[user52009]
Thor Hansen
Norway's most famous player, Thor Hansen, is in Dortmund to play the PokerStars EPT German Open. Thor has two WSOP bracelets and he might be the most experienced European poker player of them all. Thor got off to a good start and is now up to 14,500.
[user52009]
Arnaud Mattern
Frenchman Arnaud Mattern had the best poker moment of his career when he won the PokerStars EPT Prague in December. Now he is back for more. After two levels on Day 1b, he is already up to 15,000.
[user52009]
PokerStars pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier has taken over the lead through a mixture of luck and aggressiveness. He doubled up (with an extreme amount of luck) when he saw a flop of , while holding against his opponent’s . ElkY check-raised to 2,200 and his opponent just called with his set of jacks.
The turn was , ElkY’s opponent check-raised all-in, ElkY called and the river was . Hitting one of his two outs gave the Frenchman the 30K pot.
Two hands later ElkY called a 575 raise pre-flop, called the 1,400 bet on the flop , called 3,400 when the came on turn and bet 5,000 on the river, forcing his opponent to fold. There are many ways to win in poker, and ElkY knows them all.
[user52009]
Mikael Norinder
During the past few months, Mikael Norinder has been one of the strongest European players with final tables in Prague and Amsterdam. Now he has come to Dortmund for the first time and is aiming for another great result.
“I flopped two sets during the first half-hour, but lost them both to flushes. Being down to 5,000, I also doubled a short-stacked player up when my open-ended straight draw with a flush draw didn’t hit and my opponent's set of queens held up to bring me down to 2,200. Now I have got some chips back and I have 5,700 right now. Now I will start to play a little more aggressive,” said Norinder, with a big smile.
[user52009]
Daniel Negreanu came a long way to take part in the PokerStars EPT German Open.
"I was really tired after the flight, and I decided to skip the first level to be able to stay awake throughout the day. I lost 30 percent of my stack in the first three hands, but now I have gone back up to 8,800 and I can't complain", says the Canadian poker pro.
The crowd around Negreanu's table was too big and tournament announcer Thomas Kremser had to ask spectators to step back to give the players at the table some breathing room..
[user52009]
Anders Henriksson
T6 Poker pro Anders Henriksson has had a good start here in Dortmund. Even if there are plenty of big names in today's field, Henriksson doesn't recognize anyone else at his table apart from fellow countryman Gunnar Rabe.
"So far everything looks fine. I have built my stack up to 14,000 and there are quite a few callers on the table. I had a good night's sleep and I am really ready to play some live poker since I have only played online lately," says Henriksson.
[user52009]
After three levels of play, reigning champion Andreas Hoivold of Norway continues to show that he is comfortable in the Hohensyburg Casino in Dortmund. His Mickey Mouse card protector now stands in front of a stack containing 21,550.
[user52009]
Tomas Brolin
On a board, former Swedish soccer star Tomas Brolin makes a 2,500 bet into a 4,200 pot. His opponent Peter Ameskamp eventually calls, but mucks when he sees Brolin’s . The Swede is now up to 14,200.
[user52009]
Italian Maurizio Carra made a brave call while holding when Mikael Norinder went all in on a flop . Norinder had and made a gutshot straight draw when the came on turn. When the came on the river, Carra won the 22K pot and eliminated Norinder four hours into Day 1b.