blonde poker forum

:hello: guys. We're starting once again at 2pm (1pm GMT).

Blinds are 300/600 with a 75 ante, and there's roughly (until I get the actual number) 340 players left. On the EPT site, it says we are only playing 5 levels today, but we'll get this confirmed as soon as we know.

This is the 'lite' thread, if you want pictures or to interact with us, please go to the interactive thread here:

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=22009.msg447612#msg447612

Start of day chip counts:

Chad Brown USA 150,425
Christopher Ulsrud Norway 133,875
Hans Vimmo Eskilsson Sweden 110,600
Jani Vilmunen Finland 95,925
Steve Jelinek UK 95,375
Dario Alioto Italy 87,850
Thomas Wahlroos Finland 87,625
Andrew Black IRE 86,925
Peter Dalhuijsen Holland 82,600
Maurice Kenter III USA 76,500
Hans Ritburg Holland 76,100
William Hill UK 75,825
Lars Brasholt Denmark 72,400
Patric Martensson Sweden 71,325
Frederik Hostrup Denmark 70,725
Erik Pettersson Sweden 70,025
Nicholas Jenkins UK 69,550
Patrik Antonius USA 67,325
Masterman Ali UK 66,625
Mark Teltscher UK 66,425
Graziano Cecchetti Italy 66,075
Johnny Lodden Norway 64,250
Alan Smurfit Ireland 63,500
Robert Gergely Hungary 63,050
Cristinel Dumitru Romania 63,000
Sergey Altbregin Russia 62,050
Josh Arieh USA 60,575
Philip Hilm Denmark 60,575
Orjan Holt Norway 60,250
Daniel Conte France 60,100
Dan Bush USA 59,450
Roi Elmaliah Israel 58,500
Erik Magnus Persson Sweden 58,125
Erich Kollmann Austria 55,825
Allan Drake Canada 55,275
Fadi Kamar Lebanon 54,700
Frank Guenther Germany 54,400
Christopher Smith UK 53,725
Greg Raymer USA 53,625
David Layani France 53,025
Paul Gourlay UK 52,875
Olof William Thorson Sweden 52,650
Kristian Kjondal Norway 52,450
Marc Karam Canada 52,100
Vladimir Troyanovsky Russia 52,000
Victor Ramdin USA 51,625
Joe Beevers UK 51,525
Richard Waters UK 49,950
Jani Sointula Finland 49,800
Jonathan Little USA 49,300
Joseph Starcevic Canada 49,000
Julian Gardner UK 48,650
Christian Togsverd Denmark 48,250
Christian Neirinck Belgium 48,225
Michael Martin USA 48,200
Age Spets Norway 48,200
Stuart Fox UK 47,950
Jacob Larsson Sweden 47,575
Richard Herbert Ireland 47,525
Joseph Lovelady UK 47,425
William Vance USA 47,125
Kristof De Smedt 47,050
Harry Demetriou UK 46,650
Carlos Mortensen Spain 46,450
Johannes Strassmann Germany 46,350
Nicholas Goodall UK 46,225
Jean Claude Perrot France 46,225
Cristiano Blanco Italy 45,750
Peter James Linton UK 45,525
Emad Tahtouh Australia 45,500
Kenneth Strandli Norway 45,450
David Peters USA 44,725
Knut Rysstad Norway 44,475
Hans Ari Vars Norway 43,975
Aaron Kanter USA 43,900
Opria Cristea Romania 43,600
Nicolas Levi France 43,325
Sebastian Riviere Sweden 43,125
Brice Cournut France 43,000
Emile Petit France 42,600
Stuart Hooft Canada 42,450
Joe Rafferty UK 42,125
Sam El Sayed Switzerland 41,525
Antony Elie Lellouche France 41,375
Frank Hilton USA 41,350
David Sonelin Sweden 40,875
Mark Vos Australia 40,875
Barry Greenstein USA 40,725
Souhail Nassar Lebanon 40,275
Csaba Kuremszki Hungary 40,225
Ramzi Jelassi Sweden 39,675
Rayan Nathan Australia 39,650
Jeffrey Rogers UK 39,350
Theo Jorgensen Denmark 39,125
Pier Ruscalla Italy 39,100
Dan Abouaf France 39,075
Ariel Adda UK 38,875
Lars Bonding Denmak 38,550
Samuel Lehtonen Sweden 38,500
Atanas Gueorguiev Bulgaria 38,300
David Leavey UK 38,125
Simon Christensson Sweden 38,050
Johannes Steindl Austria 38,000
Pete Giordano USA 37,950
Chris Odle USA 37,900
Mark Forrester UK 37,775
Nick Slade UK 37,675
Joakim Sorensen Denmark 37,450
Halldor Mar Sverrisson Iceland 37,400
Noah Boeken Holland 37,175
George Danzer Germany 36,800
Luke Staudenmaie USA 36,725
Nordine Bouya France 36,650
Lars Eidissen Norway 36,300
Jan Zeuschner Germany 36,150
Andy Lowe UK 35,750
Odd Lavik Norway 35,325
Clint Brothertorn USA 35,200
Ram Vaswani UK 35,150
Eric Van der Berg Holland 35,025
Alexander Stevic Sweden 34,775
Andrew Robl USA 34,675
Kim Nielsen Denmark 34,450
David Mobbs UK 34,300
Jimmie Guinther USA 33,200
Andrea Borea Italy 32,600
Tommy 31,925
Simon Johansson Sweden 31,600
Ernst Hermans Holland 31,575
Paul Ladanyi Hungary 31,300
Dean Sanders UK 31,200
Alexander Holovko Ukraine 31,150
Elie Marciano France 31,125
Sverre Krogh Sundbo Norway 31,000
Keith Hawkins UK 30,850
Michael Melin Sweden 30,625
Nicolas Ragot France 30,550
Daniel Amich Makowsky Israel 30,425
Roy Brindley UK 30,250
Paul Linton UK 30,175
David Clayton UK 30,150
Biri Balazs Hungary 30,125
Ross Boatman UK 30,075
Mark Joseph Gregorich USA 29,975
Jan Boubli France 29,925
Eric Kronenberg USA 29,725
Jason Gray Australia 29,700
Mark Pinter Hungary 29,700
Phillipe Narboni France 29,575
Josh Seeburger USA 29,300
Paul Murrell UK 29,225
Jim Kerrigan UK 29,150
Alexander Uskov Russia 29,075
David Barraclough UK 28,925
Fabio Bianchi Italy 28,725
Daniel Steine Norway 28,675
Haim Kakoun France 28,100
Josh Prager USA 28,000
Nikolai Evdakov Russia 27,900
Jan Christop Von Halle Germany 27,800
