Friday, 29th March 2024 00:34
Home / Uncategorized / EPT8 San Remo: Day 2, level 13, 14 & 15 updates (1,500-3,000, 400)
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2.05am: Play ends
Chip counts are still taking place but we can confirm that Joseph Cheong is the Day 2 chip leader with 632,000. Full counts and wrap to come. — RD

1.51am: Radio silence interrupted for breaking news
Reigning champion Rupert Elder was eliminated by Stefan Ianuszewicz after running jacks into aces. — MC

1.48am: Play drawing to a close
Bagging will start shortly so radio silence will ensue until we’ve got the major chip counts. Stay with us for a full wrap and chip counts. — RD

1.44am: Ayow! Feel the pain
Today’s been a tough one for the players and there are a lot of tired faces out there; Vanessa Selbst rubs her eyes, Kevin Ayow ducks his head down into his jumper, Kevin MacPhee actually takes off his sunglasses.

Kevin Ayow is down to 180,000 and looks keen for the day to end, having Mike McDonald on his direct left hasn’t been an enjoyable experience for him. — RD

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Kevin Ayow earlier

1.37am: Last seven hands
If this day wasn’t long enough a seven was randomly drawn meaning that’s how many hands will play out before play concludes for the day. — MC

1.35am: Selbst versus Salman
Vanessa Selbst has got her tournament back on track after winning a huge pot versus Salman Behbehani.

Behbehani raised to 6,600 and then four-bet to 35,900 when the Team PokerStars Pro three-bet to 14,250. She called to a 10108 flop where she called a 25,500 bet. The turn was the 2 Behbehani checked to Selbst who bet 50,500. He shoved and she called all-in.

Behbehani tabled QQ but had fallen behind to Selbst’s 45 for a turned flush. The river came the 8 and Behbehani was left with 5,000 chips to his opponent’s 415,000. He busted the very next hand. — MC

1.32am: Not a value table
This is not the table to be drawn at; Johnny Lodden, Steve O’Dwyer, Lex Veldhuis, John Duthie, Mohamad Kowssarie and Daniel Neilson. Giving other tables a quick once over, you have to say that this is the one table not to be at. Horrible. Neilson is the man with momentum behind him though and is opening a lot of pots and just pushed Lodden off a pot with a 120,000 bet on the river. Quite frankly most of them look like they want the day to end and the redraw to take effect. — RD

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Steve O’Dwyer

1.29am: Thorson captaining his table
William Thorson has moved through the gears and seems to be running things at his table. He three-bet Toby Lewis off a hand and played two hands versus Luca Amoruso, winning one and losing one. The one he won was a lot bigger than the one he lost though.

There had been a raise to 6,500 from first position and a flat call before Amoruso three-bet to 16,500 from the third seat to act. The action folded all the way to Thorson in the big blind and he cold four-bet to 16,500. Amoruso was the only caller to the 4Q4 flop where the action went check-check.

The turn came A and the Swede check-called a 45,000 bet. The river was the 6 and they checked it down, even though the Italian looked like he wanted to bet. He thought better of it though and tabled 77, losing out to A5.

Two hands later Thorson raised into Amoruso’s big blind. He defended and then check-raised the flop and led on the turn. The board read 2288 and Thorson called the flop and folded the turn to leave himself with around 320,000 chips. — MC

1.12pm: Katchalov out
Eugene Katchalov has just busted out after a cooler of a flop against Daniel Neilson.

I arrived at the flop but the action looked like Neilson had opened the button and had called Katchalov’s three-bet out of the big blind. Katchelov led 23,600 into the AJQ flop and Neilson made the call. The 9 hit the turn and Katchalov checked to the Australian who bet 23,500. Katchalov moved all-in for around 90,000. Call.

Katchalov: AQ for top two-pair
Neilson: K10 for the Broadway straight

The Team PokerStars Pro was left drawing thin, just four out left in the deck and the 4 wasn’t one of them. Katchalov out, Neilson up over 400,000. — RD

12.58am: No money for…
Nicolas Fierro, Mickey Petersen, Luis Coelho and Theo Jorgensen are among the players that have recently departed the San Remo main event. — RD

12.52am: O’Dwyer running good
Steve O’Dwyer has had a pretty amazing second half to 2011, winning over $1,000,000 in live tournaments. His biggest result in this period was at the last leg of the EPT where he finished runner-up to Benny Spindler. His form is showing no sign of slowing down in San Remo either.

Massimiliano Forti open shoved his last 53,800 in from under the gun and O’Dwyer was the only caller from the cut-off.

Forti: AQ
O’Dwyer: AA

The board ran 38JK2 to see the American’s aces bust his Italian opponent. His stack sits at just shy of 200,000. — MC

12.45am: Nice flop, little value
Did Cristiano Guerra let Salman Behbehani get away cheap?

