Live updates from day one, level six of the EPT London High Roller event brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Howard Swains and Simon Young.
Click refresh to see the latest updates below. The up-to-date selected chip counts are on the chip count page.
Blinds: 300-600 (75 ante)
6.55pm: The dinner break
Play has stopped for the 90 minute dinner break. By our reckoning play will resume at 8.30pm local time. Tom Dwan is the late elimination before the break.
6.50pm: Raising hell
Luke Schwartz and a bet of 1,600 from middle position. There’s your opening line now fill in the rest. Masaaki Kagawa called in the cut off, Joe Hachem from the button. Then the small blind, Henri Kettunen, moved all-in. That made it 13,600 to Schwartz to call, which he did before both Kagawa and Hachem passed. Aces for Schwartz, K♣ Q♦ for Kettunen. He was behind but not forgotten: Q♣ 4♣ 8â™ . When the turn came J♣ Schwartz said “Oh god kill me.” When the Kâ™ hit the river he added another “Kill me.”
Schwartz lost more on the next hand, re-raising pre-flop to 10,000 only to be re-re-raised by Sahamies who made it 25,000. Sahamies whistled while Schwartz made his decision – the prudent one, to fold.
6.40pm: busto_soon busted now
Johannes van Til, better known as “busto_soon”, has departed. He was sitting to the left of Vadim Trincher, who has amassed a stack of about 180,000 now, and is opening pretty much every pot. On one such occasion, Van Til shoved for his last 12,000 or so, and Stephen O’Dwyer, further round the table, under-called all in. Trincher folded and it was a race between the two short-stacks: O’Dwyer’s A-K versus Van Til’s red pocket sevens. A king flopped and O’Dwyer doubled to something like 20,000, leaving Van Til very short.
He got his final 2,500 in soon after with Aâ™ 3♦ , but Trincher’s 4â™ 6♥ hit a six on the river to end busto_soon’s participation. No doubt he’ll be back to the sit n go tables, where he’ll have a rare chance to play in a game that doesn’t also feature Stephen “stevie444” Chidwick. The British sit n go specialist is still in the £1,000 six-max side event in the same room.
6.35pm: Hachem unhappy
Joe Hachem, normally a happy chap, currently has a face that resembles a bulldog chewing a wasp. He’s not struggling in chips, but his stack of around 48,000 tells a tale of someone who just can’t seem to get going.
This latest hand typifies his day so far. On a board showing 7â™ 9♣ A♦ 5â™ Hachem bet but Ilari “Ziigmund” Sahamies re-popped to 12,400. Call. The river came 3♣ and both checked.
Sahamies showed 9♦ 10♦ – Hachem showed 9-6 and threw his hand into the muck in disgust. Sahamies up to approaching 90,000.
6.30pm: Synchronised Swedes
The Swedish tyros Per Ummer and William “William” Thorson are now on the same table, which is not good news for James Obst. First Thorson took a chunk, betting 4,550 on the turn, with the board showing 10♥ J♦ 9â™ 3♦ , which Obst called, and then 16,000 on the river of 9♥ , which Obst refused to match. Similarly, Obst folded when Ummer bet 4,500 on the turn on the next hand, looking at A♦ K♦ 5♣ 9â™ . We never saw what any of them had.
6.20pm: Prizes
It’s not just fun. They’re also playing for the following prizes, just announced by the tournament organisers.
1 – £542,000
2 – £326,000
3 – £193,000
4 – £141,000
5 – £104,000
6 – £74,000
7 – £60,000
8 – £45,000
A permanent record of that will be on the prizes page. And keep abreast of who’s still in with a chance of winning them on the chip-counts page.
6.12pm: Juanda cracked
On a flop of 7â™ 2♦ 4♣ John Juanda made it 5,400. Vadim Trincher on the button, a big guy getting a massage, calls for a 10♦ turn card. Now Trincher made it 11,000. Juanda thought for a while before matching that and adding a further 20,000 to thing. Trincher moved all in and Juanda called. Aces for Juanda but they’re beaten by Trincher’s 7♥ 2♥ . Juanda out.
6.10pm: One two three for Illari
Illari Sahamies is quickly making up for lost time. On a flop of 5♦ Q♣ 4♣ he turns his chair around to get a massage as everyone checks a six-way pot. On the 3♥ turn he made it 7,200 which the five other players pass to. It’s a similar story on the next hand, an under-the-gun raise of 1,000 that got no action. Sahamies expression doesn’t change in the slightest, although it’s possible it can’t – the massage therapist is pulling back on his forehead and digging her fingers into his neck at the same time.
Next hand, 5♦ 2♥ 5♥ on the flop. Sahamies checked in the big blind before Vicky Coren made it 600. Sahamies called, tossing in a yellow chip, then a red for a 6♦ on the turn. Now it’s 4,400 from Sahamies, enough to make Coren fold.
6pm: An hour until dinner
This is the last level before we break for a 90-minute dinner break. I will be eating duck.
