2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo

PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final
Day: 1a
Event Info

2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$3,198,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$15,764
Prize Pool
$13,393,124
Entries
842
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
10,000

E-Dog has Radar on Rahme

Erick Lindgren
Erick Lindgren
We caught the action on the river with the board reading {K-Diamonds}{7-Hearts}{J-Clubs}{2-Clubs}{8-Clubs} and Raymond Rahme firing a 3,000 chip bet into a pot that was already worth over 9,000. Erick Lindgren thought for a moment or two before tossing a single 5,000 denomination into the middle to announce a call.

Rahme sheepishly tapped the table saying "nice call" as E-Dog proudly flipped over {Q-Spades}{J-Spades} for nothing but middle pair which was good to take down the pot. The table and nearby fans were all clearly impressed by this world class call as Lindgren progresses to around 22,000 chips while Rahme slips to about 13,000.

Tags: Erick LindgrenRaymond Rahme

Antonius Recovering

Down to less than 3,000 chips at one point earlier in the day, female favorite Patrik Antonius is on the up-and-up, having recently increased the size of his stack by about 80%.

Sitting with 3,450 in chips, Antonius led out with a 500 bet on a flop of {K-Hearts}{J-Spades}{7-Hearts} and was called by an unknown opponent on the button. The {6-Hearts} came on the turn and Patrik fired again, this time tossing 800 worth of chips across the betting line; his opponent made a quick call.

The {8-Spades} completed the board and Patrik stacked his remaining 2,175 worth of chips and slid them across the betting line. His opponent checked and re-checked his hand before eventually tossing it into the muck.

Antonius is currently sitting with just over 6,000 in chips.

Tags: Patrik Antonius

Raymer Folds to the Four-Bet

Greg Raymer opened the pot from middle position and the button re-raised to 1,000. Raymer three-bet to 3,025 and after a moment in the tank, his opponent tossed out 8,000.

Raymer asked the young man how much he had behind, and he remained silent. "What, about six, seven thousand?" wondered Fossilman as he thought over his decision. Ultimately, he mucked.

"If you had aces, you should have pushed in. I'd have called that," said Raymer as his opponent raked in the pot. No worries, though-- he's still one of the room's larger stacks with 29,000.

Tags: Greg Raymer

Tony G Eliminated

MIA for a significant portion of the first level of play, Tony G was eliminated from the tournament midway through Round 2 after getting his chips into the middle on the turn holding a flush draw against an opponent's set. A blank on the river sent Tony to the rail.

Tags: Tony G

Lisandro Progressing Well

Jeff Lisandro
Jeff Lisandro
T6 Poker professional Jeff Lisandro is starting to stamp his authority on his table and accumulate some chips. In a recent hand three players, including Lisandro, each contributed 525 to the pot to see a flop of {A-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{5-Spades}. The action checked around and the turn revealed the {K-Spades}. An early position player fired 1,500 in an attempt to take down the pot, but after some deliberation Lisandro and the third player both made the call. The river landed the {3-Spades} and the early position player checked the action to Lisandro who quickly made a value bet of 2,500. The price seemed good, but both opponents laid down their hands and Lisandro scooped a healthy pot to progress to over 20,000 in chips.

Tags: Jeff Lisandro

Welcome to Live Poker

Oftentimes at major events like this that have a large percentage of online qualifiers in the field we see a plethora of shaky hands, the fumbling of chips and the occasional string bet; all indicators of a lack of live experience. A recent hand between Eli Elezra and one young opponent highlighted one of the adjustments online players must make when tackling the live arena: memorizing your cards.

On a board showing {8-Clubs}{2-Clubs}{J-Spades}{4-Hearts}{7-Clubs}, Elezra's opponent had moved all in, putting Eli to a decision for almost all of his chips. A tried and tested veteran of live play, Elezra sat coolly in his chair studying his opponent and the situation before eventually opting to fold.

As the dealer pushed the pot to the winner, the unknown player's hands shook uncontrollably as he turned over {10-Spades}{7-Spades}, announcing "I misread my hand. I thought I had 10-7 of clubs! The river really freaked me out there."

Eli gave his opponent credit for the play, saying, "Nice bluff" after the hand, while others at the table appeared dumbfounded by the post-hand discussion.

Tags: Eli Elezra

Torben Hubertz Eliminated

Torben Hubertz, founder of T6Poker.com, was just eliminated from the tournament after running pocket jacks into an opponent's pocket aces. All of the money went in on the turn with the board showing {6-Hearts}{2-Spades}{7-Diamonds}{9-Clubs} and the last card to fall was an inconsequential {6-Diamonds}.

Tags: Torben Hubertz

Mark Teltscher Crippled

Mark Teltscher
Mark Teltscher
Just before the break Mark Teltscher was crippled in a hand amid some controversy. On a flop of {Q-Spades}{8-Diamonds}{K-Clubs} an unknown player lead out and Teltscher raised. The floor was called as it was believed that the raise wasn't enough, as it needed to be at least the size of the original bet. The raise was declared a minimum raise, before Teltscher's opponent came over the top all-in. Teltscher made the call revealing pocket aces but was in trouble against his opponent's set of eights. The turn brought the {5-Hearts} and the river {10-Clubs} to leave Teltscher in trouble and peddling the short stack.

Tags: Mark Teltscher

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0