€7,700 + 300 German Open Main Event Day 1b | 2008 PokerStars.net EPT4 German Open - Dortmund

01-30-2008 16:05 UTC+2

Day 1b About to Start

[user52009]

Welcome back to Casino Hohensyburg and PokerStars EPT German Open in Dortmund. Like yesterday, the tournament start has been slightly postponed, but we will be up and running shortly.

Day 1a finished around 2:00 AM and 70 players made it through to Thursday’s Day 2. Cyrille Chabot was yesterday's outright chip leader with 111k, followed by Claudio Rinaldi on 71k, Peyman Mohammadzadeh on 61k, Ville Mattila 57k, Andreas Sarling 56k, Christopher Rossiter 49k, Stefan Wrenger 48k, Mats Iremark 48k, Marcel Cesarz 47k and Marco Diego Perez on 47k.

Today’s field offers more big-name players, including Daniel Negreanu, Annette Obrestad, Ram Vaswani, Thor Hansen, Luca Pagano, Anders Henriksson, Mikael Norinder, Pascal Perrault, Antony Lellouche, Tomas Brolin and many more.

Follow all the action here on PokerNews.com.

Tags: Anders Henriksson Annette Obrestad Antony Lellouche Cyrille Chabot Daniel Negreanu Luca Pagano Mats Iremark Mikael Norinder Pascal Perrault Ram Vaswani Thor Hansen Tomas Brolin

Level: 1

Blinds: 25/50

Ante: 0

01-30-2008 17:05 UTC+2

Day 1b Has Started

[user52009]

After a 30-minute delay, Day 1b finally has started. Tournament Director Thomas Kremser announced "Shuffle up and deal!" and the game was on. The biggest name in today’s field, PokerStars-sponsored pro Daniel Negreanu, is not yet in his seat, but he will be here shortly. One of the tables to watch today is table 14 with Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier seated next to Marcel Luske. Right before the start of the tournament they received some poker tips from fellow team member Katja Thater, who we will see again tomorrow in Day 2 action.

Tags: ElkY Katja Thater Marcel Luske

01-30-2008 17:37 UTC+2

The Champ is Back to Defend His Title

[user52009]

One year ago, Norwegian Andreas Hoivold had the highlight of his poker career to date when he won the German Open. Now he is back to defend his title. “It is great to be back. I had a great time last year and I will do my best to get anywhere near that result. It is one day at a time and if I am here at the end of this day, I am pleased,” says the humble Hoivold.

Tags: Andreas Hoivold

Level: 2

Blinds: 50/100

Ante: 0

01-30-2008 18:02 UTC+2

Vaswani Off to an Early Lead

[user52009]

As we reached the end of Level 1, Englishman Ram Vaswani eliminated his first opponent in this year's EPT German Open.

"I had the {9-Diamonds}

in my hand on a {A-Hearts}

flop and Ralf Pelzner next to me had A-K. The money went in on the turn and he was drawing dead. I am now up to 19,500," says a pleased Vaswani.

Tags: Ralf Pelzner Ram Vaswani

01-30-2008 18:05 UTC+2

Bad Start for Negreanu

[user52009]

One of the brightest stars in poker, Daniel Negreanu, arrived a little late on Day 1b. His table is surrounded by photographers and fans with great expectations on the the PokerStars pro, but he has got off to a pretty bad start.

"I lost a few pots just after sitting down, but apart from that I feel fine. A little tired from jet lag, but I am happy to be back in Europe," says Negreanu.

Tags: Daniel Negreanu

01-30-2008 18:17 UTC+2

Obrestad Enjoys Dortmund

[user52009]

Poker prodigy Annette Obrestad entered this year’s EPT German Open on Day 1b. She has also started the day in her normal, aggressive style. On a {8-Hearts}

flop she check-raised to 1,300 when the button bet out 500. After a minute of thinking, the button laid down his hand and Annette added another couple of thousand to her stack.

“I have really been looking forward to this tournament. I hardly got any sleep last night, but I think I will be all right. As soon as I sit down at the poker table, I usually feel comfortable anyway,” says the 19-year-old female superstar.

Annette has 13,500, which at the moment is the biggest stack on Table 3.

Tags: Annette Obrestad

Level: 3

Blinds: 75/150

Ante: 0

01-30-2008 18:50 UTC+2

“Top” Loses Half

[user52009]

Stig “Top” Rasmussen lost half his stack when a short-stacked player at his table went all-in and Stig called with top two pair. The opponent hit his flush and the former Danish handball pro is now down to 5K.

Tags: Stig Rasmussen