Level: 2
Blinds: 75/150
Ante: 0
The 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
The 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final
Buy-in
€10,000
Entries
665
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000
Chips and a Chair
Our first player list has come in and we've pulled out a few names for you to browse through.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
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30,000 | |
Roberto Romanello Is Out
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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65,000 | |
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Busted | |
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The Hairstylist - Will "The Thrill" Failla
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
Will "The Thrill" Failla deserves the quote of the level when he turned around to Giuseppe Pantaleo and said, "Did you comb your hair with a balloon this morning?"
Lucien Cohen With Work to Do
Lucien Cohen raised to 450 in the hijack seat and his opponent in the big blind three-bet to 1,375. The man with the rat made the call and the pair shared a flop of 
. The big blind bet 1,525 and Cohen made the call and they checked through the 
on the turn. On the river we saw the and Cohen folded to a 2,800 bet from the big blind leaving himself with 13,900 and a lot of work to do.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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13,900 | |
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The Man in White
Taylor Paur is known for his prowess on the virtual felt but he might be known as the Man in White by the end of today.
He had a last longer bet (that he lost) with Chris Moorman and Jake Cody in the high-roller at EPT Berlin last week. His penalty was to dye his hair blonde and where a white suit. Cody came second and also had to done a white suit with his black locks staying as they are.
We're a little disappointed as Paur actually pulls it of and looks rather fitting for a tournament held in Moncao. We'll get some pictures to you when we can, but for now let's concentrate on how his tournament is going. Not bad, but not great is the answer. As we listened to his table mates, Sam Trickett and George Danzer talk about last night's epic football game, Paur went about losing two pots on the trot.
The first one was a multi-way pot that he seemed to have a stab at on the turn. He was called by Mikhail Korotkikh though and the Russian took the pot down when he led on the river with the board reading 
.
The very next hand Paur raised to 400 and was only called by Ricky Tang in the next seat. The flop fell 
and Paur's 500 c-bet was called. Tang raised to 4,000 when he faced a 1,275 bet on the 
turn. Paur called a led for 3,000 on the river. Chang called and took the pot with 
as his American opponent had a worse two-pair with 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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29,000 |
Shake the Dust off, Get Back on Your Horse
Martin Kabrhel busted the Super High-Roller yesterday but losing 100k hasn’t seemed to have affected his game, or his spirits today. His high spirits might have something to do with being the early chip leader after he eliminated Fabrice Journo.
We missed the hand but Kabrhel informed us it was a cooler. “My deuce-nine versus his pocket tens,” he smiled.
He played a hand that he lost and then he looked back up and said, “It went in on the flop, you understand, not pre flop. Deuce-deuce-seven!”
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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75,000 | |
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Busted |
Flush For Hallaert
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
There were five limpers before Ludovic Lacay raised to 550 in the small blind. Gilbert Abela called from under the gun, Kenny Hallaert called as did John Eames. The flop was 
(two spades), Lacay checked, Abela checked, Hallaert bet 3,100, Eames called, Lacay folded and Abela called.
Turn: 
Abela checked, Hallaert bet 3,100 and both Eames and Abela made the call.
River: 
Hallaert bet 5,500, Eames folded and Abela called. Hallaert turned over 
for the flush and Abela mucked his cards unseen. Eames told us that he folded 
after hitting the nuts on the turn.
Doc Sands Eliminates James Akenhead
We have lost another top British pro in the early levels of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.
We have been told that James Akenhead got it all-in pre flop holding 
versus the 
of David "Doc" Sands. Sands flopped a queen and Akenhead was joining Roberto Romanello on the sidelines.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
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Busted |
Break TIme
Level 2
: 75/150, 0 ante
We are on our first twenty-minute break of the day.