Carl Olson USA 27,750
Owen Crowe Canada 27,700
Joseph Karl Michael USA 27,475
David Ray Cotten USA 27,450
Haward Speer Germany 27,400
Richard Wild UK 27,400
Bernd Stadlbauer France 27,300
Sasa Biorac Germany 27,225
Sergey Feklisov Russia 27,175
Jason Mellross Australia 27,075
Mickey Wernick UK 27,075
Roland Rozel France 26,975
Soren Kongsgaard Denmark 26,800
Claude Marbleau France 26,700
Terence Cook UK 26,375
Samir Rahal France 26,350
Johan Storakers Sweden 26,250
Noah Stephens USA 26,200
Arnaud Mattern France 26,175
Ion Pavel Romania 26,000
Bengt Sonnert Sweden 25,975
Sebastian Ruthenberg Germany 25,850
Jean Phullipe Leandri France 25,725
Anders Indrebo Norway 25,650
Barry Strickland USA 25,650
Dean Thurman USA 25,650
Istvan Novak Hungary 25,600
Hans Erlandsson Sweden 25,550
Christophe Barabe France 25,500
David Sykes Canada 25,450
Fowzi Baroukh UK 25,175
James Kilarjian USA 24,900
Jude Ainsworth Ireland 24,600
Jan Veit Germany 24,550
Patrick Gaillardo France 24,400
Chris Bjorin Sweden 24,350
Francisco Lopez Spain 24,225
Soren Bakfort Denmark 24,050
Gregory Byard USA 23,975
Isaac Baron USA 23,850
Jesper Hougaard Denmark 23,850
Marcel Rhin France 23,725
Pernille Ravn Denmark 23,400
Gunnar Ostebrod Norway 23,350
Zahid Wahla UK 23,300
Michel Vat Holland 23,175
Tore Lagerborg Norway 23,000
Ricki Nielsen Denmark 22,900
Gavin Griffin USA 22,725
Xuyen Pham UK 22,525
Dennis Plejdrup Denmark 22,525
Thomas Bihl Germany 22,375
Oscar Carrasco Spain 22,075
Chris Moneymaker USA 22,050
Jonathan Mccann UK 22,000
Xavier Laszcz France 21,875
Staale Egenes Norway 21,575
Pascal Peretti France 21,450
George Mckeever UK 21,050
Nik Persaud UK 20,950
Juan Manuel Pastor Spain 20,900
Mesbah Guerfi France 20,750
Yevgeniy Timoshenko USA 20,725
Jasper Wijbenga Holland 20,625
Erik Palm Sweden 20,500
Luca Mortarino Italy 20,275
Bruno Fitoussi France 20,200
Scot Wilson Canada 20,000
John Persson Sweden 19,950
Adam Szalak Poland 19,650
David Benyamine France 19,500
Victor Olaru Romania 19,400
Lasse Ubostad Norway 19,375
Kareem Alsaihati Saudi Arabia 19,275
Daniel Kelley USA 19,075
Piers Whyman UK 19,050
Niklas Liljegren Sweden 18,950
Shane Schleger USA 18,900
Bernt Grytdahl Norway 18,875
Conor O'Keefe USA 18,875
Phil Hellmuth USA 18,275
Amritraj Singh USA 18,275
Brian Weisner Canada 18,275
Nicolas Pussini France 18,050
Marcus Jessen Denmark 17,975
William Davison USA 17,925
Georg Lothar Korch Germany 17,800
Michele Greco Ireland 17,750
Dan Glimne Sweden 17,525
Jonas Helness Norway 17,100
Denes Kalo Hungary 17,075
Julien Neuman France 17,050
Barkatul Mohammed UK 16,925
Gea Gregory Marc Russia 16,800
Casey Kastle USA 16,625
Ben Walter Callinan UK 16,350
Alexander Kuzmin Russia 16,300
Richard Ashby UK 15,850
Stuart Taylor Holland 15,500
Michael Long USA 14,700
Ken Goldin USA 14,675
John Gale UK 14,650
Alfred Zaccagnino USA 14,475
Gregory Orlov Russia 14,350
Darius Hastings USA 14,300
Zack Stewart Israel 14,275
Katja Thater Germany 14,275
Lyndon Basha Australia 14,250
Robert Cohen France 14,050
William Chen USA 13,800
Stefan Mattsson Sweden 13,725
John Shipley UK 13,700
Alexander Kim USA 13,625
Isabelle Mercier Canada 13,575
Marc Zaicik France 13,200
Olivier Czerwonogo France 13,150
Dave Colclough UK 12,950
Richard Barnett UK 12,875
Jesse Steinberg USA 12,775
Baard Dahl Norway 12,625
Daryl Jace USA 12,550
Mihai Manole Romania 12,550
Michael Hill UK 12,300
Khalil Rahal France 12,300
John Brooks USA 12,225
Tomas Petterson Sweden 12,150
Ouri Aron Cohen France 12,100
Reuben Peters USA 12,050
Tomas Brolin Sweden 12,000
Tony Cascarino Ireland 12,000
Michaela Johansson Sweden 11,925
Tyler Netter USA 11,675
Emil Holmsten Sweden 11,650
Anthony Holden UK 11,525
Scott Piecha UK 11,425
Ivan Barbuto Italy 11,000
Anthony Chatelain Sweden 11,000
Per Magnus Ummer Sweden 10,850
Dave Ulliott UK 10,750
Carl Hostrup Denmark 10,575
Desmond Jonas UK 10,550
Thor Hansen Denmark 10,475
Herman Zango Costa Rica 10,250
Erika Schonberg USA 10,225
Roberto Nateri Italy 10,125
Davide Adamo Germany 10,050
Bo Schults Italy 10,050
Victoria Coren UK 9,825
Nitin Malik India 9,800
Lee Nelson New Zeland 9,775
Guillaume De La Gorce France 9,500
Noboru Mark Nagaoka USA 9,350
Emile Elias France 9,325
Bryn Kenney USA 9,250
Arshad Hussain UK 9,150
Mikhail Ustinov Russia 9,150
Philip Yeh Sweden 9,025
Giuseppe Ruvolo USA 8,850
Fabrice Soulier France 8,550
Henrik Sorensen Denmark 8,425
Cametti Laurent France 8,250
Jan Erik Iversen Norway 8,050
Vegard Nygaard Norway 7,950
Richard Shtrax USA 7,900
Ulrica Skonnemark Sweden 7,850
Shane Reihill Ireland 7,700
Michael Murphy UK 7,425
Jose Luis Navarro Spain 7,350
Bertrand Grospellier France 7,075
Marko Batanjac Yugoslavia 7,000
Uffe Thorup Petersen Denmark 7,000
Stuart Hosen USA 6,950
Jose Guevara Argentina 6,375
Michael Muecklish Germany 6,350
Afzal Hussain UK 6,200
Vikash Dhorasoo France 4,450
Imad Derwiche France 3,825
Gilles Pieri France 2,650
Jukka Ylitalo Finland 2,550

