2010 EPT Snowfest Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2010 PokerStars.net EPT Snowfest
2010 EPT Snowfest Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 PokerStars.net EPT Snowfest
Buy-in
€3,500
Entries
546
Level
30
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
0
Day 1a is Just a Memory Now
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
The opening flight welcomed 270 runners to the tournament room, putting us on the fast track to pip the soft cap of 500 players total. Among them were the usual smattering of top-tier pros and otherwise familiar faces. We had Jesper Hougaard here, fresh off his appearance at the NBC Heads Up. Jeff Sarwer played today too, though his bid for another deep run at the EPT would be cut short during the middle levels. Dan O'Brien took 3rd place at the recent WPT event in San Jose, but he too was sent packing before Day 1a was in the books.
The Team PokerStars Pros were well-represented as always. Marcin Horecki came and went very quickly, and Chad Brown, Matthias De Meulder would join him on the rail before too long. Also going busto was the newest member of the Team, Thomas Bichon, as well as Michael Keiner in the waning moments of the day.
On the flip side of things, a few of the Team PokerStars Pros had particularly good days. Johannes Strassmann shot out of the starting gate, and he was able to coast his way to the end of the day with a stack that still sits well above average. Daniel Negreanu, Arnaud Mattern, Alexander Kravchenko, Vadim Markushevski, and Christophe de Meulder fill out the roster of Team Pros who appear to have survived their first day.
There was one more Team PokerStars Pro who played Day 1a. It was Julien Brecard's birthday today, and he decided that everyone else's chips were going to be his birthday present. Brecard went on a tear thorough the middle levels, and he was the commanding chip leader for the bulk of the later stages. In the end, he bagged up a very impressive 238,100 chips, but that's only good for third place now.
A young German named David Wintersberger was lurking on Brecard's radar all evening, and he finally managed to pip him just as play ended. Wintersberger stuffed 290,200 chips into his thin plastic bag, and that's going to put him at the head of the Day 1a class. Just behind him sits Bernhard Perner, his count of 257,500 putting him in the bridesmaid position headed into Day 2.
That's all we've got for Day 1a. The second group of starters will be back here on Monday afternoon for their shot at Day 1b. There are already about 270 players registered, meaning we'll smash the 500-player cap with ease. Tune in right back here tomorrow to pick up the story.
Until then, goodnight from the Alps!
Five Hands Left
Perner Climbing
A player in middle position raised to 2,500 and Perner popped it to 5,100 in the cutoff. Action folded around to the original raiser and he went all in for 26,000. Perner called immediately with
and had his opponent's 
in bad shape.The board ran out
and Perner took it down with a set of kings.
Chip Movers
That's good, and it would be very excellent if not for the fact that birthday boy Julien Brecard is also playing today. Brecard has amassed a stack of more than 250,000 chips already, and there are still 20 minutes of work to be done.
Alexander the Red
When we joined the situation, there was a board of
spread out in the middle of the table, and it appeared that Kravchenko had the winning 
turned up in front of him. Despite having the winning hand, Kravchenko was standing hunched over the table, talking in a very frustrated tone and growing increasingly red of face.The floor was in the middle of trying to reconstruct the rather large pot, as there was apparently a dispute about the number of chips in it. The issue was finally settled to everyone's satisfaction, and Kravchenko sat down to continue working on the chili he had been working on before the interruption.
Al Krav is up to 120,000 after dragging that big pot.
Berende Busts One
against an all in opponent's 
.He found it in a big way as the board ran out
to boost his stack to nearly 70,000.
Mattern Takes One Out
and held the lead against Szilasi's 
.The board ran out
and Mattern is up to 61,200.
Photos
Photo Gallery
Killing Time with Julien Brecard
While we're letting this level kick into full swing, it appears you've got just about three minutes to kill. You could go toast a Pop-Tart or do a few sets of pushups. Or you could just sit there and watch this lovely video we've prepared for you. During one of the earlier breaks, Gloria caught up with Team PokerStars Pro Julien Brecard. The gregarious Frenchman always takes time out to chat with us, even on his birthday! Check it out: