blonde poker forum

So, unsure whether the final is starting in half an hour or at 5pm Holland time, I thought it best to just start the thread now and let it gently fill with good wishes for Keith, Jerome et al.  Snoopy is taking a well-deserved break, either at the cash tables or wandering around the city (which is very pleasant to wander in), so you're stuck with me for the Final Nine.

I have a feeling that this lot will be a pretty action set of players, and so it's going to be a good one, whenever it gets going.  I will have a definitive answer on this in about 20 minutes...

Rolf Slotboom -- 841,000
Alex Jalali Abadi -- 694,000
Jonathan Fahl -- 596,000
JJ Hazan -- 433,000
Jan Sjavik -- 357,000
Keith Hawkins -- 176,000
Jorrit van Hoof -- 128,000
Jerome Bradpiece -- 110,000
Jan Boubli -- 80,000

Actually, with a tip from the Camel, who probably knows best, it looks like the start is two hours away (5pm here; 4pm UK time) so don't hold your breath.  Unless you're really good at it.

Right, play has just this moment started, with blinds at 5k/10k, ante 1k.

After two raise-pass-pass-pass type hands, this happens:

Jerome Bradpiece moves in preflop, and JJ re-raises all in....

Jerome:  5c 6c
JJ:  Aspades Qh

Flop:  Qs 3h 4h
Turn:  Jd
River:  Js

Which means only three hands in, Jerome Bradpiece finishes in 9th place, winning €25,875

Reminder of your prize structure for these guys:

1st -- €690,000
2nd -- €345,000
3rd -- €172,500
4th -- €112,125
5th -- €86,250
6th -- €60,375
7th -- €43,125
8th -- €34,500
9th -- €25,875

Jan Boubli, despite starting the day shortest stacked, has won the only threeway flop-seeing pot so far, with a bet on the Ahrt Kc Jc flop.  Just eight big blinds, but no fear.

I tried out this format in Baden, and although it's probably not very interesting for you, I find it terribly convenient when it's hard to build a full story.  So you're getting more.

Action                                                                        No. of times occurring

Jan Boubli pushes short stack in preflop (no callers)                               1
Jonathan Fahl raises preflop and nicks the blinds                                    1


Then Jonathan tries it again, and finds small blind Jan Sjavik re-raising.  Call.
Flop:  2h Ts 8s   Jan checks, Jonathan bets 100k.  Pass from Jan.  Who might be the most unreadable player I've ever seen.  Didn't even half bat an eyelid when his stack took a bit of a hammering in that race yesterday, just calmly and relentlessly built it back up. 

Jan Boubli makes up the big blind, sees 2c 3h 4d with big blind JJ Hazan.  Jan bets out 13k, and gets a call.
Turn: 2s    Jan checks, JJ bets 60k, Jan calls (which involves moving all in).  On their backs:

Jan:  Qs 3s
JJ:  6c 7s

River:  5h   a gentle sigh rises up from the sizeable crowd...

Which means the 8th place finisher is suddenly Jan Boubli, who takes €34,500

Three players see 2h Tc 6c

Jorrit van Hoof moves all in for the second time straight away, with Rolf and JJ giving it up.  40k to add to his 110k.  Not bad.

Jonathan and JJ see a 7s Aspades 3s flop.  JJ checks (ooh, at this point our Monitor goes to split screen with JJ's head and the flop.  Cool.)
Jonathan takes it with a 44k bet.

The Camel makes it 25k to go from the button.  Rolf in the big blind does his sunglasses-down, wait, look, wait etc. etc. thing before.....(at this point the screen helpfully goes black - oh no, back on)

...re-raising to 145k and adopting his freeze pose - head bent.  Not sure Keith really likes this, and, no, he's opted for the pass.

For the sake of thoroughness:

Action                                                                                              No of times occurring

Jorrit van Hoof moves in preflop, no callers                                                     2
Alex Jelali Abadi raises preflop and gets some blinds                                          1
Rolf                         "             "                                                                  1
JJ makes up the small blind, Camel in b.b. checks, and check-down                   1

9h 6h Ac, two players.     

Alex Abadi bets 50k.  Jonathan Fahl in the cutoff raises to 130k, pretty quickly.  Back to Alex, whose lengthy dwell results in a call.
Turn:  3c   Alex checks.  Jonathan takes his time betting 120k.  Alex calls.  I know this post might make it look like this is quick fire, but actually this hand is taking about 15 minutes.
River:  Ts  After the dwell from both of them on the turn, an immediate check-check

Alex shows Aspades Qd and the pot is his.

Keith Hawkins raises to 30k in mid position.  Button Jorrit van Hoof moves all-in over the top - this time the Camel calls his re-raiser.

Keith shows:  7h 7c
Jorrit:  8s 9s

Flop:  Jh 9c 7d
Turn:  8d
River:  Ahrt

After a quick count-up it is determined that The Camel was covered, but Jorrit is now short (and that's putting it lightly) while Keith fans can breathe more easily.