Judging by the empty seats, Alfred Zaccagnino, Carl Olsen, Dan Glimne and one of the biggest names here today (20 letters!), Jan Christoph Von Halle, have all bitten the dust during these early stages.

Meanwhile, I just witnessed a rather gut wrenching hand which involved two players either side of Harry Demetriou. All in pre-flop, Sebastian Ruthenberg and his Pocket Nines were looking rather vulnerable when Josh Seeburger (Great name! - he see burger, he eat!!!) revealed his pocket Aces, but a J-T-J-8-Q resulted in our first vomit of the day.

Also, The Gecko has doubled up, and I bet he doesn't mind being called Beppe. Moving over the top of Gnuf member Sebastian Riviere, Beppe got caught with his fingers in the (Dusk) till (Dawn) and was forced to show his lowly Qs 2s. However, with Sebastian, who admittedly made a very good call, turned over his Ac Ts, Beppe was delighted to see that he had two live cards, and even more delighted when the board delivered a two on a Ks 2d 7c Js 5h board. Had to be the 2!  ;D

Soren Kongsgaard has take a big pot off Guerti Mebah with Jacks v Tens. 4-4-8-6-9 board. The latter is down to 17k as a result.

-----------

Moneymaker and Shipley are OUT.

Certainly, he's a dirty stacker, so much so I had to ask how much he had, "24k" was the answer.

Ash Hussain has doubled up with A-K against Ricki Neilsen's A-Q.

Sverre Sundbo is OUT, he didn't want to talk about it...  ;scarymoment;

Nick 'Ripple11' Jenkins has just been moved off Johnny Lodden's table, "He just raised 9-5o hit trip fives and busted some poor guy."

I saw Isabelle in the hallway pre-break - I have to assume the worst - she's OUT...

So is Nick Slade, in pretty dramatic circumstances (100k pot)... A short stack had raised to 2k preflop, and he'd called with the Ad Jd along with the big blind.  The flop came down 4s 4d 5d.  The short stack bet 2k again, Nick upped it to 5k, and the big blind made it 10k...Nick flat called.
His nut flush draw came on the turn:  7d  So in two swift bets both big stacks were in, Nick with his flush, and the big blind with 4h 5c...  He looks a bit shell-shocked, to be honest.

I don't know about that, but there's been a Legend Double Through...

