Friend of PokerStars and former Spanish footballer Poli Rincon, is having a quietish start. He'd opened to 775 preflop with just one caller but then check-folded to a 1,050 bet on a flop of .
Action folded to Andy Frankenberger in the cutoff and he raised to 475. The button was having none of it and pushed back with a three-bet to 1,300. The blinds got out of the way, Frankenberger called, and it was heads-up action to the , which both players checked.
When the hit the turn, Frankenberger checked and opened the door for the button to bet 1,500. Frankenberger woke up with a check-raise to 3,600, his opponent called, and then he checked the . The button wasted little time in betting 5,500, and Frankenberger snap-folded.
AMFrankenberger Andy FrankenbergerStill around 51k. Chino enters table on my right, martin finger has been quiet 2 to my leftAugust 20 2012
EPT regular and a famous Italian journalist Mario Adinolfi bet 1,050 in the hijack spot on the board and was called by his fellow countryman Enrico Tau and the PokerStars qualifier from Germany Pascal Hartmann went out of the way.
Both remaining players checked the on the turn and Adinolfi fired a bet of 2,000 when the dealer flipped on the river and Tau instantly folded.
Remember when Jean-Robert Bellande appeared on Survivor: China? He didn't win the $1-million prize as he was the eighth player voted out, but his exploits were entertaining nonetheless.
Interesting, someone else from that season of Survivor is in today's field—Amanda Kimmel. Her and Trishelle Cannatella, who is also in today's field, are in Barcelona to film a reality show. Coincidentally, Kimmel was on the same tribe as Robert back in Survivor: China, though she did much better and finished as second runner-up.
Kimmel, born August 3, 1984, made a big impression with viewers. The actress, model and former beauty queen went on to participate in Survivor: Micronesia Fans vs. Favorites, finishing as runner-up to Parvati Shallow. Having two close calls to a $1-million payday, Kimmel returned to the show for a third time in Survivor: Heroes vs. Villains as part of the Heroes tribe. She did fairly well, finishing in 9th place, but ultimately fell short of the top prize. All told, Kimmel has spent 108 days playing the game of Survivor.
Kimmel's Survivor days seem to be behind her as she has ventured into the poker word. If she's able to use her survival and manipulation skills to their fullest, she just may walk away with that big million payday she's been looking for.
Kristy Arnett spoke with Kimmel and Cannatella during the PokerStars party here in Barcelona:
Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri is out already. He apparently lost most of his stack when he ran into the set of nines of Massimo Mosele, and busted soon after. At least the chips stayed in Italy.
Another Italian Team Pro is fairing much better. Salvatore Bonavena raised to 825 after Andrei Shubin Vladimirovich limped from early position. The Russian called but check-folded to c-bet on the flop.
Praz Bansi is back around a poker table for the first time in five months. He's never had that much luck on the European Poker Tour and his day is taking a downward trend. He's on around 12,000 at the moment after tank-checking behind on the river of a board. He announced that he had nine high, losing out to an opponent's .
On the board reading Argentinian Team PokerStars Pro Leo Fernandez splashed a huge bet of 14,375 which made the Israeli PokerStars qualifier Guy Bachar really take his time to make up his mind.
American player Michael Gagliano got tired of waiting and requested that the dealer calls the clock. Bachar was asked to hurry up and after another minute or so he finally decided to fold.
Three-way on the turn of an board and Chris Moorman led out for 950 getting a solitary call from Nicholas Maiomone. Both checked the river and Moorman opened for a missed flush draw. Maiomone mucked though allowing the Brit to pick up the pot.
Daniel Negreanu might be unhappy with the heat in the tournament area (in truth it is pretty warm but not quite as stuffy as it was yesterday) but he's made an ok start to today's proceeding. He bet 4,200 on the river of an board and was paid off by his opponent.