Friday, 29th March 2024 08:52
Home / Uncategorized / EPT8 San Remo: Day 4, level 22 & 23 updates (10,000-20,000, 2,000)
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9.12pm: Chips!
The final chip counts are in for the day – they can be found by clicking here.

8.56pm: Play ends for the day
The final 24 players are bagging up for the day, all of whom are now guaranteed at least €19,000. A full wrap of the action and comprehensive chip counts to come shortly. — RD

8.53pm: Drobyna takes a dive
It’s a late rally from Jon Spinks who takes a second scalp on the bounce to bring an eventful day’s play to an end. Denys Drobyna had [a][6] against Spinks’ [q][t] but failed to survive. Spinks up to around 900,000 we estimate. Full counts to come. — RD

8.50pm: We’ve lost Loth
Richard Loth called all-in for his last 200,000 after John Spinks shoved on him from the small blind into his big blind. Spinks showed a ragged 9â™  3â™  to Loth’s [k][t] offsuit. Spinks flopped middle pair and turned two pair to send Loth to the rail in 26th. Just one more player to go before we stop for the night. — RD

8.45pm: Boatman recovers with a double
We reached the table as Barny Boatman was pulling towers of yellow T5,000 chips after doubling up through his neighbour Eli Bohbot. Apparently the chips went in on a 4♦ J♦ Q♠ flop.

Boatman held Q♦ Q♣ for top set and his opponent had pocket aces. The board ran out 6♦ 3â™  . Boatman is up to 1,200,000 and Bohbot is down to less than 200,000. — MC

8.38pm: Boatman bottles the river
Okay, saying he ‘bottled’ the river may be harsh, but it does roll off the tongue nicely.

Daniel Neilson opened the hijack to 42,000 and was called by Barny Boatman in the cut-off. Neilson c-bet 65,000 into the 5♠ 4♠ 8♦ flop and a further 150,000 into the 3♣ turn. Boatman called both.

The Jâ™  hit the river and Neilson dug out a final 140,000 and Boatman passed after no little amount of thought. He’s left with around 575,000.

In the meantime Giacomo Fundaro was getting busted out by Yorane Kerignard who joins the million club. Two more players to go before players bag up for the night. — RD

8.35pm: Saieva close to tears as MacPhee busts him
Maurizio Saieva jumped from the table (almost knocking me over in the process) and almost fell to the floor as the emotions caused by his elimination sunk into every cell in his body. He steadied himself and asked/pleaded in Italian/English, “How can he call? Ace-nine; how can he? How can he?” His then rushed off with his hands in head, legs still wobbling. A while later there was a commotion on the balcony outside and Saieva might well have been involved.

The hand started with a cut-off raise to 40,000 before Saieva shoved for 393,000 from the button. The decision was back on MacPhee and he separated the calling chips from his stack and steadied himself as he was about to call. Then he stopped and sat back in his seat. Saieva saw this and said, “I’m off” as he left the table. This seemed to help MacPhee to make a decision as he slid the chips over the line.

MacPhee: A♥ 9♥
Saieva: J♣ J♠

The board ran 3♥ Aâ™  2♦ 3♦ 6♥ to pair MacPhee’s ace. He’s up to about 1,400,000 chips now. — MC

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Maurizio Saieva: emotional

8.20pm: Boatman gets his break
Barny Boatman has got his break and he’s up to 800,000 after knocking out Etienne Archambeaud and doubling through Elio Fox at the same time.

Boatman opened to 52,000 and was three-bet by Fox to 90,000. Archambeaud moved all-in over the top for 140,000 and Boatman jammed for 312,000. Fox, somewhat reluctantly, made the call.

Archambeaud: A♦ 4♣
Fox: K♠ Q♥
Boatman: 10♣ 10♠

The board ran out 2â™  4♦ 8♦ 6â™  10♥ to send Archambeaud to the rail and dent Fox’s tournament comeback. — RD

8.15pm: Monster pot of the tournament eliminates Cheong
Christopher McClung is now up more than 3,500,000 chips after he was caught making a move against Joseph Cheong and got lucky to scoop.

The pot opened with a Mustapha Kanit raise to 41,000 and a McClung three-bet to 104,000. Cheong was in the cut-off and put in a cold four-bet to 220,000. This was enough to force out Kanit but not McClung who moved all-in after getting a count of his opponent’s stack. Cheong had about a million and snap-called.

McClung: Q♥ 7♥
Cheong: K♠ K♦

The board ran 4♥ J♥ 2♣ K♥ 9â™  make the Canadian a flush. It’s the sort of move Choeng would be proud of but it’ll be hard to swallow being on the other end of it. Johnny Lodden said he folded A♥ 3♥ as well.– MC

8.10pm: Archambeaud’s turn to treble
Etienne Archambeaud isn’t making many friends here. After that hand which caused the tournament pause he accused Elio Fox of angle-shooting on the first hand back.

“Why do you think I wanted a call?” responded Fox testily, who had shoved with 10â™  8â™  on that hand, obviously looking just to take the blinds.