I think it was Luca Mortarino under the gun who limped first, then Mickey in late position, then Alexander Stevic made up the small blind, George Danzer checked.
Flop:  Td Qh 6c  Despite Alexander and George murmuring about 'keeping it friendly' Luca bet out 2,200 and Mickey Wernick called.  This was enough to get rid of the blinds ("Not against Mickey..." warned Danzer), so heads up for the turn:
Kh  Luca checked, Mickey bet 8k, saying, "It's an overbet; this time I call all-in.  11,000."  True to his word, when he got check-raised all-in he called, showing Qs Kd, ahead of his opponent's Qd Jd.
A slightly tense moment as the 2c rivered.
"Mickey never lies," pipes up Danzer as the young player doubles Mickey through to over 45k.

Richard Strummer has lost a 40k pot with Jacks versus Big Slick, a cruel King hitting the River.

Dave Colclough eliminated John Shipley, A-K vs J-Q, Ace on Flop, Jack on River.

Andy Black (now 98k) knocked out Chris Moneymaker. Andy raised with Q-Q, Chris called from the BB, Flop of K-K-7, no action, Turn 2, Chris bet, Andy called, River 4, Chris bet, Andy out-talked Chris and re-raised. Chris chose to move all-in for another 10k. Andy called, showed Q-Q and Chris mucked. Barry Greenstein is also on the same table with approx 55k"

The first colour-up has occurred, and play has restarted, blinds 400/800 ante 100.  Players remaining:  272

Arnaud Mattern tackles Chad Brown (not in a physical sense):

Arnaud had raised to 3,600 on the button and limpers (and big stacks) William Thorsson and Chad Brown called.  This is the point at which I would be thinking, "Wonderful."
Flop:  8s 4c Jc  William checked, Chad checked, and Arnaud gave it a 7.5k bet.  William got out of the way, but Chad counted out 25k and calmly shoved it into the middle.  Arnaud still had 37,000 behind, and after a brief consideration, passed with mild to moderate pain.

Good news Steve and Julian. Bad Girl has trebled up.

One off the cut-off raised to around 2.5-3k (I missed this part of the hand) the cut-off flat called and Bad Girl moved in from the button, both had her covered, the shorter moving in and the larger calling.

One off the Cut-off:

Ad Kh

Cut-off:

Ac Ks

Bad Girl:

Qs Qh

Board (with Bad Girl jumping up and down saying "Come a Queen"):

5h 3d 5c 2h 8d

She's understandably happy now, with around 90k.

Last year's runner-up, Ash Hussain, is OUT.

Stuart Fox raised it up under the gun and Ash, along with another player, made the call.

T-6-2 rainbow Flop, Stu checked, Ash moved all-in, Mateyboy called, and Stuart put Mateyboy in for his last 9k.

Ash = A-T

Stu = Q-Q

Mateyboy = 6-6

Barry Greenstein has been eliminated by Andy Black.

Meanwhile, the enigmatic and highly celebratory Kareem Alsainhati has doubled through (although still only to 15k) his Scandinavian neighbour with Kh Jh vs. Qd Qh on a Th 9h 4h Td Kd board. Looked like the spondoolies went in on the Flop.

DTD counts, as they break yet another table (225 remaining, apparently):

Odd Lavik       22,500
Michael Greco  22,000  (now tablemates flanking the Camel)
Richard Ashby  36,900
Dave Colclough  20,200
Dave Clayton    72,000  (despite having just doubled a short stack's Tens with his Button Eights - looks in good shape for a DTD last longer...)


Meanwhile, Phillipe Narboni has been sent packing by Keith Hawkins, betting a missed flush draw all-in on a board of 9-7h-5h-T-6. By this time though, the Camel had made a straight with Pocket Snowmen.

He's nowhere near chip leader now, Chad Brown and William Thorsten just got involved in a HUGE pot. K-Q-9 board, Thorsten had Nines, Brown had Queens. Thorsten is OUT and Chad now has about 290k.

Also out is Patrick Antonius, he ran Tens into Jacks.

Meanwhile, Dave and Andy Black seem to have defrosted over the course of the first few levels - Andy asked me, "What's the leader got?  I don't want to be the chip leader..." 
"I thought that was the point of poker tournaments," I queried.  "No, no..." he trailed off enigmatically.  He had 150k which was in the top five or so, but since that huge hand Homer just reported he's firmly off the potential top spot.  It's all clearly going according to plan.

Some chip counts that have requested over the course of this thread:

Chris Smith -- 50.5k
Richard Wild -- 59k
Ali Masterman -- 39.5k
Richard Herbert -- 38k
Luke Staudenmaer -- 44.5k
Chris Odle -- 26.5k
Shane Schleger -- 33.5k
Mickey Wernick -- 22k
Andy Black -- 155k
Stuart Fox -- 27k
Nicolas Levi -- 39k
Arnaud Mattern -- 33k
David Barriclough -- 27k
Peter Linton -- 9k
Xuyen Vladar -- 85k
Richard Waters -- 45k
Julian Gardner -- 49k
John Gale -- 18.5k
Ben Callinan -- 41.5k
Phil Helllmuth -- 43k
Alan Smurfit -- 55.5k
Dean Sanders -- 33k
Tony Cascarino -- 12.5k
Jim Kerrigan -- 15.5k
Ram Vaswani -- 66.5k
Devilfish -- 35k
Harry Demetriou -- 102k
Johnny Lodden -- 77k
Tomas Brolin -- 12k
Thomas Wahlroos -- 82k
Ricky Nielsen -- 35.5k

We're on a 15 minute break now, after which blinds with be 600/1200 with a 100 ante.

Ok, I found Jonathan McCann, he has 35k at the moment.

