Team Pokerstars Pro Darus Suharto has made a gracious exit from this years EPT at Barcelona.
He was crippled earlier in a hand we reported on when his pocket Kings ran into a set of Queens. In the end Suharto moved in with pocket fives with around 30 big blinds and was snapped off by pocket jacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
48,675
6,675
|
6,675 |
|
43,500
6,500
|
6,500 |
|
||
|
42,175
2,175
|
2,175 |
|
|
||
|
25,475
1,525
|
1,525 |
|
|
||
|
18,350
6,650
|
6,650 |
|
||
Nick Binger's day has only deteriorated since we found him falling foul of chip leader Aleh Plauski.
Just now we witnessed him check-calling 3,000 on the river of a 
board, only to muck to his opponent's 
. Binger was left with 13,000 after that.
Aleh Plauski has just scooped yet another pot to put him close to 90,000 chips! Joining the action on the river, the board read 
and Plauski bet 16,000 leaving his opponent with a difficult decision, one that had the potential to be very costly.
He finally made the call but mucked in anger as Plauski turned over 
for a flopped set that had improved to a boat on the turn.
With that, Plauski is up to 86,900
Kevin Stani didn't have to wait long before finding an opportunity to get his whole stack in, and this time he picked up a call. It looked as though his caller had made the initial raise from the button and Stani had pushed from the big blind.
Stani: 
Button Gentleman: 
Board: 
A little puff of relief escaped Stani's lips as he doubled up to 12,000.
So what is like being right in the middle of a few hundred of the worlds greatest poker players at a major event? At the moment it is rather subdued. The masseuses are out in force and it is as if their vibe has spread throughout the entire arena. Team Pokerstars Pro Ville Wahlbeck is reading the newspaper, Team Pokerstars Pro Ruben Visser is playing with his I Phone and team Pokerstars Pro Lex Veldhuis looks more chilled out than a bottle of champagne put on ice.
There is no shouting and screaming, just the constant sound of riffling chips as we make our way through the morning period of play.
Just as we walk out an army of new Dealers enter the room full of vigour, sprite and renewed optimism, lets hope they can deal us some special card combinations to get this party started.
Level: 4
Blinds: 150/300
Ante: 0
EPT Tallinn winner Kevin Stani is having a pretty bad day so far - he was down to just 6,225 when, facing a raise from the lady in the cutoff, he pushed from the small blind. She declined to call, and he remains woefully short, with the blinds going up in around 10 minutes' time.
A big pot just went down over on Table 1, where one player admitted to folding what he described as a "big pair" on a low, paired board.
Two players had already limped into the pot before Spaniard Leo Margets raised to 700. The player in the hijack three-bet to 2,100 before the cutoff checked his hole cards before announcing raise and placing 6,000 worth of chips over the line.
This bet was enough to fold everyone out, except the hijack, who pondered his options for few moments before emaking the call.
Flop:
The hijack tapped the table and within seconds his opponent had fired out a continuation bet of 7,000, leaving himself around 9,000 chips behind. Thirty seconds passed and the hijack sat riffling two piles of green chips. They were not enough to call with. Another 90 seconds passed and he swtiched to riffling the black 100 denomination chips, whilst his opponent sat motionless listening to his ipod through his large silver headphones.
Another twenty or so seconds later and the hijack mucked his hand, though he looked pained to do so. As his opponent raked in the substantial pot, he announced "I fold big pair," which judging by the shade of scarlet his opponent's face turned to, was the best hand on this occassion.
We're not sure where the opening raise came from, but when we arrived EPT Monte Carlo finalist Aleh Plauski was putting a reraise to 1,700. Nick Binger now made it 4,700 to go - and was promptly met with an ominous, "How much are you playing?" from Plauski. Binger had around 17,000 left behind, and Plauski expressionlessly five-bet to cover him.
Eventually Binger folded, and Plauski looks as though he may be the chip leader right now, on around 75,000.
