2009 PokerStars.com EPT Vilamoura

Vilamoura Championship Main Event
Day: 3
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Event Info
2009 PokerStars.com EPT Vilamoura
Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
7♦8♣
Prize
€404,793
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€1,561,700
Total Entries
322
Level Info
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
5,000
Players Left 1 / 322
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Black-Listed

If a tree falls in the forest, and nobody is around...

After a double up on the first hand, we took our eyes off of Andy Black for just a few seconds. When we turned our heads back around, he was nowhere to be seen. His chips are missing, and his beard is nowhere in sight either. Asking around the room, it seems that nobody saw the hand that sealed his fate. It was an unusually covert exit for Mr. Black.

Tags: Andy Black

More for Moreira

We caught up with the action on the river of the {6-Hearts} {5-Spades} {5-Hearts} {J-Clubs} {9-Diamonds} board, with Amir Pirbazari betting out enough to almost cover André Moreira.

At this point we lost interest in the hand, as Moreira tanked up for a frankly unreasonable amount of time, and indeed only became interested again when some hysterical shouting indicated that he had called, and doubled up.

Moreira: {4-Spades} {4-Diamonds}
Pirbazari: {2-Hearts} {3-Clubs} for a total bluff

Bring in the Noise

It's remarkably quiet here in the tournament room today, quiet enough to be worth mentioning. There are only 69 players in here, but it sounds like it's 68 librarians plus one Andy Black. The table chatter is virtually non-existent, and the only sounds floating around the room are the chorus of chips being shuffled.

Everyone seems to be relatively wide awake (for poker players), so we'll take this peculiar silence as a sign that the players are intently focused on the task at hand.

Sousa and Slotboom Switch Stacks

We joined a heads-up pot as the dealer ran out a flop of {2-Spades} {3-Diamonds} {2-Diamonds}. Rolf Slotboom checked first to act, and Rogerio Sousa stuck out a bet that appeared to be 19,000. After a moment, Slotboom announced an all in for an additional 41,800, sending Sousa into the tank. He would take several minutes to make his decision as he counted down his stack and cut out the calling chips.

With a reluctant, "All right," he plunked the chips into the pot to put Slotboom at risk. But the news was pleasant for "Robocop". He tabled {A-Spades} {A-Clubs}, and Sousa shook his head as he turned over {7-Diamonds} {7-Clubs}.

The turn {6-Clubs} changed nothing, and the {3-Clubs} that filled out the board secured an early double up for Slotboom. He's back up to about 135,000 as he and Sousa essentially trade stacks.

Tags: Rogerio SousaRolf Slotboom

No More Nuno

Team PokerStars Pro Nuno Coelho looked down at {A-Clubs} {3-Clubs} under the gun, and he stuck his remaining 28,300 chips into the pot. A few seats over, Jim "Mr_BigQueso" Collopy squeezed {8-Clubs} {8-Spades} and made the call to put the local pro at risk.

With the rest of the table folding out of the way, the dealer ran out a board of {6-Spades} {J-Hearts} {4-Hearts} {J-Clubs} {5-Hearts}. That's no fun for Coelho, and he has been sent back to his hotel room very early in the day.

Tags: Jim CollopyNuno Coelho

Black Not Yet Eliminated

The official short stack after accidentally doubling up Ruben Visser on the last hand last night (a massive bluff with {9-?} {10-?} which Visser snap-called with {A-?} {K-?}), Andy Black wasted absolutely zero time in getting his last 19,000 in the middle.

First hand back, Manuel Cadilhe raised to 7,000 and then called the push from Black. It was not looking good for the beardy Irishman.

Black: {9-Diamonds} {10-Hearts}
Cadilhe: {K-Diamonds} {10-Spades}

But then: {K-Spades} {8-Spades} {J-Spades} {8-Hearts} {7-Clubs}

"YESSS!!!" shouted a pro-Black railer who clearly had only a shaky grasp of correct railer etiquette. Black himself got it quietly, and is up to over 40,000.

Tags: Andy Black

Level: 14

Blinds: 1,500/3,000

Ante: 300

Day 3 Has Arrived

Day 3 has arrived in Portugal, and it's time for the run to the money at the inaugural PokerStars.com EPT Vilamoura.

From a field of 322 runners, we are left with just 69 at the halfway point of the tournament. The name at the top of the list might not ring a bell, but he may not be anonymous for long. Canadian Jeff Sarwer is the man to beat today. The former child chess prodigy is in a familiar position too. The EPT discovered Sarwer at the last stop in Warsaw earlier this month. With his solid decision-making and dodgy playing style, Sarwer proved tough for the field to handle, and he found himself riding the big stack deep into the final days. Sarwer rode that horse to a tenth-place finish, and he'll be hoping to improve upon that this time around.

It's not going to be an easy day at the top though. A number of more familiar names are hot on Sarwer's heels. Antony Lellouche is right up there, as is Day 1a chip leader Ljubomir Josipovic.

Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser is right in the mix, his big stack coming courtesy of the final hand of Day 2. After the media was relegated to the far reaches of the room, Visser and Andy Black tangled in a massive pot that left Visser with nearly all of the Irishman's chips. Here's how it went down to catch you up:

With a raise in front of him, Andy Black called before Ruben Visser squeezed in a raise. The original aggressor folded, but Black four-bet all in. Visser quickly made the call for the rest of his chips with ace-king, and Black was caught red-handed with nine-ten off-suit. The board blanked off to cripple Black's once-mighty stack down to a paltry 19,000 and put Visser in the top three heading into the third day.

Black, Visser, and the other 67 players will be back at the tables shortly to try and make a charge for the final table. We're scheduled to begin in less than 10 minutes, but we expect that to bleed over by just a few minutes. We'll be back as soon as the cards go into the air.
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