Day 2 of the 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Sanremo €10,000 High Roller is in the books, and it was a magnificent day on the felt. The field returned with 44 players, but that number was cut way down to just seven to finish out the day. Topping that bunch is Joel Nordkvist with 1.205 million in chips.
When the day started, Brandon Barnes was on top as the chip leader. Other notables remaining were Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov, Luca Pagano and Jonathan Duhamel. Those latter three all failed to make the money, having been eliminated before the final ten players remained.
Katchalov came the closest, but his run ended in 12th place at the hands of Nordkvist. Katchalov was all in preflop with the , but had run into the for Nordkvist. From there, a board of spelled the end for Katchalov.
With 11 players left, there was a decent amount of jockeying for position on the bubble, but all eyes were on Kent Roed and Carlo Savinelli as the two short stacks. After a few all-in shoves went uncalled, Philipp Gruissem finally had enough and called a shove from Savinelli.
When the cards were tabled, Savinelli held the slight worst of it with the to Gruissem's . The flop kept Gruissem in front when the fell, and then a very sweatastic was added on the turn. The river bricked off with the , though, and Savinelli was eliminated in 11th place to send everyone else into the money.
The players played for about another hour and a half before calling it quits for the night. During that time, Mikalai Pobal, the recent winner of EPT Barcelona, was eliminated in 10th place, and then Barnes went out in ninth. They both earned €20,600.
EPT Sanremo High Roller Final Table
Seat
Player
Chips
1
Kent Roed
317,000
2
Benny Spindler
844,000
3
Joseph Cheong
392,000
4
Joel Nordkvist
1,205,000
5
Keven Stammen
744,000
6
Igor Kurganov
318,000
7
Philipp Gruissem
460,000
Tomorrow, play will resume at 2:00 PM local time. PokerNews will be right back on the floor with the live updates, so be sure to grab your seat on the virtual rail. We'll see you then!
With around 15 minutes left until the end of level 18 of the tournament, the players were given four cards to draw and determine how many hands they will have to play until the event wraps for the day. Philipp Gruissem picked out the four of clubs and they were off for the four last hands.
And just when things seemed to end just the way they were, Igor Yaroshevskyy shoved his stack of a little more than 200,000 from the cutoff seat on the second hand of the last four. Joel Nordkvist made the call from the button putting Yaroshevskyy's tournament life at risk.
Yaroshevskyy:
Nordkvist:
The board ran pairing Nordkvist's aces and sending Yaroshevskyy to the rail just before the end of the day.
Action folded to Kent Roed in late-middle position. He raised to 18,000, and Barnes called all in for 18,000 from the next seat — the hijack seat. Action then folded to Joel Nordkvist in the big blind, and he also called.
The flop came down , and action was checked by both remaining active players in the pot. The dealer then dealt the on the turn, and Nordkvist bet 25,000. Roed called.
The river was the , and Nordkvist bet 65,000. Roed, who had made a raising mistake not too long ago against Nordkvist, announced a raise, but only put forward 90,000. He had to make it a minimum of 130,000, and the dealer corrected him to do so. Nordkvist was a little puzzled and asked how much Roed had behind, which was 143,000. After a minute, Nordkvist just called, kind of shaking his head.
Roed showed the for two pair, aces and deuces, with a king kicker. Nordkvist showed the for a flopped full house. Barnes, the all-in player, showed the and was eliminated.
With the board reading , 50,000 in the pot and three players still in play Benny Spindler bet 30,000 in the cutoff seat and Mikalai Pobal raised to 72,000 on the button. Joel Nordkvist made the call in the small blind, Spindler folded and the two saw the turn go .
Pobal shoved his remaining stack and Nordkvist made the call.
Pobal:
Nordkvist:
Pobal was crushed to see Nordkvist's jack and left the table before seeing the being dealt on the river.
Philipp Gruissem had been raising a few times with other players moving in over the top of him, but this time he had the hand, and he had enough. He opened to 12,000 from the cutoff seat, and action folded to Carlo Savinelli in the big blind. He reraised all in for 108,000.
"All right, enough of these all ins, f*** you guys!" said Gruissem with a smile as he made the call.
Gruissem held the for a flip against the at-risk Savinelli's . On the flop, Gruissem maintained his lead when the fell. It was here that Igor Kurganov began rooting for the deuce of clubs to come on the turn for the ultimate sweat card.
