Updates from day 3, level 15 of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc “The Conv” Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.
Latest selected chip counts are on the chip count page. The EPT tournament structure can be found on the EPT tournament structure page. Full details of the payout structure and prizewinners is on the payout structure and prizewinners page.
Blinds:
Level 15: 2,000-4,000 (400 ante)
1.35pm: End of the level
On a board reading: 5♦ 6♣ A♦ 6♥ K♣ , and with more than 100,000 in the pot, Andrej Nagy from Slovakia had bet another 100,000 leaving Evgeniy Zaytsev with a decision. It was a big one, one that would involve almost everything he had. He pulled a series of faces, squirming as the break began. Zaytsev folded. Nagy showed him the 6♦ before heading off for a colour up break.
1.32pm: Car-Bone!
Michele Carbone, he of “Yes! Yes! Yes!” fame, opened for 16,600 on the button. Sitting and waiting was Antony Lellouche on the big blind who moved all-in for around 130,000. He sat and waited, eventually saying to Carbone that it was okay to fold now. The Italian obliged, showing Aâ™ .
1.31pm: De Korver Calo
On a flop of 4♠Q♠7♠Frank Calo, a PokerStars qualifier from the United States, bet 14,500 which Pieter de Korver called from the big blind. The turn, a 7♦ . De Korver made it 35,000 which Calo called for a 8♦ river card. Now De Korver put 10,000 in front of him. Calo called, De Korver showed 7♥ 3♥ to take the pot.
1.30pm: Fold – and a lucky escape
Sebastien Boyard makes it 12,000 and only Marcin Horecki calls. They see a 8♠7♠2♦ flop, and both check. On the 2♠turn Boyard bets out 16,000, called by Horecki. The Q♦ river saw Boyard put out 22,000, and that sent Horecki into the tank. Wearing his reflective glasses, he dwelled a good while before making what looked like a reluctant call. Boyard had him crushed, with his Q♥ Q♣ making a rivered full house.
At this point Peter Zamiska revealed he had folded Aâ™ 5â™ pre flop, which would have got him in all sorts of trouble on that board.
1.25pm: How to deal with limpers
Joao Gilherme Monte Studart limped for 4,000, called in two spots by Stefan Mattsson and PokerStars player Toby Lewis on the button. But then Jiri Holik put a stop it all by raising it up to 35,000 from the small blind, sending the three of them running to the hills.
“You were meant to call – then we could all see a nice flop,” Lewis said.
1.20pm: The eyes don’t have it
Manuel Bevand is re-raised by Voitto Rintala, the long-haired Finn who sports cat-like contact lenses. But Bevand responds with a huge tower of yellow chips – around 175,000 – that is more than enough to put Rintala all in. He does not like that, and gives Bevand the alarming staredown.
“Don’t look at me with those eyes,” Bevand says. Rintala continues with the feline-style inquisition. “OK, now I have to look away,” added Bevand.
Rintala decides to give it up, and Bevand shows him A♦ K♠to confirm the Finn, who had around 90,000 behind, probably made a good fold .
1.15pm: Pained decision
Henrik Sorensen raised from under-the-gun and it was folded all the way around to Priyan de Mel who three-bet another 24,500.
“This is the first hand I’ve raised today” commented the Dane. “Will you show if I fold?” he continued.
“No” was the short and quick response from the Brit.
Sorensen called anyway to see the 3♣ 2â™ 6♣ flop where he faced a 35,000 bet. He then went back into pained decision mode and kept shaking his head. After a couple of minutes his neck must’ve got tired as he folded. De Mel slipped the cards towards Sorensen who flipped over his opponent’s Aâ™ A♦ .
“I folded queens” claimed the Dane. A couple of tablemates congratulated him on his fold while some looked on disbelievingly. I know which tablemates I agree with.
1.10pm: To the flop!
Nothing much is getting past a flop on the Team PokerStars Pro table. Marcin Horecki opened for 9,200. No takers. Then Luca Pagano tried the same, opening for 11,000 in late position: no takers. Then Arnaud Mattern made it 11,500 from under the gun. Nope, nothing. Getting in on the racket was Antonin Teisseire. The big Frenchman opened for 11,500 but the last man Mattern folded his three-four. Teisseire showed one ace, then another, making a growling noise.
1.05pm: De Mel doubles
Priyan de Mel from the UK doubled up through Adam Markovits from Hungary. De Mel had bet out, but Markovits re-raised by another 17,500 – call. On the K♦ 4♥ 3♣ flop, Markovits was first to act.
“I have around 60,000 behind,” offered De Mel by way of encouragement. Markovits obliged with a 30,000 bet, De Mel moved all in, call.
De Mel: K♥ Q♥
Markovits: J♣ Jâ™
De Mel was ahead, and the Aâ™ turn and 4â™ river ensured there was no late drama. He’s up to 160,000 now.
1pm: More for Mattern
Arnaud Mattern continues his climb. On a board of J♣ Q♦ 6♦ A♥ 7♦ he bet out 35,000 and was called by Mikko Turtiainen. But it ended badly for the man from Finland when Mattern turned over A♠J♠.