So, unsurprisingly, Jorrit is all in next hand for his 17k.  Button Jan Sjavik calls.  So does Alex in the small blind, and so does JJ.

It's not looking good for van Hoof.

Flop:  4d Jh Ad          checkcheckcheck
Turn:  Qh                 checkcheckcheck
River:   9h              Alex bets 25k, called by JJ.  Alex has the Kh 6h for the win.....

And so Jorrit van Hoof is eliminated in 7th place, winning €43,125

********************************20 minute break******************************

We're back, blinds now risen to 7k/14k, ante 2k.

Caught up with the Camel briefly in the break, all beaming smiliness, and muttering something about it being "time to change gears."  He was sat with Jimi, of Gutshot fame, who ever so narrowly missed winning the ticket to this event in the satellite which propelled JJ over here.  But he has a percentage and has been "laughing all the way through it."

Returned to my seat to find two players contemplating an odd board of 4d 6h 6d 6c.   Jan calls Jonathan's bet at this juncture.

River:  4c Jonathan Fahl bets 60k, and Jan Sjavik moves all in - for another 181k.  Jonathan's failure to instacall discounts his having the Six, or even a juicy pair but he calls.

Jan has Kd Ks, and Jonathan's 5h 5s look pretty sad.  Crippling loss for the young Frenchman, while Jan Sjavik looks even more dangerous.

Actually, Jonathan looks like he has a couple of hundred remaining... so hard to tell from our vantage point.
Camel must be on around 420k, Alex must have around 800k and honestly I couldn't count Rolf's ridiculous towers even if I were standing right behind him.

JJ is out of his seat when the next hand is being dealt but rushes back just in time.  Not terribly dignified, but he gets to see his cards, and he's in the blinds.
Jonathan moves in this hand for 74k (I was right the first time before trying to screen-count) - Alex gives it a think and then decides against it, and JJ thinks too (having a sip of coffee with that unfortunate thing where the little paper mat is stuck to the bottom of the cup but you don't notice)... nope. No callers.

Rolf raises preflop, then Jonathan makes a stand here moving in with Td Qh, while Rolf shows Tc Qc.  All a bit unconventional.

Board:  Ahrt 6h 7d 5d x  Split.  Next case.

Now it's Jan Sjavik's turn to raise and get Jonathan moving in over the top.  He too gives him a spin, but only after some serious contemplation.
Jan shows: Jd Kh
Jonathan shows:  Td Ts

Flop:  6s 4s Ks
Turn:  5d
River:  9h

So Jonathan Fahl is eliminated in 6th place, winning €60,375

5c 5s 5d pop out after Rolf calls Alex Jelali's  preflop raise.
Turn:  4s  Rolf checks, Alex checks
River:  Td 

And at this point all betting ceased, and Rolf's 8d 8h take the pot.

JJ raises preflop, and sees 3d 9c 6c along with caller Alex Jelali Abadi...
Mr. Hazan bets 70k here, and Alex Jelali raises to 200k even.  "Mr. JJ moves all in!" announces the M.C. 

Alex folds, though.  Jimi, you can breathe out.

This place is absolutely packed (well, it is Saturday night) and it's tough to get to the stage area.  But I've got some photos, which are just being processed...

Meanwhile, in the eye of the casino storm, Alex re-raises Rolf's preflop cutoff raise to what looks like 300k from the small blind.  Rolf moves all in, for a lot.  I think these guys are still the chip leaders, but either way this will be a huge pot if Alex calls... Which he does!

Alex shows:  Aspades Kc
Rolf shows:  Ac Kd

Flop:  Kh Ks 8s
Turn:  3s   And we're all thinking the same thing...
River:  6s  (!)

Alex shakes his opponent's unlucky hand, and after a lengthy countdown we hear this has spelled the end for Holland's own Rolf 'Ace' Slotboom - who finishes in 5th place, winning €86,250

Alex and JJ clash in the closing minutes before the dinner break - now it looks like the Alex Jalali raise/re-raise might be something we see pretty often.  He does it here on the turn (sorry, can't see the board, looks like one paint and some random rags).

But JJ moves all in, and is rewarded with a very snappy fold.

Two more hands til dinner...

Well, I'll give you my roughest of rough estimates of the chip count, but we'll get the real deal after the dinner break, which is NOW.

JJ Hazan   550,000
Jan Sjavik  700,000
Alex Jalali   1,800,000
Keith Hawkins   400,000

But I reiterate, these are guessed off a TV screen, and are probably a few miles off.

*************************************Back in half hour*****************************************

Well, it's been half an hour; I'm back, but they're not.  Give me another five minutes to sneak up to the Table and count the chips, as I am beginning to doubt some kind soul is going to do it for me.