“Maybe you just knew you were gonna get there,” joked Daniel Neilson breaking the tension.

Archambeaud held on for two hands before getting his 47,000 in over Jon Spinks’ 42,000 open. Barny Boatman made the call from the big blind and led 50,000 into the 3♥ 6♥ 7â™  flop and Spinks mucked.

Boatman: Q♦ 3♦
Archambeaud: Q♥ 10♠

Archambeaud was in real trouble but the A♥ turn brought him a lot of outs, one of which, the 10♣ , hit the turn. Archambeaud slapped the table and Boatman, sucked out on once again, looked far from happy. Boatman continued to glare at the Frenchman as he muttered under his breath something about getting chips. Boatman down to 350,000. — RD

8pm: The post-mortem
With the question of “what happens next” still up in the air, a rulebook was produced detailing the procedure for “Accepted Action”. This declares that Fox’s all-in for 208,000, as announced by the dealer, stood as that, despite Fox actually having 248,000. Fox could not benefit, it was declared, which Frenchman Etienne Archambeaud suddenly thought was a brilliant idea and readily agreed. If the dealer said it was 208,000 it stood as that, even if it was quite plainly 248,000.

“But they went all in,” said someone, pointing to Archambeaud and Richard Loth.

“If I’d lost the hand, would I still be in?” asked Elio Fox. No came the reply, which sparked off calls of disbelief. “Are you kidding me?” asked Fox.

The rule was then produced and read by Barny Boatman, who then said: “This rule only applies to a calling player,” he said. Fox had not called and the two all ins had been behind his action.

Now Fox read the rules as Archambeaud emphasised that he had moved in based on the 208,000 and suggesting that had he known it was 248,000 he would not have done so.

Confusion reigned for some time after this as the decision was made to check the cameras – a decision of this magnitude, with such an art to play in someone’s tournament life, had to be correct.

More minutes passed as officials and casino staff disappeared to look at the footage. We all waited and then they returned.

“The pot is correct,” said Neil Johnson. The chips were as they should have been after all.

We play on. – SB

7.50pm: Play continues
Cards are in the air again. A brief(ish) resume of the last few minutes to follow shortly. — SB

LEVEL UP: BLINDS 10,000-20,000, 2,000

7.35pm: Extended break
The break has been extended as tournament staff and players try to work out what has gone on with that hand below. — RD

7pm: Fox trebles in calamitous turn of events
The action folded to Elio Fox on the button and he moved all-in. Etienne Archambeaud asked for a count: 208,000 he was told. The Frenchman moved all-in from the small blind.

That left just the big blind, Richard Loth, who tapped his cards and looked down. He stuck his tongue out. What does that mean? It means call, it seems.

Loth: A♣ K♣
Fox: 10â™  8â™ 
Archambeaud: A♥ 8♦

The board ran out 7♥ Q♦ 6♥ 4â™  10♥ to give Fox a miracle treble up. Then a two-fold dealer error. As the chips and side pot were being worked out it transpired that Fox had 248,000, 40,000 more than had been counted. Maybe this threw the dealer, maybe not. Either way Daniel Neilson, Barny Boatman and Jon Spinks – the last two of which had just sat at the table – were trying to stop the dealer from moving chips. Something, and no-one seemed able to put a finger on it, had gone wrong. Too much had been paid from Loth’s stack? Possibly.

When the chips had been cleared Fox was left with 750,000, Loth a little over 200,000 and Archambeaud about 40,000, which just so happened to be the difference between the dealer’s initial and secondary count of Fox’s stack. As we left the area and the break began floor staff were still in discussion. This may take some time to be resolved but it did seem like
Loth had covered Archambeaud yet the Frenchman is still in.

We’d also like to point out that the standard of dealing is usually exemplary but mistakes will always happen. — RD

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Jon Spinks trying to explain events to the TD

6.55pm: Lodden the happiest as the break comes
Johnny Lodden is a happy bunny heading off for his break as he doubled up in the last hand.

He opened to 35,000 before Joseph Cheong three-bet to 80,000. Andreas Samuelsson was in the big blind and put in a four-bet to 185,000. Cheong folded after Lodden moved all-in for 542,000 but Samuelsson called to create a huge showdown.

Lodden: K♣ K♥
Samuelsson: A♥ K♠

The board ran K♦ 8♦ 8♥ 6♥ A♣ to make the Team PokerStars Pro a full house. Cheong said after the hand that he folded an eight. — MC

6.50pm: Bohbot’s sure he’s won this time
Eli Bohbo was just involved in another pre-flop all-in and after the hand was finished he was sure he had won this time, and ran off clapping again.

The action folded around to Robert Cezarescu on the button and he open shoved for 240,000. Happy clapper was in the small blind and shoved as well. The big blind folded and the cards were turned over.

