Friday, 29th March 2024 06:41
Home / Uncategorized / EPT Barcelona: Day 3, level 19 & 20 updates (6,000-12,000, 1,000 ante)
ept-thumb-promo.jpg

6.20pm: End of level
That’s the fourth level of the day complete and we have 39 players left. Full chip counts are being collected and they will be able to be found here or you can click on ‘Latest chip count’ on the widget to the right. A one-hour dinner break will take place from 7pm. — RD

6.19pm: Balanced stacks
Varying stack dynamics can be fascinating things to the poker aficionado with big, medium and short stacks having to weigh up how to react to each other, but on one of our remaining tables there is little difference between any of them. All the stacks are in the region of 450,000 at the bottom end and 700,000 at the top. That’s creating some relatively tight play at this juncture.

Hand 1. Thorsson opens for 26,000 and wins.
Hand 2. Luis Rufas opens for 27,000 under-the-gun and wins.
Hand 3. Ognjen Sekularac opens for 27,000 and wins.
Hand 4. Ognjen Sekularac opens for 27,00 and was called by Marc Naalden in the big blind. A 33,000 c-bet on the 3♣ J♥ 2♠ flop wins the pot.
Hand 5. Luis Rufas three-bets a late position raise to 67,000 from the button and wins.

Until monsters arrive or someone – likely Kristoffer Thorsson – decides to force the action this table is going to play a waiting game. — RD

6.18pm: Another double for De Meulder
Team PokerStars Pro Matthias de Meulder has doubled up once again to keep his tournament hopes alive. Francesco Notaro opened the pot with a raise to 55,000 from under-the-gun plus one before De Meulder moved all-in for another 86,000 from the next seat. The action folded all the way back around to Notaro who called.

Notara: A♦ J♣
De Meulder: J♠ J♦

The board came an uneventful 6♣ 7â™  3♣ 4♦ 6â™  to give the Belgian some bluffing chips back. — MC

6.15pm: Wait, what happened here?
The flop was Qâ™  6â™  Q♦ A♣ and Alessandro Longobardi, our chip leader here in Barcelona, had bet 80,000. Dominic Nitsche took one look at that and all but sniffed in derision as he re-raised to 257,000. What he had not counted on, though, was Longobardi taking a bit of a think before announcing he was all-in, putting Nitsche at risk. The young German insta-mucked. — SY

ept barcelona_day 3_dominic nitsche.jpg

LAPT winner Dominik Nitsche

6.09pm: Dutchman takes pot
On a 6♦ A♦ K♦ flop, Marc Naalden check-called Oscar Pelayo’s 41,000 bet. That put the wind up both of them, and they checked the 3♣ turn and Aâ™  river. Pelayo had K♥ 10â™  for second pair, but the Dutchman was sitting with A♣ Q♣ to take the pot. — SY

6.08pm: Another one gone
Andrey Danilyukis is out, sent to the rail by Filippo Marcolini. It was a simple case of 3â™  3♥ for Danilyukis, and K♥ 10♦ for Marcolini on a board of 4♦ 6â™  4♥ J♦ J♥ . — SB

6.05pm: Back on the up
Dominic Nitsche has just told us how he got up to the 1.2 million he currently has. He and one other player called a raise to see a jack high flop containing two diamonds. The aggressor bet and only the German called to see a blank turn where he check-called another bet. The river blanked once more and Nitsche called a pot size 270,000 bet. His opponent could only show a busted nut flush draw and Nitsche took the big pot with jack-ten. — MC

5.59pm: What could that raise mean?
Candido Gonçalves opened under-the-gun for 46,000, quite a sizeable raise at this stage of the game, a picked up no callers. Was it an old school way of playing a medium pair that didn’t really want to see a flop? Or was he just trying to make everyone think that? He’s not on the TV table so we’ll never find out. There are 41 players left – see who has cashed out already. — RD

5.56pm: Great call by Kenney
PokerStars qualifier Bryn Kenney is back up to 722,000 after making a great call against former chip leader Marco Bognanni, who drops to 600,000.

