£10,000 WSOP Europe Main Event Day 1b | 2008 World Series of Poker Europe

09-28-2008 23:07 UTC+2

Quack, Quack

Antes are in play now and I expect this to stir things up and create bigger pots and therefore more eliminations.

In this hand it was folded around to Cory Albertson on the button who raised, and Juha Vilkki called before a flop came {5-Spades}

.

Both players checked before the turn came {2-Diamonds}

. This time Vilkki check-called a bet of 1,200 from Albertson.

The river saw Albertson move all in after it was checked to him a third time. Vilkki stood up and made the call all in, but quickly left the area when Albertson revealed {2-Clubs}

for a turned set.

Albertson is up to 27,300 now.

09-28-2008 23:01 UTC+2

Dinner Makes the Devilfish Stronger

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Spurred on rather than slowed by the lengthy dinner break, David "Devilfish" Ulliott took the first hand of this session from a rather bullied and increasingly demoralized Thomas Merved.

Blind on blind, Merved made it 1,000 from the small, only for Devilfish to make it another 2,000. Call. The flop came {10-Clubs}

and Merved took a moment to check, possibly knowing what was coming. Nevertheless, check he did, and then folded to a 5,000 bet from Devilfish, showing the {A-Diamonds}

as he did so.

Tags: Dave Ulliott Devilfish Thomas Merved

Level: 4

Blinds: 150/300

Ante: 25

09-28-2008 22:50 UTC+2

Play Has Resumed

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Players are recharged and back in action.

09-28-2008 20:53 UTC+2

Some Chip Counts from the Balcony

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Santeri Valikoski 48,000
John Tabatabai 36,000
Jo Remme 12,075
Magnus Persson 26,500
Matt Kay 18,575
Yevgeniy Timoshenko 25,000
Roland de Wolfe 53,600
Henrik Gwinner 38,000
Cory Albertson 16,650
Nenad Medic 25,400
Juha Vilkki 15,600
Nik Persaud 17,575
Stephen Baker 14,525
Gary Jones 17,200
John Kabbaj 32,700

09-28-2008 20:53 UTC+2

Time to Eat

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Players are just now heading off on a two-hour dinner break.

09-28-2008 20:52 UTC+2

Prize Pool and Payout Information

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The WSOP-Europe Main Event drew 362 players (exactly the same number as last year) creating a prize pool of £3,620,000. 36 places will be paid, with our bracelet winner taking home £868,800. Everyone who cashes will be guaranteed a payday of at least £25,340.

For complete payout information, click on the "Prizepool and Payouts" tab on the right-side column.

09-28-2008 20:51 UTC+2

Channing Pushes Merved Off Pot: "Yay!"

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On a

flop, Neil Channing open-shoved for 12,000. Thomas Merved gave it some thought.

"At least he doesn't have the straight, that's the good news," said a cheerful Channing, while a tortured Merved wondered what to do. After some time, Merved folded. "Good laydown, well played," said Channing. "Yay!"

Tags: Neil Channing Thomas Merved

09-28-2008 20:43 UTC+2

Queen's Taxes

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Last year's final tablist, Magnus Persson, made a raise from early position finding a call from Santeri Valikoski in the small blind before the flop came down {6-Diamonds}

.

Valikoski led out for 3,500 and Persson checked. The turn {7-Hearts}

saw a change of tactic as Valikoski checked and then called Persson's 6,125 bet.

The river {A-Hearts}

slowed both players down to check mode, and Persson mucked his hand upon seeing his opponent's {Q-Clubs}

.

09-28-2008 20:41 UTC+2

Old McDonald Lost the Farm

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For the last 20 minutes, I've been like a fly trapped under a glass, confined to my 4x4 area at the bar while the ESPN crews watched over Table 15 (Phan, Juanda, Hansen, etc.).

Finally released from captivity (the cameras are gone now), I popped over to Mike McDonald's table, only to find that he'd been eliminated from the tournament. Brian "sbrugby" Townsend was nice enough to let me know that McDonald lost his chips to Soren Kongsgaard on a bluff.

Tags: Mike McDonald