Pokerstars.com EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final - Day 3 - At A Glance

[snoopy1239]

It's bedlam here, predominantly due to the lack of organisation on the bubble. As you are probably aware, all of the media were sentenced to the rail in order to let the television crew charge through like drunken rhinoceroses as we await that all-important bubble to burst. Unfortunately, the rail is a crowded place, and few, if any, are accommodating in allowing us to see the action. At one point, I decided to stand the other side of the rail and keep a low profile, and in doing so I was able to witness an all-in between Martin Rask and Torbjorn Jonson. As with all the all-ins at this point, the cameras have to remain poised until all hands on other tables are complete, but because players leap out their seats like epileptic salmons, it takes an age to finish them. On this particular hand, I think they may have been kept waiting five to ten minutes, and during that time I was able to learn that both players had Ace Jack, even though neither player had shown their hand yet. It was totally silly. Anyhow, when it was time for the showdown, there was a mixed ripple of sighs and laughter as the near inevitable split pot was revealed, and even more so when the Flop came down a rainbow. One player who was particularly disappointed was Brit William Martin. He's currently short-stacked with 21k, even after trebling up from 7k just moments ago.

[Djinn]

Still no progress on the bubble front - another two double ups.  One of the longest most intense ones of these we have yet to encounter.

Ran into George Danzer, railing Jan Heitmann (obv) and he said that he (Jan) nearly gave him (George) a heart attack during the late bubble period stages... apparently they'd talked about things, and discussed how players were continually re-raising the German player, and to pick times to just push in when faced with one of these re-raises.  He did it with , ran smack into .  the door card, and no looking back.

What a

[danafish]

Chip counts end of level 14, courtesy of awesome Pokerstars people. BEWARE! Mad Harper warns us that their card system is not infallible and there might be some teeny tiny mistakes here and there. Nevertheless:

ID    Player    PS Status    Country    T    S    end of L 14
207    Johnny Lodden    
   Norway    2    7    478,000
305    Peter Traply    Cash    Hungary    3    5    450,000
604    Oyvind Riisem    
   Norway    6    4    357,000
601    Ed de Haas    
   Holland    6    1    350,000
1601    Rami Boukai    Cash    USA    7    2    345,000
303    Robin Keston    
   UK    3    3    300,000
1401    Gordon Vayo    
   USA    7    8    292,000
804    Glen Chorny    Cash    Canada    8    4    290,600
1506    Stig Top Rasmussen    
   Denmark    4    1    283,900
906    Freddy Deeb    
   USA    9    6    277,000
1507    Thomas Boekhoff    
   Germany    9    2    272,000
203    Borge Dypvik    
   Norway    2    3    271,000
1004    Eric Liu    
   USA    10    4    260,000
103    Benjamin Sprengers    Cash    USA    1    3    251,000
406    Antonio Esfandiari    
   USA    4    6    250,000
503    David Shade Kruger    
   USA    5    3    250,000
204    Isaac Andrew Baron    
   USA    2    4    240,000
806    Henrik Gwinner    
   Denmark    8    6    225,000
1005    Csaba Toth    
   Hungary    10    5    225,000
1306    Michel Carvin    
   France    9    8    223,000
1205    Michael Martin    
   USA    8    1    220,000
1202    Luca Pagano    Team PokerStars Pro    Italy    8    2    219,000
901    Stephen Kjaerstad    
   Norway    9    1    219,000
107    Amit Makhija    Cash    USA    1    7    211,000
1402    Noah Siegel    
   USA    5    8    190,000
108    Maxime Villemure    
   Canada    1    8    185,000
1203    Gerasimos Deres    
   Sweden    2    6    180,000
1301    James Campbell    Cash (DS)    USA    3    2    180,000
602    Mostafa Belkhayate    
   Morocco    6    2    180,000
1303    Joe Hachem    Team PokerStars Pro    Australia    3    1    177,000
501    Nikolaus Panopoulus    
   Greece    5    1    177,000
1003    Beniamino Speroni    
   Italy    10    3    170,000
1604    Giovanni Bigoni    
   Italy    2    1    169,000
1107    Andreas Fluri    Cash    Switzerland    11    7    167,000
703    Tom Stig Ahlberg    
   Finland    7    3    160,000
402    Vincent Secher    Cash    France    4    2    158,000
808    Alexander Morozov    
   Russia    8    8    157,000
102    Jan Heitmann    Sponsored    Germany    1    2    153,000
1607    Eliahu Ilan Elezra    
   USA    9    7    152,000
505    Valeriy Ilikyan    
   Russia    5    5    150,000
807    Martin Rask    
   Denmark    8    7    147,000
1106    Claudio Pagano    
   Italy    11    6    146,000
1407    Mark Keightley    Cash (DS)    UK    6    3    145,000
106    Morten Lokken    
   Norway    1    6    140,000
1104    Ricardo Sousa    
   Portugal    11    4    140,000
905    Tommi Horkko    
   Finland    9    5    129,000
304    Woody Deck    
   Lithuania    3    4    125,000
903    Haward Speer    Cash    Germany    9    3    113,000
1102    Felipe Ramos    
   Brazil    11    2    110,300
1601    Rami Boukai    Cash    USA    3    8    105,000
805    Domenico Tinnirello    
   Italy    8    5    105,000
1302    Pierre Hall    Cash    Canada    10    7    93,000
706    Simon Faure    
   France    7    6    92,500
504    George Lind III    
   USA    5    4    90,000
?    ?    
   
