blonde poker forum

Well, it's the end.  The beginning of the end.  Ten players remain.  They are:

Isaac Baron (USA) -- 2,365,000
Luca Pagano (Italy) -- 705,000   
Antonio Esfandiari (USA) -- 735,000
Maxime Villemure (Canada) -- 1,220,000
Glen Chorny (Canada) -- 3,370,000
Henrik Gwinner (Denmark) -- 466,000
Michael Martin (USA) -- 1,579,000
Valeriy Ilikyan (Russia) -- 650,000
Stig Top-Rasmussen (Denmark) -- 590,000
Denes Kalo (Hungary) -- 957,000

The occasion of the crowning of the Champion of EPT Monte Carlo deserves a certain solemnity.

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=15968&g2_serialNumber=1)

They often say that mistakes are made at the end of the day when eyes are weary and bodies fatigued, but for Danish player Stig Top-Rasmussen, that error occured this morning within the very first level, and what a monumental error it was too.

After conceding to an all-in over the top re-raise from Henrik Gwinner, Stig Top-Rasmussen found Michael Martin button raising his big blind the very next hand. Briefly re-checking his cards and glancing up at his opponent, Stig quickly announced all-in, much to the surprise of Valeriy Ilikyan in the small blind who had yet to play.

Tournament director Steve Frezer was called over and the decision was made that verbal goes, and that if Valeriy were to play his hand, then Stig's all-in would stand. On most occasions, the small blind would simply fold his raggy hand, Stig would push in his chips and play would continue, but in this instance, Valeriy looked deadly serious.

"I couldn't see his cards," pleaded Stig to the rail. But his complaints were in vain, as Valeriy announced call and rose from his seat. Turning over his Pocket Tens whilst simultaneously praying to the Gods, Stig was dismayed to see that he was dominated, an elated Valeriy revealing Pocket Knaves and glancing over at his fellow Russian on the rail in quiet celebration.

Stig appeared resigned to his fate, and seemed to sense that this mistake would be his last. And he wasn't wrong, the 3c Kd Qs 3h 4c board providing no aid. Clearly jubilant in victory, Valeriy seemed to experience a minor epileptic fit before he suddenly composed himself enough to shake the hand of his fallen victim. In one giant yelp, Stig released all the tension of a week of poker and left the table whilst a jubilant Valeriy metaphorically patted himself on the back.

And then there were 9.

EXIT!!!

Mr Henrik Gwinner is our Final Table Bubbler.

Details to follow from the Snoopmeister.

In the end, the bubble exit was a relatively simple affair, Henrik Gwinner pushing from the button and being looked up by Isaab Baron in the big blind.

Henrik Gwinner = Ad 9s

Isaac Baron = Aspades Td

Flop = Ks Js Ac

Turn = 8s

River = 5h

Henrik Gwinner shook the hand of all his opponents and did all those things gracious losers do before being escorted out of the playing are.

gg, nh, wp etc.

But seeing as it's you...

1    € 2,020,000
2    € 1,179,000
3    € 715,000
4    € 589,000
5    € 421,000
6    € 337,000
7    € 253,000
8    € 168,000

 ;nipnip; ;nipnip; ;nipnip;

Seat 1: Denes Kalo (Hungary) -- 1,119,000
Seat 2: Michael Martin (USA) -- 1,326,000
Seat 3: Luca Pagano (Italy) -- 688,000
Seat 4: Valeriy Ilikyan (Russia) -- 1,396,000
Seat 5: Antonio Esfandiari (USA) -- 501,000
Seat 6: Maxime Villemure (Canada) -- 1,206,000
Seat 7: Glen Chorny (Canada) -- 3,613,000
Seat 8: Isaac Baron (USA) -- 853,000

And on the very first hand we witness action accompanied with more banter than an episode of Have I Got News For You. With Valeriy Ilikyan making a standard pre-flop raise, Antonio Esfandiari re-raises, thus virtually committing himself to the pot. As Valeriy dips into the tank that he has become so accustomed with, Antonio rises from his seat and shakes the hands of each of the remaining players, as if the American had already been eliminated. At this point, a flurry of amusing comments ensues:

"It's a looooooong journey home, a long journey"
"There's no shame in folding"
"If you call I'll show the nuts, if you fold, I'll show you the bluff"
"I might fold for the rest"
"Make sure you do the right thing whatever you do"

After a further pause, Valeriy releases his hand. As a result of this brief encounter, Valeriy drops to 1,320,000 whilst Antonio jumps to 631,000.

