The former EPT champion Roberto Romanello has been eliminated in the very first level. It is a bitter blow for the man currently lying in second place on the EPT Player of the Year Leaderboard, and one which will take him a little bit of time to get over.
Romanello himself talked us through the pre flop action as we caught up with it on the flop. He told us that there was a raise and three callers before Roberto Romanello three-bet from the big blind to 1,550 holding . The action folded around to the recent EPT Berlin Runner-Up, Andrew Chen, and he four-bet to 3,900. A few folds later and Romanello five-bet to 7,975 and Chen made the call.
Flop:
Romanello bet 5,700 and Chen made the call.
Turn:
Romanello bets 8,500 and Chen made the call.
River:
Romanello moved all-in and Chen called before quickly flipping over for a flopped full house. So an early exit for our loveable Welshman and a great start for the man who came so close to winning an EPT title, only last week, and also finished 5th place in this very tournament two years ago.
Guillaume Darcourt raised to 250 on the button and the player in the big blind three-bet to 700. Darcourt made the call and the pair shared a flop of . The big blind allowed Darcourt to take the betting lead when he check-called a 850 bet. The turn card was the and the big blind checked once more. Darcourt bet 1,850 and the player in the big blind folded.
Joel Benzinou raised to 250 in the cutoff and Roberto Romanello defended his big blind. Once again the action was checked through to the river on a board of , only this time Benzinou did not try a cheeky river bet.
"It's on you…you were the last aggressor," said Romanello.
After a little bit of debate, Benzinou reluctantly turned over .
"Why are you afraid to turn over the nuts?" Said Romanello as he mucked his hand.
Benzinou just gave him a puzzled ne comprends stare
Matthias De Meulder is mixing it up early but had to fold in a pot to Dermot Blain. The Belgian Team PokerStars Pro raised from early position and bet a flop. Blain defended his big blind and check-called on the flop before both players checked through the turn.
The river came and De Meulder bet 650,00 but snap-folded when Blain check-raised to 2,200
Joel Benzinou raised on the button for 250, Team PokerStars Pro Joao Nunes called in the small blind as did Guillaume Darcourt in the big blind. The action was pretty sterile as all three players checked down to the river on a board of when Benzinou bet 400. Nunes called, Darcourt folded and Benzinou slid his cards unseen to the dealer handing the pot to Nunes.
John Eames raised to 300 in middle position, the player in the hijack seat called as did Talal Shakerchi on the button. The flop was and Eames c-bet for 525, the player in the hijack raised to 1,525 and Shakerchi folded. Back to Eames and he wasted little time in making the call. That was the end of the action as the and were checked through and we had a showdown.
Eames
Hijack
Eames dragged in the pot with a higher two pair, the deck was changed because of a rogue and the action continued.
There are going to be so many name players in this event that we’re going to struggle to get around them all. We’ll do our best and we’ll certainly give players who start to make a break away our full attention. As ever please feel free to use the shout box down the right hand side of the page for any specific player requests.
We’re still awaiting player lists but a first walk around the tournament room has thrown up some interesting table draws already.
John Eames is going to have to watch out for some Pierre Neuville three-bets today as the Team PokerStars Pro is directly to his left.
Jonathan Karamalikis is one of Australia’s most feared poker players and he’s trying to invade our fair shores. He has the spritely Xuan Liu to his left, though and she’s no easy character. Also, she won her seat via a live satellite last night so has the pressure of playing as 10k buy-in off her back. Then there's high-roller specialist Philipp Gruissem a few more seats further along.
The two most difficult tables I’ve laid eyes on are minefields. Ignat Livui is really making a name for himself in the live scene but he has to deal with Adam Levi and Chris Brammer to start with. At least he’s sat to their left.
One table along and we see Scott Seiver sat in seat one. He’s out of position to Martin Stazko and Nicolas Chouity, who was victorious the last time we were here for a grand final. Then there's the current WSOPE champion Elio Fox sat at the end of the table.
![[user169505]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. The action folded around to the recent EPT Berlin Runner-Up, Andrew Chen, and he four-bet to 3,900. A few folds later and Romanello five-bet to 7,975 and Chen made the call.
and the big blind checked once more. Darcourt bet 1,850 and the player in the big blind folded.
, only this time Benzinou did not try a cheeky river bet.
and De Meulder bet 650,00 but snap-folded when Blain check-raised to 2,200
were checked through and we had a showdown.
