2010 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo

Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2010 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
55
Prize
€1,250,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€6,014,000
Entries
1,240
Level Info
Level
34
Blinds
150,000 / 300,000
Ante
0

Lehmann Lays It Down

Markus Lehmann raised to 12,000 with just 55,000 behind, only for Michael Piper to stick in a stack of assorted high-denomination chips, enough to cover him. Lehmann tanked up for a long time under the watchful glass eye of a German media member's video camera lens - and then folded, quickly flashing his cards at the camera to everyone's amusement.

Tags: Markus LehmannMichael Piper

ElkY Up

Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (small blind) checked an {8-Spades} {10-Spades} {5-Spades} flop to Canio Pietrpertosa who bet 25,000. ElkY now made it 76,000 and looked like he was trying not to breathe while Piertrpertosa tanked up. Eventually Piertrapertosa flat-called and they went to the turn.

ElkY checked the {7-Hearts} turn and Pietrapertosa checked behind, but come the {9-Clubs} river ElkY promptly set him in. After a long, long period of soul-searching (his own or ElkY's, we cannot say), Pietrapertosa laid it down and was down to 125,000. ElkY meanwhile moved on up to around 550,000.

Tags: ElkY

ElkY Down

We caught up with ElkY again a few minutes later on the turn of a {J-Hearts} {6-Clubs} {7-Hearts} {Q-Hearts} board, contemplating a 296,000 push from Kadir Karabulut while the customary Wall Of Media that appears out of thin air whenever ElkY is in a hand closed in around the table.

ElkY was tanking up in a serious and lengthy manner, and not in the way that everyone else is at the moment, checking the screens to see whether they're in the money yet. This was a hardcore tank.

Eventually he called.

Karabulut: {K-Hearts} {9-Hearts} for a flush
ElkY: {6-Spades} {6-Diamonds} for a set

River, with the Wall Of Media holding their collective breath: {10-Spades}

Karabulut doubled up to around 700,000 with a fist pump. ElkY was left with 250,000 and stormed off through the Wall Of Media, perhaps to go and throw up in the gents'.

Tags: ElkY

Disaster For Jensen

Poor Brian Jensen has just gone out in 186th spot. He looked in prime shape to double after he was all-in with {J-Spades} {J-Clubs} against the {J-Hearts} {5-Hearts} of Danilo Ettoris preflop. But the board came out {K-Hearts} {Q-Hearts} {7-Hearts} {3-Hearts} {6-Hearts} and a glum-looking Jensen was consigned to the rail.

Hand By Hand We Go

There are 186 players remaining, and we are now squarely on the money bubble. The tournament is being dealt hand-for-hand until we find two more unlucky knockouts.

Double Trouble

We just had two simultaneous all ins at separate tables. We go to the player with more chips first, Federico Cipollini. He was all in for 35,000 holding {Q-Hearts} {Q-Diamonds}, in good shape to double up through Dennis Waterman's {9-Spades} {9-Hearts}.

A row of ducks walked through the flop as the dealer ran it out {2-Clubs} {2-Diamonds} {2-Hearts}. The {A-Clubs} on the turn was an eyebrow-raising card, and the {A-Spades} that hit fifth street drew a loud sigh from both players. The board plays, the pot is split in half, and we head over to the other table.

---

Or at least, we try to head over. There are no less than 50 members of the media doing the same thing, many of them armed to the teeth with monstrous video cameras. To put it bluntly, the etiquette is very poor here, and we were soon pushed out of the way and unable to really tell who was involved.

What we could tell from Thomas Kremser's announcing was that there was a player all in for 25,000 with pocket aces against {K-Spades} {9-Clubs}. A board full of blanks held his aces, and our mysterious players has picked up that crucial double. Still, 50,000 is quite short at this stage.

Rybin's Airball

We walked up to one of the middle tables to see a huge pot brewing. With about 160,000 chips already in the pot, the dealer was just putting the river card down on a board reading {4-Spades} {10-Spades} {A-Clubs} {9-Hearts} {5-Spades}.

Pedro Zagalo was the bettor, and he put out a smallish bet of 68,000. He was up against Day 1a chip leader Alexey Rybin, and Rybin moved all in over the top with a slightly covering stack. Zagalo had about 170,000 left in front of him, and he spent ages in the tank. It was at least seven or eight minutes before some of his table mates started to get a little restless. Clayton Mozdzen, in particular, was watching the clock tick tick away, and someone eventually called the clock. It ticked all the way down to five seconds before Zagalo slowly folded, sending the pot to Rybin.

Just for good measure, the Russian flipped up his airball {K-Spades} {J-Clubs} as he raked in that huge pot. Chip count forthcoming.

Bubble 1-Outer Stuns The Room

On the bubble, the tension is heightened, players rush to the tables of potential bust-outs like a flock of hungry pigeons. The crowds around the tables are never higher at this point as every single member of the media is there also, determined to know who has become the apparent 'unluckiest' player in the tournament.

It's always difficult for the players also as they're forced to sit around waiting for all the other tables to finish, in this case nearly twenty.

Finally, after a good five minutes of waiting, Tournament Director Thomas Kremser was able to take his position behind the table and announce the action.

Vittorio Fiume was the all-in player turning over {K-Hearts} {K-Diamonds}. Miltiadis Kyriakidea, who covered, flipped {A-Diamonds} {K-Clubs} needing one of three bullets to dispatch Fiume and put everyone else into the money.

The flop came {2-Spades} {8-Diamonds} and a fatal looking {A-Spades} which drew a loud, "Oohhhhh!" from the crowd.

"There is an ace on the flop, the all-in player requires the one remaining king in the deck otherwise he will be the bubble," declared Thomas Kremser.

Turn: {Q-Spades}

The tension mounted, "Neither player has a spade, the all-in player needs the case King, the {K-Spades} otherwise he will be out," said Kremser again.

Silence.

River: {K-Spades}

At that point, the roar in the room deafened everyone as even Kremser could not believe the single card in the deck to save the short stack. Someone even hugged the dealer as wry smiles appeared on the faces of several other players nursing short stacks.

The bubble continues. Extraordinary.

Bubble Time All In, #1

So three players got their whole stacks in on the bubble. Starting with the largest of those stacks...

It looked like a raising war between Jakob Karlsson and Rainer Artur Meyer culminated in Meyer shoving from the button for 33,000 and Karlsson calling. There was a long wait as all the other tables finished their hands, and Meyer spent the time flashing his {A-Diamonds} and {7-Spades} at the table and media, one at a time.

So, showdown.

Meyer: {A-Diamonds} {7-Spades}
Karlsson: {Q-Clubs} {Q-Spades}

Board: {10-Diamonds} {2-Hearts} {K-Diamonds} {J-Spades} {2-Clubs}

Meyer was eliminated and propelled Karlsson into what we think is the chip lead at this time, although it's very hard to tell with the chaos out there right now.

Meyer actually managed to sneak into the money, though - details a-following...

Tags: Jakob Karlsson

Bubble Time All In, #2

Tobias Huber min-raised to 10,000 in the hijack and then called all in to a push from Angelo Mangione.

Again, a pause of many minutes, but eventually a showdown.

Huber: {Q-Hearts} {Q-Diamonds}
Mangione: er, {K-Hearts} {6-Clubs}

Board: {10-Diamonds} {8-Diamonds} {6-Spades} {7-Spades} {3-Hearts}

Huber doubled to stay in the game...