2010 PokerStars.com EPT Tallinn

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2010 PokerStars.com EPT Tallinn

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
65
Prize
€400,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€4,000
Prize Pool
€1,596,000
Entries
420
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Main Event

Day 1b Started

Welcome To Day 1B of Pokerstars.com EPT Tallinn!

Ali Tekintamgac, the Day 1a man to beat
Ali Tekintamgac, the Day 1a man to beat

Here we are once more for the second start day of the EPT here in the Baltic state of Tallinn. Amongst those playing today include Betrand 'ElkY' Grospieller (who has managed to tear himself away from Starcraft 2) as well as bracelet winners Dario Minieri and Richard Ashby.

The field is expected to bigger than yesterday's 181 with anything up to perhaps 300 playing, though like Luca Pagano 3-betting from the button, this might be a tight squeeze - with so many tables in the tournament area.

Play should be getting started in around 10 minutes or so with the target of chip leader set at 203,200 which WPT Barcelona winner Ali Tekintamgac currently has. Nine levels of one hour with a dinner break after six is the order of todays play, with all remaining players to be coming back tomorrow for day 2.

Who is going to be the first EPT champion of Season 7?

Not Yet!

The scheduled start time of noon has been and gone, yet we are nowhere near starting. The reason for this is the venue's insistence on scanning everyone's casino ID card before they enter the tournament area or the bar, and with only two card scanning machines in the building and probably around 300 players as well as media, staff and railers needing to have their cards scanned, the staff are struggling. This problem led to the dinner break being extended by 20 minutes yesterday, and we suspect that this will be the deciding factor in whether or not there are dinner breaks from Day 2 onwards.

Nevertheless, we're hoping that the 40 or 50 people squashed in the space by the elevators have their cards processed soon, and we should be getting this party started shortly.

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

Who is in Tallinn?

People spotted playing today include:

Jens Kyllonen
Dan Owston
John Eames
Rob Sherwood
Sergey Rybachenko
Marc Naalden
Casey Kastle
Roberto Romanello
Fatima Moreira de Melo
Randal Flowers

Who Else is in Tallinn?

A few more pros with impressive EPT achievements have popped up in the field, including:

Reigning EPT Player of the Year Max Lykov
EPT Berlin winner Kevin MacPhee
EPT Berlin runner up Ilari Tahkokallio
EPT Kiev high-roller champion Shaun Deeb
Too many achievements to name Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
EPT Monte Carlo winner Nicholas Chouity
EPT Monte Carlo high-roller champion Tobias Reinkemeier
EPT Copenhagen winner Jens Kyllonen

PokerStars Representing

Here are the Team PokerStars Pro members we've found hidden (and some not so hidden) in the field:

Dario Minieri - Team Italy
Katja Thater - Team Germany
Matthias de Meulder - Team Belgium
Vadim Markushevski - Team Belarus
Fatima Moreira de Melo - Team SportsStar
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier - Team France
Juan Manuel Pastor - Team Spain
Luca Moschitta - Team Online
Alfio Battisti - Team Online

Making His Marc

Marc Naalden
Marc Naalden

There were terrific scenes in Vegas just over a year ago when Dutchman Marc Naalden won a bracelet, complete with scenes of a carnival atmosphere. Today, however Naalden is in a much more subdued mood, quietly getting down to business. He just check-raised a 2,050 bet to 5,500 (pretty hefty at this stage) on the turn of a {7-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}{K-Diamonds} board getting a fold from his opponent though Naalden did not look too happy about it.

Tags: Marc Naalden

No Passing Vad

Johan Storakers opened preflop to 275, Vadim Markushevski made the call on the button and the big blind also called.

All three checked the {k-Spades}{2-Clubs}{8-Clubs} flop before the {9-Clubs} came on the turn, the big blind now fired out 500, Storakers passed but Markushevski raised to 1,425 with the big blind calling fairly quickly.

The river was the {9-Clubs} and now the big blind bet again but a very small 1,425, Markushevski made the call and the big blind showed a missed {a-Clubs}{q-Spades} which was never going to be any good against the Belarus Pro's {10-Clubs}{6-Clubs}.

Tags: Vadim MarkushevskiJohan Storakers