2014 PokerStars.net EPT Vienna: €10,000 High Roller on Pace to Be Biggest of Season 10
On Thursday, the European Poker Tour (EPT) Main Event played down from 50 players to the final 17, while the €10,300 High Roller kicked off with 136 players that accounted for 35 reentries, bringing the total field thus far up to 171 entries.
The EPT10 Vienna High Roller has already surpassed the 115 entries from the Deauville High Roller and EPT10 London’s 157 entries, and since registration is open until the start of Day 2, there is still a great chance it could pass EPT Prague’s 176 entries and even EPT Barcelona’s 180 entries.
After 10 levels of play in the High Roller, just 80 players remained with Russia’s Andrey Andreev and his stack of 338,400 leading the way.
Here’s a look at the top 10 Day 1 chip counts:
| Place | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Andreev | 338,400 |
| 2 | Simon Ravnsbaek | 315,100 |
| 3 | Theo Jorgensen | 298,700 |
| 4 | Steven Lewzey | 269,700 |
| 5 | Dmitry Yurasov | 268,000 |
| 6 | Philipp Gruissem | 250,300 |
| 7 | Alexander Dovzhenko | 242,000 |
| 8 | Surinder Sunar | 235,700 |
| 9 | [Removed:2] | 190,400 |
| 10 | Ihar Soika | 187,400 |
The chip lead was actually determined in the penultimate hand of the night. It happened in Level 10 (800/1,600/200) when Igor Kurganov opened for 3,200 and was met by a three-bet from Andreev in the big blind. Kurganov made the call and the two saw a flop of 4♥7♣3♥. Andreev showed he wasn't messing around when he quickly slid out a tower of blue T5,000 chips, which constituted a bet of approximately 65,000. Kurganov, who had about 140,000 total, tanked for a solid five minutes before announcing that he was all in. Andreev snap-called and Kurganov was caught.
Kurganov: A♠5♠
Andreev: A♦A♣
Kurganov stood up and watched as the dealer burned and turned the 5♥. He could now catch either a deuce or six for a chop, or another five to win the massive pot, but neither materialized as the 9♣ blanked on the river. With that, a new chip leader emerged.
The day got off to a quick start for David "MissOracle" Yan, who has been featured in PokerNews' popular Online Chat series. Yan called a four-bet preflop from Kazakhstan's Zhapar Sultanov, and when the flop came down the 7♠A♦J♣, Sultanov checked, Yan bet 5,000, and Sultanov check-raised to 15,000. Yan made the call, and after the dealer burned and turned the Q♦, Sultanov moved all in. Yan wasted little time in calling off and the cards were turned up.
Yan: 7♦7♥
Sultanov: A♠K♠
It was a bad spot for Sultanov, and he needed a ten on the river to win the pot. Unfortunately for him, it didn't come as the 6♥ blanked and Yan doubled straight out of the gate. Unfortunately for Yan, the good start amounted to nothing as he fell in the last level of the night, though he mentioned that he would more than likely reenter on Day 2. He also talked to PokerNews about that early hand.
On the opposite side of things, Max Altergott got off to a terrible start. He busted in the second level, exercised his single reentry option, and then busted again a short time later. Likewise, Yann Dion, Andrey Volkov, Juha Helppi, Fedor Holz, Jack Salter, Steve O’Dwyer, and Thomas Muhlocker are all among the players who no longer have a reentry option, busting the two allotted bullets.
After busting his first time, it didn't take Muhlocker long to fire off his second bullet. In the last level of the night, Muhlocker was crippled in unknown action, and then got his last 9,400 all in against Steven Lewzey.
Muhlocker: A♠5♠
Lewzey: A♦J♣
The EPT10 Barcelona High Roller champ had some kicker problems, and he would find no remedy as the board ran out 8♠7♦2♣2♥10♦.
That said, not everyone missed on their second try. Some players who busted, reentered, and survived the day included Team PokerStars Pros Jonathan Duhamel (111,700), Eugene Katchalov (69,800), and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (55,000), along with PokerStars Team Online’s Marc-Andre Ladouceur (35,700).
They'll be joined by some players who made it through on one bullet including Theo Jorgensen (298,700), Alexander Dovzhenko (242,000), Surinder Sunar (235,700), Ami Barer (187,000), Sam Trickett (134,000), and Alex Kravchenko (114,700).
Among those to fall on Day 1 who still have the opportunity to reenter are Daniel “Jungleman” Cates, Maxim Lykov, Joni Jouhkimainen, Sotirios Koutoupas, Walid Bou Habib, Sergio Aido, and Kimmo Kurko.
Day 2 is set to kick off at 12 p.m. local time. We expect to see a lot of reentries, plus some new faces could potentially show up (i.e. Gus Hansen, Viktor "Isildur1" Blom, etc.), so be sure to join us then as we bring you all the high-rolling action from Vienna, Austria.
In the meantime, check out Kristy Arnett’s latest video where she takes a look back at some poker players’ first tweets.
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PR & Media Manager for PokerNews, Podcast host & 2013 WSOP Bracelet Winner.
