Friday, 29th March 2024 08:23
Home / Uncategorized / EPT Berlin: Day 3, levels 21, 22 and 23 (12,000-24,000, 2,000 ante)

9.25pm: Collado closes day three
Jan Collado would bring the day to an end, moving in with 10♣ J♥ . Waiting to call was Iikka Tahkokallio with 8♠ 8♣ and the board delivered the goods. 7♦ 2♠ 10♦ 9♦ 6♣ . Collado was gone in 25th position, drawing day three to a close.

A full report on all the events of the day will be coming up shortly — SB.

9.30pm: That’s Gross
Christophe Gross won’t be coming back tomorrow. He just lost a monster million pot against Kevin MacPhee in what must be the biggest coin flip of the tournament so far. Gross had raised to 54,000 and MacPhee replied with a bet of 148,000. PokerStars player Gross wasted no time moving all in for his last 500,000, and MacPhee snap called.

MacPhee: A♦ K♦
Gross: 10♥ 10♣

Off to the races, and MacPhee won it as the board ran 5♥ [q]8♣ K♣ 5♥ . — SY

9.24pm: Zguba-doobie-don’t
In what would be the first of a short sharp burst of eliminations Vlad Zguba has departed. He moved all-in for 290,000 which Iikka Tahkokallio called, showing A♥ 8♥ . Zguba needed to hit, turning over K♥ Q♦ but got nothing from a 7♦ 3â™  4♣ J♦ J♥ board. — SB.

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Vlad Zguba

9.20pm: That was quick
No sooner are they back from the break, than they’re done for the night. The last couple of eliminations happened in a flash – full details are on their way. — HS

9pm: Level up
We’re on a 15-minute break. Blinds will be 12,000-24,000 (2,000 ante) when the 28 runners come back. — MC

9pm:Tricky ruling
Thomas Kremser had to be called over from the other side of the room to sort out a messy situation at one of the remaining tables. Stefan Huber had raised and then called Nico Behling’s all-in push from the next seat. Behling tabled pocket eights but before anyone could get to see the Swiss player’s cards the dealer raked in all the cards on the table thinking Huber had folded. Kremser ruled that as all the mucked cards had been pulled in with the deck there was no fair way of recreating the board fairly. Therefore the only way to solve the situation was to chop the antes and blinds up between the two players and move on. –MC

8.55pm: ‘I was always going to call you’
Carsten Joh opened for a raise to 50,000 from the cut-off before Theo Jorgensen three-bet to 140,000 from the button. Joh responded by moving all-in for 317,000 and the Dane called very quickly with 3♦ 3♥ . Joh pumped his fist when he saw what he was up against (prob thought he had three outs one way or another) and tabled A♦ 6♦ . The board ran 6♠ 5♠ K♦ J♥ K♠ to double-up Joh.

Jorgensen was notably annoyed at his opponent’s play and said to him “I was always going to call you”. –MC

8.50pm: On your Markos, get set, go…
Marko Mikovic has been busted by Marko Neumann. Now there’s only one Marko left in the field. Mikovic made it 50,000 pre-flop and got a call from Neumann and also from Marc Inizan (albeit after a rather long think).

The flop was Q♦ 2♠ 8♦ , Mikovic checked, Neumann bet 100,000, Mikovic moved all in, Neumann called!

Neumann: A♦ Q♥
Mikovic: A♥ K♦

The turn was Jâ™  and river 3♣ , and that changed nothing. We’re down to 28. — SY

8.45pm: Witness the sickness
Paul Otto opened for 50,000 before Jan Collado re-raised 100,000 more. Otto moved all-in forcing Collado to fold.

A table along Tu Tuan To moved all-in. Hang on, no he didn’t, inadvertently forgetting to lob in four blue chips. His bet was 160,000 which Alfonso Amendola thought about calling.

“This is for sure,” said To, holding up the four blue chips, indicating it would be going in.

“I know it is for sure,” replied Amendola who had the call counted out. Nah, fold.

Back on the other table Ilya Gorodetskiy made it 45,000 from the button which was called by Mathias Kuerschner. The flop came A♣ 2â™  9â™  which both players checked for a Q♥ turn. Kuerschner made it 50,000 and Gorodetskiy wasted no time calling. On the 4♥ river both checked it down, Gorodetskiy taking the pot with 9♦ 8♦ to Kuerschner’s 8â™  7♦ . — SB.

