Updates from level 14 of EPT Vilamoura, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.
Selected approximate chip counts, updated throughout the day, are available on the chip counts page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. The full payout structure is on the payout structure page.
Previous coverage: Day 1a wrap | Day 1b wrap | Day 2 wrap
Blinds: 1,500-3,000 (300 ante)
1.28pm: Break time
That’s the end of the first level of day three. Players get a fifteen minute break.
1.27pm: Choppy waters
Team PokerStars Pro Johannes Strassmann was down to around 60,000 and looking to get busy. He bet 7,700 pre flop and only the chip monster that is Antony Lellouche from the small blind looked interested. So much so that he re-popped to 20,500. Strassmann moved all-in, Lellouche called, and the result was a bit of a let down:
Strassmann: A♦ K♥
Lellouche: A♠K♦
The board failed to produce one of those horror flushes, running a harmless 8♣ 7♠7♦ J♥ 5♦ .
1.26pm: Another one bites the dust
This time it’s Vishal Pundjabi who got his marching orders, accounted for by PokerStars qualifier Pierre Neuville. Neuville had raised pre-flop, Pundjabi moved all in for his last 50,000 or so, and Neuville called.
Pundjabi: A♣ Q♣
Neuville: 10♥ 10♣
The board? 3♣ K♣ 8♦ 2♦ J♦ . Neuville up to around 250,000.
1.25pm: Get it quietly son
Claudio Coelho has been very vocal throughout the tournament and he was no different after he went all in for an over raise of 70,000 from under-the-gun and was looked up in the next seat by Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser. Visser tabled J♣ J♦ and this prompted Coelho to shout “Vamos, vamos” as he tabled Q♣ Q♦ . A little premature celebration maybe but his hand stood up through the 2♥ 3♥ 9♦ K♦ 9♣ board. Cue more and loader cries of “Vamos”.
1.22pm: Collopy wallops Lebedev
Jim Collopy raised to 7,200 under-the-gun and Sergey Lebedev, in the hijack, made it 17,200. It was folded back to Collopy, who asked for a count and then called when Lebedev showed him two towers of yellow chips. The flop was A♣ 10♦ A♠and both players checked. The 3♥ turn was checked too, as was the K♦ river. Collopy showed his hand first: K♣ J♣ and Lebedev peered skyward and mucked. Jacks?
1.20pm: Despair for Jesus as arch rival Gabriel casts him out
Jesus Sanchez bet pre-flop and was called by Gino Gabriel for a flop of Q♠9♦ A♥ . At this point Sanchez pushed in with 8♣ 8♠for the remainder of his stack, now less than half of the 170k he started with. Gabriel called showing A♦ 8♦ . A 9♥ on the turn, 9♣ on the river. Sanchez out.
1.16pm: Sarwer soaring
Jim Collopy opened for 7,200 from early position getting calls from Jeff Sarwer in the small blind and Marco Paulo Orlandi in the big. The flop came 8♠K♠4♣ . Sarwer checked, as did Orlandi. Collopy then threw out 10,700.
“You were supposed to check that back,” said Sarwer smiling, before re-raising to 27,200. Collopy said nothing, but was grinning. Orlandi folded, so did Collopy.
1.15pm: Heitmann slays Slotboom
Team PokerStars Pro Jan Heitmann picked up 140,000 chips by eliminating Rolf Slotboom. The Dutchman made it 7,000 from the cut-off, but Heitmann made it 25,000 from the big blind. Slotboom was having none of it, re-re-raising to 69,000. Heitmann quickly announced all-in having Slotboom well covered. He counted his remaining chips – 66,200.
“Kings are winning,” he said. “Mind you, queens are winning too,” he added to laughs all round, more or less confirming his hand was jacks.
Heitmann replied: “I’m feeling even more confident now!”
Slotboom made the call, turning over J♦ J♠and begging the dealer to produce at least one more jack because Heitmann tabled A♣ A♠.
The board ran dry: K♣ 8♥ 2♣ 7♥ 4♥ , and Slotboom, after shaking the hand of all those at the table, was out. Heitmann, meanwhile, moves up  to a menacing 230,000.
