2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

WPT Merit Cyprus Classic Championship
Day: 1b
Event Info

2009 WPT Merit Cyprus Classic

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
77
Prize
$579,165
Event Info
Buy-in
$10,000
Entries
181
Level Info
Level
25
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000

Green, Black, What's the Difference?

"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.

Watkins Keeps It Friendly

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} {A-Hearts} {4-Clubs}. 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 {J-Hearts} river. At showdown, Watkins' pair of aces, {A-Spades} {Q-Diamonds}, was enough to take the pot.

Tags: Chris KaragulleyanVa Shon Watkins

Bluffing David Levi

David Levi
David Levi
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}{9-Diamonds}{A-Hearts} 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}{6-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

The Ups and Downs of Poker

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.

Medic Making Good

The ladies love Nenad.
The ladies love Nenad.
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} {9-Hearts} {6-Hearts}, 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} {Q-Diamonds} were one rank better than his opponent's {J-Hearts} {J-Diamonds}. Medic won the pot.

Tags: Nenad Medic

They're Still Coming

Coming back from break, we see a new table is in play. Sleeping Beauty himself, Mike Matusow, is occupying the two seat and looking like he's starting to liven up a bit. To his left sits Bruno Fitoussi, and Howard Lederer has just donned his headphones in seat four. The rest of the table has been filled with spare players from around the room, and we now have nine tables in action with about two levels left to register.

Level: 3

Blinds: 100/200

Ante: 25

Flushes All Around

Five players saw a cheap flop of {7-Hearts} {4-Hearts} {3-Hearts}, and the action checked around to the player in last position. The middle-aged gentleman with slick hair made a bet of more than twice the pot, tossing 2,100 chips into the middle. Nenad Medic folded from the small blind, but Thomas Bichon opted to put in a check-raise to 5,600, enough to fold the other two meddlers. The bettor made the call, heads-up the rest of the way.

The turn card was the {2-Clubs}, and Bichon led out with another 7,000 chips. His opponent asked for an estimated chip count before raising to 17,000. While Bichon was mulling it over, his opponent said, "You fold, I'll show you." Bichon quickly called following that comment.

The river was the {5-Diamonds}, and Bichon would check and face a bet of 15,000. His opponent repeated, "You fold, I'll show you," this time adding, "I'm a nice guy." Bichon quickly called following that comment as well, and his opponent slapped {10-Hearts} {6-Hearts} onto the felt with a confident, "Flush!"

It was no good; Bichon tabled {Q-Hearts} {8-Hearts}, his flopped flush out-pipping his opponent's and drawing a big, "Oh my god," from the slick-haired man across the table.

After stacking that big pot, Bichon has moved his way up the board, sitting now with just about 85,000.