€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event Day 2 | 2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

08-20-2009 14:47 UTC+3

Mazunin Survives, Ivanov Still Healthy

Shamus

With the board showing {7-Diamonds}

, Viktor Ivanov bet 5,000 and Mikhail Mazunin called, creating a total pot of about 25,000. The river brought the {Q-Spades}

and a tiny bet of 2,000 from Ivanov. Mazunin paused a beat, then put his last 12,700 in the middle.

Ivanov sat back, then took two yellow (5000) chips from his large stack and tossed them forward. Mazunin showed {Q-Diamonds}

, well ahead of Ivanov's {8-Spades}

.

Mazunin survives with a little more than 50,000 -- a bit ahead of where he started the day. Meanwhile, Ivanov still has about 160,000.

Tags: Mikhail Mazunin Viktor Ivanov

08-20-2009 14:45 UTC+3

Dragan Drags Another

Shamus

The day continues to go well for Dragan Galic. Just now he had Dray Simpson all in before the flop, with Galic holding {Q-Hearts}

and Simpson {J-Spades}

. The queens held, and Galic picked up another bushel of chips. "Why couldn't you have had sevens?" said Simpson as he shook Galic's hand and wished him luck. Galic smiled and began stacking.

Those left behind at Galic's table are probably thinking he is in no need of further luck. He's up to 245,000 now, our current chip leader.

Tags: Dragan Galic Dray Simpson

08-20-2009 14:36 UTC+3

Day 2 Update

[user66118]

Just before action began today, Glo ran through the action from Day 1b (including the power outage), and set the stage for Day 2's festivities. Here's what's up:

08-20-2009 14:34 UTC+3

Table Talk

Shamus

We're enjoying some entertaining table talk today. Anatoly Zharnitsky of Canada was just now involved in a hand with Dutchman Antoon Kleijnen. Kleijnen forced a fold from Zharnitsky, and afterwards Zharnitsky was speculating about what sort of odds he would've had if he had stayed in the hand.

Further discussion revealed Zharnitsky had just two outs, although it took a while for Kleijnen to understand that the Canadian indeed had two outs and not just one.

"You take my chips, then you take my dreams!" said Zharnitsky, laughing about his now-abandoned hopes for hitting a two-outer.

"I'm trying to take everyone's chips," added Zharnitsky. "I was thinking of ways to do that. I thought about spiking the food, but that seemed extreme." The table laughed.

Zharnitsky is doing a good job taking chips the conventional way. He's at 132,000 now.

08-20-2009 14:24 UTC+3

Naletov Having None of It

[user66118]

Liya Gerasimova opened the pot with a late-position raise, and Michael Naletov made the call out of the blinds. Both players would check the action when the flop came down {2-Spades}

, and the turn card brought the {10-Clubs}

. After another Naletov check, Gerasimova slid out a bet of 4,200, which her opponent eventually called.

The river card revealed the {8-Diamonds}

, and this time Naletov began stacking out a bet. After some fumbling and uncertainty, he flicked 3,500 small chips into the pot, drawing a raise to 12,200 from Gerasimova. After some consideration, Naletov made the call, and Gerasimova mucked her hand. Naletov flashed the {J-Hearts}

, adding about 20,000 of her chips to his stack.

Even after that hit, Gerasimova is still healthy with about 75,000 in front of her.

Tags: Lika Gerasimova Michael Naletov

08-20-2009 14:14 UTC+3

More Head Railward

Shamus

The average stack is over 60 big blinds at the moment, but that doesn't matter much to those who've become severely short on chips. Thus does one hear frequent announcements of players going all in while passing through the tables.

Fabrizio Baldassari of Monaco just made such an announcement following a flop of {J-Clubs}

and was called by France's Gaetan Milvaque. Baldassari had {Q-Diamonds}

and Milvaque {K-Spades}

. "King or jack," asked Milvaque of the dealer. The turn was the {A-Hearts}

. Milvaque repeated his request. Then came the river -- the {K-Clubs}

-- and Baldassari hit the rail.

We're down to 142 players now.

08-20-2009 14:12 UTC+3

Deeb, Fitzgerald Climbing

[user66118]

From late position, Shaun Deeb came into the pot with a raise to 2,600, and he found action only from big blind Yaroslav Boyko, one of the native Ukrainians still remaining in the field.

Heads up then, the flop came out {2-Diamonds}

, and Boyko checked. He would call a bet of 3,200 from Deeb, and he would call another 7,200 after the {7-Spades}

fell on the turn. The river came the {J-Diamonds}

, and after Boyko checked, Deeb quickly announced, "All in," having the covering stack. That would send his opponent deep into the tank, and the local would regretfully fold after a long pause.

Deeb flipped over his airball {3-Clubs}

as he raked in the nice pot. His work today sees him moving up the board, sitting with just about 125,000 after that confrontation.

American Alex Fitzgerald is on the move as well. The young pro came into the day with just under 50,000 in his chip bag, but he's seen that stack grow three-fold over the first two hours. He's sitting on about 1480,000 now and he's decided a table massage is the perfect reward for his early climb.

Tags: Alex Fitzgerald Shaun Deeb

08-20-2009 13:57 UTC+3

News from the Top of the Leaderboard

Shamus

Bouncing around the room...

Mihalyo Demidenko has accumulated a few more chips, moving up to 172,000 and into the lead.

Just behind him is Viktor Ivanov. Ivanov was just in a small hand with "Miami" John Cernuto. Both checked the {7-Spades}

flop. The turn brought the {4-Spades}

and a bet of 2,000 from Ivanov, forcing Cernuto to fold. Ivanov has 165,000 now. Cernuto has chipped up a bit today, too, and has 69,000.

Over at Table 3, a player in the hijack limped, Alexander Rykov called from the small blind, then Dragan Galic raised to 5,500 from the big blind, prompting both opponents to fold. When tossing the cards dealerward, Galic tried to throw them face up. The {A-Clubs}

was visible, while the other turned over and was scooped by the dealer before showing. The table quizzed Galic. "I show my aces and you don't see?" he asked. "We saw one," was the response. Galic grinned and offered no further explanation.

Galic has reason to smile, having built up to 158,000. Rykov, meanwhile, has struggled so far today, slipping to 74,000.

08-20-2009 13:53 UTC+3

Demidov Deleted

[user66118]

After watching his stack slide in the wrong direction all day, Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov has just been sent to the rail. He'll be sweating girlfriend Lika Gerasimova for the rest of the day, and she's showing no signs of struggling with her stack of 60,000+.

Tags: Ivan Demidov

08-20-2009 13:41 UTC+3

We're Back

Shamus

Players are back and cards are once again in the air. A lot of exits during that first level today -- we're down to 160 now as Level 9 begins.