We all know in this life that the Sun is going to shine, just as we know that "haters gonna hate", but one thing that is just as definite is that Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier doesn't lose the big crucial flips.
He made a cold 4-bet with from the big blind over the top of small blind Rupert Elder's 3-bet against the button. The button folded and Elder set Mercier in for what was a 110,000 pot with . Call.
The board came and although Elder rivered a straight, Mercier already had a boat on the turn. Elder dropped to 18,000.
A preflop raise to 1,500 set off a chain of re-raises that would see [Removed:197] drop to 18,000 after a race lost on the river. [Removed:198] just called the initial raise, then the button upped it to 5,200 - this got rid of the first gent but [Removed:198] looked at his opponent's 25,000 behind, then raised to 10,100. The rest followed it in quickly, and [Removed:198]'s was up against . It held over the flop and the turn, but the river brought the . That drop may prove insurmountable, or he could do a Duhamel and nurse it back to life... we'll have to wait and see.
The youngest ever EPT winner will not become the first player to win two EPTs - this season, at least. The flop read when Mike "Timex" McDonald went all in with for a flush draw. His opponent made the call with and following a bricky turn and river, Timex was gone.
Arnaud Mattern's woes continue as he drops to 24,000.
Mattern found himself, Lex Veldhuis and a preflop raiser looking at a board with two hearts on it. Veldhuis checked, the original raiser bet, and Mattern called. Original Raiser bet another 5,500 on the turn which had given Mattern an up-and-down draw as well as his flush draw. But the river was not a heart and Mattern had to fold to Original Raiser's bet.
Good news if you're a Toby Lewis fan or indeed if you're little Toby Lewis. The winner of the EPT's stop in Vilamoura called a min-raise with , as did a couple of other players, seeing a flop. The original raiser fired out 3,000, Lewis made it 7,800 and Erik Cajelais cold-called behind, the OR decided now to move all in and Lewis reraised all in to isolate, Cajelais folding .
Lewis' opponent turned over and bricked out, Lewis up to 90,000
Casey Kastle had an over-average stack before one of those pesky blind-on-blind confrontations knocked him down to 34,000. The small blind (Michael Eiler) limped, and Kastle in the big raised to 2,500 (or thereabouts). The flop brought them but neither player bet it. The turn saw a check from Eiler and a bet of 3,000 from Kastle. Eiler called and the river brought the . Eiler checked a third time and Kastle threw in 10,000 after checking out his opponent's stack (around 30k remaining). Eiler thought for a while before making the call - this prompted Kastle to muck and Eiler to take the pot without having to show. Them's the rules here, apparently.
With the board reading Tom Dwan checked the turn across to the new EPT San Remo champion Rupert Elder (who is coincidentally sitting next to an old EPT San Remo champion, Jason Mercier). Elder bet 4,100 and Dwan made the call to see the river.
"Durrrr" checked across to Elder again and the Englishman thought for a minute before moving all in for 16,250. Dwan stared intently at his opponent, attempting to ascertain some extra info but none seemed to be too forthcoming. Nevertheless, the latter made the call and Elder turned over , Dwan mucked, dropping to about 9,800 and Elder moves up to 48,000.
![[user76023]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
from the big blind over the top of small blind Rupert Elder's 3-bet against the button. The button folded and Elder set Mercier in for what was a 110,000 pot with 
. Call.
and although Elder rivered a straight, Mercier already had a boat on the turn. Elder dropped to 18,000.
out when we arrived and Tom Dwan was betting out 2,350. ON the button, Rupert Elder silently called.
flop and the 
turn, but the river brought the 
when Mike "Timex" McDonald went all in with 
river, Timex was gone.
board with two hearts on it. Veldhuis checked, the original raiser bet, and Mattern called. Original Raiser bet another 5,500 on the 
turn which had given Mattern an up-and-down draw as well as his flush draw. But the 
.
and bricked out, Lewis up to 90,000
but neither player bet it. The 
Tom Dwan checked the turn across to the new EPT San Remo champion Rupert Elder (who is coincidentally sitting next to an old EPT San Remo champion, Jason Mercier). Elder bet 4,100 and Dwan made the call to see the 
river.