€10,000 EPT Grand Final Main Event Day 2 | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT Grand Final

Apr 30, 2009

Battle of the Lame Hands

We have a new contender for Table Of Doom -- the doom is heavy in the air around the table that now includes Ami Barer, Michael Tureniec, Will Fry, Sami Kelopuro and Eric Liu.

Just now Sami Kelopuro raised to 4,000 under the gun, only for Ami Barer to make it 11,800 from the cutoff. Folds all round the button and blinds, and a call from Kelopuro.

They saw a {9-Hearts}

flop and Kelopuro checked to Barer who bet 16,100. Call. Both players checked the {10-Hearts}

turn, and Kelopuro checked the {K-Clubs}

river as well. "How much have you got?" Barer asked, and was told 165,000. He slowly counted out around 60,000, but paused. He looked Kelopuro up and down. Then he sniggered. "Check."

Barer turned over a rather lackluster {5-Clubs}

, and Kelopuro's also not fantastic {9-Spades}

took the pot.

Apr 30, 2009

Selected Chip Counts

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Joe Hachem: 85,000
Annette Obrestad: 112,000
Ilari Sahamies: 234,000
Luca Pagano: 181,000
Sami Kelopuro: 185,000
John Tabatabai: 60,000
Peter Hedlund: 0, oh dear

Apr 30, 2009

So Much for Climber of the Day

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Ah, Leo Fernandez. You couldn't run that good forever, we suppose.

Fernandez opened a pot from the small blind to 4,100. Lance Thomas Funston, in the big blind, reraised to 12,000. Fernandez bent down low over the felt, as if he were trying to see through or under Funston's cards. Funston obligingly moved his cards very close to Fernandez' face.

After a short spell, Fernandez moved all in, putting Funston to the test. "Oo la la," said Funston. "Every race you win." He closed his eyes and tilted his head back. Then he looked around at his tablemates and launched into a soliloquy worthy of Shakespeare.

"I want you all to know it's been a pleasure playing with you," Funston began. "It's very likely that this will be my last hand. I couldn't imagine playing with a better group of guys. How many of you think I should call?" There was some chuckling from the table -- and also a request for a clock. The clock request caused Funston to finally call.

Funston: {A-Spades}

Fernandez: {A-Diamonds}

Board:

When the stacks were counted down, Fernandez had Funston covered by 12,000 chips. That's what Fernandez has left now. Funston is up to 95,000.

Tags: Leo Fernandez

Apr 30, 2009

About Where They Started

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While more and more players top the 200k mark (Ludovic Lacay, for one, now on 230k), some are hovering around 30k. This was the starting stack for this event, a whole 10 levels ago. But there was of course a lot more play with it back when the blinds were 50/100...

Andy Black - 32,400
Johnny Lodden - 34,000
Alexander Kravchenko - 34,600
Adam Junglen - 30,500
Rolf Slotboom - 39,000

Apr 30, 2009

Ferguson Eats Mystery Lunch

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Spotted not heading for the sunshine during the break: Mr. Chris Ferguson. Instead, joined by his girlfriend, he remained at his table and munched on a very curious packed lunch which appeared to consist of some cold french fries and a couple mystery items wrapped in tin foil, presented in a bento box. Good to know he's thinking ahead.

Tags: Chris Ferguson

Apr 30, 2009

What Are the Blinds?

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Chips - how many of these make one big blind?

Incidentally, there seems to have been a bit of minor tweaking with the structure and the general order of service today. At the start of this level, the TD actually managed to announce the new blinds and antes incorrectly twice before finally hitting upon the correct 800/1,600/200 formula. He added a laconic, "Sorry," over the mic when he was done.

Apr 30, 2009

Dwyer Higher

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John Dwyer started the day with just under 100k, and is slowly but surely increasing. I hovered in the vicinity of the stripey-jumpered Irishman for quite a while to see some cards, but it appears he doesn't ever get to showdown. He did play a number of pots, though. Once he called J.J. Liu's button raise to 3,600 in the big blind, but passed on the {6-Diamonds}

flop when the short-stacked Liu (44k) bet 7,000.

The very next hand he was back in it, repopping an early position and quickly picking up some uncontested chips to replace those he'd given Liu.

Tags: JJ Liu John Dwyer

Apr 30, 2009

Medic the King

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Just a few tables away from Wooka Kim, a similar scenario played out in a pot involving Nenad Medic. Medic was the preflop aggressor with a raise to 4,200; his short-stacked opponent moved in from the big blind and Medic quickly called. This time, the hands were reversed. Medic showed down the big pair, {K-Clubs}

, and his opponent had the {A-Spades}

. The board stayed low, {8-Diamonds}

, to give Medic the pot and to knock out his opponent.

Medic's opponent remained seated until the dealer had passed all of his chips to Medic. Then he stood up, said "Nice hand. Good luck, people," and walked off.

Medic is up to 125,000 in chips.

Tags: Nenad Medic

Apr 30, 2009

A Good Time for Aces

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Really, it's always a good time for aces. But some times are better than others. The value of a hand like aces is a bit less in the early stages of a large MTT like the EPT Grand Final, when a player can't stand to win as many chips. As play progresses, the value increases. It's perhaps even best when you're short on chips.

Wooka Kim, after taking a hit at the end of the day yesterday and not getting much started today, was short on chips and in the big blind. There was an open-raise to 4,100 from middle position. She squeezed her cards, then calmly declared, "All in" and moved her 15,700 chips into the middle. Her opponent called with {A-Hearts}

; Kim turned over {A-Clubs}

. Nothing has come easy in this tournament for her, so of course the flop was queen-high, {4-?}

. Kim looked to the ceiling as if to say, "Are you kidding me?" but the turn and river were safe cards, {J-?}

and

. She doubled up to about 34,000.

Tags: Wooka Kim

Apr 30, 2009

Obrestad Resurgent

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After dropping a few chips early on, Annette Obrestad is back to building the towers. Just before the break she took about half of Bruce Yamron's stack - he called her 20k bet on the {5-Hearts}

flop, another 20k on the {4-Diamonds}

turn, but passed to her final 20k bet on the {K-Clubs}

river.

Tags: Annette Obrestad