Guerra opened for 6,500 from the hijack and was called on the button by Behbehani. Guerra c-bet the QJQ flop for 13,300 before both players checked the 4 turn. Guerra checked the A on the river and Behbehani checked behind. Guerra showed down KQ. Behbehani mucked to leave himself with 150,000.

On my way back to the press room I also saw Sam Stein double up all-in short with 84 rivering a flush. He still doesn’t look happy. — RD

12.43am: Breaking bad
Here’s a quick catch up with some of the day’s key info – as of the break anyway…

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 1,500-3,000, 400

12.20am: Last break of the day
One more break before we finish off with one more level.

12.17am: The man who wasn’t there
John Duthie appeared to be sat in his seat. He really seemed to be. I could see him, I swear I could. So could media coordinator Mad Harper and Toby Lewis.

“You said I busted. I think you better check,” said Duthie laconically to an Italian blogger who had said Duthie had been knocked out.

“It’s inevitable,” chirped up Lewis, quite enjoying putting the boot into Duthie who seemed to enjoy feigning insult just as much.

The EPT founder is far from busto, he’s got a 170,000 in front of him. Lewis more at risk with 115,000. The current average is 139,500. — RD

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John Duthie, still here

12.15am: Jorgenson gone
Theo Jorgenson is out. He was in the big blind with 1010 and faced a 6,800 raise from Edmilson De Oliveira. His decision was to move all-in for 45,000. His Brazilian opponent snap called with AA and they held through the K9688 board. — MC

12.10am: Lewis out gunned
Toby Lewis opened for 4,800 in the cut off which John Duthie called on the button. Rumen Nanev did the same in the big blind. The flop came A8Q which all three players checked for a 7 turn card, at which point Nanev bet 7,000. If this was to suggest strength no one believed him, both Lewis and Duthie called.

With a K on the river the action was checked to Duthie who bet 22,000. This was enough to see off Nanev. But Lewis was harder to push around and tanked for a few moments, two English pros sharing a joke along the way.
Ultimately it was too much for Lewis, who passed. Duthie up to 160,000. – SB

12am: Selbst makes crying call, sees the bad news
There was a crowd gathering around table 19 and Vanessa Selbst was in the tank thinking long and hard over a big decision.

She was heads-up with Cristiano Guerra. The turn had been dealt and the board read 5896. Guerra was first to act and moved all-in for 73,000 into a pot that had swelled to around 60,000. She called with 1010 but was shown 76 by Guerra for a straight. The river came J and Selbst dropped to 210,000. — MC

11.52pm: Tikhonov running hot
Sergey Tikhonov is into the chip lead with 540,000, a phenomenal number of chips giving him some 225 big blinds. We heard that he got jack-queen in against queens pre-flop and won, then managed to bust Brandon Cantu. Tikhonov the first player to break the half-million mark. — RD

11.45pm: Boatman earns Vat rebate
On a flop of 989 Michel Vat and Barny Boatman were facing each other in a pot. Boatman has continued to thrive today, taking his stack up towards 200,000 at the dinner break.

Here they both checked the flop for a 6 turn. Vat bet 7,000. Boatman leaned backwards and forwards to see Vat from the other side of the dealer. Then he called.
The river came 4. This time Vat checked. Boatman was up and down like a meerkat, checking how much Vat had left (30,000). He promptly bet 80,000. Before the bet went in Vat had been ready to fold. He did so.

Boatman up to 210,000. – SB

11.42pm: Isaia surprised Guliy
Alessio Isaia just put his tournament life on the line with J10 after he was put to the test by Andrey Guliy.

Isaia raised from the button to 6,000 and then called off his 69,400 stack when his Russian opponent shoved from the big blind with 66. The board ran 1023104 to make Isaia trips and he stood out of his chair and joked with fellow Italian players who had gathered. Guily was shaking his head and smiling at the call and a player at the other end of the table piped up, “That’s why I love coming to Italy!” — MC

11.32pm: The resurrection of Barny Boatman
Barny Boatman is sat at the side of the tournament floor with his back against the wall but, good news for him, it’s only a statement of his physical positioning now rather than a metaphorical reference to his tournament life.

Boatman started the day short, made his way up to 70,000, back down to 25,000 and is now riding well above average on 200,000.

“I shoved a couple of times, moved in on a flop and, well, it’s been lots of pots, to be honest. I got down low to twenty or twenty-five thousand but since then it’s all been in the right direction,” said the Hendon Mob man.

Boatman finished in the money at EPT London for £11,000 (57th) and with 193 players left he stands a good chance of at least meeting that deep run here in San Remo. — RD

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Barny Boatman

11.25pm: Bonavena bounced
They’ll be no double win (on home soil no less) for Salvatore Bonavena, who joins those watching from the rail.

