2017 WSOP International Circuit Holland Casino Rotterdam

Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2017 WSOP International Circuit Holland Casino Rotterdam

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
qj
Prize
€94,349
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,500
Entries
273
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
30,000 / 60,000
Ante
10,000

Bayley Tops Day 1b of €1,650 World Series of Poker International Circuit Rotterdam Main Event; Verhoeven Eliminated

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante
GLORY Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven
GLORY Heavyweight Kickboxing Champion Rico Verhoeven

On the second starting day of the inaugural €1,650 WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam Main Event, 143 players showed up at the beautifully renovated Holland Casino Rotterdam. 58 of them made it through to Day 2, and although the majority of survivors were from the home country, it was Great Britain's Lawrence Bayley who claimed the overall chip lead with 219,400. Kickboxing champion Rico Verhoeven got eliminated on Day 1b.

During the last hands of the night, Bayley received a gift to his stack when a player opted to blind shove with ten-deuce. Bayley called with ace-five and held up to make him the only player on either starting day to bag more than 200k in chips. Bayley was followed by a slew of Dutchies, with Teun Mulder (177,600), Erik Tabak (132,400), Wladimir Stepanian (127,600), and Frits Heckler (114,300) rounding out the top 5.

Notables to make it through the second starting day were, among others, Ioannis Angelou-Konstas (110,000), Bart Lybaert (94,200), Jakub Wojtas (60,100), Jasper Wetemans (58,200), Kees van Brugge (36,100), and Jimmy De Barros Livramento (25,100). Another interesting name to make it through is Andreas Walnum (42,400). Walnum won the $10,300 Festa al Lago back in 2006 for a whopping $1,090,025. However, in the past seven years, Walnum has only made one small cash in his home country.

Kickboxing champion and WSOP Ambassador Rico Verhoeven got knocked out on Day 1b. After a strong start, in which Verhoeven quickly doubled his stack, the Dutchman fell in the penultimate level of the day. Verhoeven first missed a straight draw before losing the remainder of his chips with ace-nine against ace-king. Other notables that failed to bag include Rob Hollink, Michal Mrakes, Sander van Wesemael, Joep van den Bijgaart, and Georgios Zisimopoulos.

Tomorrow at 2 p.m. local time, the 58 survivors from Day 1b will join the 46 remaining players from Day 1a on the second day. Late registration is open up until the start of Day 2, and the total prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after the start. The blinds will start at 400/800 with a running ante of 100 and levels will be 60 minutes. PokerNews will once again be on the floor to provide start-to-finish coverage of this event as we get closer to crowning a new WSOP International Circuit champion.

Tags: Bart LybaertErik TabakGeorgios ZisimopoulosJasper WetemansJoep van den BijgaartLawrence BayleyRico VerhoevenRob HollinkSander van WesemaelWladimir Stepanian

Rico Verhoeven Knock-Out

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante
Rico Verhoeven
Rico Verhoeven

Kickboxing world heavyweight champion Rico Verhoeven has been eliminated from the €1,650 WSOP International Circuit Main Event. Verhoeven was off to a strong start and hung around the top of the leaderboard for most of the day. Two big hands in level 7, however, spelled the end for the King of Kickboxing.

Verhoeven lost a decent part of his stack in the first hand, where he moved in with {J-}{10-} on a {9-}{8-}{2-} board. Verhoeven bricked on turn and river to end up with a mere jack-high, and he had to part with most of his chips.

On the ropes, Verhoeven tried to get back into it by shoving {A-}{9-}, only to run into the {A-}{K-} of one of his tablemates. Verhoeven didn't improve, ending the WSOPC Rotterdam Ambassador's run in this tournament.

Player Chips Progress
Rico Verhoeven nl
Rico Verhoeven
Busted

Tags: Rico Verhoeven

Stepanian Makes A Big Call

Level 7 : 250/500, 50 ante
Wladimir Stepanian
Wladimir Stepanian

With the board completed at {4-Spades}{9-Diamonds}{7-Diamonds}{4-Clubs}{7-Hearts}, Dwayne Sluis checked to Wladimir Stepanian, who bet 16,300. Sluys responded by check-raising all in, and he covered Stepanian. It was 20,000 more to call for the well-respected hometown player, who has won three Holland Casino Rotterdam Main Events in previous years.

Stepanian spent over five minutes in the tank before calling off the remainder of his stack.

Dwayne Sluys: {9-Spades}{8-Spades}
Wladimir Stepanian: {K-Spades}{K-Clubs}

Sluys had turned top pair into a bluff but wasn't able to fold out Stepanian's kings. With the big call, the Rotterdam local surged to 75,000.

Player Chips Progress
Wladimir Stepanian nl
Wladimir Stepanian
75,000 22,000
Dwayne Sluis nl
Dwayne Sluis
40,000 -10,000

Tags: Dwayne SluisWladimir Stepanian

Tekle Mariam Triples Up; Wetemans Survives

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante
Jasper Wetemans
Jasper Wetemans

With around 5,600 in the pot, four players saw a {6-Spades}{9-Clubs}{8-Clubs} flop together at the feature table. First to act was Henok Tekle Mariam, who open-shoved 9,125 from the big blind. Rico Verhoeven folded, Jasper Wetemans reshoved for 17,000, and Erik Tabak snap-called to put two players at risk.

