Main Event
Day 2 Completed
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2013 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€4,560,000
Entries
912
Level
34
Blinds
120,000 / 240,000
Ante
30,000
Joentausta Jumps Way Ahead of the Field to Lead EPT Berlin Day 2
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
The Day 1 ten-handed survival grind of the last two days became a distant memory today as the European Poker Tour Berlin came alive. From the off, the action was fast and new heroes emerged through a tangle of major clashes and cooler set-ups. One had to be bullet proof to survive to Day 3.
The player who survived the best and sits on top of the pile was Aku Joentausta who bagged up 751,300. He had a steady climb to the top that included a lot of medium-sized pots. Team Pro, Jake Cody, felt the Finn's force when all in with a dominated ace. Joentausta flopped two-pair and it was good game for the triple crown winner. Joentausta vaulted into the chip lead when he turned a straight to bust fellow countryman Janne Nevalainen who had flopped trips. He held, and even, increased his strangle-hold through to the end the sixth and last level of the day.
The player of Day 1b was Michael Mizrachi and he shone ever-so-bright again today before he burned out in style. "The Grinder" flopped the nut flush in a hand versus Khiem Nguyen and was all set to win a half-million pot only for the latter to turn a full house and take all of Mizrachi's chips as he stormed into the chip lead. Nguyen maintained a big stack and finished on 490,800.
Last season's champion, Davidi Kitai, came back with work to do today and he worked his 32,000 stack very well. One of the hands of the day saw him double up versus another former EPT champion, Benny Spindler. Both flopped sets (Spindler the bigger) only for the reigning champion to turn quads to destroy the German and his stack. Kitai will have 282,100 to work with on Day 3.
Other players happy to have very workable stacks for Day 3 include: Ronny Voth (526,000), Lukasz Golczyk (448,200), Dominik Nitsche (434,600), Pascal Vos (426,000) and Pal Koppegodt (424,300).
The Team Pros back to represent the red spade tomorrow are: Jan Heitmann (104,800), Sandra Naujoks (190,800), Theo Jorgensen (171,600), Liv Boeree (85,400) and Mickey Petersen (60,100) and SportStar Boris Becker (113,000).
Some who came back with high hopes today only to leave with green eyes included Teams Pros Max Lykov, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Rino Mathis, Matthias De Meulder, Victor Ramdin, Vanessa Selbst, Marcin Horecki and Eugene Katchalov. Also part of the "not so" Cool and the Gang were: Anton Wigg, Piuz Heinz, Scott Seiver, Griffin Benger, Marvin Rettenmaier and champion here from three seasons ago, Kevin MacPhee.
The focus tomorrow turns to the 168 players that remain and the bubble that'll probably burst at some stage. As ever, play will start at 12:00 CET time and the PokerNews reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the action.
Big Stacks and Notable Chip Counts
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
751,300 | 76,300 |
|
526,100 | 396,100 |
|
490,800 | -89,200 |
|
448,200 | 43,200 |
|
434,600 | 34,600 |
|
426,000 | 270,000 |
|
424,300 | -45,700 |
|
383,600 | 23,600 |
|
366,200 | 98,200 |
|
362,100 | 69,100 |
|
|
336,400 | 1,400 |
|
336,100 | 151,100 |
|
320,200 | -34,800 |
|
282,100 | 32,100 |
|
281,500 | 159,500 |
|
280,000 | 226,700 |
|
273,500 | 231,300 |
|
250,800 | 32,800 |
|
229,200 | 170,000 |
|
225,100 | 90,100 |
|
218,700 | -1,300 |
|
190,800 | 112,800 |
|
178,700 | 48,700 |
|
178,600 | 66,700 |
|
171,600 | 14,400 |
Play Has Ended for the Evening
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
We are importing a few dozen unofficial end-of-day counts as you read this.
Four More Hands
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Just four more hands before the day is done.
Golczyk Crosses 400K
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Lukasz Golczyk checked on a flop of 
. Giuseppe Pantaleo fired 5,700, and Golczyk made the call.
The turn was the 
, Golczyk checked again, and Pantaleo tossed out another 13,8000. Golczyk quickly called.
The 
completed the board, and this time both players checked. Pantaleo showed 
for effectively nine-high, which Golczyk had beat with 
.
Golczyk has been trending up all day, and now sits with over 400,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
405,000 | 345,000 |
|
115,000 | -155,000 |
Wetemans Cripples Chouity
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Jasper Wetemans, who's not that mobile himself after horribly injuring his knee during a game of football last winter, just crippled former EPT Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity.
Wetemans was all in for 107,400 preflop against Chouity who had him covered by just 2,000 chips.
Jasper Wetemans: 
Nicolas Chouity:
The board ran out 
and Wetemans doubled up. Chouity was knocked down to just a few chips and will need a miracle to make it to Day 3.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
220,000 | 202,800 |
|
2,000 | -47,100 |
Kitai Busts Blatter and Saves Ulrich's Tournament
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
When we arrived at the table, Walter Blattler was all in, and Davidi Kitai had called him. This was problematic however, because Tim Piet Ulrich had yet to act before Kitai called.
The floor was motioned over, and the floor person rulled that Kitai's call would stand if Ulrich didn't re-open the action. Ulrich decided to fold, later saying that he had two eights.
Kitai: 
Blattler: 
The queens held as the board ran out 
, and Blatter was eliminated.
"You saved my tournament," Ulrich told Kitai, smiling. "When I win, I will remember this."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000 | 50,000 |
|
|
35,000 | -5,000 |
|
|
Busted |
Pay Pal
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
Michael Song opened the action only to have Pal Koppegodt slide out a three-bet. Jeff Hakim announced a four-bet from the button and action folded back to Song who folded as well. Koppegodt came back over the top with a five-bet and Hakim replied by six-betting all in for 132,100 total. Koppegodt slid in calling chips.
Koppegodt: 
Hakim: 
The two were racing for Hakim's tournament life and Hakim needed to improve. The flop was of no help when it came 
. Fourth street was the and Hakim needed an ace or a king to stay alive in this tournament.
A third five- the - finished off the board and Hakim's fate was sealed. Koppegodt scooped up the massive pot and has managed to increase his stack to around 470,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
470,000 | 130,000 |
|
Busted |
Beer, Poker and Football with Norway's Eilert Eilertsen
Level 14
: 1,200/2,400, 300 ante
PokerStars Blog meets Eilert Eilertsen for discussions about all the important matters of the day. Yes, that's the price of a pint in Oslo, the Aston Villa football team of the 1990s and a little bit of poker.