[user1220]
To prove Simon Young's point about the quality of his table, the following hand soon took place:
Andrew Black has been chugging along with a smallish stack and must have thought he was about to double up. Almost everyone on the table limped in for a family pot. The flop of had several players perking up. An American player was first to act and threw 800 in the middle without hesitation (over 5 x the big blind). Andrew Black re-raised to 2,100, causing Jim Kerrigan to go into the tank. Kerrigan played meaningfully with about 8,000 in chips near the push line before eventually thinking better of it and folded after ascertaining that the American had some 13k to fight with.
Other cards folded back to the American who raised all-in. Andrew Black's chips met his in the middle instantly.
Both turned over QJ unsuited. The non-heart turn card meant a split pot and two deflated players. Jim Kerrigan said he had folded a flush draw when asked by the others. Folding was a good choice as neither turn nor river were hearts.
[user1220]
Simon Young and Praz Bansi
Simon Young, (SuffolkPunch on Pokerstars.com) is holding his own on a tough table. He has 17.5k in chips and is flanked by WSOP Gold Bracelet holder Praz Bansi on his left and another leading UK player, Jim Kerrigan, on his right. Plus he has Andrew Black from Ireland and some strong Swedish opposition as well.
[user1220]
Our press office is several flights of stairs away from the basement casino where the event is played. Fortunately there is a lift that takes us, the press, half the way there.
Roland de Wolfe just took a hit to his stack.
Hand action from Andrew Black's table to follow shortly.
[user1220]
Andrew Black contemplates the meaning of poker
The first player break of 15 minutes has occurred, but for 10 players there is no coming back. We started with 136 hopefuls but there will be 126 of them resuming on Level 3. Blinds are now PLN 75-150 and the average chipstack is 10,793.
A quick scan of the deserted tables suggests that Roland de Wolfe has edged up to around 15k, the Pole Marcin Horecki slipped a little to 12k, Dave Colclough around 9k and Andrew Black slipping to 5k. My 20 Zlotys stake on Black is looking shaky.
[user1220]
EPT Main Events won by players that are NOT from Norway seem to be getting rarer. The list of Norwegians running for the Warsaw title is very long indeed so don't be surprised if we get another one.
For the benefit of those with money riding on Norway, here are the players we know about so far:
Day 1A players
Jan Rune Bråthen
Finn-Erik Egeland
Henning Granstad Andreas Hoivold
Morten Huseby Håkenstad
Kristian Kjendalen
Tore Lagerborg
Bastian Landhagen
Johnny Lodden
Thomas Mathiesen
Martin Ostby
Gunnar Ostebrod
Kai Danilo Paulsen
Sondre Sagstuen
Jan Olav Sjavik
Bjorn Erik Suhr
Sverre Sundbo
Petter Sundby
Frode Walle
Day 1B
Anders Berg
Torstein Berget
Henning Bolstad
Lars Eidissen
Orjan Gronmo
Arild Helland
Orjan Holt
Arve Johansen
Espen Uhlen Jørstand
Marius Skoglund Torbergsen
Åge Spets
Christopher Ulsrud
[user1220]
Davinder Singh Lomba from Singapore and Sameer Kahruna from India. Both will be eclipsed by one of tomorrow's entrants, Mr James Honeybone. Honeybone hails from New Zealand(!)... and he gets my vote for best surname in this event.
[user1220]
Medical back up
High pressure tournaments bring their own problems, with players occasionally needing to recover from bad beat syndrome. The EPT seems to provide for every eventuality if these nurses are any indication.
![[user1220]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
had several players perking up. An American player was first to act and threw 800 in the middle without hesitation (over 5 x the big blind). Andrew Black re-raised to 2,100, causing Jim Kerrigan to go into the tank. Kerrigan played meaningfully with about 8,000 in chips near the push line before eventually thinking better of it and folded after ascertaining that the American had some 13k to fight with.
