In total 179 players showed up for Day 1a of World Poker Tour Valkenburg and out of those 125 are still remaining right now. The room however has gotten busier and busier over time, as the €50 rebuy satellite for Day 1b has kicked off.
Last night 40 players managed to win their way into Day 1a and tonight we're expecting the same type of prize pool. Holland Casino has chosen to reserve those seats for the Main Event and these players will all get a chance to play in tomorrow's Day 1 flight.
The bar here at Holland Casino is also in full use as the atmosphere has more similarities with a fun night out then a poker tournament. It's fun here in Valkenburg and all in all we can say that hosting a WPT here is already a big success.
One thing that does stand out though is that most of the playing field comes from the Netherlands. The €500 buy in has contributed to the fact that many locals have chosen to take their shot at winning a WPT title, but the big international pros have not been spotted yet.
Two top pros have just clashed and Pim van Wieringen came out on top. Steve Wong was sent to the rail and our PokerCity colleagues informed us on what happened.
Van Wieringen raised to 1,800 and Wong three-bet to 6,200, after which the former made the call. The flop brought out and Wong moved all in holding . Van Wieringen made the call holding and his pair of nines held up.
Yori Epskamp raised to 2,000 and a player two on his left made the call. The action folded to the big blind who made it 6,600 and Epskamp put in a four-bet to 11,400. The third player involved folded right away and the big blind gave it some thought before putting in 18,600. The action was now back on Epskamp who tanked for quite a bit.
"I really don't think you have much," Epskamp sighed with a smile, as he basically admitted that his own hand was not very strong either.
Eventually Epskamp folded and left himself with 73,000 chips.
Filip Hermans just managed to rake in a nice double up when he woke up with aces. First Hermans called a raise before the flop, only to call another bet when the flop brought .
The turn was the and Hermans moved all in for 14,200 after his opponent had bet 6,000. Hermans was called by and the Dutchman showed . The river brought the and Hermans raked in a big double up, much to the delight of his friend on the rail.
Pim van Wieringen just took down a very nice pot, as he knocked another player out. After an under-the-gun raise to 2,500 no less than four players called, including Van Wieringen in position and both blinds.
The flop brought out and all players checked to Van Wieringen who bet 6,400. The player on his left called and the small blind moved all in for 9,300. The action folded back to Van Wieringen who asked if he could raise. The dealer said he was able to, and Van Wieringen made it 16,500 to go.
The last player involved folded and Van Wieringen tabled versus the small blind's .
The board ran out , and Van Wieringen raked in the pot. A member of the floor staff later explained that Van Wieringen should not have been allowed to raise.
Yori Epskamp had a sweet start today, but he didn't manage to turn it into a successful deep run as Paul Berende managed to get a hold of most of his chips.
Berende recapped the action for us, as Epskamp lost a big pot with versus followed by a shove from the former from the small blind. Epskamp called the shove worth 18 big blinds holding and Berende's [Ax6sx] held up.
A few hands later Epskamp re-shoved pocket eights after Berende had opened the action, but that did not go so well. Berende had aces and knocked his neighbor our.
Seated to the direct left of Paul Berende we discovered our current chip leader, Ruben Blikslager. Blikslager's clearly having a great time with Berende on his right, as the two joke around and create some fun banter.
It's not hard to have a good time when your stacks adds up to around 152,000 chips in the current level though, because Blikslager is our current chip leader.
and Wong moved all in holding 
. Van Wieringen made the call holding 
.
and Hermans moved all in for 14,200 after his opponent had bet 6,000. Hermans was called by 
and the Dutchman showed 
. The river brought the 
and Hermans raked in a big double up, much to the delight of his friend on the rail.
versus the small blind's 
.
, 
and Van Wieringen raked in the pot. A member of the floor staff later explained that Van Wieringen should not have been allowed to raise.
versus 
followed by a shove from the former from the small blind. Epskamp called the shove worth 18 big blinds holding 