On a flop of the big blind checked to Daniel Negreanu, who bet 350. His middle position opponent made the call and the big blind folded. The turn was the and Negreanu bet 1,000, getting another call. The river came the and with something of a bemused look, Negreanu moved all in for his remaining 2,425. After thinking it over for several minutes, the MP player called.
Negreanu tabled and raked in the pot, doubling his stack to just short of the 8,000 chip mark.
Dario Minieri, whose ultra-aggressive style was the catalyst for one of the fastest final tables in EPT history in San Remo last spring, is at it again.
Minieri just got involved in a big hand in which he was heads up from the big blind with 1,600 chips in before the flop. When the flop came , Minieri bet 1,600 and his middle position opponent looked him up.
When the hit the turn, the Italian didn't hesitate to push his last 5,175 across the betting line. His opponent thought for upwards of a minute before finally throwing his cards away. Minieri showed as he stacked the pot and took his chip count to just over the 12,000 mark.
Although connection issues are resulting in a premature loss of hair, I was able to learn of Alan Smurfit's earlier double up courtesy of Brummie Bandit Stuart Rutter. According to my normally reliable source, the former WSOP bracelet winner found pocket aces against pockets threes and continued to batter a dramatic A-7-3-A-3. Oddly, Smurfit's opponent was unable to fold his quads, with the chips duly rocketing in on the cruelest of rivers.
As I was discussing Italian heritage with Charlie Ciresi, a roar from the neighboring table interrupted our exchange as one player screamed in celebration at the very top of his voice. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeessssssss!!!" he exclaimed, causing the entire cardroom to swivel in their chairs. "I think he won," observed Ciresi astutely.
In a moment that was reminiscent of a Scooby Doo episode, the triumphant player (later identified as Hungarian amateur Laslo Pocze) then proceeded to leap into the arms (or thereabouts) of his onlooking friend on the rail. It was as though he'd won the tournament there and then!
A quick glance down at the felt unveiled the motive, our doctor from Budapest having outdrawn queens with aces on a queen high flop when a most welcome third bullet arrived on the river. "Have you ever seen a celebration of that magnitude?" I asked Charlie. For a TD who has watched more than his fair share of tournaments unfold, his startled expression spoke volumes.
There isn't a plethora of Portuguese players here today, but Sergio Bessa has been making up for the lack of man-power by finding more action than a Die Hard box set. After a messy A-J versus A-Q encounter on a 9-6-3-A-3 board dissected Bessa's stack in half, the Portuguese amateur pushed with kings, and was paid off by jacks to see his stack jump back up to the 8,000 mark. The exhausted expression on his face suggested he'd be hoping for a quieter second level.
Raymond Rahme led out for 775 on a flop of , only to have the cutoff move all in for 7,000 or so, having Rahme significantly covered. Rahme made the call, slapping his on the table. The cutoff showed for overcards and a flush draw. The turn was the , the river was the and Rahme got a much-needed double up after running into some trouble early on. He's now up to just over 7,000.
Despite his good start, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, was just sighted leaving the tournament area, removing his iPod with a dejected look on his face. Also facing early elimination was Isabelle Mercier, his fellow member of Team PokerStars.
We caught up to this hand on showdown when the pot was being pushed to Freddy Deeb's opponent.
On a board of , Deeb tabled and was second best against the of his opponent. Both men seemed worried about the four card straight as well as the flush possibilities but it didn't stop either from playing their set hard and fast.
The pot was quite sizable and when the dust settled Deeb was left with just 3,475 chips.