   4    7    85,000
205    Walid Bou Habib    
   Lebanon    2    5    84,000
1504    Denes Kalo    
   Hungary    1    4    83,000
1001    Rahal Kalil    
   France    10    1    83,000
705    Kari Somer    Cash    Finland    7    5    78,500
904    Pablo Ubierna    
   Spain    9    4    78,000
1002    Brian Green    
   USA    10    2    77,000
?    ?    
   
   6    5    75,000
1103    Clayton Maguire    
   USA    11    3    73,400
1108    Mel Judah    
   UK    11    8    71,200
1006    Matthew Kurtz    Cash    USA    10    6    65,000
1502    Stefan Geim    
   Germany    5    7    60,000
1104    Ricardo Sousa    
   Portugal    11    5    46,000
101    Anthony Chatelain    
   Sweden    1    1    44,100
405    Trond Erik Eidsvig    
   Norway    4    5    41,000
707    Ian Prevost    
   USA    7    7    41,000
306    Sami Ovaskainen    
   Finland    3    6    40,000
404    Tomas Brolin    
   Sweden    4    4    40,000
608    Raymond Rahme    Team PokerStars Pro    South Africa    6    8    40,000
1304    Sean Bruder    Cash    Canada    4    3    38,000
701    Andreas Hagen    
   Norway    7    1    36,000
506    Anders Hoyer Berg    
   Norway    5    6    30,000
208    Benjamin Kang    Sponsored    Germany    2    8    29,000
202    Andrew Luetchford    Cash    UK    2    2    26,800
1501    Torbjorn Jonson    
   Sweden    8    3    26,800
607    Giovanni Nervo    
   Italy    6    7    17,000
408    William Martin    
   UK    4    8    9,000

Sorry about the weird formatting.

[danafish]

We're still bubbling here, I'm afraid. Until some incredible geek with super-googling powers and a lot of spare time tells me otherwise, I'm declaring this the Longest Ever EPT Bubble.

Press are still not allowed inside the rail, but I snuck in and got a few chip counts before they threw me out.

Michael Martin (Reader - ) - 270k and shaking his head gravely, I think to express dissatisfaction with how slowly everything is going rather than disappointment with his almost-twice-the-average stack
Luca Pagano - 270k
Sorel Mizzi - 230k
Trond Eidsvig - just 35k, eek! He's having a massage to soothe his troubled mind/shoulders. Don't know why he's paying Legendary Masseuse Suki to do it, I'd do it for free. 
Ed De Haas - at this point I got thrown out. Sorry.

[danafish]

An enormous crowd has formed - I run over and fight my way through to somewhere near the front of it. There is a board out, and I can see it! It is and Pagano Senior Claudio has bet 18k form the button. Felipe Taveres is deliberating. He stands up from his chair. He deliberates for some minutes. The crowd shuffles closer, holding its collective breath. Two of the other players at the tables are reading magazines. One is yawning. Felipe folds.

[snoopy1239]

Much to the disappointment of all who were watching, some even chanting for the outdraw, shortstacked Andreas Hagen has doubled through courtesy of  Gordon Vayo (pictured). All-in with A-J versus 4-2s, Andreas had to survive a 5-6-7, but successfully managed to do so as the Turn and River came a Queen and King respectively.

