Shirley Lacey on the button and Martin Kirby from the big blind.

All three players checked the flop of [5h][6d][2s] and the [Ac] fell on the turn. It was checked to Lacey who bet 400, Kirby called and Lynch then check-raised to 2,000 total, only Kirby called.

The river was the [Qs] and Kirby checked to Lynch to bet 2,200, a bet that Kirby check-raised to 6.125 total. After a minute or so in the tank Lynch folded [6h][5s] face-up. — NW

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 100-200

5.27pm: Docherty and his magic hat
David Docherty is a player I’ve seen at a lot of events and seems to be a player of quality, i.e. he talks the poker talk, has a solid smattering of credible results (including 4th in the UKIPT Nottingham high roller and 36th in the 2009 £10,000 WSOPE Main Event) and, perhaps the key element here, always wear a ludicrously large hat. One of those large brimmed baseball caps sported by most hip-hop stars and young American online players (see Chris Oliver, runner-up in the PCA main event).

Docherty is currently running low on 8,000 and that’s after doubling through Iqbal Ahmed after shoving the river of a [jc][7h][jd][kc][6h] board with [as][jh]. Ahmed had tank-called spending a good 15 seconds staring directly at Docherty before realising that approach was a pointless venture and that perhaps just thinking about the hand was a better idea. That said, he called and lost. — RD

5.13pm: Newport in trouble
We mentioned Nicholas Newport as being a player to watch. He still is, but now for different reasons. He’s down to 6,000 having had the nut flush flopped against him. — RD

5.03pm: Dowling dents Keating
Dubliner Chris Dowling already has one UKIPT final table to his name this season (Nottingham, sixth) and he’s going well here in Cork. He opened to 400 from under-the-gun and was flat called by Gary Kelleher one seat along, before Simon Keating put in a three-bet to 1,400. Back to Dowling and he called but Kelleher got out the way.

The flop was [2h][8d][8c] and Dowling check-called a bet of 1,600. The [2d] turn double paired the board and Dowling check-called again, this time for 2,650. Both players checked the [7c] river with Dowling showing pocket sixes and Keating [Ac][Kh]. — NW

Chris Dowling

4.57pm: Brammer out
Chris Brammer, last year’s UKIPT leader board champion, has taken an early fall after getting big slick in against Mark MacDonald’s [ah][as]. MacDonald had three-bet an early position raiser to 1,150 and Brammer had cold four-bet to 2,825 from the big blind. The initial raiser side-stepped the action and MacDonald shoved all-in. Brammer, a little reluctantly, made the call for his remaining 11,000 and quickly saw how thin he was drawing. Even thinner when an ace hit the flop.

“I’ve just missed the flight back, as well,” said Brammer ruing the set-up.

What about the side events? “There’s too much going on online at the moment,” Brammer explained in reference to SCOOP.

Not even the €1,500 high roller? “I’m playing the SCOOP main event (€10,000 buy-in) on Sunday so, yeah, I’ve probably got time to win the high roller and the SCOOP,” he said. There’s confidence for you. — RD

4.50pm: Mallin bashed by Baker
Trish Mallin, the runner-up at UKIPT Galway, is down to around 6,000 after losing a huge pot to Phil Baker who now has around 34,000. I missed the pre-flop action but all the chips flew in on a flop of [4d][3s][2d] with Baker having [4s][3c] and Mallin holding pocket aces. The turn was the [5h] to give Mallin a straight, but Baker filled up on the [3h] river. — NW

Phil Baker standing up

4.40pm: All the way from Canada
Meet Dan Williams; a PokerStars qualifier who’s come all the way from Canada to play this event. William’s a Supernova on PokerStars where he mostly plays limit hold’em. “There’s still a few of us dinosaurs left,” he said. He won his seat to Cork in an FPP satellite and has also won a seat to the Estrellas Poker Tour event in Alicante. — NW

From Canada to Cork

4.30pm: Chip counts
Players are back in their seats, here are the chip counts of some of the notables in the field today: JP Kelly (29,000), Mick McCloskey (14,100), Andrew Ferguson (9,025), Chris Brammer (16,100), Dan Morgan (18,000), Dan Williams (14,475), David Vamplew (2,600), Kevin O’Leary (13,800), Luke Fields (27,100), Nicky Power (16,700), Phil Baker (17,000) and Simon Deadman (9,000).

Kelly has nearly double the starting stack

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Cork (in order of cups of tea drunk today): Nick Wright (three and a half) and Rick Dacey (two). Photos by Neil Stoddart.

Tags: aforementioned | brammer | chris-brammer | david-vamplew | dowling | from-the-big | jp kelly | players | poker | pokerstars | SCOOP | the law | time | UKIPT

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).

Tags: angel | argentine | berlin | black | dirnberger | european | European Poker Tour | london | love | pokerstars | team pokerstars pro | tournament | UKIPT

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).

Tags: argentine | barry-greenstein | black | british | dublin | ept | European Poker Tour | german | london | love | pokerstars | russia | team pokerstars pro | tournament | UKIPT

1.50pm: Duthie wins a hand
John Duthie’s stack is up a few thousand following a hand against Jonas Klausen.