This will be an interesting table today, with potential for Team PokerStars Pro drama. As well as Mattern, Luca Pagano and Marcin Horecki also share the same felt.
12.55pm: Semisoshenko busts Boubli
Jan Boubli has hit the rail, running his A-9 all-in pre-flop into Maksim Semisoshenko’s pocket aces. There’s generally no coming back from that.
12.50pm: Raise, raise, raise, all-in, fold
Henri Kasper leads out with 13,000 on the button. Lurking in the small blind is Alexey Veller, who makes it 21,000. Kasper reaches for more chips – and makes it 45,000. The battle of nerves is settled when Veller moves all in for around another 100,000 – too much for Kasper who lets it go.
12.48pm: Team-foes
The table draw for day three threw up a Team PokerStars Pro Battle Royale on table six. Marcin Horecki, Arnaud Mattern and Luca Pagano are all there – but the spirit of competition will be fierce. They’re team mates, but bragging rights are far more important than any soft play.
12.45pm: French Battles
It was a raised pot pre flop before the dealer delivered 2♠Q♦ K♣ . Nicolas Levi was the pre-flop aggressor and continued with a 14,500 bet that fellow Frenchman Guillaume Darcourt raised to 34,500. Levi was having none of it and put in another raise that did the trick as Darcourt folded.
Meanwhile Manuel Bevand was busy eliminating Vadim Kholomeev on a neighboring table. It was all in pre flop with Bevand holding pocket aces to the Russian’s king-queen
12.42pm: 90 players left
“ADHD”, said Marcin Horecki, out of his chair and pacing up and down. “I can’t sit.”
12.40pm: Yes!
An all-in and a call on table 11. Michele Carbone just doubled up with Jâ™ 10♥ against the A♣ K♦ of Vadim Kholomeev, a double up worth 53,300 to the Italian. The board came: 10â™ 7â™ 2â™ 8♣ 9♣ . Carbone yelled “Yes! Yes! Yes!” with typical understatement and began texting immediately.
12.37pm: Call or fold
Tero Huttula made it 11,000 from the cut off which Kristoffe Edberg raised to 29,000 from the big blind. Huttula then raised again, 71,000 in total which prompted Edberg to start think seriously, riffling furiously with his right hand, still bearing the ink entry stamp of a nightclub. He’s thinking clearly today though and folded.
12.35pm: Arnaud up
Arnaud Mattern is up to 260,000 after catching a flush on the river. Nicolas Levi just moved all-in behind a a re-raise but got no further action.
12.30pm: Jude Ainsworth eliminated
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth had looked comfortable for the past few days, and started today with a healthy 145,000. But now he’s out. On a K-9-5 two-club flop he got it all in with 7-8 of clubs for a flush draw and gutshot straight draw. But the rainbow 8 turn and ace on the river meant he was never able to catch George Secara’s pocket queens.
12.25pm: Another man down!
We’ve now lost Mark Dalimore from the UK. According to Toby Lewis, who is sitting at the table, on a Q-4-2 flop Dalimore was check-raised all-in by PokerStars player Bastian Trachte from Germany. Dalimore had 9-4 suited, but Trachte had him crushed with Q-Q.
12.20pm: Boy runs good
Yann Brosolo ran good to take a chip lead coming into today and he’s started today in a similar manner by cracking Kimmo Kurko’s pocket aces to eliminate him. It was folded around to the Frenchman is the small blind who raised and then called the three-bet from Kurko. After the flop came 2♣ 7♣ 9♥ Brosolo check-raised the Fin all-in. Kurko called with his A♥ A♦ and saw he was up against a draw – J♣ 6♣ for his opponent. Instant service for Brosolo as the turn came 5♣ to complete the flush. He’s now up to 680,000.
12.10pm: Naujoks knocked out
Sandra Naujoks is out, raising, getting re-raised before moving all in with 10♦ 10♥ against the A♥ A♣ of Bruno Launais. The flop was good but the turn was bad: 10♠6♠5♣ A♠J♥ . Naujoks surprise elimination before the money.
12pm: For openers
Arnaud Mattern opens in the first hand of the day, making it 10,500 getting no takers. It’s not long before the action bursts into life elsewhere. After Jude Ainsworth opened for 18,000, Nicolas Levi moved all-in for a chunk of chips. Ainsworth asked for a count. It was 84,600 which Ainsworth covered, but defeat would leave him with just 30k. The Irishman asked Levi something about his thinking, trying to work out his reasons, but Levi said simply: “I don’t think… I need chips.” Ainsworth didn’t like it but folded anyway.
11.45am: Morning all
It may only be morning for another 15 minutes, but no matter – after that we have a full afternoon and likely most of the evening to enjoy the action from Prague.
It’s going to be fast. It’s going to be furious. It’s going to be a long day.
To get you in the mood, here is a picture of Team PokerStars Pro Pieter de Korver, who starts the day third in chips with 465,800. That’s a lot of chips. The full seat draw for today is here.