With the action folded to the Italian in the small blind he shoved for 16,000. Tim Marsters in the big blind called, showing A9 to Bonavena’s A10.

The board was of the unkind sort, coming 96J34. – SB

11.23pm: King Cheong
Joseph Cheong’s stack had risen up to 260,000 post dinner. He raised to 5,500 from under the gun and was only called by Pier Paolo Ruscalla in late position. The flop came 8J2 and Cheong led for 7,800. Call.

The turn and river came AA and Cheong “emptied the clip” with bets of 13,000 and 30,000. Ruscalla called both time and then mucked when the American tabled KK. — MC

11.15pm: Selbst wins battle of the blinds
A good start for Vanessa Selbst straight back from the dinner break. The Team PokerStars Pro opened from the small blind for 5,000 which the big blind raised all-in for about 50,000. Selbst promptly called and pushed her KK forward. For his part the big blind showed J2.

The board ran 36683 which prompted at least two players to bang the table in appreciation. The big blind, now eliminated, said something in Italian that seemed derogatory, and then departed, a welcome departee.

“Nice call,” joked Kevin MacPhee.

“He showed so fast he had to have it,” said Selbst. “A nice way to come back from dinner.”

Selbst up to around 330,000. – SB

11.10pm: Play continues
Cards are in the air, and will be for another two levels tonight.

10.55pm: Break time
Players are taking a 15 minute break.

10.50pm: Hot Metaal burns Isaia
Mike McDonald opened from the button for 4,500 and was called by Alessio Isaia in the small blind and Govert Metaal in the big blind.

Isaia led 6,300 into the 2J4 flop and Metaal made the call, McDonald moved out the way. The Italian fired 14,200 at the 6 turn and Metaal called again. The K river didn’t slow Isaia down, he pushed out 26,600 and Metaal responded by moving all-in. This was not what Isaia wanted to see. He put his head in one hand and wobbled it from side to side. Fold.

Metaal up to 167,000. — RD

10.40pm: The steel of Metaal
Govert Metaal opened for 4,100 which was called by Kevin Ayow on the button, Mike McDonald on the small blind and Alessio Isaia in the big.

The flop came 7J7 which was checked four ways. On the 3 turn the pattern continued, each player checking, waiting for the others to flinch. On the river card J Metaal seemed to have had enough. This was his party and he wasn’t going to back out now. When the blinds folded he bet 6,000. That did it, and he showed them 56 to show how it was done. – SB

10.30pm: Bust-outs according to Twitter
The following people used the Twitter medium to help us fill in those empty seats.

EPT San Remo champion from Season 6 Liv Boeree: “Busted 🙁 lost two huge pots around dinner break with big set ups. Sad panda.”

Ben Jenkins: “Bust Akss vs qq :(.”

Maria Ho: “Busto. Vodka ‘o’ clock?” — MC

10.20pm: Veldhuis in shock
Lex Veldhuis isup to 320,000 after picking up a monstrous overshove. Veldhuis opened under the gun for 4,000 and was shoved on for 120,000 by a player in middle position. The Dutchman made the call with kings and found himself looking to fade the over card for a turbo-charged ace-king. Fade it, he did.

“I’m in shock,” he tweeted. I imagine he is, he normally gets his chips the hard way. — RD

10pm: Bonavena Crippled
On a 7J2 flop, we watched Salvatore Bonavena lead out for 7,000, and Attilio Donato raised to 17,000. Bonavena smirked and chatted him up, then called to see the 8 turn. The Team PokerStars Pro checked this time, and Donato took his cue to bet 26,000. Bonavena did some more chatting, cutting down his ~89,000 chips to eye up the potential damage. After some painful deliberation, he decided that a shove was the right play, and Donato instantly called.

Bonavena spun his KK high into the air and onto the felt, and he was in a big hole against the 22 of Donato. The river came the 6, and Bonavena could not catch up with his overpair. He thought he was eliminated, so he tried to push us out of the way to vacate the table.

Not so fast, Sal. He’s still got 21,000 chips left, but it doesn’t look like he’s quite in the mood to play poker anymore. He angrily paid his debt and left his remaining chips unstacked in a messy pile in front of him, slouched in his chair with head shaking slowly back and forth.

Bonavena down to just 21,000 now.

9.50pm: MacPhee Busts Cipriano
Before the break,the action folded to Christian Cipriano in the hijack seat and he raised to 5,000. In the small blind sat Kevin MacPhee, a former EPT champion. He three-bet to 12,800. After the big blind folded, Cipriano reraised all in for a little over 40,000. MacPhee snapped.

MacPhee tabled the KK and Cipriano the AK. The flop, turn and river ran out 873J6 and MacPhee won the pot, moving up to 280,000. – SB

9.40pm: Break time
Players are on a break, buffet time, with the other half of the field returning shortly.

