Chris Brammer has lost nearly two-thirds of his stack through the first two levels.
He was in big pot with an opponent and bet on the river of a queen high board with ace-queen. His opponent called and both opened the same hand for a chop.
Not long after, Brammer led for 4,000 in to three opponents on the turn of an board. He was called in two spots so the action was three-way to the river. It was not the card he wanted to see and this was confirmed when one player bet 4,650 and Robert Auer shoved for 23,000.
Brammer folded quickly and the third player left his chips in the middle and folded after procrastinating for a while.
It may not be big, but the starting field today is certainly full of talent, making the start of the Grand Final feel more like a high roller event, with a line-up to grace any Salle des Etoiles. Read on at the PokerStars Blog.
A player opened to 400 from under the gun, Barry Greenstein called near the button, and Emil Patel called out of the small blind. Isaac Haxton bumped it up to 1,850 in the big blind, and both Greenstein and Patel called.
The flop fell , Patel and Haxton checked, and Greenstein tossed out 2,200. Patel quickly called, and Haxton folded.
The turn was the , both players knuckled, and the completed the board. The two checked again, and Greenstein showed for nines and sixes. Patel had that beat with for tens and nines, and raked in yet another pot.
Level 3 of 8 is underway. The plan is to have a 90-minute dinner break after six levels and come back and play two more levels before bagging up for the night.
Seidel has just arrived here to play in the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event. In one of the first hands he played, he opened to 500 in early position, and received three callers including Claudio Pollin and Jeff Hakim. The flop fell , all four players checked, and the turn brought the . Both blinds checked to Seidel, who fired 1,200. Only Pollin called.
The turn was the , Seidel led out for another 2,500, and Pollin folded.
Seidel is just barely above the starting stack with 33,000 chips.
Mark Teltscher nodded after he saw Patrice Brandt's hand and threw over the necessary chips.
The final board read and Brandt bet 1,350 on the turn and 2,800 on the river. His was good for pot after the former EPT London champion called all bets.
The very next hand Teltscher raised to 500 before Dan Smith three-bet to 1,400 and Ilkin Amirov four-bet to 3,100. The four-bet did the trick as both his opponents folded.