Pokerstars.com EPT London: Final Table

[NoflopsHomer]

So welcome to our last EPT final table for this year.

Seat 1: Eric Liu -- 1,308,000
Seat 2: Johannes Strassmann -- 434,000
Seat 3: Phillipe Dauteuil -- 478,000
Seat 4: Antony Lellouche -- 1,021,0000
Seat 5: Michael Tuerniec -- 1,333,000
Seat 6: Alan Smurfit -- 396,000
Seat 7: Marcin Horecki -- 309,000
Seat 8: Michael Martin -- 728,000

Blinds finished last night at 15k/30k/3k but I reckon they'll roll them back to 10k/20k/2k otherwise half the table is basically forced to just push preflop.

[JungleCat03]

So welcome to our last EPT final table for this year.

Seat 1: Eric Liu -- 1,308,000
Seat 2: Johannes Strassmann -- 434,000
Seat 3: Phillipe Dauteuil -- 478,000
Seat 4: Antony Lellouche -- 1,021,0000
Seat 5: Michael Tuerniec -- 1,333,000
Seat 6: Alan Smurfit -- 396,000
Seat 7: Marcin Horecki -- 309,000
Seat 8: Michael Martin -- 728,000

Blinds finished last night at 15k/30k/3k but I reckon they'll roll them back to 10k/20k/2k otherwise half the table is basically forced to just push preflop.

Sometimes they roll back the blinds to increase the amount of play but today they haven't!

With many people in short stack 10BB territory this will encourage a fast final so we expect carnage today.

[JungleCat03]

And carnage is what we get!

From the very start, a big pot is played out immediately, Anthony Lellouche and Phillipe D'Auteuil going to war preflop....

with all of Phillippe's stack in the middle...and half of Lellouche's a 900k+ pot was in the offing and here were the cards.

for Phillipe, for Anthony and as Benjo, the world renowned NLHE poker analyst would observe so astutely, "It's a race!"

Click to see full-size image.

The flop fell ...a good flop for Lellouche's pocket fours...would we see an insta elimination?

TURN: ...this card was met with ooohs by the audience, the Canadian D'Auteuil picking up a flush draw to go with his overcards.

RIVER: ! D'Auteuil  punches the air as he wins this critical race, making a king high flush on the river.



Lellouche looked a tad deflated but still has enough of a stack to challenge...

We expected early carnage and we are getting it!

[NoflopsHomer]

Bios from Pokerstars.

Seat 1: Eric Liu -- 1,308,000



Eric Liu cashed at the PCA in January in his first live tournament, then followed up with 17th at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. But he still wasn't happy with his game so went to Vegas in the summer to play a lot of the smaller buy-in tournaments and the main event, hoping to bring his live game up to the standards he reaches online, where he plays high-stakes cash. "Players like Daniel Negreanu can read a lot off me, so I'm trying to get some more experience playing live," he said. He picked up a couple of cashes in Vegas and is thinking of moving there soon, from his most recent base in San Francisco. Eric took up poker after watching a televised poker tournament and, after just a few months, turned a $200 deposit into $34,000. A former Starcraft and Counterstrike player, Eric is also an instructor at CardRunners.com.

Seat 2: Johannes Strassmann -- 434,000



Johannes, one of the PokerStars.de ShootingStars team of sponsored players, had an extremely precarious Day 3 – he was close to busting several times and very nearly bubbled the final table – which would have been the third time he had gone out of an EPT in 9th place. He has had four EPT cashes so far – his biggest win being €152,000 for 6th place at EPT4 Dortmund. Now living in Berlin, Johannes mainly plays heads-up cash games but also plays Fixed Limit and NL Hold´em or PLO. As well as poker, he also enjoys basketball, running and strength training (gym). He has been playing poker since 2006.