1.10pm: Bullies
This is the day when the big stacks become the bully boys – and tend to get away with it. Jeff Sarwer, who has the biggest of them all, raised to 7,000 under-the-gun and picked up Jesus Sanchez on the button. The flop came 7♣ 3♣ 5♥ , which they both checked. Then the turn was 7♦ . Sarwer bet 7,000, Sanchez called, and the river was J♥ . Sarwer bet 21,000 and Sanchez let it go.
Across the room, Ruben Visser was playing a similar game. Santiago Terrazas was his sole opponent, with the turn already out. The board read: 3â™ K♣ Kâ™ 3♥ and after Terrazas checked, Visser bet 35,000. Terrazas called. The river was 10♣ and now Terrazas checked again. Visser moved all in, covering the Spanish player by the odd 200,000. Terrazas didn’t fancy putting his tournament on the line and let it go.
1.06pm: Drescher downed
Daniel Drescher didn’t manage to get two double ups in a row and therefore has been eliminated. Joao Barbosa was the man who took care of him after calling the all in bet of 17,700 with Q♥ 10♥ from the big blind. Drescher had pushed with Aâ™ 9♦ and the board came 7♥ 2♦ 10♣ 7♣ 5♣ to pair Barbosa’s ten.
1.01pm: Up and down for De Zeeuw
Alexandre Brail just doubled up, getting it all in pre-flop with Q♣ Q♥ against Olaf De Zeeuw’s 3♦ 3â™ . A queen flopped and although back-door diamond flush potential appeared on the turn, it didn’t fill on the river and Brail feels his way to about 90,000 with De Zeeuw clinging onto about 20,000.
Actually scrap that, De Zeeuw got his short stack in moments later, with A♥ Q♦ , called by Ross Boatman and his 6♥ 6♦ . An ace flopped, doubling De Zeeuw back up.
1pm: Jesus wept
Sergey Lebedev just doubled up against Jesus Sanchez. Lebedev had pocket deuces and had called Sanchez’s shove with 4â™ 10â™ . The board ran out: Q♦ 5♦ 5♣ 6â™ 8♥ .
12.58pm: Stand clear of the keyboard player
Filipa Lemos, singer in Portuguese band Santamaria, which we’re reliably informed are massive this side of the Portuguese border, just doubled up also. Again, this is based on the man identified as her keyboard player, leaning over the rail to rub her head in delight.
12.57pm: Cheery Garcia
Javier Garcia just doubled up, nay, tripled. We missed the action but were able to piece things together based on how happy or how sad the players involved were looking. There were queens, kings and nines turned over on the table and a queen on the flop. Garcia looked really happy, Goncalo Santos really sad and Ryan Franklin annoyed. He’d had the kings.
12.56pm: Positive thinking
Thomas Kremser was standing alongside Jeff Sarwer’s table where the Canadian has around 600,000 stacked up in front of him on three levels. “Just one day to have that many chips,” said Kremser, who can play a bit. “One day…”
Sarwer’s only problem when he woke up this morning was how to stack so many chips.
“That’s the dream,” he added. “To make a bet like this…” At which point Kremser mimed reaching up above his head to take chips from a stack seven feet tall.
12.55pm: The shorties do battle
Daniel Drescher moved in for his last 10,200 from under-the-gun and managed to make all fold except Ryan Franklin who felt he was priced in to call even though it represented a bigger portion of his stack than he would’ve liked. Dresher tabled 10â™ 8â™ and was up against Franklin’s 5â™ 2♣ and the board ran Aâ™ 4â™ 8â™ 4♣ 10♥ to double Dresher up to 25,000. Franklin has little more on 29,000.
12.45pm: I’ve got nothing, what about you. Oh, nothing too
Jan Skampa and Luis Rodriguez got to a flop of 2♥ 2♦ K♦ , with Skampa in the cut-off and Rodriguez on the button. Skampa bet 8,000 at it and Rodriguez called. The turn was J♠, which both checked, and the river was 8♥ which Skampa also checked. Rodriguez bet 13,500 and Skampa called quickly. Rodriguez tapped the table and mucked his cards. Skampa mucked too. So no information for patient reporters, but a pot of around 40,000 for Skampa.
