2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo

PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Grand Final
Day: 2
Event Info

2008 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
a5
Prize
$3,198,500
Event Info
Buy-in
$15,764
Prize Pool
$13,393,124
Entries
842
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
10,000

Judah Jumping Up Leaderboard

Mel Judah
Mel Judah
Andreas Torbergsen opened the action with a raise to 2,200 and found himself three callers including Mel Judah.

The flop came {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}{2-Spades} and Torbergsen led out with a 3,800 bet. Judah made the call and the other two players folded.

The turn brought the {4-Diamonds} and Torbergsen checked the action over to Judah who fired a healthy bet of 12,000 into the middle. "Reeeeaallllyyy?" pondered Torbergsen as he counted out his remaining stack.

Bizarrely, Judah decided this was a good time to tie his shoelaces, as Torbergsen went into the tank. Eventually he laid down his hand and Judah replied, "I'll tell you later," as he scooped a nice pot.

Judah now sits with close to 70,000 while Torbergsen is left to struggle with a stack of 26,000.

Tags: Mel Judah

Edlund Busts Opponent

Sandra Edlund
Sandra Edlund
Sweden's Sandra Edlund, a former dealer sponsored by T6 Poker and a member of the famed Swedish Bikini Team, may be brand new to high stakes tournament poker, but in the short time she's been playing (all of two days) she's developed quite the fan club. Fortunately, for you - the fans...and you know you're a fan...she just took down a pot that practically doubled her up.

Facing a 6,500 all-in bet from an opponent seated to her immediate right, Sandra made the call, leaving herself with just a few thousand behind. Action then folded around to Marcel Luske in the big blind who seemed as though he wanted to play, but eventually let Edlund and her opponent settle things themselves.

At the showdown, the all-in player tabled {A-Spades}{5-Spades}, saying, "It's not much, but I don't have very many chips." Edlund then smiled, knowing she was in good shape with her pocket jacks. "Ah, of course she's got a big pair," her opponent chided.

The board filled out {6-Diamonds}{5-Diamonds}{K-Clubs}{10-Spades}{Q-Spades} and when the final card was dealt and Sandra guaranteed victory, nearby railbirds let out a roar as their new favorite player raked in the pot.

Sandra now has just under 20,000 in chips and a heap of new confidence.

Tags: Sandra Edlund

Hachem Hits Century

Chad Brown,Ed de Haas and Joe Hachem
Chad Brown,Ed de Haas and Joe Hachem
Joe Hachem has taken control of his table, recently busting out another player and raising most pots while the short stacks sit and wait for a premium hand. Hachem has passed the century mark and now sits with around 115,000 chips to be amongst the tournament chip leaders.

Also on his table sits the man-mountain Ed de Haas who also has a mountain of chips with around 75,000.

Tags: Joe Hachem

Daniel Negreanu Eliminated

Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu re-raised his opponent's 2,200 open to 7,400, only to be three-bet all in. Negreanu insta-called and turned up {Q-Hearts}{Q-Clubs} and was delighted to see his opponent's T-T. The flop, though, was a brutal {K-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{6-Clubs}, making his opponent's set. The turn was the {A-Clubs}, giving him more outs with a gutshot straight draw and a flush draw, but the {5-Spades} was no help for Kid Poker and he hit the rail.

Tags: Daniel Negreanu

Alex Kravchenko Doubles Up

Alex Kravchenko
Alex Kravchenko
After big-stacked Luis Sevilla re-raised Alex Kravchenko's opening raise, the Russian moved all in for his remaining 21,500 and Sevilla made the call. Sevilla turned up {A-Diamonds}{Q-Diamonds} but was crushed by Kravchenko's {A-Clubs}{A-Spades}. The board ran out {10-Hearts}{5-Spades}{4-Spades}{8-Hearts}{J-Clubs} and Kravchenko doubled up, increasing his stack to 46,000. Sevilla still had plenty of chips, with 125,000 in front of him.

"Easy game, isn't it?" quipped Kravchenko's tablemate Josh Arieh with a smirk.

Tags: Alex Kravchenko

Lodden Breaches 200k

J-Lod
J-Lod
Norwegian Pro Johnny Lodden just took down a monster pot with pocket aces against an opponent's kings to move into the overall tournament chip lead. Lodden and his opponent traded bets on a {2-Clubs}{Q-Diamonds}{2-Spades} flop, culminating with Lodden calling the unknown's all-in shove. The turn and river blanked out {4-Clubs}, {Q-Hearts} and Lodden scooped up the pot worth over 50,000 in chips.

Johnny has eliminated two players in as many minutes and currently shows no sign of slowing down.

Tags: Johnny Lodden

Gwinner Joins "High Stakes Group"

Henrik Gwinner and Barry Greenstein
Henrik Gwinner and Barry Greenstein
Henrik Gwinner has just been moved to a very tough table featuring the likes of Barry Greenstein, Sorel Mizzi and Antonio Esfandiari.

Upon joining the table he commented, "Looks like the high stakes group!" before questioning Esfandiari "How many chips you got?"

"Not enough," came the reply from Antonio.

Gwinner then recalled a hand where he obtained a large portion of his current 62,000-chip stack. "I had a set of aces against a set of eights and all the money went in," said Gwinner.

"So you only had 43 outs?" asked a tongue-in-cheek Antonio.

This table is certain to produce a lot of fun and action throughout the day.

Tags: Henrik Gwinner

Scoreboard Update

Mel Judah - 54,200
Alexia Portal - 104,000
Humberto Brenes - 19,200
Thierry van der Berg - 12,100
Josh "JJProdigy" Field - 32,000
Vanessa Rousso - 53,000
Barry Greenstein - 56,300
Michael "Timex" McDonald - 37,400