While we wait for action interesting enough to transpose from the Live Feed to Written Perpetuity (or until our server goes down again), please enjoy these photos of Maxime Villemure.

1)  Maxime au naturel

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16066&g2_serialNumber=1)

2)  Maxime after being asked to smile by another photographer

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16068&g2_serialNumber=1)

Contrary to what the dude on the live feed just said, each of those lovely purple 25k chips is not worth two and a half buy-ins - they started with 15k, so each one represents one and two thirds buy-ins.  ;topofclass;

Glen Chorny raises for the third time (the announcer can't say that, but I can  :)) and is re-raised by Valeriy. After a momentary dwell, Chorny calls.

Both players check a Jd 3d Ad Flop only for Glen to bet 225,000 on the 3s Turn. Valeriy instacalls.

The River is the Ks and again, both players check, although Valeriy seemed tempted.

Although Glen has top pair with A-Q, Valeriy reveals A-K to take the pot.

In the aftermath, Lee Jones criticises Glen's check on the River, suggesting that Antonio, Isaac and Michael would all have made an extra half a million from the hand.

Personally, I think it's pretty academic. With that board and facing a pre-flop re-raiser, I don't think there are too many hands Glen would be beating. In that sense, I think he would have folded.

Luca preflop raises to 70k.  Maxime Villemure opts for the re-raise:  to 225k.  Is it push/fold for the consistently cashing EPT-playing Italian (this is his third final table!)...?  Possibly, but it's fold.  Incidentally, Claudio Pagano, Luca's dad, is now railing having busted yesterday.
________________________________________

Unperturbed, Luca raises to 75k the next hand.  It seems like every time this happens, his tablemates ask how much he's playing...can't be a nice feeling, that...
Isaac Baron re-raises him this time (in the bb) - to 240k.  Luca makes the call this time. 
Flop:  Jc 3s 4d  All in insta, with a reciprocal instacall...

Luca Pagano shows: Jd Kd
Isaac Baron shows:  Ac Kc

Turn: Qd
River: 3d

DOUBLE UP FOR LUCA  (His Dad unexpectedly hi-fives someone on the rail).....

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16070&g2_serialNumber=1)

Chip counts after that Pagano double-up...

Glen Chorny - 3,233,000
Isaac Baron - 2.125,000
Valeriy Ilikyan - 1,896,000
Maxime Villemure - 1,276,000
Michael Martin - 1,260,000
Denes Kalo - 1,251,000
Luca Pagano - 1,152,000
Antonio Esfandiari - 574,000

Antonio Esfandiari re-raises all in over the top of Luca Pagano's button raise from the big blind.
"I'm going to call," calmly states Luca, in spite of the ongoing countdown (480k).  I think this is actually pretty nice - if you know you're going to call, might as well put the poor all-in-shover out of their misery by letting them know, rather than letting them sweat through the countdown...

Antonio:   Ad 8s

Luca:  Aspades Jc

Flop: Kd Th Qs  Well, that's pretty conclusive.  Only a Jack for a split can save the Magician now.
Turn: 5h
River: 3d

And the "impeccably turned-out" (according to Barry Martin) Italian, shows briefly his delight at his hand holding, and leaps to fourth in chips...

Antonio Esfandiari finishes in 8th place, winning € 168,000

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16072&g2_serialNumber=1)

Isaac Baron re-raises Valeriy Ilikyan (called already by Maxime Villemure) and waits to see the reaction of the initial raiser.  Nope, no interest.

Successful (http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/51/SqueezeSponge.jpg/225px-SqueezeSponge.jpg)

WOW-age on the live feed - Denes Kalo raises, only for Michael Martin to re-raise, only for Luca Pagano to go all in! Kalo folds so fast, and so does Michael, with an expression like Luca has just walked into his living room and started re-arranging the furniture. Luca now on over 2 MILLION!!!

Current chip counts, end of level 24:

Glen Chorny - 3,158,000
Isaac Baron - 2,830,000
Luca Pagano - 2,028,000
Maxime Villemure - 1,390,000
Valeriy Ilikyan - 1,257,000
Denes Kalo - 1,123,000
Michael Martin - 981,000

Glen Chorny Wins Pot Off Maxime Villemure:

They see a flop of Ts Th 3c, and both check.  The turn brings the 9c.  Maxime checks, Glen bets 81k; call.  River: 2s  Check again to Glen, who bets 225k, eventually called by Maxime, who mucks upon seeing his 8h 8d. 

