by Simon Young
We are only in to the first hour but already the action is hot. Johnny Lodden, chip leader at the start of the day, has already lost a chunk of chips and is down from 101,000 to 70,000. The person scooping them up was Mattias Andersson, new chip leader with over 140,000.
Andersson is one of those fearless, aggressive players who won’t let go of a pot. I watched as he moved all in on a board of 4-K-10-J-Q with three clubs to knock his opponent off another huge pot. Did Andersson have the flush, or the ace-high straight? Nope, he flashed a pair of pocket fives to the bewildered table.
PokerStars qualifier Mika Paasonen, from Finland has won a big early pot to move up to 105,000, and a special mention for PokerStars frequent player point qualifier (only 400 FPPs, at that) Jesper Witved, who has just doubled through. He had K-J diamonds on a flop of 5-8-K with two diamonds and got all in with the other player holding A-10 diamonds for the nut flush draw. Jesper survives.
He is from Denmark, but spends most of his time in Morocco, where he runs a BBQ-style restaurant as well playing an awful lot of online poker. He’s cooking on gas right now.
Thang Duc Nguyen
Another PokerStars restaurateur is German Thang Duc Nguyen. He looks to have lost a small chunk of his stack, but is still one of my tips for this title. Having won the EPT in Austria last October, he has impressed with his quiet, assured style.
Sitting to Thang’s left is Austria’s Marcus Golser, who just folded 3-3 face up to an all-in re-raise. He’s down to 38,000 as a result.
Pablo Rua
Elsewhere qualifier Pablo Rua from Spain, has found himself on a tough table, with Britain’s WPT and EPT-winnning Roland de Wolfe sitting on his left. No damage yet, and lawyer Pablo continues to be among the chip leaders.
And Danny Ryan, from North Dakota, who has already played through PokerStars at the EPTs in Barcelona and Dublin this season, is sitting behind a nice-looking stack of about 80,000. “Things are looking good,” he said.
Not so for husband and wife team Steve Vladar and Xuyen Pham, who have both bitten the dust. Vladar got all in with A-A v Q-Q, but was crippled by a Q on the flop. He busted within a few hands. Also out is Spanish PokerStars qualifier Carlos Ferron, finally busted when his A-K was trumped by Q-J making a straight on the river.
Meanwhile Sweden’s Dilba Demirbag is up to 75,000 after forcing her opponent to pull out of a big pot on the turn, with two clubs showing on the board. Cards of both parties remain unknown.
For a full list of Day Two starting counts, click HERE.
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