Pokerstars.com Dublin EPT: Day 1A - Interactive

[snoopy1239]

It's immensely surreal over here. Heading out in the cardroom, you are greeted by a sea of tables in an open-plan room which I estimate could seat 600. However, on one small side of the room is a batch of tables holding this year's Dublin EPT - it's almost as if we're watching some minor charity event or something. Having said that, within those 9 or 10 tables are a host of poker giants, as Chili eluded to in the previous post, each one now being blessed with an increased stack of 15k in order to cater for the severe lack of numbers. Paul Gourlay is one man who is happy with this change: "I'm a tight player, so it'll let me see more flops and give me a bit more room to play". Truth is, if you get Aces v Kings, or a flush versus a nut flush, the chips tend to find there way in somehow, however many chips you have in front of you.

As I write, I believe I heard the Tournament Director threatening a start within the next few moments, so hopefully we should be up and running very shortly.

[action man]

I went for the obligatory wonder around pre match and the atmosphere is a little subdued I feel. Not sure if it is the numbers for today, with 80 players seeming to be the number branded about, or just the sheer size of the hall compared to the people in it!  There should be a lot more people deciding to play tomorrow though to shorten their trip here in Dublin.  I'm liking the hall itself, but then again I love rooms with high ceilings.  Please witness:

This point brings up the thread I started the other day about EPT numbers. Surely if they only get about 200 runners here for a venue that can clearly hold more, then the reason for upping the buy-in - to answer demand - surely doesn't make sense. I'm not criticising John Duthie and the EPT as they have worked miracles in making this Tour as successful as it is today, but I do feel a time might come when they will have to consider a drop in buy-in to encourage more players to partake in what is a cracking tournament. It would be a shame if the Tour became an elitist affair.

agreed snoops, or make some of the events cheaper than the others. Or maybe a Smaller EPT tour with 2k (e) buyins

[JaffaCake]

good luck maria....oh and u cheating beagle. you seem to have forgotten unriper only managed to find a place on the board if you sneaked in the former Brazil midfielder 'rai'.....at least when the mantis makes up words we were playing for bottles of champagne

[snoopy1239]

I went for the obligatory wonder around pre match and the atmosphere is a little subdued I feel. Not sure if it is the numbers for today, with 80 players seeming to be the number branded about, or just the sheer size of the hall compared to the people in it!  There should be a lot more people deciding to play tomorrow though to shorten their trip here in Dublin.  I'm liking the hall itself, but then again I love rooms with high ceilings.  Please witness:

This point brings up the thread I started the other day about EPT numbers. Surely if they only get about 200 runners here for a venue that can clearly hold more, then the reason for upping the buy-in - to answer demand - surely doesn't make sense. I'm not criticising John Duthie and the EPT as they have worked miracles in making this Tour as successful as it is today, but I do feel a time might come when they will have to consider a drop in buy-in to encourage more players to partake in what is a cracking tournament. It would be a shame if the Tour became an elitist affair.

agreed snoops, or make some of the events cheaper than the others. Or maybe a Smaller EPT tour with 2k (e) buyins

Some people are suggesting that the lack of televsision cameras for this event has affected numbers, but I'm unsure. The EPT in Warsaw wasn't televised, yet that event was packed to the rafters and had a great buzz about it.

[action man]

Could just be the effect of the shedule. So many big comps on fortnightly/weekly even, and we know the effect on the pockets of the bad players running bad.  Its hard for non sponsored players who do not play $10/20 + nl to keep stumping up for these events.

[NoflopsHomer]

€8k, £5k or $10k. It's too much. Even if you're a good Scandie player going into Barcelona full of hope like so many others and fail to cash in any of the first three EPT's, you're suddenly down €30k just from buy-ins and expenses. It's just too much. In a quest to provide bigher prize money and attract more players from the States, the increased buy-in is actually killing the tour. Obviously it wasn't noticeable at the first couple of events whilst everyone still had money, but without a cash or two people begin to feel the pinch and I really worry for the events in Prague, Dortmund and Warsaw. Also, many people are probably thinking why go to Dublin this week when the Masters Classic is on next week for €3k less?

[Chili]

This is how Ian Woodley prepares for a major EPT, collecting his thoughts, soberly wondering if this one will be his:

[snoopy1239]

Not too much action of note thus far, but we can confirm that cards are in the air and hands are riffling through chips. One player who has been more than just riffling is Hendonmobber Barny Boatman. Re-raised from about 200 to 650 on a Flop, our Barny twitched in his seat momentarily before making it 1,650, a bet which resulted in a quizzical look, followed by a hesitant call from his young Scandinavian opponent.

The Turn came , and without pause, Barny tapped the table with a slight air of "Oh, I don't like that card, I'll check and hope you check behind me" (although I think he was trying to act weak). However, after resting his chin on his hands for a few seconds, Mateyboy confidently shoved out 3,350. Shuffling in his seat and glancing back at the board, Barny again called, by which time I think we knew that he at least had the Eight.

Come the River, Barny again checked in a similar manner, at which point Mateyboy bet out 6,075, a predominant chunk of his stack that left just a few bits of shrapnel behind. Knowing that he couldn't really fear a Q-8 at this stage, Barny called with and was both relieved and frustrated to be met by a that was in deep deep trouble until that action crushing Turn arrived.

"Bet you didn't like that Jack," observed a shrewd table companion.

