EPT Barcelona Open Main Event Day 1a | 2008 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Open

09-11-2008 01:32 UTC+3

Alexander the Great

[user4144]

Russian WSOP hero and PokerStars pro Alex Kravchenko has doubled up courtesy of buttering his coin the right side. He moved all in with {A-Clubs}

for 6,900 and was looked up by {J-Diamonds}

. "I think I'm dead," confessed his opponent as the flop came a rather clinical {A-Diamonds}

. He wasn't dead, but he was by the {2-Spades}

turn and

river.

Kravchenko now on over 14,000.

Tags: Alex Kravchenko

09-11-2008 01:25 UTC+3

Mickey "The Worm" Wernick pushed all in preflop for 4,000 just moments ago, but received no callers. The British veteran will be looking for further spots to shove in the upcoming rounds, but it's not going to be easy. He has Michael Keiner (62,000) and Chad Brown (39,000) on his table, whilst Dennis Bejedal has also just sat down with multiple racks. If anyone knows how to grind though, it's Mickey.

Tags: Mickey Wernick

09-11-2008 01:22 UTC+3

The Twilight Zone

[user4144]

Fatigue may be creeping in tonight as we creep into the final level of the day, as I've started to witness a number of unusual hands. One such bizarre occurrence involved the elimination of EPT Dublin finalist Casper Hansen.

Hansen raised it up with {A-Diamonds}

preflop, his Spanish neighbor called with {J-Clubs}

, but another player pushed all in for 8,000 with {A-Spades}

. Casper then pushed himself for 9,000, only to be called by his neighbor.

Surprised to see that he wasn't just ahead, but dominating both opponents, Hansen was chagrined in equal measure as the board came a cruel {10-Spades}

to eliminate both players and award the Spanish gentleman a very tasty pot.

"This guy's killing the game," claimed Chad Brown, smirking slightly. Whatever he's doing, it seems to be working though, as he now has a very healthy stack of 55,000.

Tags: Casper Hansen

09-11-2008 01:17 UTC+3

Mercier Likes the Three-Bet

[user25067]

Jason Mercier's stack has been on the rise over the last couple of levels, cracking the 40,000 mark. And with such a deep stack come moves like this one.

Johannes Strassmann opened for 1,200 from early position. The button reraised to 3,200 before Mercier popped it to 9,700, Strassmann quickly got out of the way, and after a stint in the tank, the button folded as well.

And just like that, Mercier added another 5,400 to his stack, taking him up to 48,000.

Tags: Jason Mercier

09-11-2008 01:13 UTC+3

Chino Falling Fast

[user25067]

Once sitting close to the top of the leaderboard, David "Chino" Rheem has lost more than three-quarters of his stack over the last level, a good chunk of it on the following hand.

In a pot that was raised preflop by an early-position player and reraised by Rheem, the flop came down {8-Clubs}

. Both players checked. The turn was the {4-Diamonds}

. The EP player bet 3,150 and Rheem quickly called. The river was the {3-Clubs}

. The EP player fired out another 7,000 and after a whole lot of chip shuffling, Rheem made the call. His opponent turned over {6-Clubs}

for the straight and Rheem mucked.

After the hand Rheem was left with only 9,000 in chips.

Tags: Chino David Rheem

Level: 8

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 75

09-11-2008 00:42 UTC+3

Hungary for More

[user4144]

Hungarian Denes Kalo is going to struggle to echo his previous EPT successes, his stack dropping to 4,000 after losing a coinflip with J-J versus A-Q when a second queen spiked the flop.

Tags: Denes Kalo

09-11-2008 00:38 UTC+3

Race for the Chip Lead

[user4144]

As we dive headfirst into our penultimate level of the day, a few players are starting to stretch away from the chasing pack and build a formidable stack.

Michael Keiner in particular has shot out of the blocks, the former bracelet winner currently boasting a 60,000-plus stack. Meanwhile, Jesper Hougaard and Jonathan Dwek aren't too far behind with 58,000 and 50,000 respectively, neither is PokerStars pro Andre Akkari on 49,500. Also worth keeping an eye on are Michael Murra with 47,000, Spaniard Daniel Mangas on 41,000 and, of course, Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi with 40,000. But at this stage you just can't count anybody out. Well, except the guys who are actually out.

Tags: Michael Keiner

09-11-2008 00:31 UTC+3

Rheem Takes a Hit

[user40108]

David Rheem raised to 1,100 from middle position. The player next to act put in a reraise making it 2,200 to play. Action folded back around to Rheem and he made the call.

Rheem checked dark and the flop came {9-Clubs}

. David's opponent bet 3,000 and Rheem quickly slid out a stack of 24 red chips (T24,000) which was more than enough to put his opponent all in.

The two began a dialogue in which Rheem admitted he was beat before the flop but was quite sure he now held the best hand. After a few minutes of typical table talk, Rheem eventually got the call he was looking for. The players showed:

Rheem: {7-Hearts}

Opponent:

The turn was disaster for Rheem as it came the {5-Clubs}

and completed his opponent's flush. The river helped neither player falling the {Q-Diamonds}

and after a count, Rheem pushed an additional 13,225 chips over to his opponent. He is now down to just under 25,000 chips.

09-11-2008 00:13 UTC+3

Yo-yo Stack for Greco

[user4144]

Michael Greco was up to 20,000 at one stage, but has been bashed back down to his starting stack after running pocket jacks into pocket aces.

Meanwhile, I have been restricted to just three final questions regarding EastEnders after continually probing him about the show for the last three years. Thinking cap on, must make them count.

Tags: Michael Greco