€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2016 PokerStars.com EPT Season 13 Malta

10-23-2016 17:27 UTC+1

Small Pots for O'Dwer and Schemion

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Steve O'Dwyer opened to 900 and Chi Zhang called from one seat over, Graydon Kowal called in the big blind. On the flop, Kowal checked and O'Dwyer bet 2,000. That forced folds from both and O'Dwyer raked in the pot.

Then, Ole Schemion raised to 1,000 and Kamran Aliyev called in the big blind. On the flop, Aliyev check-called a continuation bet worth 1,000. Both players checked the turn and Aliyev checked the on the turn. Schemion made it 2,700 to go, which proved to be too much for Aliyev and the Azerbaijani folded.

Player	Chips	Progress
Graydon Kowal	74,000 6,000	6,000
Ole Schemion	46,000 14,000	14,000
Kamran Aliyev	32,000 32,000	32,000
Steve O'Dwyer	13,500 6,000	6,000

Tags: Chi Zhang Graydon Kowal Kamran Aliyev Ole Schemion Steve O'Dwyer

10-23-2016 17:32 UTC+1

Miniucchi Busts Cimilji

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

After a raise to 1,100, Arben Cimilji moved all in for around 8,000 and Marcello Miniucchi looked him up from the small blind, the initial raiser folded. Cimiliji showed the , but stood no chance against Miniucchi's on a board of .

The two big stacks at the table are Jakub Michalak and Guillaume Valle.

Also out: Sven Magirius, Danut Chisu and Vincent van der Fluit.

Player	Chips	Progress
Guillaume Valle	90,000 15,000	15,000
Jakub Michalak	65,000 35,000	35,000
Marcello Miniucchi	50,000
Danut Chisu	Busted
Vincent van der Fluit	Busted
Sven Magirius	Busted
Arben Cimilji	Busted

Tags: Jakub Michalak Guillaume Valle Danut Chisu Vincent van der Fluit Sven Magirius Arben Cimilji

10-23-2016 17:42 UTC+1

Silver Destroys Stack; Sormunen Runs Good

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

"Couldn't you have told me that five minutes ago?" Max Silver joked towards Pasi Sormunen, after he had just destroyed his stack with against the pocket aces of Damien Luis.

Soon after, Sormunen limped in from the small blind and Dario Sammartino checked. Sormunen bet the flop for 1,000 and received a call. The Finn then bet the turn for 2,000 and the river for 3,000. Sammartino called the first bet quickly, the second rather reluctantly. "One pair," Sormunen announced and turned over the .

"I have one pair too," Sammartino said while glancing up from his massage and then sliding his cards into the muck.

At almost the same time, Oleksii Khoroshenin walked next to the table with a ticket in his hand and grabbed the stack for Day 1a of the Main Event. He will play today and then enter the €10,000 Single Day High Roller tomorrow.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pasi Sormunen	87,000 56,000	56,000
Damien Luis	55,000 55,000	55,000
Dario Sammartino	50,000 8,000	8,000
Oleksii Khoroshenin	30,000 30,000	30,000

Max Silver	3,900 3,900	3,900

Tags: Damien Luis Dario Sammartino Max Silver Pasi Sormunen Oleksii Khoroshenin

10-23-2016 17:48 UTC+1

"Sorry I Have to Call"

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Viatcheslav Buldygin just made a mistake that costed him some of his chips. Suhan Cumhur Guler had opened the hand and it was folded to Buldygin in the big blind.

The Russian didn't pay attention to the stack of Cumhur Guler and three-bet to 3,000. His opponent had only 5,800 in total and moved all in. That move surprised Buldygin as he was now committed to this hand.

"Sorry I have to call", he told his opponent. "I'm really really sorry."

Buldygin showed for a three-bet bluff and was up against . Luckily for Cumhur Guler the board ran out in his favor: and he doubled.

"I looked too long on my phone", Buldygin confessed after the hand. He is watching the €25,750 High Roller livestream whole day. He is even discussion some of the hands with Charlie Carrel, who sits on his left.

They didn't need long to discuss this hand. "It was bad", Buldygin confessed.

Carrel smiled and said: "It's going to be on the blog as well."

