2009 PokerStars.com EPT San Remo

€5,300 EPT San Remo Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2009 PokerStars.com EPT San Remo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aa
Prize
€1,508,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€5,713,300
Entries
1,178
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

McEvoy Flush with Chips

Tom McEvoy
Tom McEvoy
We're not sure how Tom McEvoy got to the river. We only came to the table after the board was already out, showing {10-Clubs} {10-Diamonds} {6-Hearts} {3-Hearts} {K-Hearts}, and more than 6,000 chips were in the pot. McEvoy had the button and elected to check behind after his opponent checked. "I have a flush," McEvoy said, tabling {Q-Hearts} {9-Hearts}. His opponent looked disgusted but couldn't come up with a better hand. McEvoy, a Team PokerStars Pro, now has approximately 20,000 in chips.

Tags: Tom McEvoy

Dropping Like Flies

Just three levels into this tournament and we're down to just 476 already. It is nothing short of carnage out there, as the chips go into the middle like tiny round lemmings over a green baize cliff.

Tags: carnage

Level: 4

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

"I'm Such a Pussy"

With the flop reading {4-Hearts} {6-Clubs} {10-Hearts}, tallest German in the room Benjamin Kang bet 1,000 from the button. His opponent raised to 3,700, and after a medium-length dwell, Kang made a seemingly reluctant call.

Turn: {9-Diamonds}

Now Kang's opponent bet out 5,100 -- but Kang pushed for 14,900 total and then looked resolutely down at the felt.

His opponent thought about it for long enough that eventually Kang called the clock. "You show, I show," said Kang. Still he was in the tank, though, and finally he timed out (although for some reason the floor man missed out "five" from his ten-second countdown). Disgusted, he showed {A-Spades} {A-Diamonds}. Kang turned over {7-Diamonds} {8-Hearts} for the straight, and lamented his loss of value. "Oh no, why did I do that? I'm such a pussy. If I'd known..." Nevertheless, Kang is up to almost 30,000.

Tags: Benjamin Kang

A Great Structure?

The hand itself wasn't anything noteworthy. Michael "Timex" McDonald called a raise to 475 in position, checked through a flop that came {8-Diamonds} {7-Hearts} {8-Clubs} and then folded on the turn {10-Spades} to a bet of 1,700. What was more interesting was the discussion that Timex was having with Jason Mercier during the hand about tournament structures.

McDonald pointed out that the recent SCOOP tournament series run on PokerStars had such great structures that players were coming to the final table extremely deep in chips. "Compared to online, this structure sucks," joked McDonald.

Obviously, the EPT structure is excellent for live tournaments (one-hour levels, 200 big blind starting stacks). McDonald's point was that, because online poker plays so much more quickly than live poker, the 30-minute levels that were used for the high-stakes SCOOP events were a comparatively better structure.

Tags: Jason MercierMichael McDonald

Official Numbers!

It took a little longer than expected, but the tournament organizers just announced the number of entries for Day 1a. 578 players joined us today. Tomorrow the numbers will probably be a little higher, putting the total field at close to or more than 1,200 players. That is a fantastic turnout for an event only in its second year.

Hedlund Feeling Happy

David Saab may have a rival for the title of Most Talkative Player in the shape of Peter Hedlund. He's on around 10,000 now and talking absolutely incessantly. Most recently, he talked a player into folding {K-?} {5-?} offsuit face-up. "Good fold," said a cheerful Hedlund, and showed him {A-?} {K-?}. He then turned his attention to offering fine wines to PokerNews' own Gloria Balding, and then proceeded to tell this blogger the story of Pippi Longstocking.

Tags: Peter Hedlund

Fohrenbach Doesn't Want to Show; Doesn't Have To

Is allowed to muck
Is allowed to muck
Richard Fohrenbach has lost most of his chips on a {K-Hearts} {5-Diamonds} {3-Hearts} {3-Spades} {4-Hearts} board. His opponent, who had bet the river, turned over {6-Hearts} {6-Diamonds} and Fohrenbach mucked. His opponent though was most unhappy -- he wanted to see Fohrenbach's hand, claiming that at the PCA he'd been allowed to demand to see a player's hand who had called on the river, but Fohrenbach didn't want to show, and Thomas Kremser had to be called over to verify that Fohrenbach was allowed to just muck.

Tags: Richard Fohrenbach

Hungry?

We're starting to get hungry in media row so we thought it'd be a good idea to make some inquiries about dinner. It turns out that dinner plans aren't all that simple. Sending 350-400 people to dinner at once isn't feasible given the facilities here. Therefore, at the start of the next level, one-third of the field will be sent to dinner while the other two thirds play Level 5. When the first third comes back, the second third will be sent to dinner (and, we presume, the tournament will play two different levels simultaneously -- the first third playing Level 5, the last third playing Level 6). Finally, the last third will be sent to dinner while the first two thirds of the field play Level 6.

At the end of it all, the whole field will be back in action together for Level 7.