Main Event
Day 1a Completed
Main Event
Day 1a Completed
One of the major stops on the poker calendar returned today after an absence of more than 18 months. The PokerStars.com EPT London came back to where the event all began as 236 players descended on The Vic Casino on Edgware Rd for Day 1a of the main event. There’s a whole host of tournaments taking place throughout this two-week poker festival but none shines brighter than this one.
After eight 75-minutes levels of play a familiar face from season 9 tops the chip counts - Marc-Andre Ladouceur bagged up 163,500. Marvin Rettenmaier has earned the right over the last couple of years to be very confident at the table and this is fine unless you have a Québécois at your table. Players from this region of Canada have been dominating the EPT this season, whether it’s at the table or a nearby bar. Ladouceur had already won more than €300,000 on the tour this season and stormed his way through today. He was a raising machine that caused his table mates all kind of trouble.
Someone had to stand up to him and that person was the said German. To be fair, when Rettenmaier called all in after a Ladouceur river over-bet he did have a set but that was no match for Ladouceur who had turned a flush. That put the Canadian up to 170,000 (100,000 more than second placed player at the time) and from there on he steadied his ship to finish on 163,500
Another player to mention is Antonio Matias who took down the Vilamoura leg in Season 6 and he finished on 141,000 chips. Some of those chips came courtesy of Team PokerStars Pro Tono Judet. The man from Portugal was betting into Judet with a flush draw; he got there on the river and this is where Judet called all in, saw his opponent’s hand, mucked and left the room.
Those two players are well placed for a deep run and a shot of glory, as are: Timothy Davie (136,800), Michel Dattani (119,000), Pierre Neuville (83,200), Adria Balaguer (160,300) and Davide Suriano (130,800). Also back for Day 2 are: Luke Schwartz (66,000), Theo Jorgensen (65,500), Henrique Pinho (63,500), Marcin Horecki (57,000), Alex Kravchenko (52,200), Johnny Lodden (33,200) and Luca Pagano (30,600).
EPT London has seen luminaries such as Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren, Benny Spindler, Michael Martin and Aaron Gustavson claim this coveted title in the past. The latter of these was the only former champion playing today and he didn’t last as long as he would have liked. He got a lot of chips in on the turn when he had the nut straight only for the board to pair up for a player holding a set.
Coren was too busy cashing in the UKIPT High Roller to play today but the fairer sex was very well represented by her fellow Team Pros Vanessa Selbst (54,800), Liv Boeree (56,100), Leo Margets (57,000) as well as Annette Obrestad (84,100) who all made it through to day 2. Selbst might have set a live VPIP record today as she seemed to be in every pot for a period. Her stack fluctuated a lot but never to a critical point. Boeree felt like she was back on form today; Margets she was stuck in the corner all day and managed to navigate the mine field that is Mario Adinolfi; while Obrestad saw off the challenge old-timers such as Barny Boatman and Steve Jelinek to cruise through.
Those who also busted today included: Dominik Nitsche, Ari Engel, Sam Holden, Wojceich Barzantny, Max Silver, Kent Lundmark, Paul Foltyn, Chris Bjorin, Andrew Teng, Ville Wahlbeck and Scott Seiver.
Tomorrow is a new day though and a whole new bunch of players will arrive to keep us all entertained. Actually there’s going to be more than a bunch, way more. The Vic will be bursting at the seams as it tries to squeeze a number that will probably be double of today. Where they are going to fit is anyone’s guess! Play will get under way at 12:00 PM GMT and eight more 75-minute levels will be played before all remaining players join forced for day 2 on Wednesday. Until then it's good night from a chilly London town.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Marc-Andre Ladouceur | 163,500 | |
Adria Balaguer |
160,000
-300
|
-300 |
Antonio Matias | 141,000 | |
|
||
Timothy Davie | 136,800 | |
Antoine Labat |
130,300
-19,700
|
-19,700 |
Davide Suriano |
130,300
-500
|
-500 |
Seun Oluwole | 127,900 | |
Ramey Shaio | 121,700 | |
Michel Dattani | 119,000 | |
|
||
Eric Sfez |
115,100
115,100
|
115,100 |
Jeff Sarwer | 111,000 | |
Steve O'Dwyer |
109,400
-18,100
|
-18,100 |
|
||
Pawel Zawadowicz |
105,900
105,900
|
105,900 |
Samuli Sipila |
99,600
99,600
|
99,600 |
Joseph Sheraton Prichard
|
92,600
92,600
|
92,600 |
Pierre Huter |
92,600
92,600
|
92,600 |
Matthew Ashton |
91,700
9,700
|
9,700 |
Ziv Bachar |
85,300
85,300
|
85,300 |
Robertas Vaitkevicius
|
