Over on one of the outer tables there was a mystery involving a 25,000-chip which remained unsolved.
Play in the tournament was halted for five minutes and the clock was paused while the tournament director looked into this situation. The TV crew had been filming the previous hand and the footage was played back. There was no clear shot of the well and the tournament director ruled that this chip would be taking out of play because it could not be determined who it belonged to.
Play continues with 25,000 chips less in the tournament.
Action folded to Christoph Vogelsang on the button and he raised to 23,000. John Juanda defended from the big blind and it was heads-up action to the flop. Juanda check-called a bet of 26,000, and then called one double that amount on the turn.
When the completed the board on the river, Juanda checked for a third time and Vogelsang slowed down and did the same. Juanda tabled the , and it was good as Vogelsang mucked.
In the early years, German pro Johannes Strassmann – currently our chip leader in the EPT London £50,000 Super High Roller event - was all over the EPT.
Between the EPT3 Grand Final in March 2007 and EPT Snowfest in Season 6 (March 2010), Johannes cashed in a total of nine events including three final tables and two ninth place finishes. His lifetime live tournament winnings exceed $1.1 million – and the vast majority of that comes from EPTs.
Since March 2010 however – when he finished third at EPT Snowfest for a career best cash of €166,000, Strassmann has been largely off the scene. Today he said he took a break from the live poker circuit for some “personal spiritual development”. He said: “I’ve actually been traveling a lot, all over ... Europe, Thailand and quite a long time in the US. My father is American and I have a huge family over there. He had five sisters, so I have lots and lots of cousins – there’s actually about 200 people in my American family.”
Strassmann hadn’t abandoned poker altogether however. He played the EPT Berlin High Roller last season and has also been playing high stakes cash games at casinos in the Czech Republic and online – “to
make a living”.
He also went in to business, launching a German poker coaching site which subsequently failed. He said: “It’s OK. As an entrepreneur, you expect some ventures to fail.” Originally from Bonn but now living in
Vienna, 28-year-old Strassmann plans to play more live events going forward – including EPT Prague in December, the PCA in January and the Grand Final.
He said: “I’m going to play the High Rollers and someMain Events – the fun ones!” He is also in the process of setting up Europe’s first ever €100,000 Heads-Up tourney in Prague in December.
Johannes Strassmann raised to 25,000 under the gun and Martin Finger called from the cutoff. Bill Perkins put in a red 25,000 chip from the button and both blinds folded.
The flop brought and both Germans checked to Perkins who bet 50,000. Strassmann made the call and Finger quickly folded.
On the turn the hit and both players checked.
The river brought the and Strassmann paused before checking again. Perkins checked behind and Strassmann showed for top two pair. Perkins smiled to Strassmann who was clearly looking to trap his opponent.
Steve O'Dwyer raised to 22,000 preflop from the button and Steve O'Dwyer called from the big blind. The flop brought out and O'Dwyer check-called 27,000.
On the turn the hit and both players checked.
The river brought the and now O'Dwyer check-folded when Juanda bet 78,000. O'Dwyer is still up top 1.2 million while Juanda is closing in on the 400,000-chip mark.
Patrik Antonius moved all in for 175,000 and he was reshoved on by Shawn Buchanan. The other players folded and it was an all-in showdown between these two big players.
Antonius:
Buchanan:
The board ran out and Antonius found himself a double up. Buchanan lost some chips but he's still up from his last chip count.
The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Player of the Year race began Barcelona and continues here in London. Remember, this season a new points formula was implemented in conjunction with the Global Poker Index.
Players will be able to accumulate points in all events throughout Season 10, regardless of the buy-in level. In addition, all of the Festival Events (Estrellas, UKIPT, Eureka, FPS, IPT) that combine with an EPT tour stop will be eligible for Player of the Year points. The winner of this season’s award will walk away with €50,000 in Main Event buy-ins, good for any PokerStars or Full Tilt sponsored event.
The Global Poker Index (GPI) points formula, which will be used to determine the EPT10 POY, is a bit complicated, but you can read about all the details here.
Here are the top ten on the EPT10 POY Leaderboard:
David Benefield
Place
Player
Points
1
David Benefield
261.67 pts
2
Ole Schemion
259.32 pts
3
Joao Barbosa
220.20 pts
4
Thomas Muehloecker
196.87 pts
5
Jonathan Duhamel
195.58 pts
6
Tom Middleton
181.74 pts
7
Vitaly Lunkin
176.97 pts
8
Steve O'Dwyer
175.30 pts
9
Kevin Vandersmissen
173.42 pts
10
Oleksii Khoroshenin
166.89 pts
We'll be bringing you daily updates on the Player of the Year race, so be sure to keep an eye out for those.
Just before the break, Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, who finished runner-up in the Super High Roller in Barcelona, got his stack all in preflop holding the , which of course was out in front of the of chip leader Johannes Strassmann.
The flop kept Seidel firmly in the lead, but a sick twist of fate saw the turn and river run out the and respectively. Strassmann hit a runner-runner straight to send a shellshocked Seidel to the rail.
"That's how you win poker tournaments," someone told Strassmann after the hand.
flop. Juanda check-called a bet of 26,000, and then called one double that amount on the 
turn.
completed the board on the river, Juanda checked for a third time and Vogelsang slowed down and did the same. Juanda tabled the 
, and it was good as Vogelsang mucked.
and both Germans checked to Perkins who bet 50,000. Strassmann made the call and Finger quickly folded.
hit and both players checked.
and Strassmann paused before checking again. Perkins checked behind and Strassmann showed 
and O'Dwyer check-called 27,000.
hit and both players checked.
and now O'Dwyer check-folded when Juanda bet 78,000. O'Dwyer is still up top 1.2 million while Juanda is closing in on the 400,000-chip mark.
and Antonius found himself a double up. Buchanan lost some chips but he's still up from his last chip count.
of chip leader Johannes Strassmann.
flop kept Seidel firmly in the lead, but a sick twist of fate saw the turn and river run out the 
and 
respectively. Strassmann hit a runner-runner straight to send a shellshocked Seidel to the rail.