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

10-05-2008 10:31 UTC+2

2008 PokerStars.com EPT London £1m Showdown - Day 1

[user38449]

As the final table of the PokerStars.com EPT London Main Event plays out here, you can track the progress of the EPT's first ever high roller's event right here. PokerStars has guaranteed a £1 million pound prizepool for this inaugural £20,000 buy-in event, set to take place at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, October 5-6.

Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu and Alex Kravchenko are all expected to be in attendance when the tournament kicks off at 12:30 p.m. local time and PokerNews will be on site from the first flop to the last river card, bringing you the latest news, photos and chip counts direct from the tournament floor.

Join us at half past midday when the Who's Who of poker take to the felt and battle for a boatload of cash and accompanying bragging rights... you won't want to miss this!

10-05-2008 13:37 UTC+2

Rain Will Not Stop Play

[user46392]

Good morning and welcome to the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, affectionately known to locals as "The Vic." After a bizarre start to the day, standing outside the still-closed casino in the pouring rain along with some of the biggest names in poker waiting to be admitted to the cozy warmth of indoors, to a soundtrack of Patsy Cline singing, "Turn the cards slowly while you deal them, darling," on my iPod, we are now inside and waiting for the tournament to commence. Kick-off for this massive £20,000 ($35,500) buy-in event has been pushed back to 1pm, and we'll be on the floor then to follow all the high-rolling action.

10-05-2008 14:20 UTC+2

Minor Delay as the Stars Shine Despite the Rain

[user24788]

Action has been pushed back a bit while the staff sets up the event. This tournament features some of the biggest sharks in Las Vegas. I walked by one circle of pros chatting with each other. That included Jesus Ferguson, Phil Ivey, Daniel Negreanu, Barry Greenstein, David Benyamine, and Vivek Rajkumar.

I also spotted Vicky Coren, Neil Channing, Greg Raymer, Humberto Brenes, and Tom Dwan milling around as they wait to take their seats.

Stay tuned for complete coverage of the PokerStars.com EPT London £1m Showdown. Our very own Danafish will be providing live updates for PokerNews.

10-05-2008 14:27 UTC+2

Juuuuust Starting Now

[user46392]

Players are ambling towards their seats and we have high hopes that play will begin any second; I am tentatively declaring this tournament Started.

Level: 1

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

10-05-2008 14:54 UTC+2

An Expensive 15 Minutes

[user46392]

Less than a quarter of an hour in, and we already have an exit. The unlucky gentleman who won't be seeing that 20 grand again is Pier Ruscalla, who bet out 700 on the river of an {A-Hearts}

board, and then called all in to a massive raise from an extremely intense Peter Eastgate.

Ruscalla: {8-Clubs}

Eastgate:

Tags: Peter Eastgate Pier Ruscalla

10-05-2008 14:56 UTC+2

Who's Here?

[user24788]

I spotted Patrik Antonius, Brandon Adams, Chris Moneymaker, Isabelle Mercier, Praz Bansi, Juha Helppi, Per Ummer, Scotty Nguyen, and Masaki Kagawa. Talk about one stacked field.

10-05-2008 15:01 UTC+2

Minieri Maximizes Stack

[user46392]

It's early yet by poker player standards, and there are still a few yawns doing the rounds at the high roller tables. Not so at Table Minieri, the nearest one to the rail and, incidentally, the bar -- chips have been flying into the pot like tiny round lemmings into a stew of death, and finding their way thence into the Minieri stack.

With the board reading {3-Diamonds}

, Minieri bet 6,100 into an already chunky pot, and Philippe Rouas called. Peter Neff looked almost constipated with the strain of it, but eventually folded {A-Hearts}

. Minieri showed {5-Diamonds}

and Rouas just mucked, adding height to the diminutive Italian's stack.

Tags: Dario Minieri Peter Neff Philippe Rouas

Level: 2

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 0

10-05-2008 15:34 UTC+2

It's Still Early

[user46392]

Even though chips are flying all over the place, coffees are still being ordered and a few players have been spotted nodding off at the tables. Players who last I checked at least appeared to be sleeping include Chris Ferguson, Isaac Haxton, November Niner Ylon Schwartz and veteran of the at-the-table snooze Barry Greenstein.

Isaac Haxton at least was awoken with a cup of coffee -- although not perhaps in the manner in which he might have liked. He suddenly jumped out of his seat when a waitress accidentally spilled a coffee on the empty seat next to him, splashing him with the searing caffeinated goodness. "Seat change!" cried the dealer. "I can play this hand standing up," said Haxton.