12.12am: Play ends for the day
The play has concluded for Day 2. The wrap of the day’s play will be up shortly, followed by the official overnight chips counts. The player leading the way is Philip Meulyzer from Belgium on 623,500. — MC
12.05am: Clock stopped, Calia cropped
The clock has been stopped for the day with 83 players left in, according to the board anyway. Four more hands will be played at each table. Nicolo Calia was the last player to go. His chips were harvested by Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko. Four hands left to play. — RD
12am: No Groener for Sascha
Sascha Groener only had 20,300 left and was in second position facing a 8,000 raise from Sander Benjamins in first position. He three-bet to 15,000 and called all-in when Benjamins set him in.
Benjamins: K♦ Kâ™
Sascha Groener: A♦ A♥
The board ran 5♥ 3♣ 7â™ A♣ 4♣ and Groener celebrated by banging his fist on the rail. — MC
11.52pm: The hopeful grin of the short stack
James Keys is three seats top the right of the chip leader who has around 13 times his chip stack. Keys is packing 50,000 to Philip Meulyzer’s 650,000 (or so). While I was couting Keys’ paltry stack, and perhaps failing to hide a sympathetic grimace, the player looked up, caught my eye and offered one of those how-did-I-get-myself-into-this-mess grins. — RD
11.40pm: Meulyzer motoring on with a bigger engine
Philip Meulyzer is up to massive 665,000 now after taking another scalp in a 200,000 pot. Tayfeh Mohsen was the casualty after raised to 6,500 and moved all-in after Meulyzer three-bet to 17,200. Meulyzer snap called with J♥ J♦ and it was ahead of Mohsen’s 9♦ 9♣ and stayed that way through the Aâ™ 10♣ 8♥ 2♦ 6♣ board. — MC
11.34pm: Bubble approaching
There are 86 players left and with 72 getting paid it’s getting really tense for some of those short stacks. — RD
11.27pm: Mortensen monstering on
The Danish machine rumbles on. Every hand I watch at Morten Mortensen’s table the young Dane is involved. Literally every one. He just three-bet Tome Moreira off an early position raise and then open raised the next hand. The concept of table captain in action. — RD
11.18pm: No surprise, Calia still in
Nicolo Calia is still in the tournament. He always does this. We barely notice him and then he’ll pop up 20 places off the money with half an average stack and a beaming smile. Good luck to you, sir.. — RD
11.14pm: Felsen felted
Gabor Felsen fell a little while into level 14. There was a raise to 6,700 from early position before Felsen three-bet all-in for 48,500 from the cut-off. The action got to Tayfeh Mohsen in the small blind who paused to think before shipping all-in as well. The original aggressor folded to leave it heads up.
Felsen: 10♣ 10♦
Mohsen: A♥ Q♦
The board ran K♥ A♣ 4♦ 6â™ 2♥ to pair the German’s ace. — MC
11.01pm: Last level of the day
The break is over. Who will make it into Day 3 of EPT Snowfest? Stay tuned to find out. — MC
10.46pm: Last break of the day
The players are on their last break of the day. There are 95 players remaining, meaning the money bubble is likely to burst tomorrow. — MC
10.45pm: Getting serious
A tense hand moments before the break. Rolands Norietis just moved up to 175,000 against Iulian Ruxandescu. There was another player involved, who got out on the turn with a board reading 10♣ 10♥ Q♦ K♣ . Norietis moved all-in behind a bet of 16,600 from Ruxandescu sending Norietis into the tank, one which lasted into the break. He smiled, winced, rubbed his face and called, showing A♥ A♦ to Norietis’s Qâ™ Q♥ . The 2â™ river sent the chips to Norietis. – SB
10.40pm: Kravchenko’s lucky charm?
Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko has just got lucky for the second hand in-a-row that I’ve witnessed. I got to the table with him shaking hands with two-time EPT finalist Artur Wasek.
The board was out as Q♦ 6♠J♣ 10♠J♥ making the Russian a straight with his A♦ kd]. The big Pole was very unlucky as he held picket aces but he took it in very good spirits.
As I was leaving Kravchenko said to me, “Before I play bad. Now look – I don’t get punished, I get rewarded.” Please imagine in your best Russian accent for dramatic effect. — MC
10.30pm: Breaking the hundred mark
We’ve got less than 100 players left here in Austria and an average chip stack of 146,000. One of the players that has busted over the last few days is Jonathan Schroer, an American who final tabled Snowfest last year for €65,000. He’s still grinding though, three tables from what I could see as I walked by a cubby hole just off the press room.
