WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship Day 1a | 2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

Level: 4

Blinds: 200/400

Ante: 50

09-06-2009 17:50 UTC+3

The Third Break is Here

[user75032]

We'll be back in fifteen minutes.

09-06-2009 17:42 UTC+3

The projector screens here in the Merit Crystal Cove tournament room currently indicate that 91 players have signed up for Day 1a. Any newcomers wishing to play today's flight will have until the end of the upcoming break to register.

09-06-2009 17:35 UTC+3

Ummer Plummits

[user38449]

We caught up to the hand after the flop with the action complete and Tayfun Rodoplu all in against Per Ummer.

The board read {3-Spades}

and Ummer tabled a pocket pair of kings at the showdown. Rodoplu had him in bad shape with {5-Spades}

for top set.

The turn and river bricked out {10-Diamonds}

,

after which Rodoplu let out an exuberant "Yeeaaaah!" in celebration.

Ummer was left with a still manageable 47,000 in chips after the hand, while Rodoplu improved to 72,000.

Tags: Per Ummer Tayfun Rodoplu

09-06-2009 17:32 UTC+3

Monnette Flirting with Six Figures

[user75032]

"Oh baby, I came over just in time to sweat a big pot," said Huck Seed to John Monnette. Monnette had first action on the turn of a of {A-Spades}

board. We're not sure what he bet, but opponent Mehmet Uysal raised to 20,000. Monnette then moved all in, making it 11,500 more back to Uysal, which is all he had left in his stack. Uysal folded.

"I had the nuts," Monnette told Seed with a shrug. Then he turned to Uysal and added, "Three aces."

Monnette is up to 98,000.

Tags: John Monnette

09-06-2009 17:21 UTC+3

Nothing Doing for Rep

[user75032]

Rep Porter has been relatively silent so far down, never deviating far from the starting chip count of 40,000. He was one of four players on Table 1 to recently take a limped flop of {j-Spades}

. When action checked to Porter he bet 600. Only the button called.

The turn card was another Broadway card, the {Q-Spades}

. Porter fired a second time. On this street, however, his bet of 1,300 was raised by his opponent to 3,000. That was enough to cause Porter to muck his cards.

Tags: Rep Porter

09-06-2009 17:20 UTC+3

'The Oracle' Pulls Level

[user38449]

Roy 'The Oracle' Winston just won a pot that brought him back to the 40,000 starting stack.

John Tabatabai opened the pot with a raise to 600 from middle position. Action then fell to Dany Joe Georges who three-bet to 2,000 from the hijack. A few more folds sent the action around the table to Winston in the big blind who four-bet to 5,000. Tabatabai folded, but Georges made the call opting to see the flop heads-up against Winston.

Flop: {6-Spades}

Winston wasted little time firing a continuation bet worth 11,000 that prompted Georges to let go of his hand.

Tags: Roy Winston

09-06-2009 17:05 UTC+3

A Cypriot Says Goodbye

[user66118]

We picked up a multi-way pot in progress as the dealer spread out a flop of {Q-Spades}

. The action checked to Cyprus' own Cemil Kara, and he fired out a bet of 2,500. One of the limpers made the call before Nazim Torbaoglu check-raised all in for about 22,000. Kara quickly announced an all in of his own, looking to be slightly covered by the prevou. That was enough to fold the rest of the table out of the way, and the cards of the two all-in players were turned up.

Showdown
Kara: {4-Spades}

Torbaoglu: {J-Spades}

For the second time today, pocket fours and pocket jacks had both flopped a set, and it was Cemil Kara on the wrong end of the encounter this time. The turn and river blanked off with the {K-Diamonds}

and

respectively, sending the pot over to Torbaoglu.

The dealer had eyeballed the chips and had taken Kara's entire stack away from him. Kara thought it was a little too close not to count though, and the floor was summoned over to reconstruct the pot.

After more than a five-minute ordeal involving everyone at the table, the dealer, and at least three floor persons, they eventually settled the pot and counted down Kara's stack. Indeed, he was covered by about 1,500 chips, his day at the tables having met an early end.

Tags: Cemil Kara Nazim Torbaoglu

09-06-2009 16:59 UTC+3

Tabatabai Fills on River

[user75032]

A spitting sound was the only sound Fatih Ozpolat could make after the river came down. The hand started three-ways to the flop, contested among Ludovic Lacay, Ozpolat, and John Tabatabai. With the board reading {10-Clubs}

, action checked to Tabatabai on the button. He bet 1,600 and was raised to 5,600 by Lacay. Ozpolat called that raise, then saw Tabatabai re-raise huge to 17,800. It was enough to induce a thoughtful fold from Lacay, but Ozpolat quickly called.

The turn came {Q-Hearts}

. Ozpolat grabbed a stack of chips, about 40,000, and put them in the middle. Tabatabai silently moved all in and Ozpolat called all in for his last 11,000.

Ozpolat: {j-Diamonds}

, a queen-high straight
Tabatabai: {10-Hearts}

, a set of tens

The river came {Q-Clubs}

, pairing the board and giving Tabatabai a full house. That's when Ozpolat made his spitting sound. He followed it with, "Good play," then turned and asked his friend, "What could I do?"

Tabatabai is now leading the tournament with 164,000 chips. Former chip leader Layne Flack is also on the same table.

Tags: Fatih Ozpolat John Tabatabai Ludovic Lacay

09-06-2009 16:51 UTC+3

Mizzi Teaching a Lesson on Four-betting

[user38449]

Despite his late arrival, Sorel Mizzi has skyrocketed toward the top of the leaderboard and currently sits with just over 80,000 in chips. He's three and four-bet his way to the top, winning most of the pots he plays without showdowns. Here's one such example:

Homan Houshair opened with a raise to 500 from late position and Antony Lellouche re-popped it to 1,750 from the small blind. Mizzi then tanked for a brief moment before kicking it up to 5,500, prompting both of his opponents to flick their cards into the muck.

Tags: Sorel Mizzi