Event 1 - £1,000 No Limit Hold'em Day 2 | 2009 World Series of Poker Europe

09-20-2009 14:53 UTC+2

Day 2 Starts at 2pm - Let the Carnage Begin

[user46392]

Good afternoon and welcome back to the Empire Casino for the exciting continuation of this £1,000 No Limit Hold'em bracelet event.

89 players remain of the 608 who started our assorted Day 1s, with the UK's own JP Kelly, who won his very first ever bracelet in Vegas this summer, firmly in the lead. The plan today is to play right down to a final table, so we would assume we're here for the long haul today -- but then again, going by the breakneck pace that both Day 1s progressed at, nothing would really surprise us.

Bags of chips are being distributed around tables now but players have not yet been admitted to the tournament area. Shouldn't be long, though; watch this space...

Level: 9

Blinds: 300/600

Ante: 75

09-20-2009 15:08 UTC+2

Shuffle Up & Deal

[user4144]

The players have resat, recounted, restacked and the cards are reentering the air.

09-20-2009 15:08 UTC+2

Here We Go

[user46392]

Let's see how fast 80 runners can bust out! Remember, with 63 places paying out, we're not far off the money...

09-20-2009 15:23 UTC+2

Breaking News!

[user4144]

We have an exciting new arrival today. No, Doyle Brunson hasn't entered the arena, and no, there hasn't been a streaker. Even better! Today sees the arrival of... drum roll please... the yellow 1,000 chips. See, I told you it was exciting. I don't know if I'll be able to contain myself when those 5,000 chips rear their plastic heads. I might well explode.

09-20-2009 15:25 UTC+2

Early Push

[user4144]

A short stacked Aleksey Arakelov isn't wasting any time. He just pushed his 10,000 or so all in from the small blind after the action had folded around to him. Big blind Oskar Silow mucked {3-?}

face-up. I think he was behind.

Tags: Aleksey Arakelov

09-20-2009 15:26 UTC+2

Colour Up Pause

[user46392]

The clock has been paused while the green 25-denomination chips are coloured up. Some players have wandered off from their tables, but there's no official break -- as soon as it's done, we'll be back to business with level 10.

Level: 10

Blinds: 400/800

Ante: 100

09-20-2009 15:36 UTC+2

Lucky For Some

[user4144]

As we entered the arena today, slightly goggle-eyed and still recovering from these early starts (it's early in the poker world!), we were suddenly ambushed by a surprisingly energetic Chris Elgie who was eager to inform us of some curious, perhaps paranormal, observations.

"Take a look at this, guys. I qualified on the 13th, my buy-in receipt say the number 13, I'm third from bottom, and my ticket today is 31. That's a lot of threes and ones."

"Is 31 your favourite number?" I asked inquisitively to no response.

Not one to be duped by spooky occurrences, my skepticism was truly put to the test when Elgie pushed all in under-the-gun on what I believe was the third hand of the day. After receiving a call from the even shorter-stacked Lascelle Barrow on the button, Elgie duly turned over {A-Diamonds}

!!!

Creepy, yes, but the truth was that he was in trouble as Barrow tabled {8-Spades}

. But on this occasion, the numbers one and three proved lucky for Elgie as the board came {9-Hearts}

to award him a much-needed double through.

I didn't check his new count, but something tells me he might be hovering around the 13,000 mark. We are now exiting the Twilight Zone.

Tags: Chris Elgie

09-20-2009 15:42 UTC+2

All Shook Up

[user4144]

I joined the action on the turn of a {10-Spades}

board. With Raymond Rahme betting out for 3,900, Robert Lim made the call leading to a {9-Spades}

river. Again, Rahme led, this time to the tune of 6,100, which was, again, flat called by Lim.

As Rahme tabled {9-Diamonds}

for the rivered set, Lim shook his head and paused before eventually mucking his cards, as if he didn't want to believe he'd lost the pot.

"You rivered me," sighed Lim. "I should have shipped it in on the turn."

Nevertheless, it was Rahme who scooped up the pot, as a visibly shaken and frustrated Lim tried to accept the fact that his stack had been dissected in half.

Tags: Raymond Rahme Robert Lim