Cezarescu: A♣ 8♣
Bohbo: K♣ K♦

The board ran 2â™  7♥ 8â™  J♣ 9â™  to see the kings hold. Only one more table to lose before today ends. — MC

6.40pm: Time on Tikhonov
Jon Spinks has only called time on players five times in his career, so he’s just told us, and three of those have been today. The serial tanker? One Sergey Tikhonov. The Russian has been tanking pre-flop and post-flop and his table isn’t enjoying his reluctance to play.

Tikhonov had led 30,000 into a 10♣ K♦ Q♠ and Daniele Vesco moved all-in for 410,000, more than covering his remaining 200,000.

“Time,” called Vesco.

The floorman told Tikhonov that the 60 second clock was ticking. The Russian sat back and stared at Vesco. He continued to bore holes even when the ten second countdown began and continued to stare when his cards were taken away. There’s a €2,000 pay jump about to take place but is Tikhonov doing himself more harm than good? Time will tell. — RD

6.35pm: Take your seats
Eli Bohbot opened for 33,000 from the cut off, which Etienne Archambeaud raised to 90,000 from the small blind. Bohbot then made it 160,000. In reply Archambeaud moved all-in for 578,000 total. After a moment to compose himself Bohbot, who had 360,000 behind, called.

Bohbot: A♦ K♣
Archambeaud: 10♥ 10♠

The board of 6♣ 4♣ 3♥ 2â™  5♣ wasn’t the dramatic bit. The response of the two players was the dramatic bit. Or should that be melodramatic?

As Bohbot said “YES!” running away from the table clapping, Archambeaud said “NO WAY!”, jolting back in his chair. Someone had to say to Bohbot that it was a split pot.
It took a second for it to register. “But it’s good,” said Archambeaud with a smile.

Back to square one. – SB

6.20pm: Boatman stays afloat
Barny Boatman opened for 34,000 in middle position which was then raised to 75,000 by Sergey Tikhonov one seat along in the cut off. The action was folded through the button and blinds landing back on Boatman who waited a second before moving all-in for 230,000 total. Tikhonov took a cursory look at his cards before folding. Boatman up to around 350,000. – SB

6.15pm: Isaia large, MacPhee lying in wait
Alessio Isaia is up to 2,200,000 and appears to be leveraging his big stack to exert maximum pressure in the shorter stacks. I’ve twice seen him three-bet shorter stacks but that could be a dangerous game with Kevin MacPhee sat on his direct left. The EPT Berlin champ has approximately 900,000 and is unlikely to make many mistakes at this stage in the game. Apart from those two goliaths it’s a table of relative short stacks. — RD

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Vanessa Selbst

6.10pm: Salzano loses race to bust
Salvatore Salzano found a great spot to get his chips in but he couldn’t win the race to survive.

Andreas Samuelsson raised to 35,000 from early position and was flat called by Christopher McClung before Salzano moved all-in from the small blind for 248,000. The Swede folded but McClung called after getting a count.

McClung : 7♠ 7♣
Samuelsson: A♣ K♠

The board ran Q♥ 8♦ 5â™  4♥ 5♥ to miss the big slick of the Italian. McClung up to around 1,750,000 chips. — MC

6pm: Sugar-rush poker
Maurizio Saieva tore off the top of a packet of sugar, tipped the contents down his throat and then dropped the empty sachet on the wooden floor. Then he said “I’m all in,” on the small blind, forcing the big blind to fold.

In the next hand Angelo Tarallo was the one moving all-in. Rocco Palumbo called immediately, turning over A♥ 7♥ to Tarallo’s Q♣ 5♥ .

The board came 6â™  4♣ 8♦ 10â™  4♥ to double up Palumbo. – SB

5.52pm: 800,000 flip, Williamsson exits
Christopher Williamsson three-bet Andrey Pateichuk up to 101,000 and slowly, perhaps even begrudgingly, called the Russian’s shove.

Pateichuk: A♣ J♦
Williamsson: 8♦ 8♣

The K♣ 7♦ 6♥ flop was clear for the Swede, as was the Kâ™  turn but the Jâ™  river provided a knockout blow. Pateichuk now up to 1,150,000. We have 37 players left, play stops at 24 remaining. — RD

5.42pm: Selbst was a non-believer, busts
Another Team PokerStars Pro has been eliminated. Just as the last break started Vanessa Selbst followed John Duthie out into the rain after all her chips went to Alessio Isaia.

Isaia opened to 26,000 from under the gun and called when Selbst three-bet to 62,000 from the small blind. He called and also called a 48,000 c-bet on a J♠ 2♥ 4♦ flop. The turn came Q♦ and Selbst led again, for 128,000. There was no call from Isaia as he raised to 300,000. Selbst only had 350,000 back and tanked before moving all-in. Her opponent called off the extra 50,000.

She opened A♣ K♣ and needed help on the river as Isaia tabled Q♥ J♥ for top two-pair. The 9â™  river was no help and Selbst went off for a longer break that the one just passed. — MC

5.40pm: Play continues
Play resumes into level 22 with blinds at 8,000-16,000 with a 2,000 ante. We’re down to 40 players and we play on until just 24 remain.

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Alessio Isaia

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

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