2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin

Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k7
Prize
€712,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€3,725,000
Entries
745
Level Info
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000

Main Event

Day 1a Completed

European Poker Tour Berlin Day 1a Completed: Vladimir Geshkenbein Leads

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante
Vladimir Geshkenbein
Vladimir Geshkenbein

A total of 243 players started the €5,300 EPT Berlin Main Event this afternoon but now that 10 one-hour levels have been completed only 110 of them remain. The man who leads the way at the end of Day 1a is the Russian pro Vladimir Geshkenbein.

Geshkenbein did not get off to the best of starts and quickly found himself down to 15,000 chips but he rallied well and ran even better to fly up the chip counts. As was the case when he won EPT Snowfest last year, Geshkenbein spent most of the day drinking vodka and bitter lemon all under the watchful eye of his toy monkey mascot. Both seemed to bring him plenty of luck and he is now a serious force to be reckoned with here in the German capital.

Challenging Geshkenbein for the chip lead were the likes of Jens Weigel and Sam Chartier but neither could quite match the stack of the Russian though they will certainly not be disappointed with how their respective days went.

Neither will most of the army of Team PokerStars Pros who made it through to Wednesday's Day 2. Those flying the PokerStars flag were Barry Greenstein, Theo Jorgensen, Vanessa Selbst, Angel Guillen, Martin Stazsko, Jan Heitmann, Henrique Pinho and Pierre Neuville. Only Stazsko failed to make it through.

Day 1b kicks off at noon Tuesday and will continue until 10 one-hour levels have been completed. We are expecting a total field of around 700 which will mean that we have to take advantage of the Spielbank Casino just a few yards away from the luxurious Hyatt Hotel.

Join us then for all the action, as it happens, from the EPT Berlin Main Event.

For now, if you played today and have some free time tomorrow, then here is Lynn Gilmartin's user guide on exploring Berlin.

Tags: Vladimir Geshkenbein

End of Day 1b Chip Counts

Player Chips Progress
Vladimir Geshkenbein ru
Vladimir Geshkenbein
EPT 1X Winner
201,600
Jens Weigel 
Jens Weigel 
199,600
Ariel Celestino br
Ariel Celestino
153,300 28,300
Anton Wigg 
Anton Wigg 
152,200
Azmi Korkmaz
Azmi Korkmaz
143,300
Stephane Albertini fr
Stephane Albertini
142,500 12,500
[Removed:17]
[Removed:17]
139,000 -19,000
Iliodoros Kamatakis gr
Iliodoros Kamatakis
138,800
Bozidar Miljkovic
Bozidar Miljkovic
136,600
Scott Baumstein us
Scott Baumstein
132,600 73,200
Bryan Piccioli us
Bryan Piccioli
125,900 85,900
Kalle Niemi fi
Kalle Niemi
125,800
Angel Guillen mx
Angel Guillen
123,400
Mathias Kuerschner
Mathias Kuerschner
123,100
Jens Kaiser
Jens Kaiser
120,500
Kevin Vandersmissen be
Kevin Vandersmissen
115,100
Matej Cepon si
Matej Cepon
108,500
Sam Chartier 
Sam Chartier 
107,500
Paul Otto gb
Paul Otto
107,100
Dmitry Grinenko ru
Dmitry Grinenko
106,200
Vasiliy Demushkin
Vasiliy Demushkin
101,500
Hussain Zbib
Hussain Zbib
96,400
Pascal Hartmann de
Pascal Hartmann
95,100
Will Molson ca
Will Molson
94,900 -21,125
[Removed:207]
[Removed:207]
92,000

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Play Concludes

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

The players are all done with the day and are bagging and tagging. We'll have a recap of the day coming shortly. Stay tuned.

Five More Hands

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

The clock has been paused and the tournament staff has announced that the players will play five more hands today.

Weigel Takes Chunk from Chartier

From middle position, one of the larger stacks in the room, Jens Weigel, raised to 2,000. Another larger stack, Sam Chartier, three-bet to 5,800 from the small blind. Weigel called and the flop came down {Q-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{2-Clubs}. Chartier continued his aggression and bet 6,200. Weigel called.

The turn card was the {6-Diamonds} and Chartier didn't slow down. He tossed out a bet of 17,500, but Weigel wasn't scared off just yet. He called to see the {6-Hearts} pair the board on the river. After a little bit of thought, Chartier checked. Weigel checked behind.

"Sh*t," said Chartier, describing his holding. Weigel then tabled the {A-Diamonds}{2-Diamonds} for sixes and deuces and Chartier mucked his hand.

Player Chips Progress
Jens Weigel
Jens Weigel
200,000 55,000
Sam Chartier ca
Sam Chartier
138,000 -24,000

Tags: Jens WeigelSam Chartier

The Two Sides Of Pocket Jacks

Later, Lacay
Later, Lacay

Sometimes known as the hardest hand to play in poker, pocket jacks can be your friend or your enemy. Martin Quack kind of likes them right now, Dennis Bejedal kind of hates them.

Bejedal was very unfortunate as he found them in the big blind when Demushkin Vasiliy found aces on the button. That was that for him.

Quack, meanwhile, used them to eliminate Ludovic Lacay. The Frenchman open shipped for 16,200 with pocket sixes. Quack was is the next seat and three-bet all-in to isolate. Everyone else folded and Quack's jacks took care of business.

Player Chips Progress
Ludovic Lacay fr
Ludovic Lacay
EPT 1X Winner
Busted
Dennis Bejedal
Dennis Bejedal
Busted

Tags: Ludovic LacayDennis BejedalMartin Quack

Is This Table Real?

Level 10 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Walking around the room, there are far less tables than what once began today. With the consolidation of tables, a bunch of notable players have ended up at what is referred to as the "secondary feature table." In the first four seats you have, in order, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst, Anton Wigg, Olivier Busquet and Ilan Boujenah. Then, in seat eight you have another Team PokerStars Pro Angel Guillen and in seat nine sits Scott Baumstein. If this table isn't stacked, we don't know what it.

Tags: Vanessa SelbstOlivier BusquetIlan BoujenahAnton WiggAngel GuillenScott Baumstein