[NoflopsHomer]

Seat 3: Phillipe Dauteuil -- 478,000



Philippe is playing in only his second live event but is an experienced online player who specialises in high stakes cash games. His other live event was EPT Barcelona in Season 4 but he busted on Day 1. He took up poker four years ago after watching the game on TV. He studied statistics at college but dropped out after two years to devote himself to poker. Asked who he thinks the best players at the final table are, he replied: “Eric Liu – and me.” If he wins, he plans to use some of the money to bail out a friend who is in prison in Canada.

Seat 4: Antony Lellouche -- 1,021,0000



This is professional French player Antony Lellouche’s third EPT final table in a year. At EPT London last year he came 6th for €140,081 and was runner-up at EPT4 San Remo for €505,000. Based in Paris, Antony mainly plays live poker in high stakes cash games around the world. He is both well-liked by his peers and mentors, including the "godfathers" of French poker Claude Cohen and Jan Boubli. Antony turned pro nine years ago, honing his skills at the smallest limit games at the Aviation Club. Fearless and intuitive, Antony has also made two WSOP final tables and gone deep in two EPT Grand Finals - 12th in 2005 and 21st in 2007.

[NoflopsHomer]

Seat 5: Michael Tuerniec -- 1,333,000



Michael has played four EPTs so far but busted early in all of them before EPT London. Aside from military service, Michael has only had one job in his life – working as a supermarket cashier – a job he abandoned to become a professional poker player some four years ago. His best live results to date have been 400th in the WSOP main event in 2007, 2nd in a £500 NLHE side event in London last year and 3rd in the SKr 5,000 No Limit Hold'em in 2008 Nordic Masters of Poker in March. He won his seat to EPT London in the $800 Last Chance qualifier on PokerStars - only three days before the tournament started.

Seat 6: Alan Smurfit -- 396,000



A regular on the EPT circuit, Alan has cashed twice including 16th at EPT4 London for $32,641 but this is his first EPT final table. Smurfit retired from work five years ago after selling the family business, the Smurfit Group - which at the time was the second biggest packaging company in the world. Originally from Dublin, Ireland, Alan has been based in the States for some 20 years and is now about to move to Las Vegas. He says he plays poker for a hobby but has had a string of great results in recent years including winning the World Series PLO Rebuy event for over $450,000 in 2007. His all-time poker earnings amount to $ 1,088,219 and he is ranked sixth on the all time money list from Ireland.

[NoflopsHomer]

Seat 7: Marcin Horecki -- 309,000



Born in Poland, Marcin Horecki is a former member of the national alpine skiing team but was forced to quit the sport because of injury. Marcin studied for BA and MA degrees and then worked in corporate finance. In 2006, he came close to making the final table of the €1,000 NLHE event at the Barcelona Open and this gave him the confidence he needed to turn pro. In January 2007, he cashed at EPT3 Copenhagen and three months later, he final tabled at the Asian Poker Classic in Goa for $29,000 and later in the year took down the €500 NLHE Rebuy event for $28,637 in the Austrian Masters in Vienna. Already one of the highest earning Polish poker players of all time, Marcin joined Team PokerStars Pro during the WSOP in July.

Seat 8: Michael Martin -- 728,000



Michael has been playing poker for five years and turned pro in January 2007 after graduating in English from Penn State. Originally an athlete – he played college hockey for two years – he took up poker at the end of a hockey season and never looked back. Between November 2007 and April 2008 he won over $1,000,000 – after coming 2nd at the Master Classics of Poker in Amsterdam in November 2007 and then making 5th place at the EPT4 Grand Final in Monte Carlo. Michael’s mother has flown over specially to rail her son at today’s final table and has always supported his decision to become a poker pro. Michael said: “When I started, my dad wasn’t keen at all but my Mum was an enabler. She lent me my first $100 to play online with and when I made my first $1,000, I asked her if i should cash out and she said no!” Michael’s girlfriend Jen is also flying in to London to give her support.

[JungleCat03]

Lellouche is refusing to give up after that early setback though, popping it up to 86k.

All fold to Michael Martin and we expect him to give up too, but NO, he calls!

The flop comes .

Check from Michael, checked behind from Anthony...

