Friday, 29th March 2024 04:44
Home / Uncategorized / EPT Monte Carlo: Level 1 recap

From time to time here at the PokerStars Blog, we are graced with the talents of a roving reporter we know as Ed. Ed spends his time picking out the best hands from across the floor. This week, we are favored with his look at the floor. He’s aided by fellow roving reporter, Steve, in providing this version of the…

Level 1 Ed Report

  • Ram Vaswani has taken an early hit. Whilst accustoming ourselves to the seating assignments, I noticed he was getting involved fairly heavily in a hand. He called an early position raise of 150 from the button. On a flop of 9h-5d-Kc, he called a bet of 350. Ah on the turn and the original raiser checked to Ram. He fired out 600, which was called. The river was 8d and Ram called a 1500 chip bet only to be shown the rockets. Ram mucked and is down to 12K. This is likely to be an interesting with Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Juha Helppi sitting just before him.

  • The Takeover seems to be getting involved in some early action. He has a stack of green chips and I paused long enough to see him take a small pot of PokerStars qualifier Danny Ryan. With 400 in the pot and the board showing Jh-9d-5d-Kd, Ryan bet out 250 which The Takeover called. Both checked the river 7s and The Takeover took the pot with K4.

  • In the middle of the tournament area there are two tables surrounded by press. On one, tennis legend, and PokerStars ambassador Boris Becker. On the other we have Daniel Negreanu, Chad Brown and Fabrice Soulier. As I passed, Fabrice was involved in a pot against a couple of players. The board read 10s-Js-2c-3s and a bet of 400 from Fabrice had been called by both. The river brought the 2d and Fabrice lead out from the small blind with 800. The original raiser called. Fabrice showed AJ only to be beaten by QQ. He is down to around 11K. Daniel seems to have ~ 13K.

  • In other news Tim Vance is carrying on from where he left off in Copenhagen and has barely sat down thus far.

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    Tim Vance

  • At the back of the room on the upper level and open door admits a cool Mediterranean breeze. Most players, including Joe Hachem are wearing jackets, some with hoods raised. Four players, including Joe, limped to see a flop of 6s Ac 5c. Joe bet out after a check and got two callers. The turn brought 8s and Joe opened for 500. Seat 7 called after some thought. The river was 6h and Joe led for 1700. Seat 7 quickly called and showed 76 hearts. Joe took on a pained expression and mucked his hand without showing.

  • In typical EPT mood, William Thorson has made some early chip moves. With 3500 in the pot and the board showing 6h-Qc-6c-Ks-9s, William bet 3000. The other player spent a couple of minutes selecting a tune to listen to on his iPod, looking at his stack of 8K before eventually folding. William now has around 22K.

  • Daniel Ryan has recovered from his earlier hit and is sitting with 18K. After a couple of limps he made the price to play 225 from the big blind. The first limper called and The Takeover folded from the SB. 8s-9h-Jc and a bet of 300 was enough to win the pot for Daniel.

  • What happened to Chris Moneymaker’s stack? His father, who frequently attends events with his son told where the missing chips went. Chris was dealt AK and saw a flop of AJJ. The exact details are not clear, but at showdown his opponent, holding a Jack was at the receiving end of a huge pot and Chris was left with less than 8k. His father advised him to stay cool and keep in mind that he still has “7 thousand chips and a chair”. Update; as the first level draws a close Chris has a bown 5k chip and a red 500 chip.. so make that “5,500 chips and a chair.”

  • Still surrounded by the media, a family flop develops when 5 players limp including Daniel Negreanu and Chad Brown. The flop is a somewhat scary looking Ad-As-9s and a 150 bet from Daniel scares all but one player away. Turn brings 10h and Daniel faces a 200 bet. He duly raises to 750 total and that picks up the pot. He still sits at around 13K.

  • In what must have been a battle of the blinds I walk past Dario Minieri’s table to find him involved in a pot against Juha Helppi. With the board showing 4d-10s-Kh-3d Dario led out 450 fro the SB which Juha called. As on the river and a 1400 bet from Dario picks it up. He currently has close to 25K.

  • Last year’s winner and Team PS Pro, Gavin Griffin raises to 125 from early position. Jon Friedberg bumps it to 450 which the player in his immediate left calls. The flop comes As-10s-5h and a bet of 700 wins it for Jon. He has around his starting stack.

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