Daan Hoogendijk just noticed yours truly roaming around the room and he was kind enough to introduce himself. Hoogendijk is one of the many players in today's field who doesn't play for a living, but enjoys the perks of getting to play a WPT event close to home.
Hoogendijk referred back to when he played EPT San Remo back in 2011, and pointed out that it was a great experience to be able to play such a big event. As a passionate poker fan Hoogendijk follows live poker events all over the world, and this might be his turn to make the frontpage with a big victory.
"I'm in sales, so usually I can tell from their expression if they have it or not," Hoogendijk said with a smile as he was dealt a hand in the big blind.
Just now a player raised from the cutoff to 425 and Hoogendijk opted to call saying, "He doesn't have it, he just called a re-raise with four-six."
"It was suited," the player in the cutoff defended himself with a smile.
The flop brought out and Hoogendijk check-called 550 and on the turn the popped up. Both players checked and on the river, the , Hoogendijk fired out 1,500.
After his opponent had called Hoogendijk said, "I got lucky on the river," as he tabled . The player in the cutoff flashed a before mucking his hand and giving up some chips to Hoogendijk who sits on around 41,000 chips.
Dealers, floor staff, poker players, fans and reporters all feel that the atmosphere at this event is a little different from the usual tournaments at Holland Casino.
The first ever World Poker Tour National Event is a great step forward for poker in the Netherlands and so far it's been very well received. While late entrants are still making their way into the tournament area as the clock reads 203 players big pots are being played left and right.
The Dutch aren't afraid to get their chips into the middle, and Holland Casino's year round series make it so that most of the field knows what it takes to do well in a poker tournament.
The €500 buy in doesn't reflect the vibe inside the casino, because while a new millionaire will not be found here this weekend it's clearly a step towards ultimately having an event like this in the Netherlands.
Joep van den Bijgaart is one of the most famous pros in today's event, and we just caught him playing a big pot.
A player raised to 500, another called and Van den Bijgaart three-bet to 1,500 from the cutoff. The button made the call and the two other players folded their hand creating heads-up action.
The flop brought out and Van den Bijgaart checked to his opponent who bet 2,100. The former EPT Berlin finalist check-raised to 5,800 and his opponent put in the call.
On the turn the popped up and Van den Bijgaart moved all in for 13,050, which put his opponent in the tank for quite a while. Eventually he let go of his hand and Van den Bijgaart raked in the pot.
In the second level of play things are usually quite friendly and easy going, but not on one of the featured tables here at the World Poker Tour National event in Valkenburg.
Michel van Os raised under the gun to 400 and Frank Jagt three-bet to 1,200. To Jagt's left it was Karim Elhassani who called and the other players folded back around to Van Os.
Van Os opted to put in a four-bet to 3,900 and that got Jagt to fold, but Elhassani put in the call creating a very serious pot.
The flop rolled out and Van Os checked to Elhassani who bet 7,100. Van Os tried to make the call by pushing forward two chips worth 5,000 each and one chip of 100. The floor staff ruled that it indeed was a call and the hand continued with the on the turn.
Van Os lead out this time around for 11,000 and Elhassani did not flinch as he made the call. The river was the and Van Os moved all in right away and Elhassani snap-called. Elhassani proudly showed but that was no good against Van Os' .
Van Os raked in a huge double up while Elhassani was left behind crippled with just 1,200 chips.
Alex Hendriks, a local player from Maastricht, has played poker tournaments all around the world but shining on the WPT podium in his backyard would of course be the ultimately reward for his hard work.
So far Hendriks' day is not looking up, as he lost a decent portion of his stack in a situation that could've been very profitable.
The player under the gun raised and from his direct left a player three-bet, after which it was Hendrik's turn. Hendriks looked down at two jacks and opted to call, after which three players saw the flop when the initial raiser called as well.
The flop brought and the under-the-gun player lead out for 2,000, his neighbor raised it up to 7,000 and Hendriks folded his top set. The initial raiser called and the turn was another , which would've given Hendriks quads.
The player under the gun lead for 10,000 on the turn and the player on his left folded his kings face up. The player who took the hand down showed for a flopped straight, and Hendriks was left behind thinking 'what if?'.
We spotted some familiar faces upstairs and one table in particular peeked our interest. Marion Adriaans, Zeus Post, Patrick Renkers and Moshim El Yakoubi were all seated together and we're hoping for some interesting hands to develop at this table.
This table however is located in the cash game area and that means it will be broken up among the first ones.
and Hoogendijk check-called 550 and on the turn the 
popped up. Both players checked and on the river, the 
, Hoogendijk fired out 1,500.
. The player in the cutoff flashed a 
before mucking his hand and giving up some chips to Hoogendijk who sits on around 41,000 chips.
and Van den Bijgaart checked to his opponent who bet 2,100. The former EPT Berlin finalist check-raised to 5,800 and his opponent put in the call.
popped up and Van den Bijgaart moved all in for 13,050, which put his opponent in the tank for quite a while. Eventually he let go of his hand and Van den Bijgaart raked in the pot.
and Van Os checked to Elhassani who bet 7,100. Van Os tried to make the call by pushing forward two chips worth 5,000 each and one chip of 100. The floor staff ruled that it indeed was a call and the hand continued with the 
and Van Os moved all in right away and Elhassani snap-called. Elhassani proudly showed 
but that was no good against Van Os' 
.
and the under-the-gun player lead out for 2,000, his neighbor raised it up to 7,000 and Hendriks folded his top set. The initial raiser called and the turn was another 
for a flopped straight, and Hendriks was left behind thinking 'what if?'.
