Alberto Fiorilla opened from middle position for 1,100 and faced a raise from the small blind to 2,675 by Somar Al-Darwich when the big blind got out of the way. Fiorilla didn’t have much more than 12,000 behind and there was some confusion when he took back his first bet and placed out a blue T5000 chip. It was eventually resolved as a call and they saw a flop of . Check from Al-Darwich and a bet of 2,900 from Fiorilla prompted a shake of the head and a fold from Al-Darwich.
On the same table, the next hand developed soon after. Dmitrijs Meless from Latvia opened for 1,200 and found a defender in the big blind, Ryan Spittles from England. Heads up to a flop of Spittles check called a bet of 1,300 from Meless. Turn card was . Spittles checked again and Meles asked to see his opponents stack which was about 12,000. Meless plumped for a bet of 3,100 but quickly folded when Spittles shoved the lot in the middle.
We noticed that Paul Berende was no longer occupying his seat. A quick check with a poker media colleague revealed that he had recently been eliminated.
According to him, a player had raised and Berende defended from the big blind by flatting with the . The flop saw a raising war break out that resulted in Berende getting his last 10,000 or so in the pot. Berende was ahead with his pocket rockets, but his opponent held the for an open-ended straight draw.
The turn was of no consequence, but the river was. The straight came in and Berende was sent straight out the door.
We just ran into Dutch poker talent Thomas Brader and he has over 50,000 in front of him. Brader told us he got those new chips quite some time ago, well before the dinner break.
Brader had opened under-the-gun with pocket aces and saw his next door neighbor three bet him. Brader went with the four bet because, in his words, "his opponent would never fold in that spot anyway". The gentleman acted like Brader expected by calling. Brader went for a bet on the flop (), bet on the turn () and shove on the river (). His opponent called the flop and turn, but elected to fold his queens face up on the river.
Brader, who has a brother who's had more live results than Thomas himself by the way, finished third in a €2,000 Turbo Bounty side event during EPT Barcelona this season for €19,600. Brader shares a table with some other super stars: Manig Loeser, Nicolas Levi and Eugene Katchalov are also seated at table 24.
There are two EPT champions on the feature table in the shape of David Vamplew and ElkY and plenty more out in the main bosom of the field. One of those is Tom Middleton, he's now occupying the seat the Chris Moorman was in and not only has Luca Pagano to his immediate left, but Bryn Kenney has taken a seat to Pagano's left. As I was getting eyes on Middleton's stack (36,000) he was involved in a pot against Andrei Demidov
Middleton raised under the gun to 1,000 and picked up two callers including Demidov from the big blind. On the flop Middleton continuation bet 2,600 and Demidov was the only caller. On the turn Middleton fired again, this time for 6,500 and Demidov gave it up.
Elsewhere in the above starting stack camp we have: Martin Finger (44,675), Robin Ylitalo (61,000) and Mickey Petersen (41,400), whilst Ludovic Lacay (17,000) and Kevin MacPhee (24,700) have slipped below starting stack.
Valeri Savov, a PokerStars player from Bulgaria moved all-in on the river on a board showing and his sole opponent in the pot was deep in the tank. It was Jonathan Roy from Canada who had the decision to make. He had him covered but it would be a decent chunk of his stack and Savov’s shove was for 11,550 which was just over a pot sized bet. Whatever Roy cards were he didn’t call in the end and a gutsy move by Savov saw him survive with some additional chips.
The EPT team. Photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog,
Breaking records (and bladders?) with the PokerStars EPT team and Mr Daniel Negreanu. A record number of EPT tournament staff are working here in Prague, and they're being kept plenty busy in front of the cameras. Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
It went all rather quickly but one thing is for sure: Jamila Von Perger is no longer an active participant in the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Prague Main Event. She was already rather short and got her last chips in with . That third best starting hand in Hold'Em was second best in the showdown she had with her neighbor who tabled .
It was preflop all in and Von Perger was drawing very slim after the flop already: . The on the turn made her wait for just one more second before finally exiting after the hit the river anyway. Von Perger, who went deep in EPT Barcelona (23rd for €34,950), can cheer her boyfriend on if she wants to; Manig Loeser is still in the tournament.
There was a huge commotion on table 28 where a player had let out a celebratory cry that, by decibel level, suggested that he'd just won the Main Event.
He hadn't of course, but he had won a huge pot. When I scuttled over I saw Bernard Lattouf with in front of him and the board showing . The other player in the hand was Norbert Szecsi and he was shipping Lattouf 67,300. The Hungarian's cards were already face down, but the floor staff told me that Szecsi's hand was king-jack. He's back down to 29,000 after that wounder.
Pete Linton may not be one of the biggest names in the tournament here but he is a regular at many UK casinos and had a fantastic result at the ISPT Wembley Tournament in June, finishing 4th winning €375,000. He’s not afraid to get some chips in the middle and put opponents to the test when he thinks they will crack under pressure. In this hand he opened for 1,100 and faced a small three-bet from Manuel Bevand of France. The small blind called too so Linton threw in the chips. All three players checked a flop of and the dealer put out a turn . Small blind checked and well, Linton just hates to see an orphaned pot and his bet of 5,600 was enough for him to bring it towards his stack to look after.
. Check from Al-Darwich and a bet of 2,900 from Fiorilla prompted a shake of the head and a fold from Al-Darwich.
Spittles check called a bet of 1,300 from Meless. Turn card was 
. Spittles checked again and Meles asked to see his opponents stack which was about 12,000. Meless plumped for a bet of 3,100 but quickly folded when Spittles shoved the lot in the middle.
. The 
flop saw a raising war break out that resulted in Berende getting his last 10,000 or so in the pot. Berende was ahead with his pocket rockets, but his opponent held the 
for an open-ended straight draw.
river was. The straight came in and Berende was sent straight out the door.
), bet on the turn (
) and shove on the river (
). His opponent called the flop and turn, but elected to fold his queens face up on the river.
flop Middleton continuation bet 2,600 and Demidov was the only caller. On the 
and his sole opponent in the pot was deep in the tank. It was Jonathan Roy from Canada who had the decision to make. He had him covered but it would be a decent chunk of his stack and Savov’s shove was for 11,550 which was just over a pot sized bet. Whatever Roy cards were he didn’t call in the end and a gutsy move by Savov saw him survive with some additional chips.
.
on the turn made her wait for just one more second before finally exiting after the 
. Small blind checked and well, Linton just hates to see an orphaned pot and his bet of 5,600 was enough for him to bring it towards his stack to look after.