€25,000 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
€25,000 High Roller
Day 2 Completed
Day 2 of the €25,000 High Roller at the 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final has come and gone. After another 10 levels of play, the field has been cut down to 12 players with Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst leading the way. She bagged up a whopping 1.607 million in chips, which has put her more than 650,000 in chips ahead of Toby Lewis in second place.
Earlier this year, Selbst became the winningest female poker player of all time by winning the $25,000 High Roller at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure for over $1.4 million. The way it looks right now, she could be adding a similar title to her trophy case in this event if she keeps trucking on like she has been. Selbst has proven time and time again that when you combine her fearless and aggressive nature on the felt with the biggest stack in the tournament, it's a recipe for success, and she'll be looking to cook up another major victory in Monaco.
Selbst battled with fellow big stack Lewis all day long, and then right at the end of the night, she snatched a big one from the Brit to extend her lead by the largest margin yet. Although the hand didn't go to showdown, it was a big, big pot that is definitely worth checking out.
Also of note is that Igor Kurganov advanced to Day 3, albeit with a much shorter 678,000 in chips. Last year, Kurganov defeated a field of 133 entries to win €1.08 million in this very event. With his survival, the back-to-back dream is still very much alive.
As play moved on throughout the day, plenty of notables hit the rail including Bryn Kenney, David "Doc" Sands, Olivier Busquet, Viktor Blom, Marvin Rettenmaier and Dan O'Brien, but it was a rather non-notable player that became the bubble boy. Vitalijs Tarhanovs lost in 17th place at the hands of Chris Moore and sent the remaining 16 players into the money. From there, Artem Litvinov fell in 16th place, Marc-Andre Ladouceur hit the rail in 15th place, Philip Sternheimer was eliminated in 14th place, then Benny Spindler headed out the door in 13th place.
Up top for this year's event is a bit larger of a prize with a tad over €1.211 million set aside for the winner, along with the stunning bracelet worth £5,000 from Shamballa Jewels, official bracelet sponsor of the Season 9 of the EPT. As it stands right now, all the remaining players are guaranteed at least €77,400.
With 12 players left, the field has still yet to reach the final table, so Day 3 will begin with two tables of six players jousting on the felt. The field will combine to one table when nine remain and play down to a winner from there. The final day's festivities are set to begin at 12 p.m. CET, so don't be late as you surely won't want to miss out on any of the action.
Until then, goodnight from beautiful Monaco!
Play has concluded for the evening. Here are the official end-of-day counts, with Vanessa Selbst leading the remaining 12 players with 1,607,000 chips.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Vanessa Selbst | 1,607,000 | -64,000 |
Toby Lewis
|
953,000 | 148,000 |
Steven Silverman | 752,000 | 202,000 |
Kyle Cheong | 742,000 | -88,000 |
Alex Bilokur | 722,000 | -78,000 |
Tony Gregg | 716,000 | -24,000 |
Igor Kurganov | 678,000 | 3,000 |
Victor Sbrissa | 444,000 | -86,000 |
Fady Kamar | 426,000 | -104,000 |
Davidi Kitai
|
326,000 | 26,000 |
Chris Moore | 324,000 | 44,000 |
Sorel Mizzi | 270,000 | -38,000 |
Since the dinner break, Vanessa Selbst and Toby Lewis have been constantly sparring. When they drew the same table after the money bubble burst, the battles continued, and it seemed as if a massive pot was pending.
Enter said massive pot.
Selbst opened to 35,000 from under the gun, Lewis called in the cutoff, and the button and blinds released. The flop fell , Selbst checked, and Lewis fired out 46,000. Selbst thought for a bit, then check-raised to 133,000. It was Lewis' turn to enter the tank, and when he reemerged, he made the call.
The turn was the , and with two hands Selbst slid forward 220,000. Lewis sat silently for a minute or so, reached for chips, and slide forward identical stacks of blue T5,000 chips, making the call.
A third heart - the - completed the board. Selbst cut out all of her red T25,000 chips, added a few blues, and slid out 460,000. Lewis scrunched his face and let out a sigh before asking the dealer to cut out the bet. When he did, Lewis started counting the chips he had in front of him.
Eventually, after sitting in agony for over two minutes, he folded.
"Don't show the bluff," he begged.
Selbst did not, tossing her cards into the muck.
"I wouldn't have shown either way."
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Vanessa Selbst | 1,671,000 | 596,000 |
Toby Lewis
|
805,000 | -395,000 |
Sorel Mizzi grabbed all of his blue T5,000 chips, and pushed them forward from the small blind. Tony Gregg tossed out enough T25,000 chips to put Mizzi all in, and then tabled before Mizzi could commit the rest of his chips. More than three-quarters of Mizzi's stack was in the middle, and he didn't hesitate to commit the rest, showing .
The dealer fanned , giving Mizzi a Wheel draw, and the turned, giving him a leading pair of fours. Gregg could still chop with a deuce for Broadway or eliminate Mizzi with an eight on the river, but the bricked off.
Mizzi doubled to 308,000 chips, while Gregg fell to 740,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tony Gregg | 740,000 | -270,000 |
Sorel Mizzi | 308,000 | 83,000 |
Chris Moore opened to 34,000 from under the gun, Kyle Cheong three-bet to 88,000 from the small blind, and Moore four-bet shoved for effectively 413,000. Cheong snap-called.
Moore:
Cheong:
Cheong held as the board came , doubling to 830,000. Moore dropped to 280,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Kyle Cheong | 830,000 | 456,000 |
Chris Moore | 280,000 | -480,000 |
Igor Kurganov opened to 32,000 on the button, Fady Kamar moved all in for 247,000 from the small blind, and Steven Silverman re-shipped from the big blind. Kurganov folded.
Kamar:
Silverman:
The flop looked rather harmless, but the on the turn gave Silverman an up-and-down straight draw. The spiked on the river, giving him said straight, and the Lebanese player doubled to 530,000 chips.
Silverman dropped to 550,000.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Steven Silverman | 550,000 | -240,000 |
Fady Kamar | 530,000 | 283,000 |
Benny Spindler was all in preflop with the up against the for Toby Lewis. The flop was and pretty much ended things. The turn was the and river the to finish out the board, eliminating Spindler in 13th place.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Toby Lewis
|
1,200,000 | 415,000 |
Benny Spindler | Busted |
Defending champion Igor Kurganov raised to 32,000 from the hijack seat, Fady Kamar reraised to 67,000 from the hijack seat with 269,000 behind, then Kurganov moved all in. Kamar gave it some thought, but eventually folded his hand, and Kurganov won the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Igor Kurganov | 675,000 | 160,000 |
Fady Kamar | 269,000 | -76,000 |
From early position, Tony Gregg raised to 32,000. Toby Lewis made the call from the big blind, then check-called a bet of 25,000 on the flop. The turn was the , and both players checked. After the landed on the river, Lewis led with a bet of 52,000. Gregg raised to 177,000, and this sent Lewis deep into the tank. After a couple of minutes, Lewis folded, and Gregg won the pot.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Tony Gregg | 1,010,000 | 381,000 |
Toby Lewis
|
785,000 | -200,000 |