![[user76023]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Dario Sammartino, one of Italy's top player, just picked a monster early pot after a three-way all in on a flop of 
.
Sammartino: 
Hilton Laborda: 
Bartolomeo-Fulvio Tato: 
The 
turn and 
river changed nothing since nobody had a spade. Sammartino tripled up, Laborda was eliminated and Tato was left with around 2,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
74,000 |
Johnny Lodden bet 2,050 on a board reading 
and was called by the under-the-gun raiser. They both checked the turn 
and when it was checked to Lodden on the river 
a bet of 4,200 saw another pot shipped his way.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
63,000
3,000
|
3,000 |
|
||
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree has recently sat down at fellow Pro Eugene Katchalov’s table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
30,000 | |
|
||
After a player opened for 400, Germany's Thomas Rintzel three-bet to 1,400 from the button. Libya's Mohamed Almani then four-bet to 3,000 from the small blind, though the original raiser did not see it. He announced raise, and because of his error he was forced to make it 4,600 to go.
Rintzel then moved all in, Almani called off his starting stack, and the original raiser folded.
Rintzel: 
Almani:
Almani wanted to go with his Big Slick, and he paid the ultimate price after the board ran out a dry 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
64,000 | |
|
Busted |
"Here's one for the archives!" laughed Thomas Wahlroos.
The Finn proceeded to explain a three-bet pot between Olivier Busquet and Kirill Zapletin. The flop was 
and Busquet had check-raised Zapletin's 1,700 bet to 6,000. The Russian responded by going all in and Busquet made the call.
Zapletin: 
Busquet: 
The 
suddenly gave Busquet a number of outs to win the pot outright and he hit the 
on the river to eliminate a shocked Zapletin.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
60,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
Busted |
Time for the first break of the day. It's 15 minutes long.
The World Series of Poker is exactly one month away with players from all over the world readying to trek to Las Vegas for a summer's worth of tournaments and bracelet chasing.
Considering playing at the WSOP for the first time this summer? Check out Rich Ryan's "Five Tips for Playing Your First WSOP Event" over at Learn.PokerNews. Then click around for more tournament strategy, tips from the pros, and more.
Back in 2010, 19-year-old Matthias Habernig from Klagenfurt, Austria made poker headlines when he topped a field of 364 players to win the Latin American Poker Tour Season III Florianopolis Main Event for $247,491. It was an exciting moment for Habernig, who had been playing online poker since he was 18. Prior to it, his career highlights include an $11 re-buy win on PokerStars and cashing in a $1,000 side event at LAPT Lima.
As if things couldn’t get any better, Habernig was back at a LAPT final table a month later. That’s when he navigated a field of 258 players to make the final table of the LAPT Season 3 Grand Finale in Rosario, Argentina. Habernig was looking to follow in Team PokerStars Pro Nacho Barbero’s footsteps by winning back-to-back LAPT titles, but that dream ultimately came to an end in sixth place for $49,400.
Since then Habernig has essentially disappeared from the poker landscape. In July 2011 he finished sixth in a €300 no-limit hold’em event at the CAPT Velden Open for €1,390, and in August 2013 he placed 25th n the IPT Nova Gorica Main Event for €3,300. Other than that, Habernig has stayed out of the poker eye.
That said, the poker eye is a keen one, and we happened to spot the now 22 year old, who will be celebrating his 23rd birthday on June 27, here in the EPT Grand Final field. Habernig was kind enough to inform us that since his win he has been focusing on his studies at the University of Graz, though he still enjoys playing poker.
He hopes to make it out to the World Series of Poker for the first time either this year or in the future, but for now his focus is on his education. In the meantime, he’ll remain content playing European events. Well today he’s playing arguably Europe’s most prestigious tournament, and only time will tell if the Austrian can find himself the last man standing once again.
That said, he’ll face an uphill battle as he’s already down to 16,000 in chips. “I donked off a little,” Habernig said with a smile.
Level: 3
Blinds: 100/200
Ante:
If you’re seeking instruction on how best to arrive at an EPT Main Event look no further than PokerStars Team Online’s Mickey Petersen. His routine is very simple. Turn up, sit down, don’t fuss, find aces, then rest, as the PokerStars Blog reports.