[Djinn]

Roughly 8mins a hand here.  Here's what happens after tables have finished promptly and one table has a confrontation/players thinking about confronting each other/players not realising it's their go:

1)  They wander around for a bit of a chat, a la Eric Liu and Clayton Maguire (I think).  You know.  Discussing approaches, stacks, life.



2)  Turning 90 degrees, I see that Claudio Pagano wandering a bit, in a different way, through the corridors of his mind, bored into arm-crossed introversion by this monstrous bubble...

[Djinn]

Surinder Sunar, with 35k on the big blind, shoving over the top of Ricardo Sousa with .  Sousa held .
Flop: 
Turn:
River:

And after nearly three and a half hours, Surinder takes the worst spot in the EPT Grand Final, and everyone else takes off 45mins for dinner.  Actually, he probably does that too.  It would be way too harsh to deny him access to the player buffet on top of everything.

Dana’s posting her pictures which should follow shortly.

[Djinn]

Maxime Villemure update please.. somewhere around 240k or so ??

I think you'll find him somewhere in this list...

305    Peter Traply    3    5    Hungary    Cash    590000
207    Johnny Lodden    2    7    Norway    530000
1601    Rami Boukai    7    2    USA    Cash    422000
604    Oyvind Riisem    6    4    Norway    350000
602    Mostafa Belkhayate    6    2    Morocco    320000
806    Henrik Gwinner    8    6    Denmark    274000
1402    Noah Siegel    5    8    USA    260000
804    Glen Chorny    8    4    Canada    Cash    257000
1507    Thomas Boekhoff    9    2    Germany    255000
1202    Luca Pagano    8    2    Italy    Team PokerStars Pro    250000
1504    Denes Kalo    1    4    Hungary    244000
303    Robin Keston    3    3    UK    244000
503    David Shade Kruger    5    3    USA    243000
1205    Michael Martin    8    1    USA    240000
108    Maxime Villemure    1    8    Canada    238000
1004    Eric Liu    10    4    USA    237000
1306    Michel Carvin    9    8    France    236000
1506    Stig Top Rasmussen    4    1    Denmark    235000
703    Tom Stig Ahlberg    7    3    Finland    235000
901    Stephen Kjaerstad    9    1    Norway    230000
204    Isaac Andrew Baron    2    4    USA    225000
1005    Csaba Toth    10    5    Hungary    222100
406    Antonio Esfandiari    4    6    USA    220000
906    Freddy Deeb    9    6    USA    219000
203    Borge Dypvik    2    3    Norway    210000
1104    Ricardo Sousa    11    4    Portugal    210000
808    Alexander Morozov    8    8    Russia    206900
505    Valeriy Ilikyan    5    5    Russia    200000
1401    Gordon Vayo    7    8    USA    200000
1203    Gerasimos Deres    2    6    Sweden    198000
1003    Beniamino Speroni    10    3    Italy    Cash    196500
1303    Joe Hachem    3    1    Australia    Team PokerStars Pro    195000
1106    Claudio Pagano    11    6    Italy    192000
1107    Andreas Fluri    11    7    Switzerland    192000
1301    James Campbell    3    2    USA    Cash (DS)    190000
1602    Sorel Mizzi    9    7    Canada    Cash    184000
402    Vincent Secher    4    2    France    Cash    180000
103    Benjamin Sprengers    1    3    USA    Cash    175000
1604    Giovanni Bigoni    2    1    Italy    156800
506    Anders Hoyer Berg    5    6    Norway    143000
102    Jan Heitmann    1    2    Germany    Sponsored    142000
1606    Jonathan Dwek    3    8    Canada    Cash    140000
608    Raymond Rahme    6    8    South Africa    Team PokerStars Pro    140000
903    Haward Speer    9    3    Germany    Cash    112000
106    Morten Lokken    1    6    Norway    108000
807    Martin Rask    8    7    Denmark    103000
202    Andrew Luetchford    2    2    UK    PS Status    100000
501    Nikolaus Panopoulus    5    1    Greece    100000
1302    Pierre Hall    10    7    Canada    Cash    98900
205    Walid Bou Habib    2    5    Lebanon    98000
304    Woody Deck    3    4    Lithuania    95000
805    Domenico Tinnirello    8    5    Italy    93700
905    Tommi Horkko    9    5    Finland    89000
601    Ed de Haas    6    1    Holland    80000
?    ?    6    6    #N/A    #N/A    80000
1103    Clayton Maguire    11    3    USA    79000
706    Simon Faure    7    6    France    76000
1002    Brian Green    10    2    USA    75300
504    George Lind III    5    4    USA    63200
701    Andreas Hagen    7    1    Norway    61500
1001    Rahal Kalil    10    1    France    57800
107    Amit Makhija    1    7    USA    Cash    55200
1407    Mark Keightley    6    3    UK    Cash    55000
904    Pablo Ubierna    9    4    Spain    55000
1006    Matthew Kurtz    10    6    USA    Cash    52700
705    Kari Somer    7    5    Finland    Cash    52000
1502    Stefan Geim    5    7    Germany    50000
1105    Massou Cohen    11    5    France    40000
206    Juris Bonders    3    6    Austria    39000
1501    Torbjorn Jonson    8    3    Sweden    34800
1102    Felipe Ramos    11    2    Brazil    27900
405    Trond Erik Eidsvig    4    5    Norway    27500
607    Giovanni Nervo    6    7    Italy    25000
101    Anthony Chatelain    1    1    Sweden    21600
404    Tomas Brolin    4    4    Sweden    18500
408    William Martin    4    8    UK    Sponsored    17400
707    Ian Prevost    7    7    15000
208    Benjamin Kang    2    8    ]14700
1304    Sean Bruder    4    3 #   11300