This picture, I think, is Paul Murrell, please tell me if that's right, since his original table has been broken. He has about 20k

Nick Slade told a sick story about the boy Lodden, Johnny raised a guy's 5k bet on a A-T-9 flop to 16k, before flat calling his 16k on the 2 turn (presumably to bluff the river, (there was a flush draw on the flop). The river came of course, a 4... and he was paid off to the sum of 26k.

Dean Sanders has had a bit of a rough last level - firstly limping with Ad Aspades under the gun, and getting three others in for the flop.
2d 3c 6c  Dean bet out 2,500, got raised to 6,000, made it 11k...the third raise all-in, however, Dean couldn't call, and was shown the monstrous 4c 5c.

Now admittedly, "Tilting a bit," Dean called preflop the next hand in the big blind with 7h 9h.  I think what he was calling was an utg raise...never mind - the flop came down Aspades 7c 5h.  Check from Dean, check from raiser.
Turn:  2h  Check from Dean, 7k from raiser, "Then I just jam for 24k."  He got a call from Ad 8h, but a third heart on the river made that nine-high flush draw good, and propelled him to 50k.

I think it's good he just got a 15 min break.

Dave 'El Scoopie' Colclough has come in giving me just so much news, which a blogger could only get if he'd was watching the same table for the entire level, so we're all incredibly grateful to him.

Anyway, he says Andy Black knocked out both Chris Moneymaker early on and Barry Greenstein. The betting for the latter was interesting, Andy made it 3.5k from EP with A-A, Barry made it 10k with A-K, Andy moved all-in and Barry called all-in for his last 35k with Big Slick. (Not too sure I like that play)

Barry and Chris have been replaced by Carlos Mortensen and Richard Ashby, and Dave said he thinks, "the table actually got harder."

Dave started the level with about 28k, saw a Carlos Mortensen raise first hand, and then the button pushing, Dave ended up passing A-K from the big blind, though he came very close to calling. He then managed to get blinded down from 29k to 18k without winning or playing a pot before seeing Carlos raise again, the guy who had pushed before, flat-called this time, and Dave pushed with A-K, Carlos passed and Seat 6, lets call him Mateyboy, called with A-Q. Dave on 40k now.

Expect more stuff from Dave, I've given him a pen and paper! :D

Carlos Mortensen -- 200k

Andy Black (who continues to prove that I can't take a photo of him that doesn't make him look drunk) -- 160k

Katja Thater is down to the bare minimum (just 5k) after being outdraw by a man who should be Gregory Byard if the player list is correct.

Byard moved in from the button with Ahrt 8h and Katja called with 8d 8s.

Board = 5d 3c Ad Qs 7h

----------------

John Gale is OUT.

He seems like the type who doesn't want to go over it, but he did let me know that it was nothing dramatic.

-----------------

DTD's Dave Clayton -- 51,000

-----------------

For some reason, every single player at this table was standing up except for the man with a decision to make, Pier Ruscalla. Pier had raised it from the button, only for Herman Zango (gotta love that name!) to move all-in for around 24k more. After a very long pause indeed, Pier finally confessed that he was "curious" (which is basically to avoid embarrassment overload if he is indeed dominated) and called.

"I think we have the same hand," said Zango, but Pier replied with "I doubt it" as he revealed his lowly Pocket Fours.

Zango popped Ace Queen onto the table and gave the table a mini bang once the board dealt him a Queen on the Flop.

Bruno Fitoussi     52k
Thomas Wahlroos   87k
Michael Martin     104k (if we've identified him right)
Joe Beevers         72k
Ram Vaswani         88k
Stuart Fox            35k

Phil Helmuth is OUT, Kings against Aces, with an extra bullet on the flop (which had flush potential for Hellmuth) for good measure.

Aces were held by Dean Sanders (now on over 100k).

Dave Colclough is OUT

His table got broken just now, "I finally got away from Andy Black..." and he was moved to the Greg Raymer/Ram Vaswani table.
"I wasn't so much worried about Greg, but Ram has taken me out of four comps recently."  I could see where this was heading.

Dave found Ac Ks on the big blind.  Ram had raised.  So, no messing, with 35k, Dave pushed in.  Call from Ram, who held Ahrt Aspades...

A quick end to a very determined couple of days' play from El Blondie, and we will miss his table-eye view of the big hands.

Geaorge 'The Panzer' Danzer has doubled up to 63k after surviving a coinflip with 8-8 vs. A-9.

DTD's Richard Ashby has also come up trumps, doubling through with A-6 vs. K-Q on an A-3-6-K-Q board. He's now on 31k.

Welcome to the 100k+ club...

Chad Brown -- 228k
Christopher Ulsrud -- 211k
Carlos Mortensen -- 193k
Maurice Kaenter -- 187k
And Black -- 163k
Dean Sanders -- 155k
Peter Dalhussen -- 144k
Hans Rutlig -- 144k
Laakalite -- 139k
Mateyboy -- 137k
Josh Arieh -- 131k
Frenchieboy -- 121k

I think Pete Linton is OUT, his distinctive yellow top is nowhere to be found, that, and Greg Raymer is in his seat.

Josh Arieh -- 200k

Joe Rafferty is OUT after his Pocket Queens lost out to a flopped flush draw on a Jack high Flop.

Arnaud Mattern is on 35k. Nicolas Levi, however, is OUT, after taking a gamble with 4-3 vs. a domineering pair of sixes.

No, he lost a load of chips with 7-7 against A-Q, and A-K against K-Q before losing with A-Q to K-6.

