There are two EPT champions on the feature table in the shape of David Vamplew and ElkY and plenty more out in the main bosom of the field. One of those is Tom Middleton, he's now occupying the seat the Chris Moorman was in and not only has Luca Pagano to his immediate left, but Bryn Kenney has taken a seat to Pagano's left. As I was getting eyes on Middleton's stack (36,000) he was involved in a pot against Andrei Demidov
Middleton raised under the gun to 1,000 and picked up two callers including Demidov from the big blind. On the flop Middleton continuation bet 2,600 and Demidov was the only caller. On the turn Middleton fired again, this time for 6,500 and Demidov gave it up.
Elsewhere in the above starting stack camp we have: Martin Finger (44,675), Robin Ylitalo (61,000) and Mickey Petersen (41,400), whilst Ludovic Lacay (17,000) and Kevin MacPhee (24,700) have slipped below starting stack.
We just ran into Dutch poker talent Thomas Brader and he has over 50,000 in front of him. Brader told us he got those new chips quite some time ago, well before the dinner break.
Brader had opened under-the-gun with pocket aces and saw his next door neighbor three bet him. Brader went with the four bet because, in his words, "his opponent would never fold in that spot anyway". The gentleman acted like Brader expected by calling. Brader went for a bet on the flop (), bet on the turn () and shove on the river (). His opponent called the flop and turn, but elected to fold his queens face up on the river.
Brader, who has a brother who's had more live results than Thomas himself by the way, finished third in a €2,000 Turbo Bounty side event during EPT Barcelona this season for €19,600. Brader shares a table with some other super stars: Manig Loeser, Nicolas Levi and Eugene Katchalov are also seated at table 24.
We noticed that Paul Berende was no longer occupying his seat. A quick check with a poker media colleague revealed that he had recently been eliminated.
According to him, a player had raised and Berende defended from the big blind by flatting with the . The flop saw a raising war break out that resulted in Berende getting his last 10,000 or so in the pot. Berende was ahead with his pocket rockets, but his opponent held the for an open-ended straight draw.
The turn was of no consequence, but the river was. The straight came in and Berende was sent straight out the door.
Alberto Fiorilla opened from middle position for 1,100 and faced a raise from the small blind to 2,675 by Somar Al-Darwich when the big blind got out of the way. Fiorilla didn’t have much more than 12,000 behind and there was some confusion when he took back his first bet and placed out a blue T5000 chip. It was eventually resolved as a call and they saw a flop of . Check from Al-Darwich and a bet of 2,900 from Fiorilla prompted a shake of the head and a fold from Al-Darwich.
On the same table, the next hand developed soon after. Dmitrijs Meless from Latvia opened for 1,200 and found a defender in the big blind, Ryan Spittles from England. Heads up to a flop of Spittles check called a bet of 1,300 from Meless. Turn card was . Spittles checked again and Meles asked to see his opponents stack which was about 12,000. Meless plumped for a bet of 3,100 but quickly folded when Spittles shoved the lot in the middle.
With a board already out, the big blind bet out 5,000. Another player folded after which Negreanu shoved all in for 15,250 from the button rather quickly. The call was just as fast but more spectacular than that it wouldn't get. Both players had the same hand and a split pot was inevitable; for Negreanu, for his opponent. The on the river didn't matter and both grabbed their 15,250 back while the dealer divided the rest of the pot.
The European Poker Tour Season 10 Player of the Year race is on, and as you know 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 current top ten on the EPT10 POY Leaderboard:
Thomas Muhlocker
Place
Player
Points
1
Thomas Muhlocker
350.68 pts
2
David Benefield
321.18 pts
3
Ole Schemion
311.62 pts
4
Jeff Rossiter
258.92 pts
5
Joao Barbosa
257.14 pts
6
Kenny Hallaert
253.87 pts
7
Nicolau Pacheco Villa-Lobos
251.08 pts
8
Jonathan Duhamel
243.35 pts
9
Timothy Adams
222.31 pts
10
Frederik Brink Jensen
209.90 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.
To answer the question the PokerStars Blog turned to PokerStars Online Pro Mickey Petersen who will be spending time with his parents, and their dodgy internet connection. Read more over at the PokerStars Blog.
Elfad Mammadov from Azerbaijan opened from the cut-off for 1,100, finding calls from Steven Watts from England who has been talking up a storm, and the big blind Amir Sonsino Israel who prefers to exude a certain sense of menace. The flop was checked to the raiser who continued for 1,100. A fold from Watts, a call from Sonsino. They both checked the turn and saw a river . Sonsino checked and Mammadov bet 2,600. Sonsino though was not a believer and made the call. He had new belief however when Mammadov turned over and was good having paired his nine on the river.
![[user265690]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop Middleton continuation bet 2,600 and Demidov was the only caller. On the 
turn Middleton fired again, this time for 6,500 and Demidov gave it up.
), bet on the turn (
) and shove on the river (
). His opponent called the flop and turn, but elected to fold his queens face up on the river.
. The 
flop saw a raising war break out that resulted in Berende getting his last 10,000 or so in the pot. Berende was ahead with his pocket rockets, but his opponent held the 
for an open-ended straight draw.
river was. The straight came in and Berende was sent straight out the door.
. Check from Al-Darwich and a bet of 2,900 from Fiorilla prompted a shake of the head and a fold from Al-Darwich.
Spittles check called a bet of 1,300 from Meless. Turn card was 
. Spittles checked again and Meles asked to see his opponents stack which was about 12,000. Meless plumped for a bet of 3,100 but quickly folded when Spittles shoved the lot in the middle.
board already out, the big blind bet out 5,000. Another player folded after which Negreanu shoved all in for 15,250 from the button rather quickly. The call was just as fast but more spectacular than that it wouldn't get. Both players had the same hand and a split pot was inevitable; 
on the river didn't matter and both grabbed their 15,250 back while the dealer divided the rest of the pot.
was checked to the raiser who continued for 1,100. A fold from Watts, a call from Sonsino. They both checked the turn 
and saw a river 
. Sonsino checked and Mammadov bet 2,600. Sonsino though was not a believer and made the call. He had new belief however when Mammadov turned over 
and was good having paired his nine on the river.