Day 1a has gone by in a blur of super-aggressive Scandi action, but it is a Canadian who has come out on top. Barring any last-minute shenanigans unseen by bloggers' eyes, Andrew Pantling remains our chip leader as the Day 1a-ers take a well-earned break, and the magic number on his bag as the chips went in was 155,800.
Although a fair few notables have dropped out of the running during the course of today's play - Martin Kabrhel, Jeff Sarwer and Thomas Bichon spring to mind - there remain some well-known faces in the field. Annette Obrestad, Dario Minieri, Johnny Lodden and Arnaud Mattern will all be coming back for more on Day 2.
Before then, though, there's the small matter of Day 1b. Peter Eastgate, ElkY, Noah Boeken, William Thorson and Luca Pagano are among the folks who'll be taking their shot at EPT glory tomorrow. Be sure to join us back here at PokerNews for all the action from that, but until 2pm tomorrow, it's over and out.
There was a raise to 2,000 in mid position and Ville Haavisto called on the button. Over in the small blind, though, Thomas Bichon shoved for his last 9,500. The original raiser called, Haavisto eyed them both up suspiciously but folded, and they were on their backs.
Original Raiser:
Bichon: in a spot of bother with
Board: a jackless
The Job 2 Stars winner is, at least for this tournament, sacked.
Rasmus Nielsen's crazy Day 1a rollercoaster continues, as he doubled up a short-stacked opponent. We're hazarding a guess, or at least we hope, that the chips went in on the flop.
We arrived to see the gentleman in the small blind with what appeared to be a raise of perhaps 10,000 in front of him; Stefan Matsson had four-bet behind to cover him. Eventually the small blind called all in.
Mr. Small Blind:
Matsson:
Board:
As the former small blind headed for the door, another player at the table speculated on what had led him to play his hand that way. "That was a misclick raise," said the young gentleman, clearly an onliner. "I'm sure he meant to call."
Martin Wendt raised from the button and then called the short-stack shove from the big blind. It was looking like a chopped pot at worst for the shortie, but the poker gods had other plans.
We caught up with Lars "Brother Of Jesper" Hougaard on the turn of a board. His opponent had bet out 3,300 from the small blind, and Hougaard was attempting to less than min-raise from the button.
Once he had been put right and his opponent had called, they saw a turn. Mr. Small Blind checked this time and then called the 10,200 bet from Hougaard. They flipped their cards.
Mr. Small Blind: for an overpair
Hougaard: for a set
Hougaard shouted something that we are certain is hilarious in Danish, and moved on up to 70,000 or so.
Ruben Visser's table has just been broken, and he's been sent over to Table 28. That is also where resides the other dangerous Dutchie, Johan van Til. In Seat 2, Visser has direct position on van Til and the big-stacked Patrik Kaltrud. Also at that table lurks the always-dangerous Annette Obrestad, now with an above-average stack as well.
It promises to make for some exciting poker over on the far side of the room.