Vilamoura Championship Main Event Day 1a | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT Vilamoura

Level: 8

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 75

11-17-2009 20:04 UTC

Naalden Goes For Broke

[user66118]

Martin Kabrhel opened the pot with a raise to 1,700 in early position. Ricardo Garcia made the call two seats over, and action eventually passed to Marc Naalden. Looking down at {9-Clubs}

, Naalden moved all in for 16,200.

Kabrhel went into the tank for several minutes as he cut out the calling chips from his stack and counted the rest down. After another minute or so, he announced an all-in re-raise over the top. Garcia quickly folded out of the way, and Kabrhel turned up his {K-Hearts}

, looking to win a race for the knockout.

Naalden would hold strong on a board that ran out six-high: {5-Hearts}

. Fives full is plenty good enough to win him the pot, and Naalden has more than doubled up to about 36,000.

Tags: Marc Naalden Martin Kabrhel Ricardo Garcia

11-17-2009 19:50 UTC

No Life on Wijermars

[user46392]

A couple hands later Anthony Lellouche raised again, and this time Riekus Wijermars announced all in for his last 7,550. A call, and a race.

Wijermars: {10-Clubs}

Lellouche: {A-Diamonds}

Board:

Thus the young Dutchman is flushed from the tournament system, and Lellouche is up to around 33,000.

Tags: Anthony Lellouche Riekus Wijermars

11-17-2009 19:45 UTC

Life's a Bichon

[user46392]

Anthony Lellouche raised under the gun and it folded right around to Thomas Bichon in the big blind who expressionlessly tossed in the call.

Bichon checked the {K-Hearts}

flop and Lellouche bet 1,200. Call.

They both checked the {8-Diamonds}

turn, but come the {10-Hearts}

river Bichon bet out 4,500, nonchalant as could be. After some brief consideration, Lolrus-lookalike Lellouche folded.

Bichon - 38,000
Lellouche - 25,000

Tags: Anthony Lellouche Thomas Bichon

11-17-2009 19:36 UTC

Barbosa Draws Even With Lavallee

[user66118]

Jason Lavallee open-raised to 1,400, and Joao Barbosa three-bet to 3,600. Lavallee then made it 10,000 straight, and Barbosa moved all in for more than 20,000. With a quick call, the cards were on their backs, and Barbosa was looking for a double up to survive.

Showdown
Lavallee: {A-Clubs}

Barbosa:

The board ran out safe for Barbosa and his pair: {J-Spades}

. That's good enough to double him up to about 50,000, dropping Lavallee down to about the same.

Tags: Jason Lavallee Joao Barbosa

11-17-2009 19:34 UTC

Kabrhel Skamming

[user46392]

Martin Kabrhel is not letting up the aggression just yet.

Jan Skampa raised in late position and Mr. Kabrhel called out of the big blind; they saw an {A-Diamonds}

flop. Kabrhel checked and Skampa duly bet in position. Kabrhel opted to check-raise, though, and Skampa quickly gave it up.

11-17-2009 19:23 UTC

What Can Brown Do For You?

[user66118]

Ricardo Sousa opened the betting with an under-the-gun raise, and Chad Brown came along with the call in position. The flop rolled out {K-Hearts}

, and Sousa continued out with a bet of 1,600. Brown stuck in an oversized chip and quietly announced, "Thirty-five." Sousa made the call after some quick contemplation.

The turn was the {J-Spades}

, and as it fell, a member of the PokerStars staff came to deliver a piece of paper to Brown at the table. He seemed a bit distracted by it, and Sousa led out once again with a bet of 5,000. Brown was still looking at the paper, and he quickly double-checked his cards and folded them away.

Tags: Chad Brown Ricardo Sousa

Level: 7

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 50

11-17-2009 18:54 UTC

Break Time

[user46392]

15 minutes of milling about for our remaining 99 runners.

11-17-2009 18:51 UTC

Skampa-ring Up the Leaderboard

[user66118]

Ismail Erkenov limped into the pot under the gun, and René Schmerda made a raise in the next seat over. Big blind Jan Skampa put in the call, but Erkenov made another raise when the action came back to him. Not to be out-done, Schmerda came back over the top again, and Skampa surprised everyone. After smooth calling initially, the big blind re-re-re-raised another 37,500 on top, and that was enough to fold Erkenov out of the way. Schmerda wasn't so quickly pacified though, and he clumsily pushed all of his chips up near the betting line, covered by the raise and now all in for his tournament life.

Showdown
Schmerda: {A-Spades}

Skampa:

Skampa stood from his chair for a split second before apparently realizing he wasn't the one at risk. Schmerda remained seated as the dealer sealed his fate with a board of {J-Diamonds}

. Unable to find any help, Schmerda has been knocked off, and the big pot goes to Skampa. That puts the Czech pro in a good way with almost 70,000 now.

Tags: Jan Skampa