2009 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final

€10,000 EPT Grand Final Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2009 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
96
Prize
€2,300,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€10,000
Prize Pool
€9,350,000
Entries
935
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
0

Woman Down

Evelyn's pair was no good.
Evelyn's pair was no good.
We've lost one of our lovelies. There was quite a crowd gathered around Table 7, where Evelyn Ng was all in for about 17,000 on the turn of a {2-Hearts} {10-Hearts} {10-Clubs} {5-Diamonds} board. Ng's opponent just barely had her covered. He tanked for over a minute before throwing all of his chips into the middle.

Ng: {7-Hearts} {7-Diamonds}
Opponent: {A-Spades} {10-Diamonds}

There was a short laugh from Ng upon seeing her opponent's hand. On that board, there was very little for him to be worried about. That was even more the case when the river fell {3-Diamonds} to knock Ng out of the tournament. She departed the table with a few very sarcastic, "Nice hand," remarks.

Tags: Evelyn Ng

Where's My Coffee?

Mr. Anton Allemann, currently sharing a table with fellow Team PokerStars pro Noah Boeken, is one of the many players felling the combined strain of not enough sleep and not enough waiters in the tournament area.

"Can you please make sure that a coffee is delivered to this table?" he asked a harassed waiter, after climbing out of his seat and clambering through the packed space between tables to accost aforementioned staff member. "Because I ordered one 20 minutes ago and it never arrived." A sob story being repeated all around the card room, I'm sad to say. Sometimes it's just easier to go to the bar...

Overheard

Up for Anonymous Quote of the Day must be these two:

1) "When you're over 19 stone and you haven't eaten all day, you become cranky." It is true that the lack of any food or drink (or dinner break provision) has been rankling a few players. They can buy sandwiches at the bar at Monte Carlo prices, though.

2) "I just type an extra zero sometimes online." We've all been there.

Griffin-ished

Griffin: set up
Griffin: set up
Prior Grand Final Champion Gavin Griffin is busto - he was last seen betting his remaining chips (under 10k) on the river, with the board standing {7-Clubs} {Q-Hearts} {6-Spades} {K-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds} . Opponent Ami Baren thought for quite a while before making the call and showing {9-Hearts} {9-Clubs} - good against Griffin's lower set of {7-Spades} {7-Diamonds} . Quietly getting up and exiting, the goodnatured triple crown winner left the tournament, while Baren suddenly thought, "I hope he didn't think that I slowrolled him there - I was genuinely thinking about the river."

Tags: Ami BarenGavin Griffin

Binger Waves the White Flag

Trouble has come to Monte Carlo for Nick Binger. With 4,000 chips in the middle, Binger bet 2,225 on a board of {j-Diamonds} {7-Hearts} {6-Hearts} {8-Spades}. Vanessa Rousso was the other player in the pot. She tanked for more than a minute, asked Binger how much he had behind, then called.

The river fell the {K-Spades}. Binger checked, prompting Rousso to move all in for about 12,000. That was more than Binger's 7,000. He surrendered his hand in short order.

Tags: Nick BingerVanessa Rousso

Devilfish Thrown Back Out to Sea

Devilfish - belly up
Devilfish - belly up
Three-way to the {6-Spades} {9-Hearts} {8-Hearts} flop, Rory Matthews bet 1,700, only for Dag Palovic to make it 4,500. Devilfish considered his options, and then whacked his last 9,375 total in the middle. Matthews passed fairly quickly, and Palovic thought about it. "Actually I was trying to steal it," he mused, "And I call."

Devilfish: {Q-Hearts} {K-Hearts}
Palovic: {J-Hearts} {10-Hearts}

Turn: {A-Diamonds}
River: {J-Clubs}

Thus we are down one Devilfish, and Palovic is up to 45,000.

Tags: Devilfish

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0

Chip Vortex in the Center of the Room

A table has materialized in the center of the room: David Williams, Michael Binger and Nenad Medic. Medic and Williams are both pushing approximately 80,000 in chips. In a field of more than 500 players, it's an extremely coincidental table draw -- not because they all live in the United States (although they do). Also not because they all live in Las Vegas (although that's true too). Mainly because they all live in the same building in Las Vegas. If they wanted to play poker together, they certainly didn't have to travel across nine time zones to do it.

Williams just knocked an opponent off of the table by betting the river of a {J-?} {2-?} {4-Clubs} {7-Clubs} {J-Clubs} board. The bet was about 9,000 chips, enough to set Williams' opponent all in. He called with {9-Spades} {9-Hearts}; that was no match for the nut flush that Williams revealed, {A-Clubs} {K-Clubs}.

After the eliminated player had departed the table Binger, sitting next to Williams, turned to him and said, "One day I just want to be able to do one of the two -- play good or run good. You do 'em both." Williams just smiled and stacked his chips.

Tags: David WilliamsMichael BingerNenad Medic

It's All About Priorities

Whatever hand was taking place at Phil Laak's table was not nearly as interesting as his conversation with Dag Palovic. Palovic was telling Laak about some sort of poker party he was hosting in Slovakia, and how they were planning to bring in 200-300 Slovakian girls ("Not hookers," Palovic quickly pointed out) for the party. Laak expressed interest in the party for the poker side of it. Then he considered another aspect.

"If someone gets caught smoking a joint in Slovakia, is that really bad?" Laak asked. "Is it like China?"

Palovic started to expound upon how Slovakia was a "very modern" country, prompting Laak to ask, "So it's like America?" Palovic was perhaps insulted at this comparison and took great pains to distinguish Slovakia from America. "Not Denmark?" Laak asked hopefully. "Somewhere in between America and Denmark?"

Palovic didn't seem to be hearing Laak at all. Finally Laak said to him, "Do you know what I'm asking you? Marijuana." Palovic finally got the picture.

"Oh," he said. "I smoke too."

"Give me your card," Laak told him.

Tags: Dag PalovicPhil Laak

Coat On, Coat Off

Two Outer for Orosz Janos (forgive me if I have misinterpreted his name in his handwriting, we had one of those, "I am Hungarian, not much English," conversations):

A preflop pot snowballed after Janos reraised the button, who thought for a while before putting in yet another raise, and calling when Janos shoved subsequently. The button held {Q-Hearts} {Q-Clubs} , and Janos, seeing it, bounced out of his seat, turned over his {10-Hearts} {10-Spades} and put his coat on.

The flop had other ideas: {J-Clubs} {10-Clubs} {J-Spades} leaving the Queens drawing thinner than melba toast. The turn and river bricked and Janos gets a full double through to 40,000.

Tags: Orosz Janos