Busy Tournament Room here on Day1a of EPT Barcelona
All the players have returned from their dinner break and there is only one more level after this one left to play today. Some will have spent the break considering the size of their stacks and mulling over what the best course of action is. If they don’t have many chips left, how desperately do they want to make day 2? If they have a lot of chips what is the best way to pressure the short stacks who may feel they have little to lose and are willing to gamble? It is an area of specialism for good tournament players at the end of a long day. We expect a few unlucky bust outs and unlikely double ups as players move their chips in.
Marton Czuczor bet 9,300 on the board, and his opponent, Mike Watson, made the call to see the land on the river. Czuczor fired 15,700, and Watson went into the tank. Eventually, Watson folded and was knocked back to the starting stack.
The elegantly dressed Team PokerStars Player Marcel Luske can genuinely lay claim to being one of the few real old school players in the field. Charming and ruthless his poker skills are undeniable but he looked on in bemusement as down the other end of the table Lauri Varonen got into a pre flop war with the player to his left Rens Feenstra, a PokerStar player from the Netherlands. Varonen had raised from the cut off to 900 and Feenstra from the button made it 2,500. The blinds folded and now Varonen raised once more to 5,500. Feenstra sent a message, one worth 8,200 chips. Varonen got the it and folded.
The next hand Florian Kossler raised from mid position to 900 and when the young whippersnappers Varonen and Feenstra folded, Luske decided to take a flop from the small blind. The big blind folded and they saw a flop of . Lucke, first to act, checked. Kossler continued for 1,400 and Luske called. The turn was checked by both players inviting Luske to lead on the river for a bet of 4,000. Kosler folded.
From middle position, Alexander Scherdin raised to 800 to kick off the action. Tobias Garp was in the next seat and called, then Jude Ainsworth called from the cutoff seat, Kevin Vandersmissen called on the button, and the player in the big blind also came along.
The five of them saw the flop come down , and the big blind checked. Scherdin bet 1,400, then Garp folded. Ainsworth raised to 3,700, Vandersmissen folded, and the big blind folded. Action fell back on Scherdin, and he reraised to 9,400. Ainsworth folded, and Scherdin won the pot.
Lauri Varonen from Finland checked it over to his opponent Kirill Shugai, a poker stars qualifier from Russia, on a final board of . There had been action on each street and there was a mound of chips in the middle. Shugal moved all in. Varonen weighed the possibilities and made the call. Shugal tapped the table and said “Good call.” He turned over the and was knocked out of the tournament by the straight of Varonen.
David Vamplew, a Scottish Poker Pro, apparently liked the table he was on earlier but wasn’t getting many hands to play and his stack had dwindled somewhat. He’s going to have to begin the slow climb back to a decent stack and he made a good start just after the dinner break.
Joao Vieira from Portugal opened for 900 from early position and got one caller in Vamplew on the button. The flop was . Vieira continued for 1,500 and Vamplew called on a pretty wet board. The turn brought the . Vieiera didn’t like the look of that and checked allowing Vamplew to bet 2,600 and take down a much needed pot.
The second half of the field has now headed to dinner. The first half has returned are are back in action as the same level continues with 200/400/50 blinds and antes.
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
board, and his opponent, Mike Watson, made the call to see the 
land on the river. Czuczor fired 15,700, and Watson went into the tank. Eventually, Watson folded and was knocked back to the starting stack.
. Lucke, first to act, checked. Kossler continued for 1,400 and Luske called. The turn 
was checked by both players inviting Luske to lead on the 
river for a bet of 4,000. Kosler folded.
, and the big blind checked. Scherdin bet 1,400, then Garp folded. Ainsworth raised to 3,700, Vandersmissen folded, and the big blind folded. Action fell back on Scherdin, and he reraised to 9,400. Ainsworth folded, and Scherdin won the pot.
. There had been action on each street and there was a mound of chips in the middle. Shugal moved all in. Varonen weighed the possibilities and made the call. Shugal tapped the table and said “Good call.” He turned over the 
and was knocked out of the tournament by the 
straight of Varonen.
