€10,000 EPT Grand Final Main Event Day 2 | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final

04-30-2009 15:44 UTC+3

No Value for Joe

[user75032]

"How can you check so many times?" a disappointed Joe Hachem asked his opponent. "How is that possible?" Hachem, sitting in the big blind, had called a late position raise to 3,000 with the remark, "Friends... for now." Both players checked the {K-Spades}

flop and the {A-Spades}

turn. Hachem checked a third time when the {3-Spades}

hit the river, then quickly called a bet of 4,100. His opponent turned over a pair of aces, {A-Clubs}

, a hand that Hachem beat with two pair, {J-Hearts}

.

"Well played," Hachem said as he collected the pot. "On the turn we play a big pot if you bet."

Tags: Joe Hachem

04-30-2009 15:51 UTC+3

The Dearly Departed

[user75032]

Missing and Presumed Busto

James Obst (unless he has somehow turned into J.J. Liu, who now occupies his seat).

Seen Giving Interviews on the Rail

Liz Lieu (knee-high leather boots for the win)
Alexia Portal (telling a riveting story, we're sure, but it's in French and our universal translator isn't working)

04-30-2009 15:54 UTC+3

Peter Go-UL-d

[user46298]

Peter Gould has just been eliminated by Ilari Sahamies, who in the closing minutes of this level has gone into overdrive, upping his stack to over 240,000. Gould's 68,000 is now part of that, after he got it in with {K-Diamonds}

vs. Sahamies' {A-Clubs}

. An ace on the river later, and Gould is shaking hands and shaking his head.

Tags: Ilari Sahamies Peter Gould

04-30-2009 15:57 UTC+3

Table Sahamies Now

[user46298]

That table (8) just vacated by Gould is pretty interesting, and handily right by my laptop, so when the crowds gather, I can sprint to the action...

Here are the collection of players at it (in both senses) now, in seat order:

Dennis Phillips - 108,000
Walid Bou Habib - 125,000
Sorel Mizzi - 103,000
Sergiy Polishchuk - 135,000
Liya Gerasimova - 30,000
Ilari Sahamies - 240,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg - 50,000
Jan Heisig - 54,000

Tags: Dennis Phillips

04-30-2009 16:00 UTC+3

15 Minute Break

[user46298]

Another level, another break... the players trudge blinking into the Monte Carlo sunshine (the curtains are now, sadly, closed).

04-30-2009 16:00 UTC+3

Watch PokerStars.tv!

[user75032]

PokerStars.tv will be live from the last two days of the EPT Grand Final later this week, May 2-3. Check it out!

04-30-2009 16:15 UTC+3

Play Resumes

[user75032]

Their lungs full of smoke, the players have returned for Level 11. 355 remain of the 535 who started the day.

Level: 11

Blinds: 800/1,600

Ante: 200

04-30-2009 16:22 UTC+3

Obrestad Resurgent

[user46298]

After dropping a few chips early on, Annette Obrestad is back to building the towers. Just before the break she took about half of Bruce Yamron's stack - he called her 20k bet on the {5-Hearts}

flop, another 20k on the {4-Diamonds}

turn, but passed to her final 20k bet on the {K-Clubs}

river.

Tags: Annette Obrestad

04-30-2009 16:32 UTC+3

A Good Time for Aces

[user75032]

Really, it's always a good time for aces. But some times are better than others. The value of a hand like aces is a bit less in the early stages of a large MTT like the EPT Grand Final, when a player can't stand to win as many chips. As play progresses, the value increases. It's perhaps even best when you're short on chips.

Wooka Kim, after taking a hit at the end of the day yesterday and not getting much started today, was short on chips and in the big blind. There was an open-raise to 4,100 from middle position. She squeezed her cards, then calmly declared, "All in" and moved her 15,700 chips into the middle. Her opponent called with {A-Hearts}