Player	Chips	Progress
Viatcheslav Buldygin	55,000 2,000	2,000
Suhan Cumhur Guler	15,000

Tags: Viatcheslav Buldygin

10-23-2016 17:53 UTC+1

Jorgensen Doubles Through Altman

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

There was 7,000 in the middle and Brian Altman fired 2,700 on a flop. Team PokerStars Pro Theo Jörgensen was his only opponent and the Dane made the call.

Both checked when the came on the turn. The river was the and now Altman bet 9,400. Jörgensen quickly called and Altman mucked. Jörgensen showed pocket jacks as he raked in the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Brian Altman	76,000 13,000	13,000
Theo Jorgensen	50,000 20,000	20,000

Tags: Theo Jorgensen Brian Altman

10-23-2016 18:02 UTC+1

Sormunen Knocks Out Silver and Zesiger

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/400, 50 ante

Pasi Sormunen raised to 1,100 from under the gun and Max Silver shoved his last 2,950 from the cutoff. Stephan Zesiger just called in the big blind and Sormunen came along.

On the , Zesiger bet 4,000 and Sormunen called. On the turn, the Swiss bet 5,000 with little behind and Sormunen called after some consideration. Silver had already grabbed his belongings and was ready to leave, but the dealer told him to stay where he is. The then fell on the river and Zesiger shoved for his last 7,700 and Sormunen quickly called.

Zesiger:
Silver:
Sormunen:

The Finn had made a straight to knock out both opponents, claiming the current lead.

Player	Chips	Progress
Pasi Sormunen	115,000 28,000	28,000
Stephan Zesiger	Busted
Max Silver	Busted

Tags: Max Silver Pasi Sormunen Stephan Zesiger

Level: 6

Blinds: 250/500

Ante: 75

10-23-2016 18:14 UTC+1

Larquemin Doubles Through Buddiga

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

Christophe Larquemin has been riding the short stack for a while now. He just doubled up but is still short.

It was Pratyush Buddiga who raise to 900 and Larquemin called from the small blind. The flop was and both checked. The turn brought the and Larquemin checked again. Buddiga bet 1,500 and snap-called when Larquemin moved in for 6,200 total.

Larquemin had flopped two pair with his and he to dodge some outs against Buddiga's . The river was a save and Larquemin doubled.

Player	Chips	Progress
Christophe Larquemin	13,500 5,500	5,500
Pratyush Buddiga	11,000 19,000	19,000

Tags: Christophe Larquemin Pratyush Buddiga

10-23-2016 18:19 UTC+1

Some Counts

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

The last level before the dinner break started some moments ago and here are a bunch of chip counts.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergey Sergeev	92,000 37,000	37,000
Vladimir Troyanovskiy	65,000 40,000	40,000
Ole Schemion	64,000 18,000	18,000
Stephen Chidwick	57,000 11,000	11,000
Juha Helppi	45,000 15,000	15,000
Dan Shak	38,000 1,000	1,000
Bart Fergiatakis	36,000 5,600	5,600
Oleksii Khoroshenin	35,000 5,000	5,000

Justin Smith	33,000 6,000	6,000
Nariman Yaghmai	32,000 2,000	2,000
Fabrice Soulier	29,000 16,000	16,000
Steve O'Dwyer	24,000 10,500	10,500

Charlie Carrel	24,000 24,000	24,000
Alexandros Kolonias	22,000 11,000	11,000
Luca Pagano	22,000

James Akenhead	20,000 10,650	10,650
Pierre Neuville	14,000 11,000	11,000
Orpen Kisacikoglu	10,000 3,000	3,000

10-23-2016 18:24 UTC+1

Popovic Puts Chips to Use

Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 250/500, 75 ante

In a previous hand, Marko Popovic had forced a fold from Viatcheslav Buldygin in a pretty big pot and he put the chips to use just now. Popovic raised to 1,200 and Paul Newey called in the small blind. Andrew Christoforou three-bet to 3,500 in the big blind and just Popovic called.

On the flop, Christoforou bet 3,000 and was called before the turn brought no action. On the river, Christoforou checked. Popovic bet 11,000 and Christoforou wasn't as happy, he asked the dealer to spread the pot to see how much was in there, and then called after some further consideration. Popovic showed the for trips aces and won the pot.