Speculation is rife as to the range Maxime Villemure would call with on the river - Ace high suggested by commentators.  What do you think?

*********Note**********

I have to say I am somewhat relieved at the speed at which these players make decisions.  There is nothing more annoying to watch (or, after a while, to play against) than a player who continually takes minutes to make decisions, all decisions, not just big or marginal ones...

One of the idiosyncrasies of playing online is that multitabling gets one used to making rapid calculatiions/decisions.  This seems to translate to a very relieving no-drama no-nonsense style of live play from a lot of the young players, which is great, IMO.  Downside:  attention span problems with the live game...

Current chip counts, right now, 10 mins into level 25:

Glen Chorny - 3,541,000
Isaac Baron - 2,791,000
Luca Pagano - 2,085,000
Valeriy Ilikyan - 1,529,000
Denes Kalo - 1,114,000
Michael Martin - 972,000
Maxime Villemure - 735,000

Our resident Russian Valeriy makes it 87k, and shortstacked "Canuck" Maxime makes it All In (see counts above). Some dwellage; some call-age.

Maxime - Ad Kd
Valeriy - 9d 9h

Board - 6c Ac Ts Aspades 2c

Double-up for the Canadian ("Canuck", ah ha ha), and their stack sizes have been virtually reversed, Maxime now on roughly 1.5 million and Valeriy down to 800k or so.

Michael Martin raises on the button, called by big blind Valeriy... 

6s 7d 3d the flop...  Check to Michael, call.
Turn:  2d  Quick check again.  Michael checks behind.
River:  Td  Valeriy bets out 100k... called.

Michael shows 4d 4c but the Jd alone in Valeriy Ilikyan's hand is good enough to take it with the flush on the river.  Clearly not delighted that (a) he'd been called so speculatively twice by Valeriy  and (b) that he paid off the final bet with the four-flush so visible to everyone else.
_______________________________________

He wins the next pot, though.

Pictured when not kicking self:

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16082&g2_serialNumber=1)

Double up for the toffee-eater (!), Micihael Martin calling a huge re-raise from Valeriy Ilikyan to find he has his man dominated with Ahrt Qd versus Ac 4d. "Bring on the Russian," I believe I heard Michael say as the cards were brought to the centre. A 6s Aspades Qs 5h 2h board was a clinical one and Michael survives.

Isaac vs. Luca (orig. raiser)...

Flop:  6s 7h Ts  Double check
Turn: 6d  Isaac bets out now - and takes it down.  Here he is!  A fearsome avatar, translated into 3D, human form!

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16086&g2_serialNumber=1)

Valeriy Ilikyan is OUT and becomes the 7th placed finisher winning €253,000

I was daydreaming at the time, my brain still thinking we were watching the clip highlighting the famous names playing this week, but in a flash of lightening we had an all-in.

Valeriy Ilikyan = Ac Qc

Michael Martin = Ad Kd

Flop = 6d 7d 8s

Turn = Aspades

River = 2h

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16088&g2_serialNumber=1)

Suffering a little here from not-paying-attention-itis today, I'm afraid. Did anyone see that last hand? Can someone who is paying attention confirm whether Denes raised first? Either way, Glen (re)raises and Denes moves all in. Glen asks how much, but passes, allowing Denes to pick up a 1.119 million pot.

Current Chip Counts:

Glen Chorny -- 3,512,000
Isaac Baron -- 3,124,000
Luca Pagano -- 1,914,000
Maxime Villemure -- 1,907,000
Michael Martin -- 1,572,000
Denes Kalo -- 715,000

Glen raises, Michael re-raises and Glen folds.

Michael now on 1,703,000.

Things That Appeared On The Screen That I Thought Were Chip Counts So I Took A Photo To Crib Off Of -

EPT rankings:

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16092&g2_serialNumber=1)


Actual chipcounts:

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16094&g2_serialNumber=1)

Heads up flop of 3h 6d Jc…
Michael bets 110k, when it’s checked to him.  Isaac Baron flat calls.
Turn: 4d  Check to Michael, who riffles two chips (if that oneontop-otherontop thing can be called a chip trick in the true sense of the word) and checks behind.
River: Ac  Michael, when it’s checked to him a third time, bets 200k.  The big rivercard, lack of noteiceable draws coming in and the big bet, all combine to make Baron press the Fold button.