The action had reached the river and the board read 8â™  2♦ 4♣ 10♥ 5♣ . Kenney was in the big blind and led for 72,000 only to face a raise to 186,000. Kenney made the call with 8♥ 7♥ which was good against Bognanni’s bluff attempt with jack-three. — MC

5.50pm: No luckis for Danilyukis
Andrey Danilyukis out, sent to the rail by Filippo Marcolini. It was a simple case of 3â™  3♥ for Danilyukis, with Marcolini showing K♥ 10♦ on a board of 4♦ 6â™  4♥ J♦ J♥ . — SB

5.45pm: Rufus back in the game
The board was showing 5♦ A♣ 9♥ 10♦ and a crowd tuned in to watch. Ognjen Sekularac had bet 77,000 which Andrey Danilyuk had called before Luis Rufas, chip leader for much of the earlier stages of EPT Barcelona, moved all-in for 178,000 more. With the television cameras in place Sekularac folded while Danilyuk called showing A♥ 10♣ . Rufus turned over 5♥ 5♣ , winning the hand when the river card came Q♦ .

Rufus up to 760,000 chips. – SB

5.37pm: Sihvo bags a much needed double up
Lari Sihvo has just doubled up to 400,000 after three-bet shoving on Bryn Kenney with Aâ™  8♣ and flopping an ace against the American’s pocket fives. Kenney started the day as chip leader, has been involved in plenty of pots but things haven’t gone too well for him overall. — RD

ept barcelona_day 3_lari sihvo.jpg

High stake Finn Lari Sihvo

5.32pm: Study pays off
Konstantin Puchkov has a list of closely written notes on his table next to him (unfortunately in Russian). His study seems to be paying dividends at the moment as he is up to 1,200,000. — RD

5.20pm: Straight does it
Shander De Vries raised pre-flop and was re-raised to 50,000 by Bryn Kenney in the big blind. Call. Both checked the 9♣ 9♥ 7♦ flop and the 10♣ turn. But on the J♠ river Kenney checked, De Vries made it 46,000 and Kenney re-raised to 146,000. De Vries insta-called and his K♠ Q♦ for the straight was enough to take the pot.

Kenney was a little miffed, muttering “so bad” under his breath. We’ll let you decide if he was referring to himself, or to De Vries. — SY

5.10pm: Per Linde bust
On a 10♥ 2♦ 6♥ flop, Per Linde bet 35,000 before Konstantin Puchkov raised it up to 90,000. Linde wasted no time moving all in for around 350,000 total – and the Russian wasted even less time in calling. This perhaps explains why:

Puchkov: K♠ K♦ for the over pair
Linde:5♥ 7♥ for the flush draw

Linde was at risk, and the 8♣ made his situation worse, although he had now picked up a straight draw, but the Aâ™  missed him altogether. — SY

5.05pm: Great growth for Company
Juan Enrique Company Iborra has doubled-up up to 140,000 but could well have been out. He opened shoved for 117,000 from the cut-off and was cold called by Oscar Pelayo in the small blind which was enough to force out Andrey Danilyuk who open folded K♥ Q♥ .

Iborra: 3♥ 3♣
Pelayo: A♣ 8♠

The board ran J♣ Q♣ 2â™  Qâ™  9â™  . Iborra yelped in delight and he has the right to feel happy and lucky as Danilyuk said he wouldv’e called if Pelayo hadn’t. — MC

4.48pm: Break time
That’s the end of level 19 and 48 players remain. By my reckoning, level 20 is next. That’ll be in 15 minutes. — SY

4.47pm: Iborra no more
Juan Iborra is the latest to leave us, moving all-in for his last 40,000 with A♦ Kâ™  but walking right into the A♥ Aâ™  of Konstantin Puchkov. No surprises on the 8â™  10♦ 5â™  5♥ 4♥ flop, and Iborra is gone. — SY