84,200
84,200
|
84,200 |
Annette Obrestad | 84,100 | |
Pierre Neuville |
83,700
500
|
500 |
Konstantin Puchkov |
82,300
-7,700
|
-7,700 |
Alex Ferguson
|
81,300
81,300
|
81,300 |
Alex Christoper Lindop |
80,600
80,600
|
80,600 |
Robert Akery |
80,300
80,300
|
80,300 |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Marc-Andre Ladouceur |
163,500
3,500
|
3,500 |
Adria Balaguer |
160,300
40,300
|
40,300 |
Antonio Matias |
141,000
-24,000
|
-24,000 |
|
||
Timothy Davie |
136,800
36,800
|
36,800 |
Davide Suriano | 130,800 | |
Seun Oluwole |
127,900
12,900
|
12,900 |
Ramey Shaio | 121,700 | |
Michel Dattani |
119,000
9,000
|
9,000 |
|
||
Jeff Sarwer |
111,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
Annette Obrestad |
84,100
32,100
|
32,100 |
Pierre Neuville |
83,200
36,200
|
36,200 |
Luke Schwartz |
66,000
21,000
|
21,000 |
Theo Jorgensen |
65,500
10,500
|
10,500 |
Henrique Pinho |
63,000
13,000
|
13,000 |
Ruben Visser | 62,900 | |
|
||
Leo Margets |
57,000
26,000
|
26,000 |
Marcin Horecki |
57,000
-21,000
|
-21,000 |
Liv Boeree |
56,100
-10,900
|
-10,900 |
Vanessa Selbst |
54,800
-33,200
|
-33,200 |
Ilkin Amirov | 54,000 | |
Alex Kravchenko | 52,200 | |
Barny Boatman | 46,300 | |
Roberto Romanello |
39,500
-5,500
|
-5,500 |
|
||
Johnny Lodden |
33,200
-16,800
|
-16,800 |
Luca Pagano |
30,600
11,100
|
11,100 |
The remaining players will play five more hands, then bag and tag for the evening.
We have a new chip leader at the death and he is a former EPT Champion.
Antonio Matias won EPT Vilamoura in Season 6 and he is currently sat behind a chip stack in the region of 165,000, in part, due to the elimination of Team PokerStars Pro Toni Judet. We believe that Matias was barreling a flush draw with when it got there on the river. Judet didn’t show his hand after calling the eventual all-in.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Antonio Matias |
165,000
165,000
|
165,000 |
|
||
Toni Judet | Busted | |
The flop was showing and Edwin Heemskerk and James Mitchell were the two players involved in the pot. Mitchell bet 1,400, Heemskerk raised to 3,250 and Mitchell made the call.
The turn was the and this time Mitchell check-raised. It was 4,250 for Heemskerk, 9,500 for Mitchell and Heemskerk called.
The river was the , Mitchell bet 12,500 and this time Heemskerk folded to hand the pot to the Brit.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
James Mitchell |
60,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
Edwin Heemskerk | 50,000 |
Murad Akhundov opened to 1,300 in middle position, Matthew Ashton, who final tabled the $10,000 H.O.R.S.E. World Championship at the 2011 World Series of Poker, three-bet to 3,325 on his direct left, and the action folded back to Akhundov, who called.
The flop fell , Akhundov checked, and Ashton continued for 3,000. Akhundov check-raised to 13,000, Ashton moved all in for effectively 25,000 or so, and Akhundov called.
Akhundov:
Ashton:
Akhundov failed to hit his open-ended straight draw as the turn and river came , respectively, and was eliminated. Ashton now has around 82,000 chips.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Matthew Ashton | 82,000 |
With over 50,000 in the pot, Luke Schwartz had checked the river of a board across to Adria Balaguer. The latter threw out a bet of 10,000 and Schwartz tanked for a minute or two before grudgingly throwing in the call.
Balaguer showed and Schwartz mucked showing the .
As Balaguer raked in the pot, Schwartz, not always the most diplomatic of people, snapped.
"You're the luckiest f**king fish in the world...You have zero table presence...Even my sister is harder than you...I bet you don't even make the money, I'll bet you your net worth...You're just a shy little Spanish guy...There's never been a good Spanish player... You only had two outs...I've seen 15 year-old girls with more table presence..."
That was just a selection of Schwartz' rant, clearly irked by an apparent float that Balaguer had made on the flop before the Spaniard caught a pair on the turn. Nevertheless, it's the latter who won the pot and is comfortably over the 100,000 mark while Schwartz is - let's face it - not best pleased.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Adria Balaguer |
120,000
55,000
|
55,000 |
Luke Schwartz |
45,000
-75,000
|
-75,000 |
Edwin Heemskerk opened to 1,250 in early position, Jonathan Duhamel called on his direct left, and Antoine Labat called out of the big blind. The dealer fanned , and the action checked to Duhamel. He fired 2,200, and only Heemskerk called.
The turn was the , Heemskerk led out for 4,300, and Duhamel folded.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Antoine Labat |
150,000
38,000
|
38,000 |
Jonathan Duhamel |
17,500
-27,500
|
-27,500 |