This time Michael raises 80k, Glen re-raises over 200k, and Michael folds.

I'd like to take a moment here to comment on the total awesomeness of this structure. Going into this new, WHOPPING 20k/40k/4k level, the average stack is still over 60 big blinds. We could be here all night...

Chip counts, start of level 26 -

Glen Chorny -- 3,647,000
Isaac Baron -- 3,271,000
Luca Pagano -- 1,811,000
Maxime Villemure -- 1,698,000
Michael Martin -- 1,349,000
Denes Kalo -- 856,000

Maxime raises pre, and Glen calls.

Yay, flop! It is 7d 2d Js - again, Maxime bets and Glen calls.

Turn - 2s - and now they both check.

River - Ahrt - that's a scary card - John Duthie has put Maxime on A-Q - either way, he bets 225k, which is enough to make Glen fold.

HUUUUUGE pot -

(http://www.vittoe.com/0205a/p5304735.jpg)


Luca raises, for the first time in a good long while. Glen calls from the button; Isaac makes an interesting call from the small blind.

Flop - 9d 4d 2h - Isaac checks, and Luca bets 210k. Glen calls. Isaac clearly hasn't hit, as he gets out of the way (I put him on A-Q  ::))

Turn - 4s - and now Luca bets a very large 500k into the already 800k pot. Glen considers, and flat calls, bringing the pot size up to an ENORMOUS 1.8 millio.

River - Qh - and Luca bets a surprisingly small 400k. Glen calls, and is most upset to see that his pocket Sixes that were good on the turn have indeed been outdrawn by Luca's flopped-flush-drawing Kd Qd.

Luca Pagano now chip leader on 3.3 million.

Chip counts after the HUUUGE Pagano v Chorny pot -

Luca Pagano -- 3,251,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,797,000
Glen Chorny -- 2,510,000
Maxime Villemure -- 1,875,000
Michael Martin -- 1,167,000
Denes Kalo -- 1,032,000

DUTHIE PUTS YOU ON...

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=16104&g2_serialNumber=1)

Oh, it appears that a few of Luca Pagano's chips were just on loan...as he just doubled up young Maxime Villemure as follows:

Raising on the button, he found the online whizkid re-raising out of the small blind.  He fairly quickly placed enough stacks of purple 25k chips to put his opponent all in in front of him.  A bit of a think...and call all in!

Luca shows:  Jh Jd
Maxime shows:  Ahrt Kc

Flop:  Qc Ac 4d... turn 5c (not good for Luca)...river er...a brick of some sort

So a grim looking Pagano relinquishes the chip lead and drops right down to 5th.

Good Lord! Chip counts are all over the place. It's like they're taking turns being chip leader.

Maxime Villemure -- 3,454,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,481,000
Glen Chorny -- 2,429,000
Michael Martin -- 1,607,000
Luca Pagano -- 1,520,000
Denes Kalo -- 1,141,000

Fold to the small blind (Glen Chorny) who makes it up.  Raise from bb Isaac Baron (+100k), call.
Flop:  Jd 7s Kd  Check-check
Turn: 4h  Glen checks, Isaac bets 155k, call, eventually.
River: 8h  Glen checks, Isaac thinks and bets 230k.   Dwell...call.

Isaac Baron shows Jh Td which is good enough for the pot... Schaefer, incidentally, spot on in analysis of both players on river [obv Chorny's mucked hand unknown]
_________________________________

Next to hands are raise-fold type things.  Another pie chart may be forthcoming?

Isaac makes it 110k, only for Denes Kalo to perk up and make it 345k from the button. After a bit of looking Kalo up and down, Isaac folds.

-------

Next hand, Isaac raises again. This time he folds to a re-raise from the super-tight Luca.

Denes Kalo raises, but Michael Martin re-raises him, looking most comfortable about it, I must say. Kalo considers it, Brandon Schaefer puts him on A-Q, and he folds.

