Thursday, 28th March 2024 18:34
Home / Uncategorized / EPT Monte Carlo: Level 21 Live Action

Players have re-started at the 6000/12000/100 level. If you’re following the action throughout the day you can press refresh for the latest news which will appear at the top of each post. You can also keep tabs on the latest chip counts here. Winner information is available here.

9.21pm — Henrik Gwinner just doubled up through Johnny Lodden, moving in with K-Q against Johnny calling with pocket jacks. The queen hit the flop saving Henrik.

9.19pm — Two weird pots take place in a row, weird in the fact that the same thing happened not once, but twice. First Michael Martin played what he thought was his big blind, only to actually be under the gun. Then Johnny Lodden did the same. Still, an embarrassment shared is an embarrassment halved and both seemed just relieved not to have been the only ones to do it.

9:18pm–Play has slowed down dramatically. Joe Hachem is getting a massage that looks more like torture. Obviously, he is a student of the school of thought that suggests, “If it doesn’t hurt, it doesn’t work.”

9:13pm–Yet another player has doubled up on the TV table courtesy of Antonio Esfandiari. Walid Bou Habib of Lebanon was short stacked and opened the action with an all-in push holding JT. Antonio called with A5 clubs. The flop came 4 J 4 with two clubs putting Antonio behind but with outs. A Jack on the turn killed the outs and Walid survives.

8:52pm–Thomas Boekhoff is probably feeling better than he did before dinner. If you were reading then, you’ll remember he left during a break, thinking it was time for the official dinner break. He didn’t realize there was still 45 minutes left to play. Then, he rushed back to the tourney, only to lose half his stack to Joe Hachem. Now, Just a few minutes into post-dinner play, he faced a raise to 35,000 from Isaac Baron. He immediately shoved in 143,000 more. Baron thought for a minute and then asked, “You play a lot of sit and gos, right?” Boekhoff confirmed that he did. Baron said he decided to gamble and called with KQ. Bad timing, as Boekhoff held AQ. No help for Baron on board and Boekhoff doubled up.

8.45pm — PokerStars qualifier Michael Martin has started in the right frame of mind coming back from the dinner break, raising pre-flop, re-raising, pre-flop and taking pots uncontested. He also has an avid rail back home, particularly in the form of his mother who by all accounts is clicking refresh again and again. “She’s more nervous than me!” said Michael, who added he wasn’t nervous. Quite right. “This is what I’m here for, I love it.” His only concern right now is Johnny Lodden on his left. Aside from that everything is fine.

8:34pm–Players are taking their seats. Nineteen players remain with 45 minutes left in this level. When the night is over, the final table of eight will be set.

8:11pm–Still 20 minutes until the players come back. In the meantime, check out this video blog about Luca and Claudio Pagano.

7:17pm–The players are now headed out on a dinner break. They will come back in one hour and fifteen minutes. So will we.

7:10pm–The search party found Supernova Elite Thomas Boekhoff and he probably wishes they had not. Shortly after his sweating, panting return to the tournament room (he thought it was dinner break), he got involved in a pot with Joe Hachem. By the river, there was 160,000 or so in the pot on a Ad6dTd-As-6h board. Boekhoff check called a 85,000 bet from Hachem. Hachem showed A5 for the second nuts. Sad thing is…Boekhoff made it back just in time to lose these chips and go on the actual dinner brak, which begins in three minutes.

7:05pm–Antonio Esfandiari was involved in another TV table all-in confrontation. This one involved Eric Liu. Antonio opened on the button for 38k (blinds 6k-12k, ante 1k). Eric in the small blind with a small stack pushed for about 70k more. Antonio showed 98 clubs to QJ off for Eric. The board showed AA5T6 at the end and Eric doubled up. Antonio had recovered some of the chips lost in his run-in with Stig earlier, but this confrontation reversed much of the recovery.

6.55pm — Joe Hachem called the floor over, the issue wasn’t anything to do with a hand but the absense of a player at their table, Thomas Boekhoff. The level restarted nearly a half hour ago but there’s no sign of Thomas who is currently being blinded off. He’s not in the tournament room, or the buffet. A search party has now been dispatched to hunt him down.

6:49pm–PokerStars qualifier Amit Makhija, after battling back from a short stack, has been eliminated after getting TT all-in pre-flop versus fellow qualifier Glen Chorny’s queens. The board was irrelevant and Makhija is out in 20th place.

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Glen Chorny — © Neil Stoddart

6:48pm–Russian player Valeriy Ilikyan got all of his chips in the middle and survived… but didn’t double up. All the money went in preflop as Valeriy pushed his short stack with AK. Walid Bou Habib of Lebanon called with 88 and the race was on. No doubt the Russian was thrilled to see a flop of A23 putting him well ahead of the eights. However a 5 on the turn and a 4 on the river resulted in an anticlimatic chop. Valeriy was left to look for another spot to get his chips in for a shot at a double up.

6:35–Starting a new level now at 6000/12000/1000. Players will play either half a level or down to 16 players before breaking for dinner.

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