Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2012 PokerStars.com EPT Berlin
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€3,725,000
Entries
745
Level
33
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
30,000
Cengiz Ulusu Stars Under the TV Lights to Lead at EPT Berlin, Day 1b
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Yesterday was just the warm up to the carnage that ensued today at the European Poker Tour Berlin. The Grand Hyatt Hotel has a svelte figure and it could not contain the weight of the Day 1b crowd. Nine tables had to be opened up in the Spielbank Berlin over the road to ease the stretching seams. A total of 502 players took their seats, more than twice that of yesterday’s 243.
Cengiz Ulusu made record headlines today as he finished as our chip leader with a massive 242,800 chips, and is the overall Day 1 leader, topping Vladimir Geshkenbein’s 201,600 from Day 1a. Normally, this is where we'd explain a little about how he won his chips, but as the Turk was on the TV table for most of the day, you’ll have to wait until it airs on TV or on Pokerstars.TV.
Instead, we can tell you the champion here from two seasons ago, Kevin MacPhee cracked sets and flopped sets on his way to a finishing 139,100. Davidi Kitai won races, dropped back a little by losing races, and recovered to end with 197,700. Then there’s Calvin Anderson (205,100), Mario Puccini (198,900), Marc Wright (182,600), Dan Smith (173,600), Michiel Brummelhuis (173,500), and Konstantinos Tsirakidis (168,000) who have all moved into contention.
Team PokerStars Pro suffered a bloody day as their numbers were culled considerably. Victor Ramdin was particularly unlucky as he was up to 122,000 at his high point but a series of hands went very badly for him. He flopped top set in one hand but lost out to an opponent who made a straight. Then, he got his last 30,000 in with pocket queens only to run into pocket kings. Reigning world champion, Pius Heinz, ran his queens into Bahadir Kilickeser’s 
and Ali Azabdaftar’s 
. Kilickeser was the happiest at the end though as his hand only found two friends to make quads.
We will be seeing see Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier (40,900) coming back for day 2 along with Viktor Blom (109,900), George Danzer (54,100), Alex Kravchenko (49,000), Nuno Coelho (8,500), Matthias De Meulder (14,500), and Friend Of PokersStars Charlotte Van Brabander (37,300).
The remaining 329 players from both starting flights will all be in the same room tomorrow. Play will resume at midday (CET), and as ever the PokerNews crew will be here all day to bring the action.
For now, if you're in town, then here is Lynn Gilmartin's user guide to seeing the sights of Berlin.
Official End of Day 1b Chip Counts (full)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
242,800 | |
|
205,100 | |
|
198,900 | |
|
197,700 | |
|
196,600 | |
|
184,400 | |
|
182,600 | |
|
176,700 | 56,700 |
|
|
173,600 | |
|
173,500 | |
|
168,100 | |
|
149,700 | 17,700 |
|
148,700 | |
|
139,400 | -2,600 |
|
139,100 | 57,100 |
|
136,700 | 31,700 |
|
131,900 | 28,500 |
|
|
128,800 | |
|
|
128,100 | |
|
127,300 | |
|
126,300 | |
|
125,100 | |
|
124,600 | |
|
122,400 | |
|
122,200 |
Bagging and Tagging
The Day 1b players are all done for the day. The clock reads that 220 remain, but that could change a little bit after all the bags are tallied up. We'll have a complete wrap coming shortly. In the meantime, here are some of the biggest stacks in the room.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
242,800 | 32,800 |
|
|
197,700 | -5,300 |
|
|
182,600 | |
|
|
173,500 | 53,500 |
|
|
168,100 | -13,900 |
Gerdes Is Gone
Tim Gerdes has been eliminated right at the death here in Berlin. he got his stack in preflop with 
and was called by the 
of Fredrik Andersson. The board ran out 
and Gerdes stack is not one we will be counting when play does draw to a close.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
Azabdaftar Claws Some Chips Back
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
It was not too long ago Ali Azabdaftar lost a massive pot when his aces were cracked by pocket kings in a three way all in pot but he has just won some of them back.
Jake Cody saw the action fold to him in the cutoff and the Triple Crown winner opened to 2,100. Azabdaftar called in the big blind and the duo shared a flop reading 
. Azabdaftar checked to Cody who then fired a continuation bet of 2,200,a bet that Azabdaftar called. The turn was the 
and both players checked. Our river card was the 
and now Azabdaftar lead into Cody with a 4,400 bet. Cody quickly let his hand go and Azabdafter continues to rebuild.
Vöhrs' Large Turn Bet Gets The Job Done
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
If your opponent will not lay down his hand then do what Sören Vöhrs just did and bring out the big guns!
Vojtech Ruzicka opened to 2,100 from the cutoff and Vöhrs was his only customer, from the big blind. The first three cards on the board were , Ruzicka checked, then called a 2,500 bet from Vöhrs. The turn was the 
and Ruzicka checked again so Vöhrs upped the ante somewhat and bet 12,000, quite the bet considering the previous streets' sizing. Ruzicka was not prepared to pay this and he mucked his hand.
Stephen Chidwick Shoves On Joe Ebanks
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
No doubt Stephen Chidwick and Joe Ebanks will have clashed on scores of occasions over the years on the online poker tournament scene and they have just tangled here in Berlin.
Ebanks opened to 2,000 from middle position and two seats to the American's left is where Chidwick was seated and he moved all in for what 28,000. This folded out the rest of the table, Ebanks included and Chidwick adds around 12.5% to his stack, which at this time of night is a great result!
Updated Chip Counts
Here's a quick snippet of some counts, or lack thereof, from the field. Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern lost a series of hands that ended with his demise.
On the first hand, Mattern called a small all-in shove a few levels back for 10,000 chips with 
. The shover held 
and flopped a straight on Mattern.
An orbit later, Mattern raised with from middle position and the small blind called to take a flop, which was 
. After the small blind checked, Mattern bet half pot and the small blind called. The turn was the 
and both players checked before Mattern's opponent bet 6,000 on the river 
. Mattern called and was shown a flush with the 
.
On his final hand, Mattern three-bet with aces and got it in on a 
flop against . His aces couldn't come from behind on the turn or river and Mattern was eliminated.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
203,000 | 13,000 |
|
152,000 | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Temperature Rises, And With Inevitable Results
Level 9
: 400/800, 100 ante
It’s getting warm in the tournament room and it doesn’t smell too good with a level left to play. Meanwhile, and old favourite returns to the feature table, which you can read about on the PokerStars Blog.