4.45pm: Farewell, chips
We did not catch all the action, but somehow Arie Ori Miller managed to get all-in pre-flop for 300,000 against Emilio Muñoz’s Aâ™  8â™  . Muñoz had Miller covered–just–and the board ran K♦ 4♥ A♥ 7♣ 2♦ to more or less double him up. Miller is out. — SY

4.40pm: De Meulder scullied
On a board of 7♥ 9♦ 6♥ K♣ Matthias de Meulder and Marius Pospiech were in the depths of a long hand. De Meulder had checked leaving Pospiech with a decision, one that he decided would be to bet 55,000. De Meulder, in the big blind, called for a Q♠ river card, then once more he tapped the table. Pospiech then moved all-in, the force of which threw De Meulder back in his chair, breathing deeply.

The Belgian had 350,000 behind and counted out what it would cost to call. After a long period of reflection he called, Pospiech showing 10♦ 8♥ to take his stack up to more than 500,000. De Meulder showed a K♣ without any enthusiasm, his stack down to around 200,000. — SB

ept barcelona_day 3_matthias de meulder.jpg

Matthias de Meulder has some climbing to do if he’s to make Day 4

4.37pm: ‘I may need some time’
Lies! Facing a 95,000 bet from Lari Sihvo on the turn of a 8â™  7♣ 4â™  5♣ board, Thor Stang said: ‘I may need some time.’ This was patently untrue as Stang had flopped the nuts with 5â™  6â™  . Sihvo had raised pre-flop and had been called by Stang in the small blind, who had check-called 47,000 on the flop.

When Stang did shove Sihvo quickly called, which was for somewhere approaching 300,000. Stang, however, was certainly not out of the woods as Sihvo showed Jâ™  9â™  for a larger flush and straight draw. None of those outs appeared and Sihvo was left with little over 120,000. — RD

ept barcelona_day 3_chips.jpg

Chip swings

4.35pm: Schuerpf shot
Michael Schuerpf is the latest player to be eliminated today. He was sat in the big blind and went to battle with PokerStars qualifier Giuseppe Pantaleo in the small blind. All the chips went in pre-flop and both had around 140,000.

Schuerpf: K♥ J♥
Pantaleo: A♦ J♣

The board ran 8♥ 8♦ Q♦ 5♦ 9♦ . After a count down it turned out that Schuerpf was just covered. He wished everyone luck and made his way to get paid. — MC

4.30pm: Beware the limp
Ognjen Sekularac limped from early position and everyone got out of the way except Luis Rufas in the big blind, who raised it up to 38,000. His plan backfired as Sekularac pulled a tower of yellow 5,000 chips from his stack and pushed them over the line. A bet of 100,000. Rufas was not best pleased, and mucked.

Sekularac is over 620,000, while Rufas slips to 340,000. — SY

4.25pm: At the double
Andrey Danilyuk doubled through Zachary Korik when his A♥ J♣ overtook the latter’s Qâ™  Q♣ on a 3â™  J♦ Aâ™  5♣ 7♥ board. That sent Danilyuk up to 180,000 and Korik down to 260,000. — SY

4.20pm: Small chink in heavy armor
Marco Bognanni started today with just under 200,000 before soaring up to 1.2 million. He is allowed to lose a pot though, as Jose Luis Navarro Giner just proved. Bognanni opened with a raise that was only called by Giner to go to a 10♦ 4♣ 6♣ flop. Bognanni continued with a 23,000 bet that was called. Both checked the 10♥ turn before Bognanni check-called a 55,000 bet on the 10â™  river. Giner tabled A♣ 6♦ for the pot as Bognanni quickly mucked. — MC

4.15pm: Grospellier out
A bet of 22,000 from Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier under-the-gun which Jesus Cortes Lizano raised to 50,000. With the action back on the Frenchman he raised again to 160,000, all sorts of chips now on the table. Lizano thought for a few moments, then declared himself all-in. ElkY called but was about to declare himself bankrupt.

