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

09-07-2009 21:07 UTC+3

Antonius Running Good

[user75032]

Life's easy when you flop the nuts. Patrik Antonius was in the small blind when a middle-position player opened the preflop action to 1,500. Antonius re-raised to 6,300, then quickly and silently called when the original raiser moved all in for about 12,000 total.

There wasn't much drama in this one. Antonius showed {A-Clubs}

against his opponent's {J-Clubs}

and promptly flopped the joint, {8-Clubs}

. When no jack and no board pair appeared on the {Q-Spades}

turn, Antonius' opponent was drawing dead.

Antonius is up to almost 60,000 in chips.

Tags: Patrik Antonius

09-07-2009 20:56 UTC+3

No Dice and No Hat for Bloch

[user75032]

We haven't mentioned Andy Bloch too many times today, despite the fact that the Team Full Tilt Pro has more than doubled his initial 40,000-chip stack. Bloch has certainly been chatty enough (both with us and with his table). He's not sporting his trademark cowboy hat today; we overheard him tell Eli Elezra something about "too many airplanes". Bloch was in Hamburg, Germany prior to arriving in Cyprus.

We watched one recent pot in which Bloch was the big blind in a four-way limped flop of {6-Spades}

. He checked and then was the only caller of a bet of 2,300. When the turn fell the {8-Clubs}

, Bloch check-folded to another pot-sized bet.

Tags: Andy Bloch

09-07-2009 20:48 UTC+3

Adios, Annette

[user66118]

A few hands ago, we overheard Annette Obrestad lamenting her chip position, her stack of right around 10,000 piled up in a tiny molehill. "I'll be all in at least twice in the next couple orbits," she said.

Perhaps we shouldn't have wandered away because less than five minutes later, Annette came striding past our table and out toward the exit. It appears that her day is indeed finished.

Tags: Annette Obrestad

09-07-2009 20:41 UTC+3

Calling the Clock on Mike Matusow

[user66118]

Ever wondered what Mike Matusow keeps in his fanny pack? Or who his favorite Spice Girl is? Well you're in luck beacuse The Mouth took 60 seconds with Lynn earlier for a little thing we've come to know as Calling the Clock. Check out what he had to say:

09-07-2009 20:38 UTC+3

Busto or Robusto?

[user75032]

Busto:

Jean-Robert Bellande
Daniel Alaei

Robusto:

James Akenhead
Andy Bloch
Praz Bansi
Nenad Medic

In Need of Some Gusto:

Lee Markholt
Chris Karagulleyan
Annette Obrestad

Level: 5

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 75

09-07-2009 20:25 UTC+3

Play Resumes

[user75032]

This is it -- the last level of the night. 78 players remain.

09-07-2009 20:10 UTC+3

Break It Down

[user75032]

We're at the last break of the day. See you in fifteen minutes.

09-07-2009 20:10 UTC+3

Jean Robert Belliminated

[user38449]

Jean Robert Bellande was just eliminated from the tournament by new overall chip leader Jan Skampa. To say that Bellande put on a show in the process would be a massive understatement.

We caught up to the hand on the river with the board showing {3-Clubs}

. Skampa had checked to Bellande who fired a 20,000 bet on the end, with approximately 15,000 in the pot. Skampa then picked up a big stack of blue (5,000) chips and tossed them into the middle, announcing "All in." The move sent Bellande into a tizzy.

"God damn... who runs this good? Holy shit!"

"This is unbelievable..."

"If it was my money I'm folding for sure, but since I'm being staked I think I have to call you."

Then the tizzy was upgraded to tirade status.

"Is he all in?" he asked the dealer.

"If you're all in, put the chips in the middle."

"This is some sick shit..."

"My little friend Jan from Prague."

The one-liners kept coming, but to his credit, Skampa kept his cool under fire from Bellande's verbal barrage.

Bellande then revealed the strength of his own hand ( {6-Diamonds}

), and essentially foretold the end result, his read dead on: Skampa had made the move with pocket aces and would eliminate Bellande from the tournament, making Skampa the overall chip leader, and that's exactly what happened.

"That's the story of my life," said Bellande as he walked away from the table. "I'll catch a six just to pay you off."

Skampa -- now the biggest stack in the room -- stacked up 155,000 in chips after the hand.

Tags: Jan Skampa Jean Robert Bellande

09-07-2009 20:05 UTC+3

Final Numbers

[user75032]

Legendary TD Jack McLelland just announced our final numbers for this tournament. 181 runners took to the felt over the two Day 1 flights, creating a prize pool of $1,810,000. Eighteen players will make the money. The bottom rung of the payout ladder is worth $17,300; first place is a whopping $579,165.

Full payouts can be found on the Prizepool and Payouts page.