We fully expect familiar faces to continue to trickle in until registration closes at the end of Level 2; these are the latest to make it into the rather nice ballroom tournament area.
We arrived to see a flop reading on the felt, and although there was very little in the pot, Thomas Dolezal (small blind) had 10,900 out in front of him with around 20,000 behind, and the young gentleman on the button had a three/four/five-bet to 27,500 in front of him.
Dolezal was deep inside the tank by the time we got there. He was sitting back in his chair, gazing forlornly around the room, while his opponent stared intently at the board.
Eventually Dolezal went all in. His opponent had clearly not been counting on this turn of events - it was with a very unhappy shrug that he called the extra few thousand chips, and they turned the cards over.
Dolezal:
A bold move from the button with
Turn:
River:
Dolezal made a sound like a deflating balloon as he doubled to around 60,000.
Team Pokerstars Pro Ruben Visser has an interesting choice of card protector - a duck with a builders helmet on!
The duck was in action as we caught up with this hand.
Visser raised from the button and the player in the big blind called.
The flop was and there was 450 in the pot.
The big blind checked and the Team Pokerstars Pro made a bet of 425 which was immediately called by the player in the big blind.
The turn paired the board and both players checked before the made things interesting on the river.
The player in the big blind made a bet of 925. Visser thought for a while and then decided that his duck was not going to splash around in this river and folded his hand leaving the big blind to take down a nice pot.
No sooner had he doubled up, than Thomas Dolezal doubled back down - Dolezal had a set, but EPT Barcelona finalist Mihai Manole had a bigger set. Ouch.
Although the gentlemen in question are as yet unidentified (and tucked in a corner) this situation was attention-grabbing as showdowns in pots of around 15,000 always are at this early stage. The betting grew heavy on a board, with 3,100 being check-called by the big blind. Big Blind also checked when the board double paired, suited up, and otherwise got even scarier with the river - back came a bet of 3,575 which took a long time before it was finally called. The flipped over but were soon flipped back face-down as the caller had hit a flush with his and was not to be dislodged.
Fabrizio Ascari, who single-handedly upped the volume at EPT Vilamoura until his demise in 10th place, has been relatively quiet so far today. his stack being hard to count due to its mixing up into stripes of hundreds and thousands with the occasional yellow 5k. He's down from his starting 30k, however, another few heading to an under-the-gun raiser who'd made it 325 to play preflop, only to bet 600 on the flop and get an immediate check-fold from Ascari.
His track record (mainly in Italy, with the occasional foreign flourish) certainly has a fair few final tables in it, although new to the EPT circuit his final-table bubble performance is the closest he's come to a title so far.
John O'Shea has made the trip to Vienna to see if he can follow up on his impressive deep run at EPT London where he finished in 17th place for a cash prize of £21,000. He has found himself sat at table 21 and he shares it with the likes of Marcus Naalden and Anthony Roux.
We caught up with getting involved in a few hands. In hand 1, O'Shea opened from the button to 400 and got a call from the player in the small blind. The flop was and they both checked. The turn was and the small blind made a bet of 750 forcing the fold from O'Shea.
In the second hand there was an open from early position followed by a call and O'Shea made the squeeze from the cut-off making it 1,150 to play. Both players came along for the ride and a flop of . The players in early position both checked the action over to O'Shea who made a bet of 1,300 to take down the pot and the chips that he had lost in hand 1.
Over at table 15 we have Team Pokerstars Pro Alexander Kravchenko. So how is he doing? His chip stack has just got a little shorter and is now down to `34,000 after this hand.
The player in seat one limped in and the player in seat two made the raise to 600. The player in the button called and Kravchenko made it four to the flop when he called in the small blind. The flop was and all four players checked. The dealer gave us a and Kravchenko looking as cool as they come, in his shades and black jacket, made it 1,300 to play. The bet did little to scare anyone away as all three of the remaining players in the hand called. The river was the Kravchenko checked and the player in seat one threw three red chips into the middle making it 3,000 to play and everyone folded. The winning player turned over to show a rivered full house.
A tough break results in a deck change now as Dominik Nitsche turns the second nuts (top full house) into a very chunky pot much to the chagrin of his opponent. It turns out that the turn was the crucial card, and not the fourth heart river; the eventual board stood and after said opponent checked, Nitsche bet 7,500.
This was into a pot which already had a couple of 5k chips floating in it - and his opponent called as soon as the bet hit the table. He shook his head showing for the flopped full house, which was now crushed by Nitsche's for a turned one.
Clearly not happy that his set mine had collapsed around him he chatted to a neighbour on the next table before taking his frustration out on the next hand dealt to him which he scrunched up and threw at the dealer before standing up and pacing back and forth (now did not seem an opportune moment to ask his name). With consummate professionalism the dealer called for a deck change without batting an eyelid while the table waited patiently (it was preflop with the deal midway). The sad lay crushed on the table while Nitsche continued to stack his 45,000 chips.
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
on the felt, and although there was very little in the pot, Thomas Dolezal (small blind) had 10,900 out in front of him with around 20,000 behind, and the young gentleman on the button had a three/four/five-bet to 27,500 in front of him.
and both players checked before the 
made things interesting on the river.
board, with 3,100 being check-called by the big blind. Big Blind also checked when the board double paired, suited up, and otherwise got even scarier with the 
and was not to be dislodged.
and they both checked. The turn was 
and the small blind made a bet of 750 forcing the fold from O'Shea.
and all four players checked. The dealer gave us a 
and Kravchenko looking as cool as they come, in his shades and black jacket, made it 1,300 to play. The bet did little to scare anyone away as all three of the remaining players in the hand called. The river was the 
Kravchenko checked and the player in seat one threw three red chips into the middle making it 3,000 to play and everyone folded. The winning player turned over 
and after said opponent checked, Nitsche bet 7,500.
for a turned one.
lay crushed on the table while Nitsche continued to stack his 45,000 chips.