Ramzi Jelassi is also out, A-7 vs Andy Black's K-Q on a 3-5-K-2-6 board.

DTD's Mikka is OUT too, she re-raised all-in with A-K and didn't get any help against a pair of Threes.

Michael Martin     105,000 (steady as can be)
Rick Wild              75,000
Chris Smith          27,100  (how about that for accuracy?)

One Hour Dinner Break announced.  Chaos ensues in the hallway, where the side event wannabes are stacked to the rafters around a one-cashier bottleneck.

Hi India -

Oh I have some stories about him - today has been a rollercoaster (is it ever a smooth climb?  No.):  over 30k, under 10k coming to rest about 25k... but the note I can read my writing on was actually from yesterday, where he was basically given a second life...

OK so Nik had 36k (at one of his peaks) at the 200/400 blind level.  UTG (described as 'Scandie, aggressive, good, aggressive etc.') raised to 1,100 and Nik decided to smooth call from the blinds with Qd Qh.
Flop:  6h 2h 3s  Nik bets out 2k, gets raised to 5,500.  "This is where I start to feel a bit ill.  But I call."
Turn:  2s  Nik checks, Scandieboy bets 12,500 - full pot - leaving Nik to dwell until the clock is called.

Now, in the first version of events I heard, he used up a full five minutes before passing the Queens and being shown Kings.  Good pass Nik.

What actually happened was that the floor was called to put the clock on him, and he sort of waved his hand around when the clock rules were being recited.  The floor shut up until he started to count down from 10..9..8.. During this time, Nik said, "I didn't put him on Aces or Kings because he'd always re-raised preflop with hands like that, been playing with him seven hours, that's an oddly large bet for someone with a huge made hand..." 
"Seven...Six...Five...Four," said the floor.  Nik didn't snap out of it until the floor said, "One." 
"All in," said Nik, pushing his stack over the line.
"If you'd listened to the rules," replied the floor, "You'd have known that your hand is declared dead on 'One.'"

THEN he got to show QQ and be shown KK in return.  What a save.

Nik Persaud can literally walk on water...

(http://stanice.com/uploaded_images/walkwater2-770659.jpg)

Well he can't, but he might as well try because he'd probably succeed...

He pushed for 22k (blinds are 800/1600/200) after there was a standard raise in early position to 4.8k. Ulrika Stonnemark pushed for 27k sitting right next to him. And next to her, Shane 'Shaniac' Schleger called.

Nik:

Qc Qh

Ulrika:

Kc Kd

Shane:

Aspades Ahrt

Board:

6d 6c Th Qs Td

Shaniac takes a hit, Ulrika is OUT and Nik is on around 75k now.

Nik, "The hand played itself."

147 remaining
800/1600(200)

Odd Lavik -- 39k
Dave Mobbs -- 80k
Michael Greco -- 48.5k
Marc Karam -- 61.5k
Hans Eskilsson -- 86k
Julian Gardner -- 75.5k
Johan Storakers -- 31.5k
Pete Giordino -- 60.5k
Theo Jorgenssen -- 26k
Noah Boeken -- 49.5k
Mark Teltscher -- 73k
Richard Wild -- 90.5k
Age Spets -- 58.5k
Stuart Fox -- 42k
Arnaud Mattern -- 40.5k
Ricky Nielsen -- 38.5k
Chris Smith -- 23k
Tore Lagerborg -- 39.5k
Eli Marciano -- 37k
Joe Beevers -- 83k
Ram Vaswani -- 159k
Carlos Mortensen -- 167k
Chad Brown -- 235k
Greg Raymer -- 67k
Gunnar Ostebrod -- 41k
Hans Ritberg -- 45.5k
Tony Cascarino -- 23k
Shane Schleger -- 41.5k
Nik Persaud -- 60.5k
Jon Little -- 113k
Andy Black -- 260k
Victor Ramdin -- 19.5k
Jim Kerrigan -- 41.5k
Ali Masterman -- 16.5k
Richard Ashby -- 37k
Maurice Kaenter -- 212k
Josh Arieh -- 229k
George Danzer -- 64.5k
Ben Callinan -- 35k
Thomas Whalroos -- 117.5k
Nick Jenkins -- 79.5k
Paul Gourlay -- 50k
Steve Jelinek -- 76k
Xuyen Vladar -- 81.5k
Mickey Wernick -- 64k
Philip Hilm -- 39k
Richard Herbert -- 46k
Christopher Ursrud -- 195k
Tomas Brolin -- 46.5k
Johnny Lodden -- 194k
Dean Sanders -- 151k
Ross Boatman -- 52.5k
Dave Clayton -- 64.5k

Soren Bakfort has trebled up with A-K vs. Q-Q vs. 6-6, the latter belonging to the biggest stack, Hans Ritberg.

Board = 8s Kd Kh 7s Ad

---------------

Kristof De Smedt, commonly known as Deluxy on PokerStars, has just eliminated a young American player.

Raising from the button to 13k, yankieboy was re-raised all-in by Smedt from the big blind. Shortstacked (although he had just about enough to fold), the American made a reluctant call before flinging his Nines onto the table as Smedt revealed his Pocket Ladies.

Useless K-6-4-4-8 board and we'd lost another.

Yes it does look like Andy's topping the leaderboard...

