2008 PokerStars.net EPT San Remo

Day 3 completed

Posted 04-05-2008 14:41 GMT+2

End of Play for Day 3 of EPT San Remo

With the exit of Johannes Strassmann that means we are down to the final eight players who will come back tomorrow to play for the title and the $1,340,867 first prize. The home fans' hero Dario Minieri leads the way with 1,782,000. In second place is American Jason Mercier with 1,442,000 and the other chip millionaire is Frenchman Antony Lellouche with 1,137,000.

The final table is made up of two Italians, two Frenchman, two Americans, a Swede, and a Slovakian.

William Thorson has already made two EPT final tables, Antony Lellouche, Dario Minieri, and Dag Palovic have each made one EPT final table.

Join us at 3 pm local time (GMT+1) as we bring you all the action as another new EPT champion will be crowned at The Casino Municipale San Remo.

The chip counts at the end of play were:

Dario Minieri 1782000
Jason Mercier 1442000
Antony Lellouche 1137000
Gregory Genovese 686000
William Thorson 528000
Eric Koskas 507000
Dag Palovic 505000
Marcus Bower 277000

Johannes Strassmann Eliminated in 9th Place ($71,441)

Johannes Strassmann raised to 75,000. Marcus Bower reraised to 300,000 and Gregory Genovese called all in, as did Strassmann. It was a three-way pot and the players showed:

Strassmann:
Genovese:
Bower:

The flop came down and the gallery erupted. The turn and river came the and respectively and Genovese's kings were best. Genovese scooped the pot and Strassmann was eliminated in ninth place. Despite falling ever so short of the TV final table, Strassmann will find comfort in the $71,441 in prize money he earned for his impressive finish in this event.

Mercier Gets Value on River

Eric Koskas made it 100,000 pre-flop and Jason Mercier called from the small blind. The flop came down and both players checked. Mercier bet 140,000 on the turn, which Koskas called. The river was the and Mercier bet 220,000, which was quickly called by Koskas. Koskas disgustedly slapped the table as he saw the K-J of Mercier for the nut straight. 971,000 pot to Jason Mercier.

Marcus Bower Doubles Up

Dag Palovic raises on the button and Marcus Bower reraises to 150,000 from his stack of 230,000. Dag puts him all in and we have a showdown:

Dag:
Marcus:

Board:

Marcus Bower doubles up to 506,000.

Tags: Dag Palovic, Marcus Bower.

William Thorson Doubles Through Antony Lellouche

William Thorson opened the pot with a raise to the tune of, "all in." Antony Lellouche made the call and the others passed. The players showed:

Lellouche:
Thorson:

Thorson was behind, but had live cards. He played it cool as the flop gave him a virtual hammerlock on the hand, coming down . The turn left Lellouche drawing dead and Thorson doubled up to about 540,000 in chips.

Level 24 started

Posted 04-04-2008 23:20 GMT+2

The Raising Machine

Dario has raised three of the last four pots and taken them down. The only player's blind he did not raise was Eric Koskas, most likely because Eric does not like to fold often.

Eric Koskas and Jason Mercier Tangle

Eric Koskas raised to 68,000. Jason Mercier was next to act and he reraised an additional 115,000. Action folded around back to Koskas and he reraised an additional 115,000. Mercier just called and it was heads-up to a flop of . Both men checked. The turn brought the and Koskas checked again. Mercier thought for a bit then moved all in. Koskas, as though he knew this was coming, barely reacted. He contemplated the situation and then eventually folded, giving the pot to Mercier and putting him back over the 1,000,000-chip mark.

The Minieri and Thorson Show

Dario Minieri makes it 60,000 pre-flop and William Thorson makes it 170,000 more. When it gets back to Dario, it's an instant all-in. A five-minute question-and-answer session follows, whilst William makes up his mind what to do. It starts with Dario commenting, "It was always one of my dreams to play with you." William responds with, "I know you are crazy but are you really stupid?" Dario refuses William's request to show if he folds, and then when William eventually does fold he tries to barter, saying he would show one if William shows two. But this time it is William who refuses the deal. "Ok, we will see it on TV," says Dario as he rakes in a 1,679,000 pot.

Tags: Dario Minieri, William Thorson.