Everyone Else Nought (Mattern 72k)
No sooner had we reported that Arnaud Mattern had doubled up to 37,000 than we received a text message from him. It said simply: "72k. Boom." We scuttled over to his table to find out more.
It transpired that Mattern had raised with pocket kings and received a call from the gentleman in the cutoff before the player on the button made it 2,500 to go. Mattern made it 7,225, both players called, and they saw a ten-high flop, when Mattern and one of the other two players got all the chips in. Mattern's opponent revealed a very behind pair of jacks, and Mattern had leapt from short stack to near chip leader in just a few hands.
This could be the start of a very, very good tournament for Mattern. After making his impressive third EPT final table in Tallinn just a couple weeks ago and picking up an impressive €160,000 for third place, Mattern must nevertheless have felt a twinge of disappointment that his pocket queens couldn't stay ahead (see here) and he did not that time become the first person ever to win two EPT titles. Mattern clearly wants that second title and is clearly on form. And although it's very early days, he's now got some serious chips to wield.