€25,000 High Roller Championship Day 1 | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final

Level: 2

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

05-01-2009 14:31 UTC+3

They Just Keep Coming

[user46298]

There must have been a last-minute helicopter in to town, because the players in the High Rollers event just keep increasing. Now up to 72 (including James Obst, Andy Bloch and Alexander Kostritsyn), we hear the latest registered is a certain Luke Schwartz...

One player who seemed quite happy to rail this one was Roland de Wolfe. When asked why he wasn't playing, he said, "I tried to find three people in the tournament who were worse than me. I couldn't."

Tags: Roland de Wolfe

05-01-2009 14:19 UTC+3

High Rollers Don't Mind a Dwell-up

[user46298]

The first seriously long think of the event just happened over the last 6-8 minutes and was performed by a characteristically intense Juha Helppi.

To be fair, he was facing a 13,500 bet into a pot of over 20k from Daniel Alaei... He looked at the board of {10-Hearts}

for a while, his own chips for a while longer, back to board, chips, board, chips. Meanwhile far from the tension often found at the poker table when players get antsy for the next hand, there was a relaxed chat going on between lots of them. They managed to get through two or three different subjects before Helppi finally folded, letting go of a noticeable percentage of his stack in the process.

Tags: Daniel Alaei Juha Helppi

05-01-2009 14:13 UTC+3

Late Arrivals

[user46298]

Only a couple of lonely playerless stacks remain, as these players take their seats:

John Kabbaj (having qualified in the same satellite as Liv Boeree yesterday)
Per Ummer
Sammy George
John Dwyer (looking delighted to have won an STT satellite last night too)
Andrew Feldman
Juha Helppi
William Thorson
Roberto Romanello (although he doesn't seem to be talking so it's hard to be 100%)

05-01-2009 13:45 UTC+3

You Only Liv Once

[user46298]

Liv Boeree is one of the nearly-on-timers just getting started (they're also opening another table, it looks like). I hope she's had some rest, seeing as between busting from the Main Event and sitting down here now, she's had to win two satellites - the last one finishing late last night!

I overheard her describing her tortuous method of qualification to tablemate Daniel Negreanu, who congratulated her, adding, "Now all you gotta do is win Step Three!"

Tags: Daniel Negreanu Liv Boeree

05-01-2009 13:32 UTC+3

More Play Than You Can Shake a Stick At

[user46298]

If you thought the 30k stack/hr clock at the start of the Main Event was generous, the High Rollers event is even more so. 50,000 starting stack, 75 minute clock all the way through - sometimes you do get what you pay for, if what you want is plenty of chips to throw around and lots of time to do it with a tiny blinds/stack ratio.

05-01-2009 13:26 UTC+3

High Rollers Rolling

[user46298]

Cards are in the air, and chips are already circulating amongst the small but tough field. Spotted so far (although there are still spaces on the eight-handed tables):

Mark Teltscher
Peter Eastgate
Dave 'Devilfish' Ulliott
Bruno Fitoussi
Daniel Negreanu
Vanessa Rousso
Bertrand 'Elky' Grospellier

And these guys are sharing a good Table of Doom:

Yevgeniy Timoshenko
Mike 'Timex' McDonald
Tony G
Thomas Wahlroos
Erik Seidel

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

05-01-2009 13:07 UTC+3

Welcome To the €25,000 High Rollers Event

[user46298]

It's the daddy of all side events - big buy-in, stocked with the elite and well-bankrolled of the poker world. Most have already taken a shot at the €10,000 EPT Main Event, and after busting out have set their sights on the High Rollers to give them a second chance at the big money.

Set to start alongside the third day of the Main Event, players have been drifting in slowly (they have a generous three days to play down to a winner). They can still buy in, so it will be a short while until we know the likely total number of runners. There are ten tables set up in a separate area of the Sporting club, right by the windows - curtains open today on the spectacular view of the bay.

Join us in a matter of minutes as action gets underway.