Friday, 29th March 2024 07:45
Home / Uncategorized / EPT London: Final Table

12:44pm–Well, I am a damned idiot. It’s over. Mark turned a set of jacks and moved his chips into the middle. Jonas called all-in on king-high diamond flush draw. He missed. Mark won it all. More later.

12:24am–I might have failed to mention. We took a ten-minute break. We’re about to head into heads up play between Jonas and Mark. For all intents and purposes, the players are even in chips. As I’ve said in the past, I’ve been known to be wrong before, but I suspect we could be here for a while. How about this? I’ll put the over/under on the finish time at 2:12am.

12:08amNoah Jefferson has been eliminated in third place. He got his chips in with AQ after missing a flop. He had to hope Jonas had less of the flop. In fact, Jonas has a pair of sixes. Noah couldn’t hit his draw and he is out in third place, earning a very respectable 72,870 pounds.

11:46amPaul King has been eliminated in fourth place. He put K3 vs Ax and didn’t improve. King wins 41,640 for his efforts.

11:46am–Paul King doubled up off Mark.

11:36pm–We have just seen the biggest hand of the event so far. Noah and Mark, the two of the biggest stacks at the table, got all-in…aces versus kings. Mark’s aces held up. The pot…a monster 1.3 million. Noah looks like somebody just hit him in the face with a washboard.

Chip Count:

Noah–262K
Jonas–725K
Paul–52K
Mark–1.3 million

11:25pm–In the most dramatic hand of the evening, Noah came in for a raise, Jonas re-raised, and Noah pushed. After thinking for nearly five minutes, Jonas called. The players both showed…

A pair of jacks.

Behind me, an off-duty dealer said, “Here comes the flush.” Surely, not. Then the flop: three hearts. Noah put his hands to his head. When everybody is all in, the cards get moved to the center of the table. Noah didn’t seem to remember if he had the heart. Then he recalled. “I have the heart, right?”

Then turn and river proved ot be less dramatic. No heart. Split pot. And two sighs of relief.

In other news, somebody playing a table game just hit what seemed to be a very profitable win. The noise there eclipsed the noise from the final table.

11:06pm–A wild hand finally devloped. On a flop of 782 Jonas bet out 60K and Noah calls. A jack came on the turn. Jonas bet out, Noah moved all in and Jonas called. Jonas showed two pair to Noah’s top pair. Noah was behind until the river. He spiked a card to pair his second card for a bigger two pair. A quick look at the chips makes me think Noah has now moved into the chip-lead.

10:52pm–…and we’re back. Blinds are now 6000/12000.

10:29pm–This level is over and we’re on a ten minute break. Blinds are on the way up. Exactly where they’re going, I dunno. It’s not for a lack of asking. It just seems no one knows for sure. Odd, that. I suppose they’ll figure it out by the end of the break.

10:12pm–Just as I was about to type a long note about the need to watch Kirill, he suffered a rough beat to Jonas. Kirill came in for a raise, Jonas called. The flop came down 789. They got all in. Kirill had pocket aces. Jonas showed 56o for the flopped straight. Kirill departed in fifth place for 24,290 pounds.

10:02pm–Kirill just doubled up at Paul King’s expense. If my eyes didn’t deceive me, I believe it was AT vs TT and Kirill flopped an ace.

9:54pm–After three-straight all-ins, play has slowed down a little bit. That’s what happens when the stack sizes even out a little bit. The short-stack story of the night so far is Kirill Gerasimov who came into this table with the shortest stack is playing conservatively enough to stay alive this far.

9:42–Dale Greenleaf is out. After flopping top-pair he got in a betting battle with Noah, who, in his own words, “got myself in a predicament.” As it turns out, they got all-in post-flop. Dale had a nine-high club flush draw. Dale had the re-draw for the queen-high flush but couldn’t get there. He’s out in sixth place for 20,820. Thanks to Greg Raymer for helping me out with that one. Calling the action here is like watching a movie through a wet paper towel.

9:35pm– Istvan Novak eliminated in seventh place for 17,350 pounds. Looks like he had KT vs Paul King’s A2. Crowd noise is overwhelming the voice of Isabelle who is calling the final table this level (and is feeling a bit sick tonight). Nonetheless, we’re down to six players.

9:32pm–Graham gets all in with QQ versus Noah’s AK. Noah flopped his king. Graham eliminated in eighth place for 13,889 pounds (that’s about $27,000).

9:29pm–Graham calls all in rom the big blind with 69s vs QJ. Board gives him trip nines for the double up.

9:16pm–Blinds are going up to 5000/10000 (incidentally, where they were before we started the final table).

9:11pm–Graham called all-in for the few chips he had left. The pot was 28K. Graham had 7d4d, Jonas had a pair of fours. Graham flopped open ended and hit the straight on the turn. He still needs some help.

9:04pm–Graham raised pre-flop, Kirill moved all in, Graham had to call 30,000 more, and he did. Kirill had AsKd, Graham has A6. Kirill caught his king on the turn (not that he really needed it) and doubled up to more than 100,000. Graham is not in good shape at all.

8:54pm–The chip leaders are tangling. On a flop of 49Q, I believe Mark checked from the small blind, Jonas bet out, then Mark raised to 140 and Jonas called. The turn was the four of clubs, putting a club flush on board. Mark bet out 150,000. After a bit of thought, Jonas laid down his hand. That’s one where I’d like to see the hole cards. That win gives Mark the sole chip lead.

8:53pm–Pardon the delay. You haven’t missed much other than a broken bar glass, a broken internet connection, and a few chips getting passed around. No big woop.

8:40pm–Noah raised, Jonas re-raised and made it 72K to go. Noah gave up his hand, apparently not quite prepared to tangle so much with the big stack. However, don’t shortchange this guy. He knows what he’s doing. A regular at the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles. LaFayette California, Noah decided to play in London because it happily coincided with a friend’s wedding in Ireland. He recently cashed in the WPT Bay101. His biggest tournament win to date is $40,000. Noah is familiar with the Victoria Casino, which he used to visit while at Law School in London.

8:29pm– Graham min-raised, Noah called from the big blind. Flop: 6c9s9c. Checked twice. Eight of spades on the turn. Noah bet 25K. Graham called. River came as the ace of hearts. Noah checked, Graham bet 30K. Noah called and showed AQ for the win.

8:23pm–In a skirmish for the blinds, Graham and Kirill checked down a board of Ad2c9s/As/9c until the river. Graham stabbed at it, Kirill called with king-high and won.

8:21pm–The first several hands have been no more than a practice in blind-stealing. Perhaps it will loosen up a bit after one orbit.

8:15pm–Play is now beginning. Blinds have been reduced to 4000/8000.

8:05pm–Play is about to begin. The players are seated as follows:

1. Noah Jefferson (USA) 350K
2. Jonas Helness (Norway) 700K
3. Paul King (England) 160K
4. Mark Teltsher (England)700K
5. Graham Clarkson (Scotland)175K — PokerStars qualifier
6. Kirill Gerasimov (Russia) 58K
7. Istvan Novak (Hungary) 100K — PokerStars qualifier
8. Dale Greenleaf (England) 160K

The big developments at the final table will be recorded here. I’ll timestamp each development as it happens. The latest developments will be at the top of the page. The final eight players are fighting for the following prize money.

1. 280,000 pounds + seat to Monte Carlo Grand Final
2. 145,740
3. 72,870
4. 41,640
5. 24,290
6. 20820
7. 17,350
8. 13,889

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