A tough break for Isaac Baran as he clashes in a mammoth pot with Glen Chorny. With Glen limping on the button, Isaac made up the small blind and Denes Kalo checked the big. On a 7c Ac 6c Flop, all three players checked, only for Isaac to lead out on the 7s Turn. Denes smooth called, but Glen surprised many by coming over the top for 300k. Isaac called saying "I think I'm ahead but I'm going to just call" and Denes ducked out of the way before the two remaining players saw an 8s River. Isaac checked, Chorny bet 300k (about half the pot) and Chorny called. Kc 9c versus Jc Tc and Chorny takes the pot.

Kalo (cutoff) limp-calls a button raise from Michael Martin.  They check allll the way down until the board reads:  2s 2d 5c Ks 8s, at which point it becomes apparent that Michael's Aspades Jh beats Denes' Ahrt Th.
__________________________________

Luca Pagano raises to 120k; big blind Denes Kalo calls.
Flop: 9s Kd Js  Luca bets 160k, when it checks to him - very quickly called... alarms go off as Kalo only has 700k behind...
Turn:  3d  Denes moves all in.  Luca lets it go.
___________________________________

Tc Jh 6d  Flop.  Kalo who seems to have suddenly perked up as this level draws to a close, is back in it...
Turn: 5s Isaac bets and Denes Kalo calls...
River: Kh  check to Isaac one more time, and he bets.  Call!  Isaac's Kd 2d had hit the river and his bet turned out to be a value one at the last minute...

Chip counts near the end of level 26 -

Maxime Villemure -- 3,546,000
Glen Chorny -- 2,884,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,155,000
Michael Martin -- 1,899,000
Luca Pagano -- 1,254,000
Denes Kalo -- 914,000

Luca Pagano is OUT and becomes the 6th place finisher winning €337,000

I think Luca was searching for a spot to push, and with A-Jo he found a hand that he deemed worthy of the gamble. However, with Denes Kalo calling the  all-in re-raise in double quick time, Luca knew that he was in trouble.

Luca Pagano = Ahrt Js

Denes Kalo = Qs Qh

Flop = 7d Kd 7h

Turn = Th

River = Jh

Lots of blind-stealing from the button here. Ho hum.

Also some attempted stealing from the small blind. Maxime tries it on with Glen (as it were). Glen calls, and they make it as far as the turn of 9s 4s 3d Jc before Glen folds to a chunky bet from Maxime, who rakes in a 1.2 million pot.

OMG 6 handed to 4 handed in literally minutes of exciting action which leaves your weary updaters suddenly re-exhilarated...

Now it's Glen Chorny vs. Michael Martin...  Glen raises preflop to 125k, called by Mike in the blinds. 
Flop:  6h 7c Th   Check to Glen, who bets 225k.  Back to Michael who puts in a raise to 675k... the kind of "I'm not going anywhere" sort of bet.  So when Glen moves in, it's a quick shove/call combo and they're on their backs!

Glen Chorny:  Jd Js
Michael Martin:  Qc Tc 

Turn:  Ad
River: 2h

And with that, there exits a very supported young American, Michael Martin in 5th place, winning € 421,000 (that's a lot of dollars).

Glen Chorny -- 4,550,000
Maxime Villemure -- 3,735,000
Denes Kalo -- 2,435,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,110,000

Man, another big hand (it's like the poker gods don't want to see any pie charts)!!

Denes Kalo calls a Glen Chorny button raise, seeing a flop of 8s 4s Ad.  Denes checks, Glen bets 175k (I think) but gets pretty quickly ch-raised to 500k. 
"All in."
"Call."
All very brisk and business like.

Denes Kalo:  Ac Qc
Glen Chorny: Aspades 3s

"ONE TIME!" from Glen - and if it were to be one time, it would make a hell of a lot of difference if it were here, on the EPT Final Final...
Turn: Kd
River:  Jc

So a huge double through catapults the only remaining European into the chip lead...

Glen Chorny -- 2,740,000
Maxime Villemure -- 3,240,000
Denes Kalo -- 4,390,000
Isaac Baron -- 2,460,000

Dem counts -

Denes Kalo - 4,165,000
Glen Chorny - 3,615,000
Isaac Baron - 2,790,000
Maxime Villemure - 2,260,000

Glen Chorny takes down a pretty chunky pot in interesting circumstances – A-J being the hand he confidently called on a Kc 5d Jh flop out of position, before betting the 4d turn.  His opponent Maxime Villemure stubbornly resisted until the river (don’t know what his hand is, so the commentators’ postulating he’d floated the flop is interesting).  A final diamond on the river – 6d – and a double check, shipping the large pot to Chorny in the end. 