A♣ A♦ for Lizano. Q♥ Q♣ and a visible wince for Grospellier, who’s pain was all too obvious. Then he began to grin slightly, as if he’d fluked it all this far anyway.

The flop came 10♦ 10♣ 4♣ . Grospellier leaned forward slightly, head tilted as if the dealer was showing him the documents he’d need to complete to apply for a bank loan. The turn 5♣ and river 2â™  put an end to his day. Grospellier out in 56th place while Lizano now sits with 950,000 chips. – SB

4.10pm: Van Den Berg banished
Erik van den Berg is out. He moved all-in for 59,000 with A♦ K♠ behind a raise of 20,000 from the cut off by Pascal Lefrancois. Lefrancois then called, turning over A♣ 9♣ and after a pause for the cameras the dealer dealt the board.

5♦ 6♦ 6â™  A♥ 9â™  . Not good for Van Den Berg who departs in 57th place. – SB

4.05pm: Pride before a fall?
Alessandrio Longobardi has just won a tasty pot from Dominic Nitsche but in doing so has he sowed the seeds for his own downfall?

Artur Karamuca opened the pot for 24,000 from under the gun and Longobardi three-bet to 59,000, also from early position. The action folded around to Dominic Nitsche who four-bet to 111,000 from the small blind. Longobardi made the call.

On a flop of 6♣ 5♥ 10♣ Nitsche c-bet 105,000 and Longobardi raised to 250,000. Nitsche quickly passed and Longobardi flipped over 7♥ 7♣ . Will giving that kind of free information to a player of Nitsche’s quality come back to haunt him? — RD

3.50pm: So long Collado
After a very swingy tournament Jan Collado finally swung too low and has been eliminated. The action folded around to him in the small blind and he open shoved for 170,000. Per Linde was sat in the big blind and made the call with Q♦ 10♥ . Collado was ahead with K♣ Jâ™  but failed to stay there through the 2♥ 10â™  2â™  9♥ 2♦ board. Linde is up to 400,000 as a result. – MC

3.40pm: The downfall of Pedro Ferrero
Poor Ferrero was out of the door after losing two successive hands to Juan Garcia. First Garcia was all-in for 158,000 with pocket jacks, and stayed ahead of Ferrero’s A♥ 10â™  despite the awkward 7♥ 2♥ 5♥ flop, 7♦ turn and 9â™  river.

“VAMOS,” shouted the Spaniard, followed by some more celebratory grunts.

That left Ferrero with around 100,000, and he shoved next hand with K♣ Q♦ . That was fine, except Garcia then woke up with A♥ K♥ . “I am all-in,” he declared triumphantly.

The flop came Aâ™  9♥ A♣ . “VAMOS,” Garcia shouted again. The turn was 2â™  and river J♦ .

“VAMOS!” Garcia wailed once more, while Ferrero politely asked the dealer where the cash desk was. — SY

3.32pm: Rufas meet Thorsson
I don’t recall Luis Rufas having sat at the same table as Kristoffer Thorsson so far here in Barcelona but the Swede was moved to his table just before the break where the following took place. Thorsson raised under-the-gun and was three-bet by Rufas in the small blind. Thorsson made the call.

Rufas kept up his aggression with a 47,500 bet at the 3♦ 4♣ J♣ flop. Thorsson reached deep and raised it up to 115,000 and Rufas passed. That’s one more way to annouce your arrival at a table. — RD

3.30pm: Break’s over
And we’re back for level, where are we, level 19, with blinds at 5,000-10,000 with a 1,000 ante.

chips_d3_sb.jpg

Chips, chips…

PokerStars Blog reporting team in Barcelona (in order of appearance): Stephen Bartley (Stiff upper lip), Simon Young (Stiff lower back), Rick Dacey (weak at the knees) and Marc Convey (lacking moral fibre).

Study Poker with Pokerstars Learn, practice with the PokerStars app