TURN:

Again it went check check.

RIVER:

Martin resignedly checks and Lellouche counts out a bet, shuffles the chips, but then just checks behind also.

Both players show Ace high, but Lellouch's A-K high is good for the pot!

Nice comeback from the Frenchman there...


And immediately Lellouoche is back in action!

With Johannes  Strassmann raising it up, Lellouche moves over the top all-in!

Everyone else passes, but Strassmann...CALLS!

Another 900K+ pot in the offing!

Lellouche shows , trying to put pressure on the German with his preflop re-raise, but his timing proves horrible as Johannes flips Aces!

A board of briefly threatens an outdraw, Lellouche's eyes lighting up at picking up a gutshot on the turn, but the river blanks in the form of the , and Strassmann doubles to over 900k whilst Lellouche is in a lot of danger now!

[JungleCat03]

The superfast structure is encouraging aggressive play from the players.

It seems unlikely that today will last long, and there is a pervading feeling amongst the press that we are on the cusp of an elimination anytime now...the excitement is palpable!

Horecki proves how much of the post flop play has been removed from the game by the state of the blind to stack ratios and Marcin Horecki proves this by shoving preflop.

All fold and the follically challenged Pole flashes the ...

[NoflopsHomer]

So without the benefits of going back to 10k/20k half the table are just playing push/fold poker, bad news for the players. Great for the press who wouldn't mind this finishing early. Eric Liu, the chip leader only has 20 rounds, which puts it all in perspective.

[NoflopsHomer]

Glittering Cash Prizes:

1st - £1,000,000
2nd - £525,314
3rd - £303,439
4th - £234,920
5th - £195,766
6th - £153,351
7th - £120,723
8th - £81,569

[JungleCat03]

Lellouche came into the final well placed in 3rd with over a million chips, but he has had a torrid time so far.

Again though, the Frenchman goes for it, moving over the top of a Strassmann raise to 80k, shoving for 180k...

Strassmann is forced to call and does so, showing up with .

Lellouche has a marginal lead with ! Can he win this crucial race with his tournament life on the line.

FLOP: ! Horrible flop for Antony. Strassmann hits top pair and is in the driving seat.

The turn is the ...Lellouche picks up a gutshot again on the turn, but this time he is up against Strassmann's flush draw as well now. His outs getting crushed, he watches the river blank in the form of a and that is it for Lellouche!

How quickly his fortunes turned round. From 3rd spot in the rankings to our first elimination in the space of less than 30 minutes, Anthony Lellouche is OUT, eliminated in 8th place, winning £81,569.


What a start...so exciting!

[JungleCat03]

Michael Turniec scythed through the field yesterday from shortstack to chip leader, and he was just involved in another big pot!

A hand can't go by at the moment without an allin...

The latest saw Turniec pop it up on the button, only for Alan Smurfit to sigh, saying "I guess this is it..." before moving ALLIN!

With 412k in the pot and 209k to call, the chipped up Turniec can't really fold, getting 2-1 with and after some thought he does call!

Smurfit shows and the Swede grimaces as he realises he's dominated.

His grimace melts into a cheeky grin though as the flop comes to give him extra outs in the form of an open ended straight draw...

The turn is the ...Smurfit's Ace high still good...and the river is the !

No outdraw, Alan Smurfit gets it all-in ahead and it holds, propelling the Irishman to 620k. WP sir...

[NoflopsHomer]

Strassmann raises to 80,000. Horecki reraises all-in for 315,000. Strassmann has to call 235,000 to win 461,000 then says, "Ok, I might give you a bad beat."

Horecki:

Strassmann:



"Four five or diamonds" says the German



Suddenly Strassmann is drawing very live as even an Ace is a chop now.



No dice, Horecki doubles up and Strassmann is back down.

[JungleCat03]

There's not loads of room for manouevre but there is a little, as was shown just a moment ago when Michael Martin raised it up to 75,000, only to see Strassmann repop him to 220k...

Martin folded and the aggressive German steals the pot.