Level: 25
Blinds: 20,000/40,000
Ante: 4,000
2010 PokerStars.com EPT Tallinn
Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2010 PokerStars.com EPT Tallinn
Buy-in
€4,000
Prize Pool
€1,596,000
Entries
420
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Shuffle Up!
![[user140525]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Thomas Kremser has completed his introductions of each player, and at long last, the final table is underway.
Extra Time...
We finished with about 15 minutes left in level 25 last night but Thomas Kremser has rolled back the clock and we will be playing the whole level once again.
The Final Table
Van Zadelhoff Getting Busy
Early almost-action as Arnaud Mattern opened to 100,000 in the cutoff and it folded around to Steven van Zadelhoff in the big blind - who promptly announced all in. Mattern asked him how much it was, but in the he folded. Van Zadelhoff moved on up to around a million in chips.
Clash of the Big Stacks
A couple hands later, all of them taken down by simple preflop raises, Arnaud Mattern raised again, and this time Konstantin Bilyauer called in the cutoff. They saw a flop, and the media all edged a little closer to the table.
The flop read 
and Mattern bet out 130,000. Bilyauer called, and the press edged in just a little more.
The press would soon back off again, though, as both players checked down the 
turn and 
river. Mattern revealed 
, but Bilyauer turned over 
for the second-tiniest full house, and took the pot.
Mattern has slipped down to 3.05 million, but that is still a quarter of the chips in play and good enough for the chip lead. Bilyauer meanwhile is gaining on him, with more than 2.6 million.
Bassam Elnajjar Eliminated in 8th Place (€32,000)
Arnaud Mattern raised to 95,000 under the gun, making it the third hand in a row he'd opened with a raise. Next to act, Mikko Jaatinen reraised to 265,000. Action folded to Bassam Elnajjar in the small blind, and he announced he was all in. Whoa! The room perked up at the day's first giant pot. Mattern asked for a count of Elnajjar's stack. It was 860,000 total. Then he asked the dealer to pull in Jaatinen's bet. He did an excellent job of acting stumped before moving all in himself. The act wasn't necessary. Jaatinen folded without a pause.
Elnajjar: 
Mattern: 
But it's never just that easy for Mattern. The flop came 
, bringing a flush draw for the Frenchman to sweat. He held his breath as the dealer turned over the 
on the turn and the 
on the river. The black cards were no help to Elnajjar, and he becomes the day's first casualty. Mattern moved up to nearly 5 million.
Where Are All the Cameras?
As you can see in our photos, the setting for this final table is not quite what we have become accustomed to at EPTs. Usually the final table is played out on the same glitzy set, with cinematic lighting and surrounded by cameramen and darkened stands for the spectators, which the organisers ship to each venue for the purpose of producing the TV show. With the absence at this event of the TV crew and our friends from EPT Live, the final table - just a regular table cordoned off from the rest of the card room - seems almost surreal to us. This is how every final table used to be played out back in the day, but we'd almost forgotten what it was like not to have a massive production surrounding them.
Nevertheless the atmosphere out there is still very exciting, with many spectators crowding around to see whether Arnaud Mattern can make EPT history by winning a second title, or cheering on their own favourite player.
Photos from Elnajjar's Exit
Here are a few shots from the big hand in which Mattern picked up pocket aces, Mikko Jaatinen three-bet, and Bassam Elnajjar four-bet shoved with .
Mattern Not Slowing Down
Arnaud Mattern made button raise to 95,000, Konstantin Bilyauer flat-called in the big blind.
Both players checked the 
board down to the river where the Russian bet a chunky 260,000. Mattern quickly called but mucked when he saw the Bilyauer's 
.
Mattern hasn't been undeterred by losing a few early pots and after this hand took down the blinds several times, he is easily the most active player on the table. The shorter stacks are looking for spots when they can but everyone seems to be avoiding the Frenchman chip-leading stack for now.