On a flop of [3c][7c][qh] Duthie (spell check name “Duchy”) checked to Klausen who bet 1,100. Duthie then raised to 2,200 which Klausen called for a [8c] turn card. Duthie came about betting, making it 2,600 which Klausen again called.

Then on the [jd] river Duthie tossed in another bet of 4,000. Klausen tanked for a while, noting that this would be a marginal call. When he called the bet Duthie showed [ac][qc] to win the hand. Klausen mucked. – SB

1.45pm: Fatima loses a hand
The first two levels had been a breeze for Fatima Moreira de Melo, as she worked her stack up to and over the 40,000 mark. She’s just had her first taste of defeat though to drop back to 40,000.

Moreira de Melo raised to 450 from mid-position and Kezli Ong defended from the big blind to see the [5d][ah][5c] flop. Moreira de Melo continued with a 525 bet that Ong check-called. They were the last chips to venture in to the middle as the [3d][2c] turn and river were checked through by both players. Ong tabled [ah][8s] for two-pair. Moreira de Melo shrugged and folded. — MC

1.40pm: Using the magic of moving pictures…
The first of the day’s video blogs features the introduction to the day as well as a few words with Team PokerStars Pro JP Kelly before he took his seat for the start.

1.30pm: Nearly man Jacobson
Martin Jacobson is the nearly man of this season. Twice he’s made it to final tables and twice he’s made it to heads-up with a solid chance of taking a title. Both times he finished as runner-up, first to Toby Lewis in Vilamoura and then, painfully, to Lucien Cohen at EPT Deauville just a few weeks ago.

Jacobson is already up a small amount having taken a multi-way pot by firing 1,100 into a [ac][th][9c][2s] board. Three final tables in a season is almost unheard of but I really don’t think that we should put it past him. — RD

1.20pm: Making Hedlund
Peter Hedlund plays today. You may remember him as the runner-up at EPT Copenhagen two seasons ago, defeated by Jens Kyllonen. The Hedlund spirit was in full flow that day, to the tune of free beer to whoever could drink and still type. Today he’s in his early Day 1 mode of clear-headed reason. His hair is neatly combed, his jeans, pulled up to his nipples, are clean, and he wears a black football shirt with his nickname “Nalle” stencilled above the number “68″ on the back. Apparently “Nalle” means teddy bear. They’re an ironic bunch, the Swedes.

Hedlund opened for 275, which was called by Vadim Markushevski before Omer Markovitch, from Israel, raised to 1,050. In the big blind was Michael Aron, a PokerStars qualifier from the United States, who raised again, making it 2,650 to play. The action folded back to Hedlund who passed, as did Markushevski, leaving it to Markovitch to take on Aron.

Markovitch called which seemed to surprise Aron who looked back across the table sorrowfully at Markovitch, as if to remind him just by the look in his eyes, that he has kids to feed and he’s stealing food from their plates.

The flop came [7s][5s][ts] and Aron bet 3,200. Markovitch called as Aron continued to look over at him. The turn came [9d]. Aron thought for a while as Markovitch snuck another look at his cards. Slowly Aron, moving slowly – he even blinks slowly – checked, leaving it to Markovitch to bet 6,700. Aron gulped, paused and then passed. Markovitch showed the [3s]. Peter Hedlund tapped the table. Markovitch, who had been down to around 25,000, climbs back up to 31,000. – SB

1.10pm: Nitsche bluff picked off
Dominik Nitsche only had nine-high by the river so knew full well that the only way he could win was to bluff at the pot. The German raised from mid-position and was called by both blinds en route to the [9c][5c][3s] flop.

Nitsche c-bet for 500 and the small called before Martin Hansen raised to 1,450. Both players called before all three checked the [jh] turn. The river came [qs] and Hansen led for 2,000 only to face a raise up to 5,550 from Nitsche. The small blind folded but Hansen made the call after some thought.

“Good call”, said Nitsche as he revealed [8c][9c].

Hansen tabled [ah][ks] and responded, “It didn’t make sense”.

“I could’ve had king-queen”, was Nitsche’s response. He’s down to 28,000 now. — MC

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 75-150

12.59pm: Swedish assault rifle
Michael Tureniec has started his assault on the chip counts after firing three barrels into Carlos Oliveira on a [2d][7d][6h][2h][2s] board.

Tureniec opened from the button for 300 and was called by Oliveira in the small blind. Tureniec levelled 450 at the flop, 1,150 at the turn and 2,550 at the river. The final volley finally knocked Oliveira down. Tureniec up to 32,000. — RD

12.55pm: Don’t look left
When trying to navigate an obstacle at height the advice often is “Don’t look down”. This helps to avoid vertigo and a nasty fall.

When you sit down at a poker table and you look left to see Viktor “Isildur1″ Blom, Andrea Benelli and Xuan Lui sat in the next three seats, the advice might be “Don’t look left”.

