[user67765]
Chad Brown
Chad Brown has just taken an early hit to his stack after a confrontation with Benoit Gariepy. The player in the cutoff position limped and Gariepy raised it up to 225 from the button. Brown, in the small blind made the call, as did the cutoff player.
The three players saw a flop of and the action was checked to Gariepy who led out for 350. Brown then check-raised making it 1,000 to go. The cutoff folded and Gariepy thought for a few moments before making the call.
The turn was a repeat and Brown fired out a 2,000 chip bet. Gariepy quickly raised the action once again, making it 5,000 to go as the pot suddenly started to balloon. Brown called fairly quickly as the two players went to the river.
The on the river slowed the players down as both checked and flipped their cards. Brown showed however his two pair wasn't enough as Gariepy revealed for top two pair.
[user25067]
Dario Alioto and Max Pescatori
In another odd table pairing, everyone's favorite Italian Pirate Max Pescatori drew the seat next to his young protege and fellow countryman Dario Alioto. Alioto first caught our attention when he made the final table of the $1,500 PLO8 tournament at last summer's WSOP. He followed that up by taking down his first bracelet in the £5,000 PLO event at the WSOP-Europe last September. Pescatori, of course, is a WSOP bracelet winner himself, winning a $2,500 NLHE event in 2006, on the same day that Italy won the World Cup.
[user25067]
Chad "lilholdem954" Batista looks every inch the online player, decked out in the requisite hoodie, sunglasses, and Bose headphones as he sits ensconced in the nine-seat, across from Joe Hachem. The two just tangled in their first pot together, Batista putting in a pre-flop re-raise of Hachem's open, and the Aussie making the smooth call. The flop was . Batista checked, Hachem bet 700, and Batisita called. The turn was the . Batista checked again, and after a short think, Hachem fired out another 2,000, sending Batista into the tank. After much chip riffling, Batista mucked, and Hachem took down an early pot.
[user25067]
It's a murderer's row of young guns in the back corner of the Salle des Etoiles. Online whiz and EPT Copenhagen final tabler Danny "THE__D__RY" Ryan has to contend with WPT Foxwoods Champion Nick Schulman, as well as Alex Kravchenko, the fiercely aggressive young Russian who took home a WSOP bracelet last summer and finished 4th in the 2007 Main Event. Across from them, Team Poker Stars' Vanessa Rousso stares down the dome-headed Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza while Antonio Esfandiari faces off with Sweden's William Thorson, fresh off his 6th place finish at the EPT San Remo only a week ago.
[user38449]
A large contingent of successful online pros have come out to play this afternoon, led by Canadian Michael "Timex" McDonald, who in just a few short months has already made a name for himself on the live tournament circuit.
Joining McDonald in the field are fellow whiz kids Josh "JJProdigy" Field, Jeff "ActionJeff" Garza, Chad "lilholdem954" Batista and Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron. Also of note, Team PokerStars pros Dario Minieri and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier both made names for themselves online, before storming into the live arena.
[user25067]
Boris Wears Short Shorts
Making his EPT debut today is newly minted Team Poker Stars member and six-time Grand Slam singles champion Boris Becker, who already has a flock of railbirds larger than the Daniel Negreanu/Chad Brown table. We'll see if he takes to the felt as well as he did to the court.
[user25067]
Also playing today are Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Johan Storakers, Nick Schulman, Mickey Wernick, Alex Kravchenko, Ed de Haas, Danny Ryan, Dario Alioto, Juha Helppi, Ram Vaswani, William Thorson, Mark Goodwin, EPT Copenhagen champion Tim Vance, and 2008 Aussie Millions Champion Alexander Kostritsyn.
[user67765]
Already spotted in today's field are the likes of Joe Hachem, Lee Nelson, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu, Chris Moneymaker, Vanessa Rousso, Vicky Coren, Thor Hansen, Max Pescatori, Boris Becker, Mike McDonald, Dario Minieri, Victor Ramdin and defending EPT Monte Carlo Champion Gavin Griffin!
[user67765]
Early Table of Death?
Following a spectacular lights and music display to commence the day's play, the featured PokerStars.com professionals made their way from the main stage and took their seats. In an interesting twist, Chad Brown and Daniel Negreanu found themselves heading to the same table, which is certain to produce plenty of highlights today!
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and the action was checked to Gariepy who led out for 350. Brown then check-raised making it 1,000 to go. The cutoff folded and Gariepy thought for a few moments before making the call.
and Brown fired out a 2,000 chip bet. Gariepy quickly raised the action once again, making it 5,000 to go as the pot suddenly started to balloon. Brown called fairly quickly as the two players went to the river.
on the river slowed the players down as both checked and flipped their cards. Brown showed 
however his two pair wasn't enough as Gariepy revealed 
for top two pair.
. Batista checked, Hachem bet 700, and Batisita called. The turn was the 