8.40pm: Action flop
Christophe Gross opened the pot with a raise to 44,000 from under-the-gun before calling Artur Wasek’s three-bet to 120,000 from the big blind. The flop came K♣ 8â™  10â™  and at this point the fireworks went off. Check-bet-raise and all-in type of action occurred to get all the chips across the line. Wasek tabled 10♣ 10♦ for middle set to Gross’s Kâ™  6â™  for top pair and flush draw. The turn came 2♦ and river 3♦ to see Wasek double-up to 1.2 million. Gross down to 600,000 chips. –MC

8.35pm: Get this man some money
Olaf Sagorski is the latest to do the walk of shame. In the small blind Norman Kastner moved all in, covering Sagorski by some way. He called, showing A♣ 3♥ , but he was a mile behind Kastner’s A♥ Qâ™  .

The board ran 6â™  9â™  A♦ Aâ™  K♥ , and Sagorski shook a few hands before seeking out the cash desk, where €21,000 would be waiting for him. — SY

8.30pm: Barbosa takes nice pot
While the bluff hand below was going on, another big pot was brewing on the neighboring table. Joao Barbosa raised to 40,000 pre-flop and got calls from Jan Collado and Iikka Tahkokallio. The flop was 3♣ Q♠ 2♦ and Barbosa made it 45,000. Only Collado called.

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Joao Barbosa

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Jan Collado

The turn was 6♥ and this time Barbosa made it 95,000. Again Collado called. Finally, on the Jâ™  river Barbosa made it 210,000. This time Collada went deep into the tank, and eventually passed. — SY

8.25pm: Jorgensen bluff
Well he is chip leader, so it makes audacious bluffs a little easier. Theo Jorgensen made it 90,000 pre-flop and got a call from Norman Kastner. On the K♥ A♥ 8♦ flop Jorgensen made it 120,000 and again Kastner called. Then on the 3♣ river Jorgensen kept up the pressure, adding 260,000 to the pot. This time Kastner went deep in to the tank. So deep that Jorgensen eventually called the clock on him.

As the countdown went all the way to zero Kastner did not move. His hand was dead. With that, Jorgensen triumphantly showed 6♥ 7â™  for absolute air. — SY

8.20pm: Huber a Neumann
On a flop of 10♣ A♥ Q♠ both Marko Neumann and Stefan Huber checked for a 8♥ turn card. Neumann checked to Huber who bet 86,000, called for a A♠ on the river.
Again Neumann checked. Huber reached higher, making it 216,000 which Neumann called. Huber turned over A♦ 10â™  , good enough to take the pot. — SB.

8.15pm: One down
Carlos Oliveira moved all-in pre-flop. Marcel Koller on his immediate left did the same. It was just the two of them and soon enough two would become one. Koller showed Aâ™  A♣ to Oliveira’s wincing A♥ 8♦ . The board ran 4♥ J♣ 4♦ K♦ 4♣ . Oliveira to the rail. — SB.

8.10pm: Not giving up without a fight
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is not giving up on this tournament without a fight despite a couple of knock-backs. He is being ultra aggressive in his quest to get back in this. Firstly he three-bet all in after Ketul Nathwani had raised it up. Nathwani asked for a count but let it go. Next it was Ainsworth who opened with a raise to see Nico Behling call from the big blind. Both checked the flop before Ainsworth treated the German’s 56,000 bet on the 3♥ J♦ Q♥ 6♦ board with another shove. It worked as Behling folded. Ainsworth up to 510,000. –MC

8pm: Ein outer
There was the kind of whoop in the tournament room that meant either someone had let off some fireworks, or there’d been a monster suck-out. It turned out to be the latter – and it was pretty whoop-worthy. Eike “Not Erik” Seidel had hit a one outer on the river to keep himself in the tournament.

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The Ein Outer

Seidel was all in pre-flop with pocket fours; Christophe Gross called with aces. There was a four and an ace on the flop, the turn was a blank, but the river was the case four. Whoop indeed. — HS

7.50pm: Falaschi flayed
It’s getting to the stage of the tournament where reporters quite often outnumber players, particularly the smaller sites representing specific nations, and the always-enthusiastic Italian press in particular. At the last break, Italy had three representatives still in the tournament, and 73 media. Very soon after, however, they lost a player, Luca Falashi, leaving just the 37 and a half reporters to follow the two left.