[Chili]

Seen sat in their seats are:

Dario Minieri (can just see over the table, they are rather tall)
Henning Granstad
Johnny Lodden
Brandon Schaefer
Martin Wendt
Elky

There is a full player list on its way through cyber space as i type, I cant remember if I mentioned it but I had confirmation from John Duthie that there will be no camera's here at all, no feature tables and no filmed final table either.  This will also be the case in Prague & Warsaw.  Not sure of the exact reason but possibly just the shear amount of EPT's at this moment in time.

[Chili]

Here are some snaps just before kick off:

Pascal Perrault



This guy is none other than blondes George2loose or Rupinder Bedi, who qualified throught Pokerstars only a few days ago

[snoopy1239]

This is Len 'Fatboydim' Collin, fully zoned in on the game and the task at hand with his fancy shades. I have no idea if he's communicating with an outer source, perhaps one of the bloggers (hey, I could make a packet cheating that way), but either way, he seems intent on cashing this week with his Terminatoresque specs.

[Chili]

Some Irish talent having a natter, maybe discussing the price of fish:

Joe Rafferty, Michael Muldoon & Andy Black

[snoopy1239]

I don't need to introduce this chap, but it is worth noting that he is wearing the dusk till dawn gear for the very last time. At the risk of sounding like a poker pimp, come and get him, folks! He does have those seductive 'I'm available' eyes.

[snoopy1239]

One witness to the previously mentioned Barny Boatman hand was Jon Huckle, seemingly sponsorless today but once a part of the Bad Beat clan I believe. Anyhow, he should be in with a shout, his online reputation as Hamsterboy garnering him much praise, not to mention some good performances on the live circuit with final table appearances in Bolton and Walsall.

Meanwhile, the press room is becoming a vacuum of irritating noises as two bloggers have their laptop volume maxxed up and that annoying MSN bleep constantly badgering away. GRR! Does anyone know the etiquette for such a situation, can I tell them to turn the sound off?

[snoopy1239]

Oh joy, look what I received in my inbox - the good people of Pokerstars, Mad Harper in particular, being kind enough to send us a full player list.

Steindl    Johannes   Austria
Dodet    Daniel   Belgium
Lococo    Daniel   Canada
Mcdonald    Mike   Canada
Georgiou    Phidias   Cyprus
Hansen    Casper   Denmark
Hansen    Christoffer Egemo   Denmark
Hostrup    Carl   Denmark
Musa    Zlatan   Denmark
Rask    Martin   Denmark
Top-Rasmussen    Stig   Denmark
Jackson-Palin    Alexandra   England
Arutjonov    Aleksandr   Estonia
Manninen    Reijo   Finland
Mattila    Ville   Finland
Christophe    Benzimra   France
Gallienne    Mathieu   France
Grospellier    Bertrand "ElkY"   France
Perrault    Pascal   France
Testud    Paul   France
Zaicik    Jacques   France
Baran    Marcel   Germany
Koy    Adrian   Germany
Ruthenberg    Sebastian   Germany
Malnai    Csaba   Hungary
Black    Andrew   Ireland
Cahill    Edward   Ireland
Collin    Len   Ireland
Conroy    John   Ireland
Doyle    Conor   Ireland
Grimason    Andrew   Ireland
Mckeever    Fergal   Ireland
Muldoon    Michael   Ireland
O'Toole    Jay   Ireland
Rafferty    Joe   Ireland
Singh    Chris   Ireland
Alacqua    Gino   Italy
Blanco    Cristiano   Italy
Calabro    Davide   Italy
Manganelli    Manganelli   Italy
Minieri    Dario   Italy
Ruscalla    Pier Paolo   Italy
Boeken    Noah   Netherlands
Hollink    Rob   Netherlands
Ruiter    Daan   Netherlands
Smidt    Daniel   Netherlands
Van den Berg    Thierry   Netherlands
Veldhuis    Lex   Netherlands
Augdal    Terje   Norway
Fjellheim    Thomas   Norway
Granstad    Henning   Norway
Holt    Oran   Norway
Kjøndal    Kristian   Norway
Lodden    Johnny   Norway
Sjavik    Jan   Norway
Vreeswijk    Kevin   Norway
Nagy    Jonathan   Spain
Christensson    Simon   Sweden
Eskilsson    Hans   Sweden
Fredriksson    Patric   Sweden
Hellberg    Anders   Sweden
Hogbom    Michael   Sweden
Johansson    Mikael   Sweden
Jonasson    Gustaf    Sweden
Löfgren    Fredrik   Sweden
Skuja    Sebastian   Sweden
Storakers    Johan   Sweden
Stråth    Henric   Sweden
Wendt    Martin   Sweden
Asgcal    Mark   UK
Bedi    Rupinder   UK
Boatman    Barny    UK
Colclough    Dave   UK
De Wolfe    Roland   UK
Huckle    Jonathan   UK
Roberton    Jason   UK
Woodley    Ian   UK
Aronov    Oleksander   Ukraine
Hicks Jr.    Kenneth   US
Kamberis    Alex   US
Peters    Reuben   US
Billirakis    Steve   USA
Blackman    Seth   USA
Hamman    Christopher   USA
Ryan    Daniel   USA
Schaefer    Brandon   USA
Seidel    Erik   USA
Smith    Dan   USA
Smith    John   USA
Diaz    Franklin   Venezuela
Teran    Oscar   Venezuela