To be fair to Jelassi, he’s a formidable player in his own right as is already up to 37,000 chips. — MC

12.46pm: Jumpers for goalposts
We were pointed towards Gustaf Johan Borenius as a player to watch. Well, I’ve watched him and what he’s currently doing exceedingly well is wearing a v-neck Lyle and Scott sweater, and glasses, while passing a lot. Okay, it’s very early and there’s little need to go crazy so we’ll give him some grace for the moment.

Just a few seats to Borenius’ right is British player Jon Spinks, a final tablist from the UKIPT Brighton and respected online player. He’s been involved in a few of these early hands but there’s actually been little movement at the table. Between the two is one Sebastien Blom, brother of Viktor, who is credited as teaching Isildur1 how to play. — RD

12.32pm: Greedy De Melo
Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo is up to 34,000 as a result of picking up aces twice in three hands. First she picked up two red aces and got value from a guy who flopped top pair. Then two hands later she picked up two black aces and got two streets of value against a player who folded after the river was checked and Moreira de Melo revealed her hand.

Thanks to our Dutch blogger, Steven Smith, for bring us the information. — MC

12.40pm: Setting the scene
Right, how do things look? For anyone who has not been here before it’s one of the more spacious varieties of tournament rooms on the EPT, a long room with curtains closed to keep the daylight out, with Fatima Moreira de Melo at one end and Toni Judet at the other, with 22 tables full of players, and two tea and coffee stations, between them.

One of those players is Helen Prager, who just lost an early pot against Carlos Oliveira.

Oliveira opened for 250 in early position which Prager called from the big blind for a flop of [ah][4c][ks]. Prager, who finished in 24th at EPT Prague in December, bet 600 which Oliveira called without fuss for a [9c] turn. It was the same again on the turn, 800 from Prager which Oliveira called quickly for a [jc] river. Here Prager checked, as did Oliveira, the latter taking the pot showing [kh][qh] to Prager’s [kd][3d]. – SB

12.25pm: Right table, wrong seat
Tom Heltzel found his way to Copenhagen just fine. He also found his way to the Casino and even found his table but that’s as far as his navigational skills took him. He was drawn in seat four but sat down in seat five and took no time at all in handing around 5,000 chips to Antonio Buonanno, as the real holder of his seat (Daniel Dodet) looked on.

The board was out as [4c][js][6c][7c][kc] and Heltzel check-called a 4,500 bet (thinking it was 2,500 – another mistake) and tabled [ad][kd] but lost out to the Italian’s [9c][8c] for a flush. The floor man then told him his seat would be switched after the button had passed. — MC

12.10pm: Finnish fancy
I just had a chat with a Finnish journo to get the low-down on who to look out for of his countrymen in this field. “Juha Helppi (Yes, we know him. Has a massive roster of results came second in the €10,000 High Roller at EPT Barcelona), Sami Kelopuro (Yes, we also know him. He finished just outside the final table at last season’s EPT Grand Final), Jani Vilmunen (The name rings a bell… He won the WSOPE Omaha bracelet in 2009) and Gustaf Johan Borenius (Who?). We’ll check up on this Borenius type and see if he’s worth reporting on. If not, we will never ask our Finnish colleagues for ‘expert insight’ again. — RD

12pm: Cards in the air
Play is under way in Level 1 with blinds at 50-100.

11.55am: Welcome to Day 1B
It’s Day 2 on the European Poker Tour in Copenhagen and from the top of the SAS Radisson hotel Copenhagen looks a treat. From one end of the horizon to the other is a mix of spinning windmills, copper topped churches and terracotta roof tiles. An office block juts up here and there but with the exception of the Vor Frelsers Church and the local power station, the view is clear from the Radisson all the way across the Øresund to Sweden. Perhaps there’s someone in Malmo looking back across to Denmark thinking the same thing right now.

Ice is thicker on the Stadsgraven lake across the Amager Boulevard from the Radisson hotel, no skaters as yet, but they’ll be along soon, and shipping fans will be interested to note that the Maltese registered tanker Fjordstraum, which left Copenhagen on Sunday evening, has since arrived safely in Oslo. The navy museum frigate Peder Skrams Venner, docked a short distance from here, is still bobbing up and down at anchor, technically a sitting duck.

The view across Copenhagen with Sweden on the distant horizon

Inside we expect scenes not unlike yesterday, when, after eight levels, Mark Hirlemen emerged as chip leader with 163,400. That will be the target for the however-many players that will fill the tournament room today. We expect more than yesterday, with the likes of his holiness Viktor Blom, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Toni Judet, John Duthie, Florian Langman and JP Kelly.

For the players today there will be eight levels, no dinner, but all the free juice boxes you can manage. For you, the reader following from work perhaps, it’s a day of refreshing, checking the whereabouts of your boss and looking busy. We suggest holding a clip board and perhaps nestling a phone on your shoulder. We do that and it works every time.

To the tournament floor!

Tags: british | copenhagen | european | European Poker Tour | german | greed | italian | prague | reader | river | table | united-states | WSOPE