[user66118]
In middle position, Toni Ojala opened to 525, and Viktor Blom made the smooth call next door. On the button, Juha Helppi bumped it up to 2,125, enough to quickly fold Ojala. Blom called again, though, and it was heads up the rest of the way.
The dealer spread the first three board cards: . Blom checked, and he quickly called a follow-up bet of 2,000. Fourth street brought the and another Blom check. Helppi wasn't slowing down now, and he stacked out 4,300 chips and slid them across the line. Blom took pause for a minute before finally surrendering his cards and a few thousand of his chips.
Blom has slipped back to 18,500 after that pot, while Helppi is very comfortably up to about 46,000.
[user66118]
We joined this hand a bit late, but here's what we caught:
Thomas Holm was heads up with Jesper Hougaard, and the two men had built a pot of about 24,000 going to the river. We caught up live just as the dealer placed the river card down on a board showing . Holm was leading the betting, and he fired out 12,900.
This last bullet really took Hougaard aback as he ripped off his headphones and leaned across the felt to get a better look. My Danish is a bit poor, so I can't translate the conversation that ensued for you. Actually, it was pretty one-sided with Hougaard mumbling away at himself. The only bit of understandable cognates I could glean was, "Flop two pair..." as Hougaard again trailed off. He cut down his own stack and shook his head at the little remainder he would have left should he lose this pot. Eventually, and reluctantly, he made the call.
Showdown
Holm:
Hougaard:
The result was predictably no fun for Hougaard, his top two no match for Holm's middle set. After dropping that big pot, a visibly frustrated Hougaard will have to work with a short stack of about 7,500 chips.
[user66118]
Registration for EPT Copenhagen is now closed, and the numbers are in.
Today's Day 1b flight welcomed another 232 runners to the party, joining yesterday's contenders to create a total field of 423. In an unusual trend, that number is actually down slightly from last year's number, but the staff seems content with the turnout overall.
We'll have the full breakdown of the nationalities and the prizepool as soon as they're made available to us.
[user46392]
A lady who, according to the official player list, bears the awesome moniker Magdalena Lorent-In De Betou raised in early position. To what would soon become her endless sadness, Peter Eastgate called behind.
Shouting on the next table which turned out to be nothing of any note meant that the action on the flop would be a mystery, and by the time we turned back to Table Eastgate, the board read . De Betou bet out 2,000, her hands shaking in a manner that was not even subtle. Eastgate, still as a rock, raised to 6,625.
De Betou put one hand over the other in an attempt to quell the shakes. She tanked up for a while, muttering under her breath. Then she folded.
[user66118]
The last check by Jesper Hougaard's seat sees that he has been relieved of the remainder of his short stack. We've got no details for you, other than to say he looked awfully flustered and ready to get out of here following that cooler hand with Thomas Holm.
You'll see Hougaard again soon enough though. He's about to head to Las Vegas to take part in next month's NBC National Head-Up Poker Championship with some of the best players in the world.
[user46392]
Woe
Marc Naalden was spotted good-naturedly complaining to a buddy at the rail, a sure sign of recent bustage.
It turns out that he'd only had around 4,000 left when he picked up pocket queens and raised. He found a caller, and said caller continued to call Naalden's bets down the raggy flop and turn. Thus Naalden was down to only 1,000 or so by the time a king came down on the river. He put his last in the middle, and discovered that his opponent had called two streets with . Good game, Mr. Naalden.
[user46392]
Pagano no, there's No Limit
We arrived tableside to witness a betting war over a flop between Luca Pagano in the small blind position and Yaron Malki. Roughly 30,000 chips found their way into the pot during the course of this war.
When they finally made it to the turn, Pagano promptly bet out 20,000 to cover his opponent. Malki stared unhappily at the board. He shrugged a couple times in a resigned manner, but didn't act. Eventually he folded.
[user66118]
All right, it's pie chart time. Who doesn't love a good pie chart? We've just been tallying up the breakdown of nationalities for this event, and you can find out everything you need to know in this handy-dandy graph.
For those of you who may be graphically impaired, let me help. Not surprisingly, the Danes represent the biggest slice of the pie this week, their 154 players making up more than one third of the field. The Swedes are the next most populous group here in Copenhagen, sending 44 players across the Baltic Sea.
We also have players here from Argentina, Australia, the Faroe Islands, India, Malta, New Zealand, and Israel -- in total, 26 countries are represented here. The EPT truly is an international poker series, drawing players from all six continents. And if there were poker players living in Antarctica, they'd probably come play the EPT too!
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Blom checked, and he quickly called a follow-up bet of 2,000. Fourth street brought the 
and another Blom check. Helppi wasn't slowing down now, and he stacked out 4,300 chips and slid them across the line. Blom took pause for a minute before finally surrendering his cards and a few thousand of his chips.
. Holm was leading the betting, and he fired out 12,900.
. De Betou bet out 2,000, her hands shaking in a manner that was not even subtle. Eastgate, still as a rock, raised to 6,625.
. Good game, Mr. Naalden.
flop between Luca Pagano in the small blind position and Yaron Malki. Roughly 30,000 chips found their way into the pot during the course of this war.
turn, Pagano promptly bet out 20,000 to cover his opponent. Malki stared unhappily at the board. He shrugged a couple times in a resigned manner, but didn't act. Eventually he folded.
