Edgar Stuchly, president of the European Poker Tour, has been welcoming players all season to the wonderful cities of Europe. Today's address to the players on Day 1b of the Grand Final was the last time he'll go through this particular script, so PokerStars Blog listens in for posterity. Also: what will Victoria Coren Mitchell's victory in Sanremo mean for "Ride on the River"?
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Michael Telker from the USA, fresh from cashing the Main Even at EPT Sanremo, has just joined the event. One of the most talkative players currently on the circuit, he is certain to be a source of interest at his table and will either make firm friends and drinking buddies or alienate those who don’t appreciate his constant chatter. For now though he has put his headphones on is having a quiet start.
Also just sitting down is serial high roller Dmitry Yurasov.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
30,000 |
Tomasz Chmiel had checked it over to Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov on a board where they had reached the turn and the cards were 
.
There was 9,700 in the pot and Katchalov bet 4,600. It got the job done as, after some thought Chmiel folded his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
33,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
||
|
27,000 | |
On a 
flop we saw three players check. Zhanbek Nugumanov in the big blind was the first to tap the table, and Team PokerStars Pro Ivan Demidov did the same from under the gun plus two. Lorenzo Sabato from Italy followed suit and checked behind.
The turn brought the 
to the table and Nugumanov checked. Demidov now bet 2,000 and Sabato instantly folded. Nugumanov acted just as quickly, but he raised it up to 5,500 instead of folding. Demidov thought for a little bit, and called.
The river came the 
and Nugumanov bet out 3,500. Demidov made the call and showed his 
. That was a winner, Nugumanov open mucked his 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
37,000
14,800
|
14,800 |
|
|
||
There was an under the gun raise before Raphael Tykoczinsky three-bet to 1,050. Annette Obrestad called from the button, as did the under-the-gun player. The flop was 
where it was checked to Tykoczinsky who bet 2,200. Obrestad made it 5,800 and the original raiser flat-called. Tykoczinsky moved all in for about 24,000 and Obrestad also pushed her stack in the middle while the third player folded.
Tykoczinsky showed 
to Obrestad's 
but the Frenchman couldn't catch a king on the turn or river and he was knocked out.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
Busted |
With 5,500 in the pot and a board reading 
, the USA's Eric Brix bet 2,500 from the hijack and received a call from Team PokerStars Pro Christophe de Meulder in the cutoff. When the 
completed the board on the river, Brix slowed down with a check and de Meulder followed suit.
Briz tabled the 
for two pair, but it was no good as de Meulder held a bigger two pair with the 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
36,000
36,000
|
36,000 |
|
|
||
One week ago, Max Greenwood finished runner up to Ole Schemion in the EPT10 Sanremo €10,000 High Roller. Max is in today's field, and so is his brother, Sam.
Can Sam follow in his brother's footsteps and make a deep run? Well he did just win a pot against another EPT regular in Artem Litvinov.
We picked up the action on a 
flop when Litvinov bet 1,100 from the cutoff and Greenwood called from the button. The 
turn saw Litvinov check-call a bet of 2,525, and then he checked the river. Greenwood kept the pressure on with a bet of 4,500, and it did the trick as Litvinov released his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
32,500
2,500
|
2,500 |
|
22,200 |
Table 3 is the action table. With Annette Obrestad having already eliminated a player barely minutes before, it was time for Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden to do the same.
Roberto Romanello had bet 1,700 on the turn of a 
board before Nico Janke made it 3,500. Lodden cold-called and Romanello also made the call.
The river was the 
and Romanello checked, Janke bet 10,000 and Lodden moved all in for about 25,000. Romanello thought briefly before folding and Janke made the call.
Janke: 
Lodden: 
Lodden's rivered straight meant the end of the tournament for Janke while Romanello revealed he'd folded a set of twos.
Two aggressive Norwegians sitting next to each other with massive stacks? Sounds interesting.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
The Super High Roller has come to an end and it was a battle of two Heads-Up online specialists Daniel 'Jungleman12' Cates and Daniel 'MrGr33n13' Coleman. Jennifer Robles has the update as well as who advanced from Day 1a and how many to expect for Day 1b.
Yingui Li had opened the betting and Mohamed Almani had three bet to 1,350. Iosif Beskrovnyy then made it 2,725 to go. Yingui Li now bet 4,200 and back on Almani he shoved all in for 28,000. Beskrovnyy made the fold pretty quickly but it looked like Li had a tough decision to make and he was mulling it over.
Almani, the all-in player, soon called the clock and when the floor arrived the dealer said that he had had sufficient time.
“No, it’s only a minute and a half.” Max Greenwood spoke up. He said that as players at the table had been taking a while to make decisions he’d been keeping an eye on the clock, and this wasn’t a long time to make a decision.
Nevertheless the floor told Li that while he wasn’t on the clock he would need to make a decision soon, which Li accepted with good grace. Another 45 seconds passed and Li folded.
Almani said the dealer could turn over one card at random which was the 
. “Jacks?” asked Almani? Li grinned and nodded.
