EPT Dublin Day 1a Recap

EPT Dublin Day 1a Recap 0001

Eighty-Nine players took the field at the Royal Dublin Society for the first day of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Dublin Championship, including such local favorites as Jason O'Toole, Andy Black and Conor Doyle. Joining their Irish counterparts were players from all corners of the world like European pros Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier, Julian Thew and Johnny Lodden, as well top-level American players like Erik Seidel and Brandon Schaefer. 2006 EPT Dublin champion Roland De Wolfe and WSOP Europe Main Event Champion Annette 'Annette_15' Obrestad were spectators on Day 1a, as they awaited their Day 1b start.

It took less time for Malmai Csaba to double up than it did for some players to take their seats. On the very first hand, Csaba found himself all in holding pocket Aces against his opponent's pocket Queens. All the money went in on the flop of 633, and when the turn and river revealed the 7J, Csaba's aces held up to give him the first significant pot of the day and to give his opponent an ignominious early exit. Csaba used his early edge to pick up pots and work his way to a top-5 chip stack by the end of the day.

Young internet superstar Dario Minieri also made an early exit on Day 1a, when he pushed his short stack all in over the top of Jan Sjavik's preflop raise. Sjavik called with AQ, and Minieri tabled his dominated A10. The Q in the door all but dashed Minieri's hopes for a suckout, and the young Italian was ousted before the dinner break. Internet superstar Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier was also eliminated on Day 1a.

Joe Rafferty made the final table of the EPT Dublin in 2005, but the Dublin native ran 1010 into an opponent's JJ early in Day 1a and was eliminated. Erik Seidel also went to the rail on Day 1a when he ran his KQ into Stig Top Rasmussen's AK. A board of 832109 brought no help for Seidel, and the 8-time WSOP bracelet winner headed to the rail.

Irish poker star Andy Black doubled up early in the day and rode his big stack to a top-5 finish for Day 1a. His early double up came when he picked up the second-nut flush holding Q9 on a board of K67J10. On the river, Black's opponent moved all in, and Black quickly called, picking up a monster pot and putting himself in good position for the rest of the day.

48 players survived Day 1a, with Mike McDonald atop the leaderboard. More superstars were scheduled to join the fray on Day 1b, including Roland De Wolfe, Annette Obrestad and 2007 WSOP bracelet winner Katja Thater. Complete Chip counts for the surviving players are -

Mike McDonald 67,250

Dave Colclough 59,350

Phidias Georgiou 55,475

Kristian Kjøndal 53,150

Jacques Zaicik 48,225

Andrew Black 45,675

Simon Christensson 45,000

Christoffer Egemo Hansen 43,050

Kevin Vreeswijk 42,725

Marcel Baran 40,150

Henric Stråth 39,000

Csaba Malnai 37,250

Johnny Lodden 37,225

Casper Hansen 37,150

Johannes Steindl 36,500

Adrian Koy 35,850

Andrew Grimason 35,400

Sebastian Ruthenberg 35,175

Oran Holt 33,450

Kenneth Hicks Jr. 30,950

Aleksandr Arutjonov 30,150

Noah Boeken 27,825

Daniel Ryan 27,550

Carl Hostrup 26,850

Brandon Schaefer 26,725

Stig Top-Rasmussen 26,300

Martin Wendt 25,125

Ian Woodley 24,550

Christopher Hamman 18,875

Hans Eskilsson 18,550

Mark Asgcal 18,500

Paul Testud 17,750

Reijo Manninen 17,525

Len Collin 17,275

Michael Hogbom 16,100

Gustaf Jonasson 15,200

Johan Storakers 15,050

Thierry Van den Berg 14,250

Daan Ruiter 14,125

Terje Augdal 13,925

John Conroy 11,525

Reuben Peters 11,050

Mathieu Gallienne 10,750

Martin Rask 10,175

Davide Calabro 8,125

Patric Fredriksson 5,850

Jan Sjavik 5,450

Seth Blackman 5,000

Join PokerNews as we bring you all the live updates, hand histories and interviews from EPT Dublin Day 1b starting at 2PM local time!

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