Main Event
Day 1b Started
Main Event
Day 1b Started
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
We're off!
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 |
---|---|---|
Toni Ojala | 30,000 | |
Manuel Bevand | 30,000 | |
Roberto Romanello | 30,000 | |
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Dominykas Karmazinas | 30,000 | |
Kristijonas Andrulis | 30,000 | |
Dara O'Kearney | 30,000 | |
Thomas Bichon | 30,000 | |
Ruben Visser | 30,000 | |
Sebastian Ruthenberg | 30,000 | |
Jeff Sarwer | 30,000 | |
Nicolo Calia | 30,000 | |
Jan Skampa | 30,000 | |
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Henri Kasper | 30,000 | |
Luca Pagano | 30,000 | |
Tristan Clemencon | 30,000 | |
Davidi Kitai | 30,000 | |
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Jonathan Weekes | 30,000 |
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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.
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.
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.
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.