2009 PokerStars.com EPT Prague

EPT Prague Main Event
Day: 2
Event Info

2009 PokerStars.com EPT Prague

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
jj
Prize
€682,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€2,842,100
Entries
586
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
25,000
Players Info - Day 2

EPT Prague Main Event

Day 2 Completed

Halfway Home; Day 2 Concludes

Yann Brosolo
Yann Brosolo
We've hit the halfway mark of the PokerStars.com EPT Prague as Day 2 has come and gone. The day dawned with well over 300 runners back in their chairs to pick up the action and push towards the money bubble. We didn't quite make it to that stage yet, but we still finished up with under 100 players.

It was an up-and-down day for a number of notables. Jeff Sarwer started the day moving in the wrong direction, but he quickly righted the ship to find his stack moving towards the top once again. A failed three-barrel bluff and a few lost showdowns later though, and Sarwer had been relegated to the rail. This Day 2 exit marks his earliest elimination and first non-cashing performance in the last three EPT events.

While some of the Team PokerStars Pros were vaulting up the board, others were finding the going a little tougher. Katja Thater, Thierry van den Berg, Marcel Luske, and Alexander Kravchenko all failed to get much going today. Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier managed to get his stack moving early, but he would tumble down and eventually out in the last half of the day.

As players continued to drop out at the cyclic rate, a few players really started to assert themselves. Luca Pagano had a good day, and he moved his stack pretty consistently in the right direction. Arnaud Mattern sat patiently and waited for his spots, and he was rewarded with a late double up to boost his stack back into contention. Not surprisingly, Antony Lellouche is up there in the mix as well. The gregarious French pro has had no trouble amassing chips during the middle stages of EPT events, and he'll be looking to avoid another in a long line of late-stage blowups as this event progresses.

Pieter de Korver rode a late surge into the top five on the scoreboard, but he couldn't quite get himself into first place. That honor appears to belong to relative unknown Yann Brosolo and his stack of 574,100. We'll have to wait for the full chip counts before we can be absolutely certain, but we couldn't find a mightier stack than that.

So that's it for Day 2 then, and the first half of this event. We and the remaining players will be back in the house tomorrow at high noon to burst the bubble and play down to the final few tables. We'll see you then!

Tags: Yann Brosolo

It's Always Funner...

We wandered into a preflop raising war at one of the center tables. Craig Bergeron had opened the pot from early position, and Marc Gork had three-bet to 16,500 from late position. When it came back to Bergeron, he plunked a big stack of yellow chips in the middle and announced, "All in." Gork didn't waste much time calling, but neither man wanted to be the first to show their cards.

"Tens," said Bergeron finally, tabling {10-Hearts} {10-Diamonds}. Gork slapped his {J-Clubs} {J-Spades} down on the felt with the ol' double fist pump, poised for a double up.

The flop was about as bad as it gets for Bergeron, coming {5-Clubs} {8-Clubs} {7-Clubs}. The {4-Diamonds} on the turn was one of the better cards in the deck, though, as it gave the underpair three more outs to the chop. Looking for the ten of spades or a non-club six, Bergeron's slim draw would come through. The {6-Hearts} ripped off the deck, and Gork simply could not believe what he was seeing as he threw his arms up and stormed away from the table.

No chips change hands, and it's on to the next shuffle.

Tags: Craig BergeronMarc Gork

Greenwood Elminated; Greenwood Eliminated

We can only show you one brother, so here's Max. Since he's older.
We can only show you one brother, so here's Max. Since he's older.
As we walked back into the tournament room, we passed Max Greenwood walking in the other direction and looking rather glum. We asked him for the short version of his bustout, and that's exactly what he gave us: "I lost like a ton of pots today, and then I shoved 10 bigs with queen-seven." 'Nuff said.

Directly from that encounter, we walked over to the table of brother Luc to check on him, and he was tangled up in a pot as we arrived. On a flop of {10-Diamonds} {6-Spades} {K-Diamonds}, Luc had led out into the pot with a bet of 12,000. Arnaud Mattern was the man he was up against, and the French pro stuck in a raise to 29,400. After a long session in the tank, Greenwood then moved all in for 89,500, and Mattern couldn't have called any quicker.

Showdown
Mattern: {K-Clubs} {10-Clubs}
Greenwood: {6-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds}

The news was not good at all for Greenwood. He and Mattern shared very similar stacks, but Greenwood would likely need to find another six to win this particular hand. It wouldn't come, though, as the board filled out with the {7-Clubs} and the {J-Hearts}. With a clap of his hands and a big, "Yes!" Arnaud's two pair held up. When the two stacks were counted down, Luc was indeed covered by just a couple thousand chips. He wished the table luck and took one last long look at his buy-in being pushed across the felt as he headed out the door.

Exeunt the brothers Greenwood after a fine, but cashless, performance this week.

Tags: Luc GreenwoodMax Greenwood

Fionn Goes On

The gentleman under the gun limped in, only for Fionn MacNamara to make it 10,500 to go. The gentleman in the small blind unexpectedly moved in and Mr. Under The Gun folded; MacNamara called, though, and they were on their backs.

Mr. Small Blind: {9-Hearts} {9-Spades}
MacNamara: {Q-Hearts} {Q-Spades}

Board: {J-Clubs} {4-Spades} {K-Clubs} {J-Diamonds} {7-Hearts}

MacNamara is up to around 200,000.

Skampa V. Pagano

Luca Pagano and Jan Skampa saw an {8-Hearts} {9-Diamonds} {2-Diamonds} flop. It looked as though Pagano had checked; either way when we arrived there was a 21,500 bet in front of Skampa, which Pagano duly called.

Pagano checked blind, but Skampa waited to see the {2-Hearts} turn before betting 52,000. "How much you got?" asked Pagano threateningly - but after a few moments' consideration, he decided to fold.

Skampa - 270,000
Pagano - 280,000

Tags: Jan SkampaLuca Pagano

Doubling Darcourt

Guillaume Darcourt opened to 7,700 in late position, and the player to his left called. Noah Boeken came along from the big blind as well, and they went off to a three-handed flop.

It came {K-Diamonds} {7-Diamonds} {4-Diamonds}, and Boeken checked. Darcourt continued out with a bet of 19,900, and the man next door raised to 49,000 straight. Boeken reluctantly folded, Darcourt moved all in for about 84,000, and his opponent quickly called.

Showdown
Darcourt: {A-Spades} {A-Clubs}
Man next door: {A-Diamonds} {J-Clubs}

Darcourt was looking to hold his aces to survive, but he'd need to fade the diamonds in the deck as well as any potentially perilous runner-runner combinations. The {4-Clubs} on the turn was safe for him, and the {K-Hearts} on the end was no danger either. That secures Darcourt's double up; he's sitting with just about 200,000 now after that big pot.

(Boeken says he folded king-queen.)

Tags: Guillaume Darcourt

Marget-Me-Not

Leo Margets' table was broken, and she headed dutifully off to her new table assignment. A minute or two later she was back. Her chips lay in two racks where she'd left them on her old table.

"I knew I was forgetting something," she said as she whisked them off with her.

ELkY Rides Out

We came back into the card room to discover the field rather less bleached and rhinestoned. The cause - ElkY's demise on the last hand before the break. Arnaud Mattern filled us in.

It seems that Rui Cao had just moved to the table, and he raised. ElkY reraised such a sum as to almost commit himself, Cao shoved, and ElkY called all in with {A-Hearts} {J-Hearts}. Cao was holding aces ("Pocket rockkkkkkets," said Mattern, with obvious relish for some reason), and that was the end for the rhinestone cowboy.

Tags: ElkY