Main Event
Day 1b Started
2010 PokerStars EPT Vilamoura
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 PokerStars EPT Vilamoura
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€1,862,400
Entries
384
Level
28
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
5,000
Groundhog Time
![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Good morning and welcome once again to the absurdly sunny Algarve, where around 200 poker players are about to go and hide inside the darkened casino for the rest of the day. Yesterday saw 181 runners take their seats in the Salao Miralago and we're already pretty much guaranteed to beat last year's total of 322 runners, but it will be a while before we know the final numbers.
The top spot at the end of play was occupied by PokerStars Team Online Pro Andre Coimbra. Also near the top were Brits Paul "Pab" Foltyn and Toby Lewis, Team PokerStars Pros Dario Minieri and Arnaud Mattern, enthusiastic prop bettor Antonio Esfandiari, top French players Antony Lellouche and Michel Abecassis, and reigning EPT Grand Final champion Nicolas Chouity.
Among the pros expected to grace the felt today are Daniel Negreanu, Luca Pagano and David Williams, and they will all be hoping to join the 102 survivors from Day 1a come bagging-up time around 9pm GMT+1. Before that, though, there are eight levels of poker-packed fun to get through. Play is due to start at noon, so watch this space.
Level: 1
Blinds: 50/100
Ante: 0
And Like Some Milk Left Out Of The Fridge For Too Long...
We're off!
Who's Here So Far?
We still have a good few empty seats (registration is open for another two hours, if you're interested) but so far this Day 1b appears to have no less pedigree than yesterday's Day 1a.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Just For Fun
It's the one-and-only Alexander Kravchenko... Now what are you thinking when you see this picture? Let us know on Facebook in our Caption Competition and your hilarious wit could win you some PokerNews Merchandise!
If you need some inspiration, check out some of our past competitions in the PokerNews Caption Competition album on Facebook.
Brit Over Brito
Weekes has only taken seconds to double up. Jonathan Weekes that is. He was, if you recall our erstwhile bubble for the final table over in Tallinn a couple of er...weeks ago.
Weekes recalled his hand where he had been holding 
on a Queen-high non-connecting board which had his opponent Fernando Brito pushing all-in on the river with 
and Weekes more than happy to make the call with top set to double up to 60,000.
Pretty simple sometimes.
Romanello Faces First Big Decision (Possibly in Whole Room)
Right off the bat action is descending on every corner of the tournament arena today, not least up on the second tier (the room is set on three gentle levels divided with shiny brass rails) where Roberto Romanello just faced a decision for more than half his stack.
Caught at the end, at the beginning of an epic think by the Welsh chap, the board stood 
and his opponent had bet out 11,650 into a pot of around 15k. Romanello counted out the call, his own stack, waved it around a bit - which caused some controversy as another player (not in the hand) kicked up a gentle fuss about this: "That was way over the line! With a forward motion!"
This brought over the floor, who said that since chips hadn't touched felt over the area, the move wasn't binding although not considered 'nice.' Grumbling, "It's still my pot," Romanello then went back in the tank for another couple of minutes, while his opponent continued to wait silently and patiently. Finally he gave up on it, taking a fairly hefty early hit, but this tournament's structure is forgiving and it's still early doors.
Table of Early Death
We are a little disappointed that - if they follow yesterday's pattern of breaking tables - this particular grouping probably won't last the day together. Because check this out! Over in the far corner there is one particularly fearsome table featuring these poker powerhouses:
- Team PokerStars Pros David Williams and Richard Toth
- Team PokerStars SportStar and everyone's favourite Dutch hockey player Fatima Moreira de Melo
- EPT San Remo champion Liv Boeree
- An assortment of folks rather less well-known on the circuit, who are now looking a bit confused and unhappy about their table draw
This table is also right now in the lead for the title of "Best Looking Table." As we said, there is little chance of this table draw lasting the day, but we are hoping that there will be some good fireworks over there before the TD breaks up the fun.
Left Weekes At The Knees
Poker is annoyingly, frustratingly and incessantly easy on occasions, to the point where it is in fact almost laughable.
We've had two exits so far today and Jonathan Weekes has been the cause of both of them. The second saw him holding 
on a 
with all the money going in on the flop against . The turn and river remained unpaired and Weekes now has 90,000.
Having been chip leader after Day 2 of Tallinn, it looked as though Weekes would've made the final table as he stay among the chip leaders throughout the rest of the tournament until the penultimate day when he was eliminated by Arnaud Mattern just missing out on the final table.
The quietly spoken Englishman though has had such a terrific start that you wouldn't bet against him here.