[danafish]

By the way, did I mention that Luca Pagano has just broken the record for most EPT cashes? Nine. Sorry Julian.

[Djinn]

Trond Eidsvig picked a spot to move in with .  It was a bad spot, because someone to his left looked down and found , taking the last remaining chips from the unusually-talkative Norwegian.

ALSO

Tommi Horkko, racing his all in pre against . 
Flop: 
Turn:  The no-hope-possible
River:  (just for completeness' sake)
_______________________________________

Dropped to a dangerous level and all in pre with - a slightly luckier pair of Sevens - was Torbjorn Jonson.  The Swede was called by Glen Chorny who promptly saw his Nines go down the tubes as Jonson spiked a Seven.  Still short though.

[snoopy1239]

When you're this deep in a tournament, few flops being seen and all and sundry at the table making aggressive moves, you just pray for those Aces to pop along, those little drops of American Airline sunshine that will double you up and make you a danger again. Or, as was the case with Ian Prevost, you can get them when a double through will still mean you're a shortie. Of course, the latter is still nice, and it proved to be the case as Ian was looked up by the A-To of Tom Stig Ahlberg (pictured below in Dame Edna Everage specs).

"You're behind," announced Ian revealing his nutsy hand, perhaps forgetting momentarily that Tom could have been dealt the other two Bullets. Although Tom paired up on the T-Q-5 Flop, it wasn't enough, two Sevens hitting the Turn and River to give Ian his double up. However, he's still short, and will be looking for further opportunities to push in the upcoming rounds.

----------

After a formidable run yesterday that led to him finishing the day as chip leader, you'd be forgiven for assuming that Oyvind Riisen had swalled a bag of Mario World invincibility stars, but today has been a slightly different story. Failing to improve on his stack, Oyvind has lost the chip lead to Johnny Lodden and Peter Traply and is gradually slipped down the ladder one by one. His latest sip of a rung was against Giovanni Nervo, the young Italian player finding himself all-in with Pocket Sevens against Oyvind's A-9. A 5-6-Q Flop was followed by a J Turn and T River, meaning Giovanni, much to his evident relief, receives a timely double up, whilst Oyvind takes another hit.

[Djinn]

You know how sometimes it's possible to tell just from the winner's hand and the loser's expression whether or not someone just got grotted?

Well I heard Eric Liu saying those immortal words of resignation, "That's poker.  That's what it is," and went to have a look at the table.  It turns out that he was talking to Brian Green, who'd just lost most of his stack doubling up neighbour and fellow shortstacker Rahal Kalil.  Kalil showed and the board was standing: so I am guessing that he'd been a little bit dominated until receiving that nice flop...

[danafish]

And shortstacked Torbjorn Jonson is indeed now thoroughly OUT. I believe there was a limp/small raise from Alexander Morozov on the cutoff, and Mr Jonson went over the top. Some dwellage, some call-age, some "wow"-age from others at the table when Morozov turned his cards over.

Torbjorn Jonson -
Alexander Morozov -

And what else could possibly happen here but the board came:

Click to see full-size image.

Mr Morozov looking like a man whose tablemates have just said "wow" when he called a guy all in massively behind and then sucked out:

[danafish]

Also OUT - Ian Prevost. Circumstances unknown.