Matthew Frankland, although a relatively new arrival on the UK's (and Europe's) live tournament circuit already has winnings of over £75,000 and just doubled through here at the Pokerstars.net EPT Vienna to keep himself in the running for some more.
I caught this hand from the turn - he was heads up vs. Victorino Torres on a board and Torres had checked to him. He made a bet of 8,100, and after a brief pause, Torres made the call. The river brought the - a third diamond - and an immediate shove from Torres, who had Frankland covered. There was little hesitation from Frankland who pushed the rest of his chips in and showed vs. Torres' . No scare card was going to budge Frankland at this point, and as he stacked his new 40k or so two other players started talking to him in what sounded suspiciously like other British accents (therefore pretty much excluding the rest of the table from their deliberations). Still, good to see a bit of chat going - this tournament has been unusually low on multilingual banter.
We arrived to find an flop on the felt and around 7,500 in the pot. Artur Wasek in the cutoff nonchalantly bet out 5,000. His opponent on the button gave him a look that seemed to say, "Really?" and then made the call.
Both players checked the turn and they proceeded to the river. Wasek paused for a moment, before betting out 10,125 with just 6,000 or so behind. His opponent folded, and Wasek let out a sigh as he showed his opponent a bluffy .
As the clock ran down to end level 8 it went a little action crazy
Firstly, Barny Boatman's pocket tens eliminated someone holding when all the money went in pre flop, The Hendon Mobsters opponent was short stacked and the pocket tens held up for Boatman. Then as Boatman was greeting the newest members of his chip family, Artur Wasek opened from early position and Boatman made the call. Remember that old saying about how dangerous a person is when they play a pot while still stacking their chips from their last hand! Well the small blind didn't remember it because he shoved and Wasek instantly shoved as well. Boatman looked to the heavens and eventually folded his hand, but after it was all over he wishes he hadn't. The board ran out . Wasek's pocket jacks were crushed against the small blinds aces and Boatman could only mutter about tales of what might have been as he declared that he had laid down pocket tens and would have flopped a set.
Boatman's chip stack took the elevator to floor 95,000 and Wasek took it to the basement 10,000.
On a nearby table Nicolas Levi and Bernahrd Braumandl found themselves locked in a big hand. We caught the action with 48,000 in the pot and a board of . The action was eventually checked down and Levi scooped the pot with two black Jacks and Braumandl folded face down.
Levi stack is now 105,000 and Braumandl is now 86,000
By the by, our last woman standing in Day 1a has recently fallen by the wayside.
Last woman standing? We are somewhat ashamed to tell you that as far as we can see, Almira Skripchenko was the only woman standing at any point in today's Day 1a. Woefully there are no devoted EPT statisticians to help us out here, but we are pretty sure that this is one of the poorest female EPT turnouts of all time. For shame, ladies!
We've got our fingers crossed that we'll have a few more representatives at the tables tomorrow, but so far the only lady we know of who has been confirmed to play tomorrow is Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo. We've seen Catherine Hong lurking around as well, but we can't yet say for certain whether she'll be playing the Main Event.
If any ladies out there fancy a shot at an EPT title tomorrow, there's still time to register for Day 1b...
It looks like the last level sees a comfortable Martin Hruby still dominating the chips, but anything can happen in a single hand in this game and with a lot of stacks nearing the 100k mark it only takes one big clash to change it all...
Vegard Nygaard's tournament life is over, hailing distance from the end of the day's play, after losing a race to Charlie Combes, who's had a steady climb over the last two levels (in stark contrast).
It happened like this: There was an early position raise to 2,400, called by Nygaard. Combes then reraised to 8,200 after a small deliberation period. The initial raiser got out of the way and Nygaard moved in for something like 25k. Combes called immediately with which was up against . The board brought him plenty of royalty and not too many hearts: and Nygaard headed to the rail.
We just caught the very tail end of the hand, but it was pretty dramatic.
The board read and there were already a lot of chips in the pot. The bet in front of Jan Skampa (hijack) was 18,000 - but the bet in front of his opponent Petre-Bogdan Ionescu was All In, or 43,200.
Eventually Skampa called - but looked very surprised and mucked when Ionescu turned over for a full house.
Ionescu's double up was to 110,000. EPT Prague champion Skampa was left below his starting stack on just 28,000.
We found Lex Veldhuis looking very angry and intense as he bet 2,400 from the button on the turn of the board. His opponent in the big blind calmly made the call.
They saw a river and the big blind checked; Veldhuis looked no less furious with the world as he bet another 6,100. His opponent called and turned over but mused, "Sick," as Veldhuis flipped for a rivered two pair.
board and Torres had checked to him. He made a bet of 8,100, and after a brief pause, Torres made the call. The river brought the 
- a third diamond - and an immediate shove from Torres, who had Frankland covered. There was little hesitation from Frankland who pushed the rest of his chips in and showed 
vs. Torres' 
. No scare card was going to budge Frankland at this point, and as he stacked his new 40k or so two other players started talking to him in what sounded suspiciously like other British accents (therefore pretty much excluding the rest of the table from their deliberations). Still, good to see a bit of chat going - this tournament has been unusually low on multilingual banter.
flop on the felt and around 7,500 in the pot. Artur Wasek in the cutoff nonchalantly bet out 5,000. His opponent on the button gave him a look that seemed to say, "Really?" and then made the call.
turn and they proceeded to the 
river. Wasek paused for a moment, before betting out 10,125 with just 6,000 or so behind. His opponent folded, and Wasek let out a sigh as he showed his opponent a bluffy 
.
when all the money went in pre flop, The Hendon Mobsters opponent was short stacked and the pocket tens held up for Boatman. Then as Boatman was greeting the newest members of his chip family, Artur Wasek opened from early position and Boatman made the call. Remember that old saying about how dangerous a person is when they play a pot while still stacking their chips from their last hand! Well the small blind didn't remember it because he shoved and Wasek instantly shoved as well. Boatman looked to the heavens and eventually folded his hand, but after it was all over he wishes he hadn't. The board ran out 
and Nygaard headed to the rail.
for a full house.
but mused, "Sick," as Veldhuis flipped 
for a rivered two pair.
