EPT Grand Final - Monte Carlo: Day 1A - Interactive

[Djinn]

Chris Smith was wandering out of the tournament arena, but again, not in a bad way - he just doubled up in the closing levels with .  He flat called a raise preflop, and when the flop came T-8-4, bet out, prompting the fingers-crossed raise putting him all in from the guy with .  So now with 50k+ he's even happier than when I saw him in the last break, at which point, with 27,500, he was already looking forward to "bagging and tagging."

[Jasko]

Great work guys and gals! Any info on Jhonny Lodden? Count?

[snoopy1239]

The biggest pot of the day has just taken place, and it involved one of the UK's most popular players, Barney Boatman, who is understandably dejected after losing what was eventually a 100k pot against flying Finn, Jani Vilmunen.

When I joined the action, our plucky Barney was faced with a 22,450 all-in and a board of . Clearly serious about calling, Barney asked for confirmation of the count and rose abruptly from his seat. Leaning slightly over the table, he encountered a brief spell in the think tank before bravely and confidently reaching back for a stack of blues and plonking them in with authority.

And he had a right to be authoritative (and you could tell he was confident in his instincts) as Barney was indeed ahead with Sixes versus Jani's and had ultimately made an excellent call, albeit one that was nigh on impossible to avoid an exit hole flexing Turn and River.

But that relaxation would only last one card, as the turn brought an emphatic . But hold on, Barney noticed his potential redraw, and although he held his breath like a child waiting to open a Christmas present, the on the sorrowful River was a big disappointment and the 90 to 95k pot, and potentially the chip lead in Europe's biggest comp, went sailing over to the young Finnish player pictured below.

Barney couldn't resist a slight bang of the table, but his frustration was understandable and it was hard not to sympathise with him, a near coinflip leaving him with just 15k and virtually ruining his chances of taking this comp by storm, as I am sure he was more than capable of doing.

That is a truly excellent piece of writing young snoopy.

Top work.

Why thank you Mr Camel. I must also add that Barney has since bitten the dust - I don't think he'll sleep well tonight (well, unless he cleans out the mini-bar), messages of 'Why me?' and 'I was so close to the chip lead' inevitably flashing though his head.

[snoopy1239]

Thank you for the thank yous, folks. Meanwhile, it would appear as though the Italian Pirate has departed, taken out by young Aussie sensation Mark Vos, who I recall won a  bracelet last year. 1k, 5k, all-in call. Aces v Kings. That's all she wrote.

[snoopy1239]

Rob Hollink is no more, making a brave small blind re-raise with Deuces, but finding a resistant button calling with A-Q.

Looked good until the River, which brought a nasty Ace to eliminate the inaugural winner.

[snoopy1239]

Missing presumed lost:

Ashely Alterman

[snoopy1239]

Cusk Till Cawn's Kevin O'Donnell is OUT after running Jacks into Queens.

Meanwhile, former neighbour, Stu Fox, is onto the beers, the 4th bottle being glugged as we speak.

[Djinn]

This is Fabrice Soulier, short-stacked for what seems like weeks (he, incidentally, was kept in earlier by Nik's isolation raise with 7-7 when he was the short stack all-in with J-J).  Benjo says it's "true Thomas Fougeron style" but to cap it off he's going to have to make the final table from that 4k he had a minute ago.  I even got a story about the rarely spotted creature the Short Stack Bluff - Fabrice min-check raised the big blind (from the s.b) on the turn with Five high - 1k with 1k, and although there was 5k in the pot and he only had four behind, he got a pass from his neighbour...

[Djinn]

On the other side of the dealer from Fabrice is this guy (I don't know his name, or can't remember it currently) with a lady stuck to his head.  Aware that I was taking his picture because he looked a bit funny, he said, "That'll be all over the internet..."  "I can't help it, you look funny," I said, in a rare burst of honesty.

[snoopy1239]

Tony Cascarino, who I used to support from the Aston Villa stands as a wee nipper, enters into the exciting but sometimes dangerous circle of blind on blind action. With the big blind raising it up pre-flop, Tony calls from the small before checking blind the Flop. Mateyboy bets out 2.2k, which is subsequently raised to 5.6k by Tony. The aggressor calls and the two see a Jack of diamonds Turn, which provokes a 7k bet from Tony. Worryingly, his opponent calls leaving himself just the several k behind, and we enter a River. Tony takes a quick glance down at his opponent's stack, before making a deflated check and praying that his new enemy checks behind him. Unfortunately, his wishes aren't fulfilled and Tony is forced to make an embarrassed fold to the inevitable all-in, a muck which leaves him with just 11,600 in chips and a look that said, "Sigh, why did I just do that?"

[NoflopsHomer]

Chris Moneymaker trying to be sneaky, he flat-called a raise to 2.2k from a player with only about 4.5k back. He checked behind the raiser on the flop, both checked the turn and then Moneymaker made a 4k bet on the river and his opponent meekly folded. Moneymaker showed .

Moneymaker, "I gave you every chance to bet!"

Dave 'El Scoopie' Colclough has doubed up with Aces against K-6 on an K-x-x flop, no nasty surprises for the DTD player.

Flamboyant player, Humberto Brenes is OUT, no details there other than him walking away arms aloft in a theatrical way

20 minutes remain tonight...

[snoopy1239]

These are your current chip leaders, Josh Arieh not too far behind with 64,625.

(1) Steve Jelinek -- 107,100

[snoopy1239]

(2) Christopher Ulsrud -- 102,400

[snoopy1239]

(3) Thomas Wahlroos -- 91,500

[snoopy1239]

(4) Jani Vilmunen -- 81,675