9.20pm: Break approaching
We have a break approaching during which there will be the ol’ switcharoo for the dinner break. See you on the other side. Relax that refresh clicking finger.

9.10pm: A Grieco tragedy
Nicola Grieco started today as one of the chip leader with more than 160,000. Now he finds himself at the other end of the chip counts, reduced to around 11,000 after a hand against Grzegorz Wyraz.

When Wyraz shoved for 31,000 Grieco called, showing 99 to Wyraz’s AK. The board came 72K210. Grieco was irritated, handing over yet more chips, adding to the damage done earlier. – SB

9pm: Lewis grinding away
Toby Lewis has never really got going today. He came back with 44,800 and has hardly been above that all day. He did just win a small pot from the small though to move up to 56,000 chips.

The action folded to Antonio Pericolo on the button who min-raised to 4,000. Lewis three-bet to 9,500 and his Italian opponent called. The flop fell 227 and Pericolo folded quickly after the EPT Vilamoura champion led for 7,000. — MC

8.55pm: MacPhee and Selbst clash
These were tense moments between Kevin MacPhee and Vanessa Selbst.

On a flop reading 104J Selbst led for 8,500 and MacPhee made the call. A blank hit the turn: 2. Selbst gave the slightest of nods to the dealer passing the initiative over to MacPhee who bet 17,600. Selbst slowly, possibly painfully, passed. — RD

8.50pm: Where is Luca Cavecchi?
There’s a player missing in the tournament field, Luca Cavecchi. No one has seen him since the break and even the players at his table, among them Kevin MacPhee, who directly benefits from his absence, was starting to ask questions.

MacPhee was the first to suggest someone go find him and an Italian member of staff was sent upstairs to look for him in the obvious place – the buffet.

In the meantime Vanessa Selbst opened a pot from the cut off, making it 4,500, which the big blind, Cristiano Guerra, called. The flop came Q4K. Guerra checked to Selbst who bet 3,000. Called.

The turn came 4 which was checked for a A river. This time Guerra fired out 20,000. Selbst was forced to pass.

At this point Cavecchi appeared. At first the story of how he’d been enjoying the buffet was funny – apparently he’d been found during the dessert course. But then, after noticing half an hour of the level had gone, his mood darkened and he was oblivious to the consolations of his table mates.

It’s an an expensive blow that has cost Cavecchi dearly. He’s down to 40,000. — SB

8.43pm: Pretty sick day for Katchalov
Eugene Katchalov started the day with 31,000 and saw his stack dip to a low of 1,400, but now he’s up to 197,000. The Team PokerStars Pro explained this to us and added, “Pretty sick day, huh?” We agree. – MC

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Eugene Katchalov

8.37pm: Badly timed shove busts Linde
Per Linde just busted after he shoved his last 37,000 in with J9 from the small blind. That’s a pretty decent hand to do it with but Maurizo Saieva was at in the big blind with KK. He snap called and the board ran 398105.

“VAMOS,” shouted the Italian as he leaped out of his char, knocking over a side table in the process. Linde kept a polite smile across his face and quietly got up and left. — MC

8.30pm: The Cold War rewarmed
“Why do I have to be the bad guy?” Mike Leah asked the floor man.

The Canadian was quite agitated and understandably so. At a table with four Russian players Leah was complaining that they’d been allowed to talk in their native tongue during hands without any punitive action. Mikhail Korotkikh, who was sat on Leah’s left, had been pointing at a 7J7 flop and saying something to Dmitry Vitkind – neither player was in the hand – but another Russian speaking player was.

“No,” said Leah, slashing both arms above the table, “you can’t talk in Russian during the hand. Why do I have to be the floor man?”

An actual floor man appeared and Leah told him that he was frustrated that no penalty had been leveled despite a number of transgressions. Leah, a relative short stack, doesn’t look too composed at the moment and it’s understandable why not. Time to let the chips do the talking. — RD

8.20pm: Thorson growing steadily
William Thorson is up to 197,000 after getting full value from trips against Gennaro Falanga in a hand just before the break.

Falanga opened from under-the-gun and the Swede was the only caller from mid position. The flop fell 6J3 and Falanga check-called a 7,500 bet. The turn came K and the Italian decided to become the aggressor once more with a 11,500 bet. Call.

The river was the K and Falanga went back to a check to face a 9,900 bet from Thorson. He took his time and made the call and mucked when Thorson revealed K8. — MC

8.15pm: Play resumes
Half of the field are now back to continue into Level 13 while the other half enjoys the buffet. At the end of this level those now tucking into the seafood salad will then play the level again.

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Liv Boeree

PokerStars Blog reporting team in San Remo: Marc Dacey, Stephen Convey and Rick Bartley.

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