12.40 pm: Slow then fast
A four-way limped pot brought a 3♣ 6♠4♠flop. The blinds checked to Garcia Cayetano in the under-the-gun-seat who led for an over bet of 23,000. Olaf de Zeeuw was next to act and made his move with an all in bet. The blinds quickly folded and Cayetano called all in with 9♣ 9♦ . De Zeeuw opened the very drawing A♠5♠but it failed to hit through the J♦ turn and 3♥ river. The Spaniard is up to 150,000, the Dutchman down to 52,000.
12.30pm: Too cute
Ruben Visser opened pre-flop to 7,000 and Alexey Yuzikov and Rumen Nanev both called. The flop was 10♣ 5♦ 5♣ and they all checked. Things got a little suspicious on the 6♣ turn as Nanev bet 10,200, Visser called, as did Yuzikov. The river was K♠and Nanev bet 25,000, which was enough to get rid of Visser. But Yuzikov was going nowhere and moved all in for about 140,000 more. Nanev called, as well he might with 5♠6♥ for the turned full house. But he was sent spinning out of the tournament when Yuzikov showed his 10♦ 10♥ for the bigger boat.
12.32pm: Blackout
Andy Black is out. Nobody actually saw how it happened and even the accounts from players at the table were sketchy, but by and large Black was moving in hand after hand, trying to recover some of yesterday’s momentum, but came up short.
12.30pm: Collopy moving up
Vishal Pundjabi opened for 8,000 which Jim Collopy called for a flop of J♣ 10♣ Jâ™ . Pundjabi checked to Collopy who made it 9,500. That was called and a Kâ™ fell on the turn. Again Pundjabi checked, as did Collopy before the 10♥ river card. Check again from Pundjabi before Collopy bet 12,700. Pundjabi called but got nothing for it when Collopy turned overK♥ 8♣ . He’s up to 220,000.
12.25pm: Pay up
Rolf Slotboom just doubled up with aces against the pocket sevens of Rogerio Sousa. There was nothing on the board to improve either hand but things weren’t quite that straightforward. Sousa had been told it was 41,000 to call when in fact it was 43,000. This involved the floor being called and a long explanation from Thomas Kremser. Sousa wasn’t happy but had to pay. Slotboom up to around 150,000.
12.20pm: Vamooooos!
We’re getting near the money which means the volume has been turned up a massive amount. André Moreira was the first to give himself a celebratory “Vamooos!” when he called with 4â™ 4♦ on the board of 6♥ 5â™ 5♥ J♣ 9♦ . His opponent, Amir Pirbazari, had been caught at it with 2♥ 3♣ , betting about 20,000 into a pot of at least double that.
Moments later, Claudio Coehlo scaled similar volumes with his celebration after taking a pot on Ruben Visser’s table. I’m hoping it wasn’t just the blinds and antes otherwise it’s going to be a loud day.
12.15pm: Kravchenko’s day is done
Another one of the overnight short stacks, Alex Kravchenko, got it all in pre-flop with king-queen. Ross Boatman called with A-K and the board offered no help to the Team PokerStars Pro. Kravchenko is the first player to bust today; we’re down to 68.
12.10pm: Back to Black
Andy Black left the casino last night after losing almost everything he’d had, from more than 200,000 to 19,000 in one potentially glorious last hand. He’s back today though, his war face on, and just got the start he wanted, and needed. He open shoved with 10♥ 9♦ getting called by Manuel Cadilhe with K♦ 10â™ . The board ran: Kâ™ 8â™ Jâ™ 8♥ 7♣ giving Black the straight and some welcome chips.
12.05pm: Bubble business
Of course, one more thing to keep us entertained today: it will be bubble time this afternoon in Vilamoura. Forty-eight players will be paid, which means we’ll be going hand-for-hand at 49. Take a quick glimpse at the prize structure over at the prizewinners and payout structure page.
12pm: New day
Welcome back everybody to Vilamoura and day three of the inaugural EPT event on the Algarve. Today’s target is very simple: we need to cut the remaining 69 players down to the 24 who will sit around the final three tables.
Leading the charge are Jeff Sarwer and Antony Lellouche, who each bagged close to 500,000 chips last night and are ahead of the Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser, Ljubomir Josipovic, Martin Wendt and Luis Rodriguez.
We’ve seen countless times how quickly things can change. Stick with us today. We’re expecting the usual fireworks, suckouts, bust-outs, beats and MS Paint.
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