A couple of big hands have shifted some of the stacks in the last half hour; at the risk of repetition (sometimes we just pass each other on the way in and out of the press room) here are my chipcounts too - taking into account some of them, and with a few additions:

Chris Smith        15,400
Richard Herbert   50,000
Ali Masterman      19,000
Rick Wild             70,500
Michael Martin     91,500
Thomas Wahlroos  80,000  (overheard him complaining about someone making a bad call with A-K and clearly having won)
Devilfish               61,000
Mark Teltscher     60,000
Andy Black          275,000
Greg Raymer        78,000
Johan Storakers    34,800
Gunnar Osterbrod  66,000
Joe Beevers          48,000
Arnaud Mattern     44,500
Theo Jorgensen     36,000
Viktor Ramdin        20,000
Nik Persaud           61,000  (suddenly wearing a Pokerstars shirt, as they must've noticed he's blessed)
Richard Ashby        28,000
Steve Jelinek         83,000
Ram Vaswani        155,000
Mickey Wernick       64,000
George Danzer        40,000  ("What I started with; best hand in six hours A-9,"  looking dejected)
Alexander Stevic     37,700
Ross Boatman         58,000
Dave Clayton          60,000
Dean Sanders        155,000
Jim Kerrigan            41,400
Odd Lavik               25,000
Bad Girl                 50,000  (doubled up an all-inner holding Aces with her Nines, on a Ten-high rag flop)

Dave Clayton has sunk down to 13k after his Ad Td ran into Jh Jc on a 6c 6h 7c 4c Ts board.

--------------

Frederik Holstrup Pedersen, who finalled in Poland the other week, is OUT.

He came into the pressroom and imply said, "70k at the start of the day, and I blew it."

Shane Schleger is OUT, according to Nik Persaud, he pushed with J-4 and was called by A-Q, he hit his Jack but I'm guessing there was a Ten and a King around somewhere because his opponent river the nut straight.

Carlos Mortensen managed to get away from Kings cheaply on a 5c 9d Jh board when a Ad slowed him down on the turn and Chad Brown bet 40k, Carlos said, you have Nines, and Chad duly showed the 9s 9c.

Chip counts:

Micky Wernick -- 50k
Xuyen Bad Girl Pham Vladar -- 68k
Richard 'Strummer' Herbert -- 60k

DTD's Richard Ashby doubles up:  He was actually standing up beside the table and kind of drew my attention to the pot he was involved in; all in with two callers.  The callers in the picture are either side of the guy in the red cardy - on the 2s 6s Jd Kh board Patric Martensson moved in, knocking out the opposition and getting it heads up with his Ks Qs.  Not bad; Ashby showed Ad Ahrt however: better.
River:  2h  and a clearly relieved Ashby is back in it with something around 60k. 

Do you think people get other people to watch hands they're already all-in in if they have a bunch of rubbish and reckon they're about to get busted?  Not so often. There's something nice about having observer vindication in having (a) won your all-in or (b) gotten cracked when you were a favourite when the money went in.  I was happy to be that observer.

Andrew Robl -- out
Victor Ramdin -- out
Jim Kerrigan -- 40k
Odd Slavik -- 16.5k
Michael Greco -- 48k

Partic Martensson has eliminated an American player with 8-8 v A-K, 8 on Flop.

Richard Waters has shot up to 50k after hitting quads with Jacks v Aces, all-in pre-flop.

Richard Wild is OUT.

Pushed a few times before being looked up by 6-6 with J-8. Coinflip, failed to hit. Had just 16k at the time and was philosophical in defeat.

And how did he lose a big chunk of chips previously?  "That serial bluffer in seat nine wasn't serial bluffing one time - he had trips."

I think the tournament directors maybe agreeing with you, the next level will be 1.2k/2.4k with a 200 ante instead of the 1.5k/3k/300. There's only 116 players left with still 10 minutes and two levels to go.

Latest casualty is Paul Gourlay, pushed his last 35k in with 7d 7h against Steve Jelinek's Aspades Kd but the board came Kh 9s 5s 6d Td. Here he is in the enjoyable restacking process.

Amongst the chip leaders is Christopher Ulsrud with 350k, I think it was mentioned in the Warsaw EPT update that he managed to make $1.3 million online in January alone... he just busted a short stack with Qc Qh against Qs Ts on a 4h 4s Tc 9s (Fun turn card!) Jh board.

This is Carlos Mortensen's stack, he's quite the architect isn't he? He, along with the previously mentioned Christopher, Andy Black, Josh Arieh and Chad Brown make up a big-named group of leaders in this tournament.

116 of 706 remaining
1,000/2,000 (200) blinds
91,293 average stack

Age Spets -- 63k
Christoffer Ulsrud -- 335k
Harry Demetriou -- 54k
Devilfish -- 54k
Michael Greco -- 43k
Marc Karam -- 92k
Hans Eskilsson -- 67k
Dave Mobbs -- 72.5k
Soren Bakfort -- 198k
Ross Boatman -- 56k
Dean Sanders -- 175k
Ali Masterman -- 53k
Xuyen Vladar -- 53.5k
Philip Hilm -- 30.5k
Mickey Wernick -- 70k
Richard Herbert -- 35.5k
Josh Arieh -- 306k
Richard Ashby -- 70.5
Ben Callinan -- 70k
Thomas Wahlroos -- 47k
Gunnar Ostebrod -- 52.5k
Nick Jenkins -- 43.5k
Patric Matrensson -- 72.5k
Fabio Bianchi -- 106k
Steve Jelinek -- 160k
Tomas Brolin -- 39.5k
Johnny Lodden -- 229k
Ram Vaswani -- 220k
Nik Persaud -- 37.5k
Pete The Beat -- 147k
Jon Little -- 76k
Joe Beevers -- 70k
Carlos Mortensen -- 176.5k
Noah Boeken -- 18k
Chad Brown -- 438k
Eli Marciano -- 110k
Greg Raymer -- 73k
Richard Waters -- 49.5k
Michael Martin -- 64.5k
Johnny Lodden -- 92.5k
Ariel Adda -- 34k
Mark Teltscher -- 55k
Andy Black -- 408k

Nik is OUT, T-T into A-J.