;bp;

The two chip leaders go to war.  For a while.

Isaac Baron raises preflpp called by Glen Chorny. 
Flop:  3h 9c 7d  Glen checks, Isaac bets 250k.  Glen now raises --465.  And refusing to back down, Isaac pops in a re-raise - enough to signify that this could go from a big pot to a tournament-dominating pot...
...but Glen folds, cementing Isaac's place in front of the last four.

Countin' countin' countin', keep them chippies countin', countin' countin' countin', rawhiiiiiiiide!

(http://www.sci.fi/~ivanoff/rawhide.jpg)

Isaac Baron - 4,025,000
Denes Kalo - 2,955,000
Glen Chorny - 2,930,000
Maxime VIllemure - 2,700,000

Battle of the preflop action, once again involving Isaac Baron, but now it was he raising on the button and finding resistance in the form of a +410k re-raise from Maxime Villemure... Calmly, inexpressively, Isaac announces, "All in."  Probably now revelling (seeing as he wasn't instacalled) in that peace of mind you only get when you've put serious pressure on someone and they aren't enjoying it at all.  Maxime passes to an appreciative round of applause from the Isaac-followers. 

Isaac raises and Glen calls. They see a flop, which is exactly 2c 8d Td - they both check.

Turn - Aspades - and isaac bets out 225k. Glen calls,

River - 9c and Isaac just basically gives up - Glen wins it with, I believe A-7.


Have to say, although the quality of the poker is very high here, I'm starting to miss some of the eccentricity we often see in these things. I'm even beginning in a really sick sort of way to think fondly of Copenhagen - at least Soren Jensen and Tim Vance were good value as far as talking into their hats, kissing men at the rail, etc was concerned. Purely in terms of entertainment, this is not the funnest I've seen. There aren't even any funny hats/hoodies left. :(

I'm going to post these two again, just to add some colour:

(http://blondepoker.com/gallery/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=15903&g2_serialNumber=1)

Denes Kalo raises pre to 190k... Big blind Isaac Baron calls.
Flop:  Ts 6s 8h  Double-check
Turn:  Td  Isaac bets out 235k, and is immediately called by Denes.
River:  2h  Back to double-check, and Denes shows doen the Ahrt 6d to take the pot.
___________________________________________

EPTlive describe this game as 'stalemate.'  Which would be a good analogy if this were a game which you could just make the same move eternally in attack/defense and keep it going infinitely.  But it's poker, and no one just wants to cycle the blinds round forever - they want to win the huge 1st prize and get the glory and the fireworks and the huge 1st prize and the magazine covers and the fame and the respect and the trophy and the huge 1st prize....

Going to post this pic anyway as it describes how we feel, at least...

(http://www.chessclub.com/resources/rules/images/Stalemate1.gif)

After such a lengthy spell without a showdown, I have to pinch myself to make sure that I'm not sleeping when Lee Jones announces a showdown. Like the rest of the pressroom, I suddenly jump into life and reach out for my notepad in preparation for the board. All-in with Qc Qh, it is Maxime who has his tournament life on the line, but he's in good shape against Isaac's 8h 8c and looking confident of a double through. With players remaining as stoic as ever, the dealer pops out a 3s 3h Ad 2s 6d onto the felt to give Maxime a huge 4 million pot. As a result, Isaac has now sunk down to 1.5 million.

Isaac Baron - 1,105,000
Denes Kalo - 2,20,000
Glen Chorny - 2,860,000
Maxime VIllemure - 3,930,000

Isaac, suddenly in trouble, has now got to deal with the different pressures than those of the chip leader.  But he has probably been in this situation many many times, and probably isn't going to be too despondent.

And he takes his shot!
He moves in.  Denes Kalo calls.

Isaac: Qs 3s
Denes: Ahrt Tc

FLop:  Js 2s 2h
Turn:  6d
River: Qd

There it is!  A foot back in the door and a playable stack once again.  He honestly didn't look bothered as the board came out - like he was waiting for a bus rather than waiting for a multi-hundred-thousand-euro card...

Glen Chorrny on the small blind calls Isaac Baron's preflop raise.
Flop: 6s 2c 7s  Glen bets out 335k... but Isaac slowly cuts his stacks of 25k in an "I'm not passing" kind of way.  Glen calls the clock. 
Isaac's response to this=  All In.
Glen's response to this= Instacall!

