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

11-17-2009 12:56 UTC

Take Your Boom Mic Outside

[user66118]

This EPT event has an atmosphere that is completely unique to this stop. At most of the other events, six or eight camera crews would be roving the tournament floor, and at least a dozen photographers would be snapping their shutters away furiously. As we mentioned earlier, though, photos and videos are not permitted inside the tournament room here in Vilamoura. As a result, much of the normal EPT media are conspicuously absent, with a few of the video cameras lurking around outside the building, waiting for someone to go bust.

The result is a wonderfully vacant tournament floor. Due to the spacing of the tables, it's nearly impossible to reach the far corners of the room, but we're not complaining about the access by any means.

11-17-2009 13:09 UTC

Van Den Bijgaart Finds Aces

[user46392]

There was a raise to 300 and it folded around to Dutchman and hair gel enthusiast Joep Van Den Bijgaart in the small blind, who made it 1,100 to go. The original raiser called, and they went heads up to a {Q-Diamonds}

flop. They both checked.

The turn came down the {4-Clubs}

and Van Den Bijgaart now bet out 1,400. A brief pause was followed by a call, and they saw a {K-Hearts}

river. The expressionless Van Den Bijgaart bet 1,850, and after another pause, Original Raiser called that too -- but Van Den Bijgaart flipped {A-Spades}

and his opponent couldn't beat it.

Van Den Bijgaart is on around 33,000.

Tags: Joep Van Den Bijgaart

11-17-2009 13:14 UTC

Slotboom Surrenders

[user66118]

A player in middle position opened with a raise to 250, and the small blind three-bet up to 800. In the big, Rolf Slotboom made it a total of 1,775, enough to quickly fold the initial raiser. The small blind eventually made the call, though, and it was heads up to the flop.

It brought {6-Hearts}

and a check from the small blind. Slotboom grabbed two red chips from the front of his stack and made a bet of 2,000. His opponent counted out more chips and made a check-raise to 7,200. That sent Slotboom into the think tank for several minutes. Never one to act quickly, "Robocop" shuffled his chips for a bit, then shuffled his cards back and forth between his fingers. After checking them several more times, he released them into the muck. They apparently didn't change into a winning hand, and Slotboom surrendered with a few quiet words.

He's down to 19,500 here in the early going.

Tags: Rolf Slotboom

11-17-2009 13:17 UTC

Table Talk

[user66118]

Picking our way into the far corner of the room, we went to check on Shaun Deeb. He saw us coming: "Don't worry, I still have chips for now." Mike McDonald is on Deeb's left, and Shaun couldn't help himself.

"Timex almost busted before me, though. That would have been legendary." McDonald said nothing and forced a smirk, but he's clearly not too happy with his chip stack dwindling down near 10,000 in the first level.

Level: 2

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

11-17-2009 13:23 UTC

Roux the Day

[user46392]

Anthony Roux must have had a good start to put him up to over his 30,000 starting stack, but then undid all his good work and is currently perched on 28,000.

Roux looked to have checked the {10-Diamonds}

flop and then called a bet of around 1,500 from his opponent in the cutoff. He check-called another 2,750 on the {6-Diamonds}

turn. Both players checked the {8-Spades}

river, and whatever Roux was holding could presumably not beat his opponent's {A-Hearts}

as he mucked.

11-17-2009 13:34 UTC

What Goes Up Must Come Down

[user46392]

Pierre Neuville must be in a curious state of mind right now -- after nearly doubling his stack early doors to put him well in the lead, he's dropped right back down to his starting stack again.

We caught up with the hand that did the damage on the river. The board read {2-Hearts}

and at least 10,000 was sitting in front of Neuville. His all-in opponent turned over {A-Hearts}

for the nuts, and Neuville sadly looked at what appeared to be a king-high flush before handing his cards back to the dealer.

Tags: Pierre Neuville

11-17-2009 13:39 UTC

Thater Gets Done by Cowboys

[user46392]

Katja Thater is not having a fantastic start to the tournament.

She called a 1,000 bet from her opponent on a {5-Clubs}

flop and then called another 1,000 on the {2-Spades}

turn. Mr. Opponent must have thought Christmas had come early as he bet 5,000 on the {A-Diamonds}

river and Thater called. He flipped {K-Clubs}

. A very disappointed-looking Thater flashed him an ace, and drops down to 24,000.

Tags: Katja Thater

11-17-2009 13:45 UTC

Guiglini v. Sousa

[user66118]

We picked up a pot in progress as the dealer ran out a flop of {2-Diamonds}

. Winamax pro Aurelien Guiglini was first to act, and he led out with a bet of 600. He only had to beat Ricardo Sousa, but the Portuguese pro quickly made the call. The turn brought the {J-Clubs}

and a check from both players, and the {Q-Diamonds}

hit the river. After another check from Guiglini, Sousa flicked a red chip into the pot for a bet of 1,000. Guiglini called, and Sousa tabled {K-Hearts}

. "The nuts?" he asked, certain his hand was good. It was; Guiglini picked his cards up off the table, stared at them, and returned them to the muck.

"Bet you didn't expect to see that," someone at the table said.

"No, I expected that," said Guiglini. "I played with him before."

11-17-2009 13:57 UTC

Divine Grace

[user46392]

Things are going well for personable Australian-born UK-dwelling Richard Grace. He's up to 43,000.

These Australians do talk very fast, but the general gist of it seems to be that there was a raise and a reraise ahead of Grace, who smooth called, as did the gent on the button. The original raiser called too, making it a four-way pot to the {6-?}

flop. The action checked around to Grace who bet; the button was the only caller.

Grace bet out on the {3-?}

turn as well and his opponent called. The river was a {3-?}

and Grace bet again -- and this time his opponent folded, showing pocket queens. Grace declined to show, and declined also to tell any bloggers what he was holding...

Tags: Richard Grace