Falashi moved all in pre-flop for 321,000 and Evgeniy Zaytsev had the most to think about. After a couple of minuted Zaytsev made the call, covereing Falashi, but they were racing.

Falashi: 5♦ 5♠
Zaytsev: A♦ J♠

The flop brought no help: 3♦ 7♦ Q♥ but the turn J♦ wsa greeted with an outraged splutter. The 3â™  river couldn’t help Falaschi’s hopes and he is now out. — HS

7.45pm: Frankenburger’s monster
After an opening bet of 43,000 from Jonas Gutteck, Dennis Frankenburger moved all-in. Gutteck called and the field was about to shrink by one. A♥ K♣ for Gutteck, 8♦ 8♥ for Frankenburger.

The board ran Kâ™  2â™  K♦ 2♣ Jâ™  , the flop cutting Frankenburger down and sending him to the rail in 34th place. — SB.

7.30pm: Level up
We’re on a 15-minute break. Blinds will be 10,000-20,000 (2,000 ante) when the 34 runners come back. — SY

7.25pm: Another gone, only ten to go
Frank Schaefer has gone, leaving just 34 players still alive in EPT Berlin. A swift calculation, using all fingers on both hands, reveals we need to lose ten more players and the day is done.

On this one, the flop was showing 5â™  4â™  Aâ™  and Schaefer had bet 80,000. What he hadn’t counted on was Kevin MacPhee re-raising all-in. MacPhee had Schaefer covered, and the German tanked for a good few minutes before making a crying call. “I have an ace,” said MacPhee. “Oh” said Schaefer.

MacPhee: A♥ 9♠
Schaefer: 3♠ 3♦

The 6♣ turn opened opened up more outs for Schaefer, but the 5♥ river was not one of them. — SY

7.15pm: This sack is full of luck and skill
Kevin MacPhee is on a charge that’s helped him up to 1.38 million chips. First off he busted former French International footballer Vikash Dhorasso when he picked up pocket kings against his queens. Then he took a chunk out of Luca Falaschi when he turned trip sevens and got a value bet paid-off by the Italian. The Italian actually tried to min-raise on the river too but got his betting sizes mixed up. Just as well for him as 260,000 plays a lot better than 140,000 at this stage. –MC

7.10pm: Check-calling
The board was reading 9♣ Qâ™  6♣ 6♦ and Ilya Gorodetskiy out of his chair. He’d folded when Paul Thomas Otto had bet again on the flop, making it too rich for to carry on and instead he folded a red ace and a red king. Besides, he had bigger problems. He’d just managed to delete all of his notes from the previous level from his PDA and was busy pushing buttons trying to get them back.

What was left was a heads-up chess match between Otto and Iikka Tahkokallio who had been check-calling up to now, checking on the turn before Otto made it 160,000 to go. Again Tahkokallio called for a 4â™  river card. By now there was 600,000 in the middle now and a crowd had gathered.

Tahkokallio checked again. Otto wanted to know how much was in the pot, but was told by the dealer that he’d have to work that out himself. Calculating that seemed easy though compared to working out how much Otto himself actually had. His chips are stacked in fives, in a pyramid formation, reds to one side, yellows and blues on the other. It’s anyone’s guess, but there’s more than enough there to bet 300,000.

Tahkokallio thought for a while and called. Otto turned over A♦ Aâ™  . Tahkokallio could only nudge his cards to the muck. — SB

7pm: Squeeze me
Here are two examples of the “squeeze play” – with markedly different results. The first took a chunk from the stack of Vlad Zguba; the second eliminated Roland Reckeweg and put Marc Inizan right back in the mix.

Squeeze one: Jan Collado opened for 36,000 under-the-gun and Paul Otto called on the button. That’s the start of any good squeeze and doesn’t Vlad Zguba, in the small blind, know it. Zguba made it 100,000.

Collado folded, but Otto wasn’t so easily persuaded. He called, forcing them both to a 8♦ 9â™  3♥ flop. Zguba followed through, betting 100,000, but Otto meant business too, and called again.

The turn was Q♥ and after Zguba checked, Otto moved all in, which gave Zguba cause for consideration, before he found a fold. That was a squeeze gone awry.

