£20,000 High Roller Event Day 1 | PokerStars.com EPT London £1m Showdown

10-05-2008 15:38 UTC+2

Table Of Death

[user46392]

That is the official terminology in the press room when referring to Table 6.

Seat 1: Vicky Coren
Seat 2: Scott Fischman
Seat 3: Sorel Mizzi
Seat 4: Gus Hansen
Seat 5: Johan Van Til
Seat 6: Daniel Negreanu
Seat 7: William Thorson
Seat 8: Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
Seat 9: Sandor Demjan

Of these titans, the least titan-like at the moment seems to be Sandor Demjan, whose stack has somehow shrunk to just 2,850 already. Much of the balance of his 20,000 starting stack seems to have found its way into Daniel Negreanu's stack -- he's currently sitting on around 28,000.

What do the players think of the incredible, virtually value-free field? Per Ummer, overheard chatting to Philippe Rouas away from their table: "This is like a lottery..."

Tags: Daniel Negreanu

10-05-2008 15:45 UTC+2

Brandon Abandons His Chips

[user46392]

Brandon Adams lost a fair few of his chips to David Benyamine earlier -- Benyamine made it 300 under the gun and Adams made it 1,600 from the small blind; call. When Adams bet out 2,400 on the {4-Clubs}

flop, Benyamine made it around 7,000, and Adams passed. Benyamine showed {A-Hearts}

.

So Adams was down a little when he, Phil Ivey and Alexander Kostritsyn saw an {A-?}

flop. Ivey bet 2,000 and Adams called; Kostritsyn made it around 7,000 and now Ivey passed, but Adams continued to call. Both players checked the {5-?}

on the turn and Adams checked the {8-?}

river too, but Kostritsyn bet enough to put Adams all in, and he called. Kostritsyn turned over {10-Clubs}

for a flopped set, and Adams mucked. Plenty of the day left to think about the $35,500 it's cost him.

Tags: Alexander Kostritsyn Brandon Adams Phil Ivey

10-05-2008 16:16 UTC+2

Those Doing Well

[user46392]

Probably not as surprised as he looks to be chip leader

That happy club of the chipped up currently includes:

Daniel Negreanu -- 42,000
Greg Raymer -- 40,000
Anooj Sareen -- 37,000
Peter Eastgate -- 35,000
James Obst (an online qualifier) -- 30,000
Masaaki Kagawa -- 30,000
November Niner Ivan Demidov -- 28,000

10-05-2008 16:20 UTC+2

Those Doing Less Well

[user46392]

The sad faces that have let chips slip through their fingers include:

Juha Helppi -- 9,500
David Williams -- 11,900
Sandor Demjan (he of the Table Of Death short stack a little while ago) -- now OUT
Dario Minieri -- also BUSTO

10-05-2008 16:25 UTC+2

85 Runners, Despite What the Board Says

[user46392]

The final tally of runners in this very expensive tournament is an impressive 85. The board was displaying 86, but it turns out that the player listed as Ayaz Manji and the player listed as Ayaz Sadrudinmanji are in fact the same person. This has now been resolved, and the remaining 81 of those 85 starters continue to play doppelganger-free.

10-05-2008 16:37 UTC+2

Players Take a 15-Minute Break

[user24788]

Smoke 'em if you got 'em!

10-05-2008 16:44 UTC+2

Hachem Runs Into the Mighty 8-2, 8-5

[user46392]

Joe Hachem tried it on with a 5,000 raise on a {5-Spades}

flop, only to be met with two all ins from, respectively, Samer George and Ghassan Bitar. Hachem folded, and Bitar turned over {8-Clubs}

-- just imagine his dismay when George turned over {8-Diamonds}

. The

turn and

river changed little, and Bitar is down to 10,000 while George is on 26,000 or so. Said Hachem, "How did I get involved in all this s***?" Good question.

Tags: Ghassan Bitar Joes Hachem Samer George

10-05-2008 16:48 UTC+2

Getting Their Money's Worth

[user46392]

Bansi - seems to be coming down with something already

Admittedly the juice on this tournament is peanuts compared to the buy in, but £300 is £300 and surely the players in a £20,000 high rollers event deserve better than the old Grosvenor chips that have been riffled, stacked, won and lost by generations of Vic regulars. The only player happy to see these grubby symbols of the old school dug out of the closet is Praz Bansi, who seems to have a certain nostalgic affection for them. Although, "You will probably catch something off them," he admits. Wash your hands in the breaks, now...

Tags: Praz Bansi

Level: 3

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 0

10-05-2008 17:25 UTC+2

Snacks of the Stars

[user46392]

Dinner was only just recently served to our high rollers (leek and potato soup, followed by a large fishcake accompanied by a single, enormous prawn), but many of them seem unsatisfied by such lowly fare. Here is what they have been snacking on in between meals.

Johan Van Til: regulation Grosvenor issue ham and cheese sandwich.

Phil Ivey: Merba brand Dark Chocolate And Hazelnut Cookies (a "delicious blend of chocolate and hazelnuts", in case you were in any doubt). The cookie sugar rush seems to have been doing him good -- before he started munching he was down to 7,675; post-cookie he was making a recovery, clawing his way back up to 10,600.

Neil Channing: What else but champagne? Actually he's not drinking champagne, but told me that yesterday a valet knocked over a glass that was almost empty and apparently belonged to no one. The valet apologized to Channing and asked him if he'd like a glass of champagne on the house to make up for the one he knocked over. Channing, obviously, accepted. The Irish Open champion and now-legendary picker of excellent horses (for example James Akenhead who won $500,000 in Vegas this summer) clearly can't afford his own champagne.

Tags: Johan Van Til Neil Channing Phil Ivey