Richard Waters has trebled up, he held K-K against Mateyboy's A-J and Greg Raymer's J-J which held.

Nick Jenkins has 44k whilst Johnny Lodden has about 160k last time I checked.

Remaining DTD players:

Michael Greco -- 45k
Richard Ashby -- 70k

Blinds are now 1200/2400/200

Harry Demetriou is OUT.

Meanwhile, little known Richard Waters has eliminated poker titan Greg Raymer in a true 'what dreams are made of' moment. Richard Waters calling an all-in re-raise from Raymer with A-K, only to find himself in a coinflip with the former World Champion's Pocket Snowmen. Ace on the River.

Apparently, this is the last level.

Age Spets just got out of jail.......big stylee

He check/raised all-in on the turn of a Qd 9s 7s Jh board holding Qh Jd only to find his opponent sitting comfortably with a set of 9's

River:

Jc

1 hour remains tonight, we have 102 players left.

Andy is absolutely dominating his table - with what I can only describe as a fearsome intensity, he raises almost every hand with a kind of routine - grab some 1k chips, cut them in, while throwing a couple more smaller denom ones in for good measure, stare at everyone as they generally pass, and restack the blinds and antes with alarming speed and dexterity.  Then grab some black chips and rotate the top five, followed by the bottom one, top five, bottom one until the dealer is ready to start the whole swift process again.

Just now a young chap in a green hoody (could it have been Andrew Robl?) re-raised his utg preflop raise of 2,400 about another 8k.  Andy called instantly.  They check-checked their way down to the river at lightning speed, and the board stood 5s Ac 5d Js 2s.  Andy bet as soon as the river was out:  12k.  He was called immediately, and showed a winning Ahrt Td.

It looks like his fast-paced, unrelenting aggression inspires quick reactions from his opponents too - not giving themselves time to think about decisions.  He's about as focused as a person is possible to be without setting fire to the baize with the concentration of his stare.

Mickey Wernick raises to 16k, Gavin Griffin (pictured) makes it 36k, Mateyboy moves all-in from the big blind for just 20k and Mickey folds.

"I had Nines!" exclaims The Worm as Mateyboy reveals Aspades Ts and Gavin Js Jc.

3h 4d 3c 2s Th board and Mateyboy's a gonna.

Jim Kerrigan is OUT.

8-8 vs. A-T on a T-2-7 Flop. Opponent bet 10k, Jim thought his Eights were good and pushed for around 40k, but was quickly called.

---------------

Ernst Hermanns, who finished 3rd in the Vienna EWSOP last year, is on 61.5k today.

Meanwhile, Spaniard Francisco Lopez has been eliminated.

---------------

Noah Boeken is clinging on to grim death, his latest all-in being for around 16k, finally picking up the blinds uncontested when Joe Beevers folded in the big bling, showing a 4 in the process. Noah revealed A-8s and added, "I was hoping you wouldn't have A-9."

Other news, Emille Petit departed earlier today.

Noah Boeken is OUT, he moved in after Simon Johasson's raise. Carlos Mortensen dwelled for a while before passing. Back round to Simon who quickly called.

Simon:

Ac Aspades

Noah:

Js Jh

Board:

5c Tc 6d 2c 3c


We are down a dutchman.

Mark Teltscher is very very nearly OUT --

He'd made a couple of all in moves with good timing, in between Andy Black and the guy on his left raising (Peter Dalhuijsen is on that table too and there was a bit of chat between him and Mark, "Do you think I'm playing badly?" "On the first day you were playing awesomely - up to 60k and no hand shown."  "But do you think I'm playing badly?")

Anyway, this time there had been a raise under the gun by the guy pictured next to Andy.  Teltscher moved in again.  Passed back round and the guy goes into the tank, eventually calling for his whole stack with Ahrt Qs.
Mark shows:  Ad Kd
Flop:  3s Aspades Tc
Turn:  Qd
River:  3h

Mark is obviously annoyed that such a favourable situation went sour, but he took it very well, shaking his victor's hand and accepting his 300 chips change (they were nearly equal stacks) with good humour. "1000 to 1 I make the final?" he offered, or something like that.

Michael Greco has bitten the dust, leaving Richard Ashby as the sole remaining Dusk Till Dawn player.

With the clock running down, the top 10 appears to look like this...

Andy Black -- 510k
Josh Arieh -- 349k
Anthony Lellouch -- 330k
Simon Johansson -- 310k
Philip Hilm -- 279k
Christopher Ulsrud -- 278k
Johnny Lodden -- 256k
Steve Jelinek -- 223k
Marc Karam -- 217k
Chad Brown -- 190k

Carlos Mortensen and Eli Marciano not too far behin with 180k and 172k respectively.

Caught a few on the way out post bag'n'tag -

Strummer     90k
Ali Masterman  40k
Dean Sanders  160k

88 players return tomorrow for the redraw to 8-handed tables.