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

09-07-2009 17:07 UTC+3

Medic Making Good

[user75032]

Nenad Medic was one of the latest arrivals to this tournament, clocking in as the 165th of the 169 total entries so far. To make up for lost time, he's played some big pots. He recently raised preflop to 600, then called a late-position player's re-raise to 2,600. On a nine-high flop, {4-Spades}

, Medic checked and then called a bet of 4,200. Both players checked the {A-Hearts}

turn and the {7-Spades}

river. At showdown, Medic's {Q-Hearts}

were one rank better than his opponent's {J-Hearts}

. Medic won the pot.

Tags: Nenad Medic

09-07-2009 17:13 UTC+3

The Ups and Downs of Poker

[user66118]

Iliodoros Kamatakis just stood up from his table and walked to the rail, dropping to the floor for ten quick pushups. Without a word, he raised himself off the ground, returned to his table, and sat back down to play the next hand. We're not sure what that was all about.

Sorel Mizzi did the same thing yesterday, but he could be overheard mumbling about a prop bet. Something with Antonio Esfandiari. Who knows?

At least these guys are finding a way to squeeze some exercise into their busy, poker-filled days.

09-07-2009 17:15 UTC+3

Bluffing David Levi

[user38449]

David Levi hasn't been able to get much going this afternoon, and his hard times don't appear to have an end in sight.

We caught up to a recent hand where Levi had led out with a 3,025 bet holding two black kings on an {A-Diamonds}

flop. His lone opponent, Bryan Collin, had moved all in over the top for a total of 10,300 and Levi was contemplating a call.

After a solid minute or two in the tank, Levi tossed his kings face up into the muck pile.

"Wow," said Collin, tabling the {10-Diamonds}

and showing Levi the semi-bluff.

Levi now has just 12,400 in chips after a little more than two full levels of play.

Tags: David Levi

09-07-2009 17:21 UTC+3

Watkins Keeps It Friendly

[user75032]

Former WPT champion Chis Karagulleyan got things started over on Table 6 by making a standard preflop raise. Action passed to Va Shon Watkins in the small blind. He re-raised to 2,600, with Karagulleyan quickly calling.

Watkins had first action on the ace-high flop, {K-Hearts}

. He checked to Karagulleyan. Karagulleyan called 5,000 and threw a single blue chip across the betting line. Watkins quickly called.

The action shut down from there, with both players checking the {7-Spades}

turn and

river. At showdown, Watkins' pair of aces, {A-Spades}

, was enough to take the pot.

Tags: Chris Karagulleyan Va Shon Watkins

09-07-2009 17:24 UTC+3

Green, Black, What's the Difference?

[user75032]

"Everywhere you play in the entire world, the blacks are 100 and the greens are 25," said Mike Matusow. He was referring to the poker chips in use for today's tournament. As was noted yesterday, the green chips in this tournament are worth 100 and the black chips are 25, a reverse from the usual. This switch was commented on by many players yesterday and again by many players today. Despite the change, we haven't seen too many instances of mis-sized bets.

Apart from Matusow, that is. On one of his recent meanderings around the room, Matt Glantz was flagged down by The Mouth. From a few tables away, he half-yelled. "Hey Matt! How many times have you reached for black chips instead of green?!" Glantz mumbled something unintelligible and returned to the conversation he had been in the middle of.

A few seconds later, as Glantz turned away and paced back toward his own table, Matusow continued, "I can't tell you how many times I've min-raised because I threw out black chips."

It's still less than an hour into Mikey's tournament, and we suspect he'll sort the colors out before too long.

09-07-2009 17:39 UTC+3

Bryan Colin Eliminated

[user75032]

"Matt, it's almost over," called out Bryan Colin to Matt Glantz across the room. On a flop of {4-Clubs}

, Colin called all in for about 15,000 facing a raise from one opponent. Colin showed {A-Hearts}

for top pair, top kicker; he was up against {Q-Clubs}

, a pair of queens and a flush draw.

The turn {Q-Hearts}

immediately put Colin in a very bad place. "Now it's over," he said. That wasn't quite true, but it was certainly true after the {A-Clubs}

river. Colin's two pair, aces and kings, were not enough against his opponent's club flush. He's out.

Tags: Bryan Colin

09-07-2009 17:49 UTC+3

Sneaky, Sneaky

[user66118]

Jacques Torbey started things off with a raise to 550 from early position, and both Va Shon Watkins and Annette Obrestad came along with him. On the button though, Chris Karagulleyan bumped it up to 2,200, and each of the previous three players called to see a flop.

It brought {K-Clubs}

, and the action checked all the way around. The turn was the {J-Hearts}

, and this time Watkins didn't let the action pass him. When Torbey checked, he slid out a bet of 2,575. Annette folded, while Karagulleyan put in the call. Surprisingly, Torbey opted to check-raise to 11,000 straight, and that would be enough to take down the pot right there.

Torbey - 35,000
Watkins - 42,000
Karagulleyan - 23,000

09-07-2009 17:55 UTC+3

Table Talk

[user38449]

A conversation about the quality and accuracy of Full Tilt Poker's pro avatars recently broke out over on table five, led by Jean Robert Bellande and Team Full Tilt Pro Andy Bloch.

"Huck Seed looks like a lumberjack... He looks like Paul Bunyan," Bellande said.

09-07-2009 17:59 UTC+3

Ferguson Amongst Us Too

[user75032]

Chris Ferguson will probably be one of the last players to enter this field. He recently joined Table 8, the table with Felix Osterland and recent newcomer Patrik Antonius, in time to see Antonius bet 3,500 on the river of an {8-?}

board. The one other player in the pot with Antonius called, then mucked when Antonius showed {K-?}

for a full house, eights full of kings.

Tags: Chris Ferguson Patrik Antonius

09-07-2009 18:00 UTC+3

John Juanda Just Joined

[user66118]

John Juanda has taken his seat here in the Main Event, and he's found himself at a tough table. He's in seat three at that Karagulleyan-Watkins-Obrestad table, and there's a bit of history there.

Annette took down the inaugural WSOP-E Main Event to capture her first gold bracelet before she was out of her teens. Juanda has her out-kicked in the age category by almost two-to-one, but his run to that same title in 2008 makes the two of them the only two to own WSOP-E Main Event bracelets so far.

And now today, they're both on the hunt for their first WPT Title, and we may not have to wait long to find out who'll get theirs first.