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

11-18-2009 17:22 UTC

Denied Perrault

[user66118]

While we were scurrying around the other side of the room, French pro Pascal Perrault was finally put out of his misery, shedding his last ~6,000 chips to cut his day short early.

And thanks to the team of French bloggers next to us, we've just gotten a few more details. The player on the button raised to 1,000, and the small blind re-raised to 2,100. Perrault looked down at 3d 3h and moved all in. The button folded, but the small blind quickly called with {A-?}

. An ace hit the flop, and the board of A-7-5-K-6 is the last one Pascal Perrault will see today.

Tags: Pascal Perrault

11-18-2009 17:15 UTC

It'll Be Aguiaright on the Night. Or Not

[user46392]

Morda El Sayed has enjoyed a more-than-double up to a little over 25,000, while Jonathan Aguiar has dropped down to a similar figure.

Marco della Tommasina opened under the gun for 950 and El Sayed seems to have just shoved for around 12,000. Aguiar made a surprise call from the small blind, after some brief consideration della Tommasina gave it up, and they were on their backs, racing.

El Sayed: {A-Clubs}

Aguiar:

and a shrug

Board: {3-Clubs}

Tags: Jonathan Aguiar

11-18-2009 17:08 UTC

Minieri Succumbs

[user46392]

Early chip leader Dario Minieri is no longer in the running after, well, losing all his chips. We don't know the details, but we know that the assassin was Juan Manuel Pastor. Whether any money changed hands (there was some sort of wager being discussed between Minieri and Peter Eastgate earlier) is unknown.

Tags: Dario Minieri Juan Manuel Pastor Peter Eastgate

11-18-2009 17:05 UTC

Home-Grown Talent

[user66118]

The 322 players who've come out for this EPT event are here representing 30 countries from all corners of the world. As another indication of this tournament's success, the vast majority of them are from right here in Portugal. Each table in play averages about two Portuguese players apiece; they're twice as prolific as the second-most-present nationality, the Germans. Here's how the field breaks down by country for those of you scoring at home.

Portugal - 63 (20%)
Germany - 32 (10%)
France - 30 (9%)
Spain - 28 (9%)
Netherlands - 24 (7%)
UK - 19 (6%)
USA - 18 (6%)
Italy - 16 (5%)
Russia - 12 (4%)
Sweden - 12 (4%)
Canada - 8 (2%)
Finland - 8 (2%)
Switzerland - 8 (2%)
Denmark - 7 (2%)
Ireland - 6 (2%)
Belgium - 4 (1%)
Norway - 4 (1%)
Romania - 4 (1%)
Ukraine - 4 (1%)
Austria - 3 (1%)
Czech Republic - 2 (1%)
Poland - 2 (1%)
Algeria - 1
Bulgaria - 1
Croatia - 1
French Guiana - 1
Lithuania - 1
Monaco - 1
Slovenia - 1
Turkey - 1

11-18-2009 16:56 UTC

Huckleberry Hounded

[user66118]

Conspicuously absent from his seat is Huck Seed. It appears that everyone's favorite "Huckleberry" has bowed out quietly somewhere along the way during the last level.

Tags: Huck Seed

11-18-2009 16:53 UTC

Slick Bluff Doesn't Work For Perrault

[user66118]

We just caught the tail end of a big pot, heads up between Pascal Perrault and Vishal Pundjabi. In the end, the board showed {3-Hearts}

and there were more than 30,000 chips in the pot. Pundjabi checked the river, and Perrault moved all in with a covering stack. Pundjabi had just over 7,000 chips left, and he was deep in the think tank. After several excruciating minutes, he made the call for his tournament life.

Perrault held out his {A-Diamonds}

as if asking whether or not he should bother tabling his cards. He wouldn't need to. Pundjabi sighed heavily and turned over the winning {Q-Hearts}

to earn himself the big pot.

Perrault has slipped all the way down to just 3,000 paltry chips.

Tags: Pascal Perrault Vishal Pundjabi

11-18-2009 16:51 UTC

Correction

[user46392]

It has transpired during the break that Praz Bansi is in possession of 80,000 chips, just pipping Benzimra to the chip leader spot.

Despite having a WSOP bracelet, several major final table appearances and a plethora of other cashes under his belt, not to mention a frankly awesome photo on his Hendon Mob page, Bansi has long been afflicted by some kind of EPT curse. He has played, well, most of them, yet never once cashed. The closest he's ever come was a cruel bubble spot in the London EPT High Roller event last year. Perhaps this will be the tournament to break the curse.

Tags: Praz Bansi

11-18-2009 16:44 UTC

Let's Play Some More Poker

[user66118]

Level 5 is upon us, and the cards are in the air once again. Welcome to the table, antes.

Level: 5

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 25

11-18-2009 16:35 UTC

Benzimra Winning Again

[user46392]

Admittedly it's Day 1, but Christophe Benzimra looks in a good position to take a shot at back-to-back EPT titles after knocking out an opponent just before the break.

With an awful lot of action before the flop which remains hazy owing to only catching up with the hand on the turn, the board read {K-?}