Low and behold, the dealer smacked the on fourth street, and Kurganov got his wish. Savinelli now had two overs, a straight draw and a flush draw to stay alive.
The river blanked off with the and gave Gruissem the win. He won the pot to eliminate Savinelli in 11th place on the bubble.
Joseph Cheong opened with a raise to 14,000 from under the gun and Joel Nordkvist on his immediate left three-bet to 32,000. Action folded to the last standing Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov in the small blind and he went all in for 139,500.
Mikalai Pobal in the small blind struggled for two minutes or so wondering if he should make the call or not, and finally decided to fold. Cheong quickly did the same while Nordkvist made the call.
Nordkvist:
Katchalov:
It was the recent history all over again, just like the time he had eliminated Alexander Kopylkov, Nordkvist showed pocket aces and Katchalov was left in hope of hitting the board.
The flop went missing Katchalov, while Nordkvist once again hit a set of aces, only this time he did it on the turn when the dealer opened the . The on the river didn't mean a thing and Katchalov left the table.
With 11 players in play and only one elimination left before the money bubble bursts, the two tables are now playing hand-by-hand.
Keven Stammen just hit set over set against Istvan Birizdo. The board was when the money went in, and it was Stammen's versus Birizdo's . The river was another to pair the board and eliminated Birizdo.
With that pot, Stammen moved well over 300,000 in chips and now has the chip lead.
According to tablemate Dan O'Brien, Lichtenberger three-bet, then called Savinelli's four-bet before check-raising all in on a flop of with . Savinelli held pocket kings and they held up from there to eliminate Lichtenberger.
The €2,000 No-Limit Hold'em side event continued with Day 2 yesterday, and the fiekd has been whittled down to just 38 players. All are in the money, and it's Faraz Jaka leading the way with 628,000 in chips.
The top 48 spots were paid out from the 450-player field, and everyone left is guaranteed a minimum of €5,200. Notables that cashed on Day 2, but busted are Timothy Adams (44th — €4,370), Vicent van der Fluit (42nd — €4,370), Andrey Gulyy (41st — €4,370) and Calvin Anderson (40th — €5,200).
Other notables big stacks include Jonathan Little (485,000), Melanie Weisner (478,000) and Ronny Kaiser (460,000).
The event will return to action at 3:00 PM local time today for Day 3 in hopes of grinding down to a winner. There's €210,000 up top for the champion, so it should be a great finish to the event.
For further information, see the recap on the PokerStars Blog, which includes all payouts and a full table draw. A recap of the event will be posted following the completion of the event.
Welcome back to the €10,000 High Roller at the 2012 PokerStars.com EPT Sanremo for Day 2 action. Yesterday, 74 players entered this event and accounted for 10 reloads, which made the total field size 84 entries and created a prize pool of €823,200, with €288,000 of that reserved for the eventual winner. With just 44 players remaining, the man best positioned to capture the top prize is Brandon Barnes, who finished as the chip leader with 211,700 in chips.
Some of the players who did not fair so well on Day 1 were Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, Steve O'Dwyer, Sam Trickett, Mike "Timex" McDonald, Marc-Andre Ladouceur and Paul Berende. On the other hand, a number of notables thrived and will begin today with big stacks including Pier Paola Ruscalla (199,300), Justin Bonomo (190,600), Kent Roed (188,800) and Luca Pagano (188,600).
The tournament was originally scheduled as a two-day event, but due to a high turnout, rumors have circulated that an extra day may be added. While that is not confirmed, we expect we'll learn more details as the day wears on. Play will resume tomorrow at 3:00 PM local time, which is about a half hour from now, so be sure to stay tuned for all the live coverage from the Casino Sanremo.
, but had run into the 
for Nordkvist. From there, a board of 
spelled the end for Katchalov.
to Gruissem's 
. The flop kept Gruissem in front when the 
fell, and then a very sweatastic 
was added on the turn. The river bricked off with the 
, though, and Savinelli was eliminated in 11th place to send everyone else into the money.![[user72235]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
pairing Nordkvist's aces and sending Yaroshevskyy to the rail just before the end of the day.
for two pair, aces and deuces, with a king kicker. Nordkvist showed the 
for a flopped full house. Barnes, the all-in player, showed the 
and was eliminated.
.
being dealt on the river.
when the money went in, and it was Stammen's 
. Savinelli held pocket kings and they held up from there to eliminate Lichtenberger.