Squeeze two: A few tables down, Marko Mikovic made it 40,000 from the cut off and Reckeweg called in the small blind. Here we have those two crucial ingredients of a squeeze pie again.

Inizan, in the big blind, accepted the invitation and made it 132,000 from the big blind. Mikovic folded but Reckeweg announced that he was all in, for 313,000 more. Inizan did some calculating, and seemed to figure that he had to call. Reckeweg might not originally have liked the call, but he certainly would have when the cards were on their backs:

Reckeweg: Q♣ 10♦
Inizan: 9♠ 8♦

A few railbird who hadn’t seen the preceding action found this to be extraordinary, but it all made sense in a weird kind of meta-game/mathematical way. As, I suppose, did the board of J♥ A♣ 9♣ 4♦ 9♥ which gave trips to Inizan, beating the better hand, and sending Reckeweg looking for the exit.

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Roland Reckeweg

Inizan now has more than a million. — HS

6.55pm: Andre adds to giant stack
Andre Einbrodt has been eliminated by Stefan Huber to put Huber’s stack up to 1,620,000. Huber raised and then snap-called Einbrodt’s all in push. Einbrodt tabled [a][j] but he’d run into Huber’s K♥ K♦ . The board offered no help and that was all for Einbrodt. –MC

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Stefan Huber

6.45pm: Ainsworth in freefall
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is now down to 400,000, with two hands doing significant damage to his once-huge stack. First he managed to double up Alfonso Amendola. The Italian had made it 38,000 pre-flop and Ainsworth, believing he could make him put down his hand, moved all-in. Amendola thought for a moment or so before making the call.

Ainsworth: A♥ 4♦
Amendola: A♦ K♣

No dramas came on the 6♠ 3♣ 10♦ Q♥ J♥ board and Amendola doubled up to 820,000.

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The Ainsworth hand from above

Soon after, Ainsworth got involved again, this time with Christophe Gross. There was already 200,000 in the middle and on the 8â™  10♣ 9♥ flop Ainsworth made it 72,000 and Gross called. Ainsworth then checked the 5♥ turn and folded when Gross put out 123,000. — SY

6.40pm: Nothing specific
Eike Seidel opened for 36,000 pre-flop which Christophe Gross re-raised to 84,000 from the button. No use being reckless, Seidel folded.

Luca Falaschi moved all-in, twice, getting no takers either time.

On a flop of A♣ 9♥ K♣ Roland Reckeweg bet big, 250,000. Marc Inizan was on his left and moved all in, sending Reckeweg into the tank for several minutes. It took him a while but he folded.

6.30pm: Jorgensen extends lead
Amir Tassoudji is out, yet another victim of the seemingly unstoppable train that is Theo Jorgensen. Tassoudji raised to 36,000 from early position and Jorgensen called from the big blind. The flop was K♦ 6♦ A♥ – then it kicked off. Tassoudji made it 56,000, Jorgensen re-raised to 112,000, Tassoudji moved all in for around 330,000 more – call.

“You have a set?” asked Tassoudji.
“Yes,” replied Jorgensen

Tassoudji: A♣ 10♠
Jorgensen: 6♣ 6♥

The 2♣ turn and the 3♦ river changed nothing, and Jorgensen raked in another tidy profit. — SY

6.20pm: Nathwani thaws Thew
Julian Thew is out, sorry to say, although he provided a story right to the last. He open shoved for 240,000 with 10♦ 8♦ but ran headlong into Ketul Nathwani’s aces.

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Ketul Nathwani

Thew has remarkable resilience though and this flop was one for the Thew purists: 10♥ 8â™  9♦ . That’s an aces-cracking board for the Team PokerStars Pro, but the pendulum swung back to Nathwani with the A♥ turn. The 5♥ river was irrelevant. — HS

6.10pm: We’re back
No news on whether or not there will be a dinner break today but we play on into level 21 regardless. Just 45 players remain and we play on tonight until a further 21 have been eliminated. Check out the latest finisher on the payout page while the current scores are available on the chip count page.

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Alfonso Amendola

PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of where they believe Alfonso Amendola will finish EPT Berlin): Marc Convey (ninth), Simon Young (21st), Stephen Bartley (26th), Howard Swains (32nd).

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