OK, here's the best I can manage, with a little help from JJ, who says, "I'm probably more relaxed now than I've ever been.  I'm playing cards with four players and a lot of chips."  I admire the simplicity of the statement.

Anyway, the chips are roughly:

JJ Hazan       780,000
Keith Hawkins  130,000
Jan Sjavik        550,000
Alex Jalali Abadi  The Rest (1,800,000 or so)

New blinds - 10k/20k, ante 3k.

After the four days' snail-like increases, these seem to have taken off somewhat - going to be a bit of pressure on Keith now.

Of course, now they give us the chip counts.  For the sake of total accuracy, although I wasn't bad:

JJ Hazan       797,000
Keith Hawkins   125,000
Jan Sjavik         570,000
Alex Jalali Abadi  1,968,000

Alex raises to 70k, no callers.

then

Keith moves in preflop, no callers.

then

Keith moves in preflop (now 148k), and Jan Sjavik calls...

The Camel shows:  Kc Td
Jan shows:  4s 4h

Flop:  6c Ks Tc
Turn:  Jd
River:  4d

And cries of "sick sick sick" mingle with happy shouts of Jan supporters - it was all-in preflop after all - and with that unnecessarily dramatic hand,

Keith The Camel Hawkins exits in 4th place, winning €112,125

JJ raises preflop to 45k, Alex takes a peek at the flop (which I, sadly, did not), and passes to a bet.

Then it's Alex's turn again - raising to 80k from the small blind (button Jan folded) and JJ comes over the top to the tune of 200k.  It looked like he might have wanted to put more in, at the expense of some kind of string action, but I can't be sure... anyway, a flop, when Alex called:

Ahrt Ks 5h  Alex checks, JJ bets just 100k.  A quick fold.

Compared to some earlier hands, it's going lightning-fast at the moment.  I wonder if they all had a lot of coffee in the dinner break.

Action                                                                                                            No. of times occurring

Jan (s.b.) raises to 70k, relieving Alex of his big blind.                                                                        1
Jan raises on the button to 60k, relieving both players of their blinds                                                   1


Jan raises preflop to 55k, and Alex (b.b.) re-raises 100k, Jan calls.
Flop:  3c 4s 8d  Alex bets out 200k and Jan folds.  Another drop in the Alex chip ocean...

Small blind JJ raises Jan preflop to 60k, call.
Flop:  6s Kh 9d   JJ checks, Jan bets (I wrote that before he did it) 60k.  It does the trick; another one for Mr. Sjavik.

It's JJ vs. J.S. again, and a raise to 200k on the 9h 3h 6s flop sees Jan, in position, take another raised pot.

JJ calls on the button, Jan makes up the small blind, and Alex checks.  Small family.
Flop:  8c 2h Ks  Jan's first to act, and bets 30k, called by Alex only.
Turn:  Ahrt  check-check
River:  Aspades  check-check

It's Alex's Eight which remained good.

I'm trying to work out the overall dynamic between these three, but it's not easy; Jan's won a bunch of smaller pots, but he's still in third place chipwise, while Alex seems to be playing slightly more cagily than before he was a monster chip leader.

And Rolf Slotboom, blogger, has returned victorious to the press room.  Briefly.  He even let me take his picture, looking, as I told him, serious.  "I'm a serious guy," he responds.  Yes, Mr. tic-tac.  What a result, however, and the most dramatic knockout of the day so far.

JJ calls Jan's small blind raise from the button (he'd called about 30 seconds previously)-
Flop: 6d Ks Aspades  Jan bets out, er, around 100k, which is enough to get rid of JJ.

phew.  They are playing a frankly refreshing number of hands per hour for a TV table.  But my brain is starting to hurt.

JJ raises Jan's big blind from the small blind (again). Jan calls (again).
Flop:  3c 7s Kd  check-check
Turn:  9s  JJ bets 60k, call
River:  5h  JJ bets what looks like around half his stack - 205k - and Jan passes.

Jan Sjavik and JJ finally actually get to see each other's cards, all-in on the flop of 8h Kd 4c

Jan shows:  8d 9d
JJ shows:  8s Th

Turn:  Qh
River:  2c

And by the squeakiest of margins, which in the end made a huge difference, JJ knocks out Jan Sjavik in 3rd place, for €172,500

Well, after quite a delay, they're back and JJ has already moved all in (no call) against his opponent.  They do seem to have taken their time to get back to the table...

OK some hands, then: 

Alex (b) raises to 70k, JJ re-raises to 150k, call.
Flop:  6h Tc 4c  JJ bets out 350k, Alex is all-in, CALL

Alex shows:  Td Qh
JJ shows:  5h 4h

Turn:  7d
River:  Jh

Which means that officially, JJ Hazan finishes in 2nd place, winning €345,000

while Alex Jalali Abadi is the Masterclassics Champion 2006, winning a record-breaking €690,000