Isaac shows: Aspades Qh
Glen shows:  Ahrt Ad

Turn: 9s
River:  Kc

That makes Isaac Baron (the media room's pick to win, btw) our 4th place finisher, winning € 589,000

Chipcounts, trey-way:

Glen Chorny - 6,240,000
Maxime Villemure - 3,540,000
Denes Kalo - 2,845,000

Another very intriguing, but disappointingly not-resulting-in-us-being-any-closer-to-going-home, hand...

Maxime makes it 255k in position, and Denes calls.

Flop - 8h 7s 5s and they both check it.

Turn - 3h - Denes checks and Maxime bets around 300k - Denes calls.

River - a most interesting Qh - and now Denes bets out, a most interesting 200k or so into the 1.3 million pot. Maxime dwells, and then folds. Most interesting...

Kalo now on around 3 million.

Hmmm...

(http://www.fergaliciousfotos.com/Images/hmm_david.jpg)

Still three-way, sigh:

Glen Chorny - 7,145,000
Denes Kalo - 2,870,000
Maxime Villemure - 2,610,000

By the way the blinds are now 60k/120k/10k, but our clock doesn't have that level.

I was just having a cigarette in the ladies' when I heard an almighty uproar. Oh my God it's over! - think I. I leg it out of the toilets to discover that the commotion is coming from the bar, where a bunch of people are on the ground. A fight! - think I. But no - it turns out that it was a prop bet between Antonio Esfandiari and Sorel Mizzi - Sorel bet that Antonio couldn't get 10 people to lie on the ground, without telling them to lie down. It looked like 10 to me, but they're apparently arguing over a technicality atm. Bizarre! - think I.

I must confess that the live feed has lost the attention of the pressroom, most of the media more interested in the bet between Antonio and Sorel as to whether or not Sorel can get ten people to lie down on the floor without telling them to lie down. However, amid the jovial banter there was an all-in and a call on the big screen, Maxime in need of dodging a Jack in order to survive. All-in with Kd Qh on a Th Qh 3d, the Canadian was in tip top shape against the dominated Qs Jc of Denes Kalo, and even more so when the 6h arrived on the Turn. A Kh on the River and it was done and dusted; a double through for Maxime and play continues.

New, getting evener, chip counts:

Glen Chorny:  5,350,000
Maxime Villemure:  4,035,000
Denes Kalo:  3,240,000

Denes Kalo, having not been as noticeably active through much of the day as his online star tablemates, is nevertheless a real contender for the top spot.  He just called a very large river bluff by Maxime on a board of Td 6s Ac Kc 4c - he instantly mucked when Kalo's call came over the line, and the sole remaining European in the tournament moved into a comfy second place in chips having shown down the winning Kh 8d.

Blind on blind, Maxime and Glen see a 5s Ahrt Ts flop. Small blind Maxime bets out and takes it, just like that.

Glen Chorny - 8.42 million and it's all over!!!















No, I lied, these are the real chip counts -

Glen Chorny - 7,872,000
Maxime Villemure - 2,698,000
Denes Kalo - 2,055,000

DRAMA!!!

It was always going to take a supertricksy play/cold deck to get one of these guys out (or a bit of a brain freeze - it's been a long day) - and that's exactly what was delivered.  The inescapable river...

Maxime Villemure had bet the turn with the board reading Th Ad 4s Js... and hit what he thought, fairly reasonably, might be a perfect card - the 9d on the river against Glen Chorny.  But it couldn't have been worse - while Maxime held Q-8 for the second nut straight, Glen flipped the K-Q for the only hand to beat it..

Making Maxime Villemure our 3rd place finisher, winning € 715,000

Yay, heads up! And we have deep-fried stuff!

Glen Chorny - 11,360,000
Denes Kalo - 1,265,000

Denis Kalo is OUT and becomes the 2nd place finisher winning €1,179,000

GLEN CHORNY IS THE POKERSTARS.COM EPT GRAND FINAL CHAMPION WINNING €2,020,000

And just like that, it's all over. All-in on the very first hand of heads up...

Glen Chorny = Ahrt 5h

Denes Kalo = Kh Qd

Flop = Aspades Qs 6s

Turn = 6d

River = Td