| Game Type: | Limit |
For someone whose knowledge of geography just about stretches to placing Vienna and Baden in the same country, finding my way from one city to another on a succession of forms of public transport was an adventure. Luckily, when it came to the tram, Baden was the end of the line, and a series of friendly, English-speaking locals helped me out when I repeatedly headed off in the wrong direction.
It would have been hard to miss Baden Casino, however, as it is pretty vast, on a Las Vegas scale, but fitting into the elegant town rather than simply towering ostentatiously above it. Inside, sumptuous is not the word. Actually, yes, it is. Giant chandeliers stretch down three floors between winding marble staircases. Large, beautifully-decorated gaming areas fill separate wings, and there are several small salons and a low-lit poker room with painted ceiling, in which people started off on the tournament, and moved into the cash games as the days wore on. There's no grating background noise, just occasionally music, sometimes live, and the click of players' chips and smart shoes.
Attending the EPT event as a lowly denizen of the Presse area, I was simply amazed at how well we were looked after. The internet access alone was enough to guarantee Casino Baden a great review, but there were also a succession of people who popped in regularly to see if there was anything we wanted (Tea? Coffee? Large flatscreen TV with direct live feed from the final table?).
With a relatively small number of entrants at 175, the tournament area was nicely spread out, with plenty of space for the players and media, including the TV people who just glided over whenever “all-in” was heard from a dealer. And it happened a lot. With hour levels, going to 75 minutes, and 10,000 in starting chips, the field managed to consume itself remarkably quickly. Down to just 36 after Day One, we all benefited from days which weren't the long-haul late-nighters we were used to. We were occasionally startled by the kinds of hands players were getting involved in early on – a huge pot came about where two players got it all in with AK and 55 after several preflop raises after only a few levels, both risking large stacks and their tournament life over a few hundred in blinds. Tournament veteran Dave Colclough said that the influx of super-aggressive internet-trained young players (mostly Scandinavian) was changing the way the game was played, and everyone was having to adapt.
Presumably Roland de Wolfe was in his element, yo-yoing in chips and eventually running into Aces when he raised in the cutoff all-in with his AK. He joined early exiters Isabelle Mercier and Greg Raymer, and later ones Ben Grundy, Noah Boeken and Mark Teltscher (fresh from his Vic victory). Germany's Thomas Bihl (aka Buzzer) made an impression, making the last two tables, and Paul Testud also played well until his Day Two knockout.
All the early aggression meant rather civilised evening ends to the days' play, and therefore the players had the option to get early nights, or get stuck in to the (pretty high limit) cash games going on around the clock. I spotted Marcel Luske, Casey Kastle and Richard Ashby, amongst others, signing up when their tournament day was over. Blondeites noted from the final four tables were El Blondie, Dave McGeachie (‘doubleup') and Julian Thew as well as a host of Scandinavians including Patrik Antonius (third in chips), and most of team Norsemen, minus Sverre Sundbo who had some poor early luck and was cheering on Frode Fagerli, Edgar Skjevold and Torstein Iversen.
Not having pockets deep enough to empty into anything like a buy-in for these games, when off-duty the floating blondeites looked in vain for a way to play cards for a few hours. Foiled in attempts to get our own private table, Tikay eventually suggested a nice round table spotted in our hotel lobby, and I solved the chip problem buy buying the correct number of three differently coloured cash chips and sneaking them out. Actually, Rolf Woods, Norsemen manager, bought these, getting some odd looks from the cashier as he requested “32 brown ones, 32 green ones, and 16 red ones…how much is that?”
So we had a little press tournament while our hotels priest convention carried on up the hall (I kid you not) with myself, TIkay, Woody, Conrad and Steve from Pokerstars, Brad Willis and two guys we found in the bar and who managed to tag along, Iwan Jones and Julian Thew. The won one sit'n'go each. I knew we should have asked for their press credentials.
Back for Day Two and Julian Thew had a double-up rollercoaster, turning two thousand into thirty, before eventually being knocked out in 19 th . 27 places were paid, however, so he can't have been too unhappy. Dave Colclough lost a blinds battle, and one of the Norsemen, Frode Fagerli went out fairly early on, joining Rob Hollink, whose young countryman Abel Meijberg went on to storm into the final table, however. Austrian Peter Muhlbeck, who finished the first day as chip leader, continued in form through the second day
I returned for the final an hour early, expecting to have to fight for a corner of a bench and hide whenever someone looking official walked by. Not so – the TV table and its stage with surrounding cameras and paraphernalia had its own room set aside, with three rows of seating. There was also a bar with snacks, and every hand was clearly and precisely announced by the director. A top notch production. The final eight included three Norwegians, a Finn, a Swede, and one representative each from Austria, Denmark and the Netherlands.
Needless to say, Rolf Woods was delighted with the success of the Norsemen, and I have no doubt that his hand-by-hand updates were waited for with bated breath by the Norwegians at home; the continued success of players like Sverre Sundbo is apparently driving Norway into a poker frenzy. It was unfortunate that strong players Edgar Skjervold and Torstein Iversen finished in 8 th and 7 th place respectively, but having seen two-fifths of his team make the televised final he was understandably happy. Wild card Norwegian Gunnar Østerbrod ended up finishing second, however, winning €120,384 which I am sure boosts his online bankroll (having finished an Economics degree he's been honing his skills online). One of his key hands was that which knocked out the popular Christian Grundtvig, where his AK flopped two pair against the Dane's JJ. Christian came fourth, for €47,880, to the delight of his vocal supporters; the announcer had started referring to him simply as ‘Denmark.'
The remaining Austrian player, Peter Muhlbeck, finished sixth, and his chips contributed to Abel Meijberg's success, after he trapped him with pocket Aces. Peter's KQ had flopped top pair, and he took around €34,000 with good grace and the right attitude – within an hour he was signed up and ready to go in the 7-card Stud championship event which kicked off that same day. Swede Ingemar Backman went from second in chips five-handed to out in fifth place for €41,040 when his huge preflop reraise with AK suited was called by Abel Meijberg with Jacks, and failed to hit. So having eliminated two players in quick succession, Abel was confident and in second place in chips as they took a break before the final three played on.
The success story of Patrik Antonius who won the event and the €218,990 first prize was surprising not because he is an inexperienced player unused to shaking up the big games (you might know him as I_knockout_U online) but because he turned up over five hours late. When the rest of the table saw Patrik come to claim the empty seat, which had lost half its stack, they must have been relieved they'd had that much time without the aggressive young player present. After an initial double up, he went from strength to strength and ended day one with over 100,000 in chips. His final table performance was calm and measured, with his chip position consolidated by knocking out Abel Meijberg in third. He repeatedly clashed with the 22-year old Dutch player (who came to the final sporting a Pokerstars shirt) and took the sizeable lead with AK vs Abel's AQ in a very big hand indeed.
The final hand saw Gunnar make a move on an eight-high flop with overcards on which Patrik's 8 4 off had hit two pair, bringing the tournament to an end. A surprising event all round, from the lavish treatment everyone involved received, to the nearly all-Scandinavian final table, I hope the EPT will bring me to Baden again next year. Those who found themselves with a later flight and an itch to play 7-card Stud had their hands full with the repeated first round of the Poker EM, but that's another story.