Henok Tekle Mariam: {J-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}
Jasper Wetemans: {J-Hearts}{J-Clubs}
Erik Tabak: {A-Clubs}{5-Clubs}

Wetemans held a slight lead with his pair of jacks but needed to fade a lot of cards to win it all. The {Q-Hearts} on the turn improved Tekle Mariam to the nut straight, and the {Q-Spades} river sealed it for him. Wetemans won the side pot from Tabak, who bricked all his outs.

Player Chips Progress
Erik Tabak nl
Erik Tabak
60,000 60,000
Rico Verhoeven nl
Rico Verhoeven
55,000 -12,000
Henok Tekle Mariam nl
Henok Tekle Mariam
34,000 9,000
Jasper Wetemans nl
Jasper Wetemans
16,000 -4,000

Tags: Erik TabakHenok Tekle MariamJasper WetemansRico Verhoeven

Niek Minten Ready Before "Online Violence"

Level 2 : 75/150, 0 ante
Niek Minten (left) at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona
Niek Minten (left) at the PokerStars Championship Barcelona

In a dark corner of the field, Niek Minten has taken his seat in the WSOPC Rotterdam Main Event. Minten is fresh off a very deep run in the PokerStars Championship Barcelona Main Event, where he finished 21st for €45,000. It was by far Minten's biggest live cash, who usually prefers the digital felt over the live arena.

"The online violence is starting next week, so I can play another live tournament," smiled Minten when asked about another rare live appearance.

Minten ended a five-year cashless draught with three live cashes in Barcelona and will no doubt be shooting for another big score over the course of the next days.

Player Chips Progress
Niek Minten nl
Niek Minten
27,000 27,000

Tags: Niek Minten

Verhoeven Ready To Enter the Poker Arena

Level 1 : 50/100, 0 ante
Rico Verhoeven
Rico Verhoeven

The biggest name in the field today is Rico Verhoeven. The 28-year old and 1m96 (that's 6 ft 5 in) tall kickboxer is the current GLORY heavyweight champion. He's also ranked the #1 heavyweight in the world by LiverKick.com and Combat Press and was seen partying with Conor McGregor in Las Vegas mere days ago.

National media in Holland have picked up on Verhoeven's challenge to try and capture a coveted WSOP Circuit ring. The giant from Bergen op Zoom, Brabant has made it clear he's not here to act as a punching bag.

"This is definitely not a publicity stunt," Verhoeven told Algemeen Dagblad. The Dutchman is a known poker aficionado and has been playing before in Holland Casino. The King of Kickboxing banks on his martial arts skills to get him through the day.

"There are many similarities between kickboxing and poker," Verhoeven continued. "Sometimes, it's best to be on offense, the other time, you want to be bluffing. A lot of fighters are into poker."

Verhoeven, who defeated the notorious Badr Hari in Germany last year, will be boasting a supportive rail with friends who will check on the champion throughout the tournament. We will follow Verhoeven to see if he can deliver the kicks on the poker table as well.

Tags: Rico Verhoeven

Welcome to the Inaugural €1,650 WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam Main Event

WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam
WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam

Today at 2 p.m. local time, Day 1b of the inaugural WSOP International Circuit Rotterdam commences. The second largest city in Holland has the scoop of hosting the first ever WSOP-event on Dutch soil. Yesterday, Hakim Zoufri was crowned champion in the €3,500 High Roller, and the Dutchman took home €69,888 for his efforts.

Yesterday also featured Day 1a of the Main Event. 104 entries were made on Day 1a, with 34 players making their way to Day 2 on Thursday, August 31st. For Dutch players, Holland Casino Rotterdam is one of the most popular venues to play it, and it comes to no surprise that a lot of Dutch superstars have traveled to the Gateway to Europe.

Fatima Moreira de Melo is one of the players who has already locked up her seat for Day 2. The Rotterdam native bagged 80,500 on the first day, which puts her in 9th place on the overall leaderboard. Another big name who took his seat is EPT13 Prague winner Jasper Meijer van Putten. The last ever EPT winner extended his 25,000 starting stack to a healthy 60,200, keeping him in strong contention going forward. Teunis Kooij (114,200), Tobias Peters (66,500), Michiel Brosky (62,000), Farid Yachou (61,800), and Rens Feenstra (13,800) also bagged on the first starting day. Chipleader after Day 1a is Eric Sfez (155,200).

One of the players who will take his seat today is kickboxer Rico Verhoeven. The 28-year old Dutchman is the current GLORY Heavyweight Champion and was among those to party with Conor McGregor in Las Vegas after McGregor's iconic boxing match with Floyd Mayweather. We will follow Verhoeven closely to day to see if he can deliver the knockouts on the green felt as well as in the ring.

Day 1b will feature eight 60-minutes levels before play is suspended for the night. All players start with 25,000 in chips and blinds will kick off at 50/100. A single reentry is allowed on each starting day, as well as at the start of Day 2, allowing players to buy up to five times into this event if they do so desire. PokerNews will be on the floor to cover this event until the last card is dealt on Saturday night and a new WSOP Circuit ring winner has been crowned.