He was fantastic last year. As a relatively new player, certainly in terms of live play, he would don glasses, pull up his hood and shove his chips in with wild abandon when getting involved in a pot. He’s looking a bit more pokery this year.
Every final table introduces new faces and new characters. Who will be the new ones come the end of EPT Snowfest? — RD
10.25pm: Ruthenberg and Tureniec tangle
Heinz Traut won’t be staring at Cynthia Foresti any more today, she just knocked him out. He got his chips in with an ace, she called with an ace, only hers outkicked his on an ace high board. He muttered as he made his way out of the tournament room.
At the same table Sebastian Ruthenberg and Michael Tureniec, the two former champions still in the running for a double, just tangled.
Ruthenberg, sweating at the temples, opened for 5,300 from under-the-gun which Tureniec raised to 12,200 from middle position. Ruthenberg then re-raised, making it 26,200 total.
“How much do you have left?” asked Tureniec.
“I have 120,000” replied Ruthenberg. Tureniec tanked for a moment, then folded, smiling.
“Ace or deuce?” asked Tureniec, good naturedly.
“Might be a six or something,” replied the German.
“Now the war is officially on,” said Tureniec.
“You have more than me, it’s not fair,” replied Ruthenberg. “let’s make peace again.”
That will remain to be seen. – SB
10.15pm: Kravchenko finds a lucky double
Team PokerStars Pro Alex Kravchenko is up to more than 150,000 after getting lucky versus Pontus Nima Khosravi.
The Swede raised to 5,200 from the button before Kravchenko three-bet to 13,500 from the big blind. Khosravi had the action back on himself and he treated the Russian’s raise with an all-in push. Kravchenko thought through what his options were. He called and soon found out he was in trouble.
Khosravi: 10♠10♣
Kravchenko: 5♠5♣
Kravchenko stood up out of his chair but he needn’t have bothered as the board ran K♣ Aâ™ 5♦ A♣ 8♦ to make him a full house. — MC
10.05pm: Mortensen winning chips, breaking spirits
“You wouldn’t value bet queens there, right?” asked Fatima Moreira de Melo to Morten Mortensen. The Dane gave one of those long stretched out smiles that crept up just one side of his face and told the Team PokerStars SportStar that maybe he would: “I think he got off a little cheap.” Moreira de Melo didn’t exactly look crestfallen but she did look a little deflated.
Mortensen then went back to what he’s proving to be exceptionally good at; raising, and doing so a lot. Mortensen opened for 5,200, was three-bet to 16,500 and promptly moved in a re-raise to 39,200. He’s a beast. A beast in a v-neck sweater, but a beast nonetheless. — RD
9.50pm: Faux smiles from Bodo
Bodo Sbrzesny is down to 90,000 chips after tangling with EPT Copenhagen champion Michael Tureniec. I caught up with the action on the turn where the board read 9♦ 10♠7♠A♣ . Tureniec was faced with a 41,700 bet and after due deliberation he made the call to see the J♦ river.
One would’ve expected a check here from the Swede but he didn’t win an EPT by following the form of others. Instead he piled the pressure on by betting the 90,000 Sbrzesny had remaining.
Sbrzesny smiled, almost continuously, for the two minutes he took to make his decision. He was still smiling as he slid his cards into muck but now he was also looking at his opponent, maybe hoping he would reveal pocket eights or the like. No such luck as this Scandinavian has ice running through his veins. He slid his cards into the muck and tidied up his 350,000 stack. — MC
9.35pm: Plauski the next to fall
On a flop of 3♣ 7♣ Q♣ Aleh Plauski began his campaign to get back into this event from the small blind, betting 14,200 which was called by the only player left in the hand Morten Mortensen in the cut off.
The turn came Jâ™ and Plauski moved all in for roughly 36,000. Mortensen immediately called, turning over 10♣ J♣ , which was ahead of Plauski’s 10♦ 9♥ . The river card 5♥ helped neither, and with a “nice hand” Plauski was out. Mortensen moves up to 330,000. – SB
9.30pm: Chips to come
We’re still waiting on the chips from the break (tournament staff obviously raring to beat the queue). We’ll get them up as soon as is physically possible with a temperamental internet connection. — RD
9.25pm: Play resumes
We’re playing poker again.
9.20pm: Cards in the air?
Players are returning from the dinner break, we expect play to begin within the next few minutes. — SB
Hinterglemm, earlier today
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Snowfest (in alphabetical order of favourite iconic motorcyclists, following a brief dinner break trip to Hinterglemm’s Biker Bar): Marc Convey (Steve McQueen), Rick Dacey (Wolverine) and Stephen Bartley (Jeremy Clarkson)
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