€5,250 Championship Main Event | 2008 PokerStars.com EPT - Prague

12-13-2008 14:02 UTC+1

Chen Gets Some Back

Not as much as he lost though. On the subsequent hand, Andrew Alan Chen pushed all in for 118,000 and picked up the blinds and antes uncontested, although nemesis and new chip leader Alexiou Konstantinos did seem tempted on the the button.

Tags: Andrew Alan Chen

12-13-2008 14:02 UTC+1

Greek Tragedy For Chen

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Chen raises to 30,000 and Alexiou Konstantinos, who doesn't like to fold his big blind, called and they saw a {K-Spades}

flop which was checked. On the {9-Clubs}

turn Konstantinos bet 30,000 and Chen called while on the {6-Diamonds}

river, Konstantinos bet 120,000. Chen sighed and called. Konstantinos showed {9-Hearts}

for the rivered two pair and held his arms aloft before clapping for himself as Chen mucked.

Chen is down to about 120,000 while Konstantinos is chip leader as a result.

Tags: Alexiou Konstantinos Andrew Alan Chen

12-13-2008 13:54 UTC+1

[Removed:198] Takes One Down

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[Removed:197] raised to 28,000 preflop and Francesco Cirianni flat-called. On the {3-Hearts}

flop, Nasr took it down with a continue bet of 50,000.

12-13-2008 13:51 UTC+1

Big Raise?

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With the blinds being rolled back to 6k/12k for half an hour, there's still plenty of play in this tournament. Alexiou Konstantinos though, is not making it cheap, with his first raise from the hijack, he makes it a chunky 60,000 to play.

He gets the blinds and antes.

Tags: Alexiou Konstantinos

12-13-2008 13:46 UTC+1

Raul Mestre Eliminated in 8th Place (€71,800)

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On only the second hand of the day, Raul Mestre raised to 30,000 from the cut-off and Fredrik Nygard increased it to 100,000 from the small blind. After a short delay, Mestre pushed all in for an additional 210,000.

Nygard didn't seem pleased. He had 2:1 on his money, but waited before deciding what to do. After around a minute of hesitation, he made a reluctant call.

Nygard = {9-Diamonds}

Mestre =

Mestre rose from his seat as it suddenly dawned on the press room that it was he who held the {A-Clubs}

.

Flop = {8-Spades}

But drama as the next card came...

Turn = {A-Hearts}

Don't celebrate just yet Spanish fans, this is poker, not tiddly-winks...

River = {Q-Hearts}

A disappointed Mestre departs in eighth place.

Tags: Fredrik Nygard Raul Mestre

12-13-2008 13:35 UTC+1

First Blood

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Our current short-stack took down the first hand with a raise from the small blind. First blood to Andrew Alan Chen.

Tags: Andrew Alan Chen

Level: 21

Blinds: 6,000/12,000

Ante: 1,000

12-13-2008 13:21 UTC+1

Impending Start

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Players are just having their photos taken before they start, we should be up and running in the next 10 minutes or so.

12-13-2008 13:03 UTC+1

Final Table Bios: Seat 9: Salvatore Bonavena (1,402,000)

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Age: 44
Hometown: Vibo Valencia, Italy

Salvatore is an amateur player from Italy but enjoying a spectacular roll on the European circuit right now. He came 2nd in a Notte di Poker event in Venice three weeks ago for €100,000 and is now chip leader going into the final table of EPT Prague. By day, Salvatore – who is married with two sons – works for a housing association in Monza but he plays a lot of recreational poker in card rooms through Italy. This is his second EPT – he played San Remo last season but didn’t cash.

Tags: Salvatore Bonavena

12-13-2008 13:00 UTC+1

Final Table Bios: Seat 8: Fredrik Nygard (666,000)

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Age: 32
Hometown:Pietarsaan, Finland

Despite playing cards for more than half of his 32 years, Fredrik Nygard is contesting his first EPT here in Prague - and is chip leader going to the final table. He plays any games he can find - blackjack, Caribbean stud, five-card stud, whatever - but is most profitable around the poker tables, where he is primarily a high-stakes, live cash player. He has played on the WPT and at the Aussie Millions, focusing on the side action there, and enjoys travelling to play. Formerly a salesman for nine years, with his own sales consultancy business, Nygard now lives in Oslo, Norway, a short hop from his native Finland.