Team PokerStars Pro Eugene Katchalov has just been eliminated in a three-way all-in clash of premium hands. Katchalov had pocket kings up against the pocket aces for Max Greenwood and the ace-king of Dainius Ulke. The action was raised by Greenwood to open the pot from early position, a shove from the short-stacked Katchalov in the small blind, and isolation raise from Ulke in the big blind, then a reshove from Greenwood and a call from Ulke.
Greenwood's aces held up, and he won the massive pot to move to 160,000 in chips. Ulke was knocked back to about 30,000, and Katchalov was eliminated.
Paul Vas Nunes. Photo courtesy of the PokerStars Blog.
Prior to Season 10 of the EPT kicking off in Barcelona, the Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) was in town as part of the stop’s poker festival. The ESPT €1,000 Main Event ended up setting records after attracting an astounding 1,798 player – making it the biggest 1K event ever held outside Las Vegas.
The field was littered with notables, but only a few managed to make it through to the final table including British PokerStars qualifier Paul Nunes, who held a massive chip lead with 14,475,000 (more than twice as much as his next closest competitor); and Brazil’s Marcelo Fonseca, an LAPT Uruguay champion who was the Day 2 chip leader.
Both of those players made it to four-handed play, which saw Nunes lock up the biggest guaranteed payday.
"Four-handed. I'd just sucked out and knocked out the short stack out in fifth so had the most amount of chips... I felt I was the better player left but reduced variance and the deal was fairly good, I think," Nunes told the PokerStars Blog.
With a deal in place, the four players battled it out for the title. Fonseca was the first to drop from the foursome, taking home €121,000, and then Germany’s Alin Sameeian followed him out the door in third place for €158,457.
That set up a heads-up battle between Nunes, who placed third in the 2012 World Series of Poker Event #41 $3,000 No Limit Hold’em for $290,407, and Germany’s Jahn Soenke, who had begun the day third in chips. The latter eventually walked away with the title and €169,136, but Nunes ended up the big winner with €204,589 in prize money.
Maksim Bura, a PokerStars player from Russia, opened under the gun for 18,000 and got calls from Krista Piippo, a PokerStars online qualifier, and Sebastien Naud. The blinds folded and they saw a flop of . Bura checked and Piippo led for 2,000. She was called by Naud but Bura then check raised to 6,000. Piippo get out of the way but Naud made the call. The turn card was the and Bura continued the story with a bet of 9,000. Naud was a believer and released his hand.
David Vamplew had a late night last night but he wasn’t partying. He finished third in the 2k Turbo for €35,000. With fewer than six hours sleep he said he’s feeling good and ready for the day ahead. He’s currently sitting on a stack of 28,900
Earlier this morning, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier arranged a boat ride for fellow Team Pros Live Boeree, Daniel Negreanu, and Jonathan Duhamel, along with a few other friends. Mercier made it back to play today on time, but he only had 18,000 in chips. That amount was relegated to zero thanks to PokerStars Team Online member Mickey Petersen, meaning Mercier will have a bit more time for boat rides the rest of the week.
On his elimination hand, action folded to Sergii Baranov, the man who finished runner-up to Phil Hellmuth in the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event, and he raised to 2,100. Mercier was in the next seat and moved all in. Right behind Mercier was Petersen, and he reshoved over the top. Every folded back to Baranov, and he also folded, leaving Mercier at risk with the against Petersen's .
The flop, turn, and river couldn't produce any help for Mercier as the board ran out , and he was eliminated. Petersen climbed to about 60,000 in chips.
On one of the outer tables flanking the main feature table you will find Kevin MacPhee, Philipp Gruissem, Jonas Hagström, Igor Kurganov, and Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel. On the first hand at the table, action folded to Gruissem on the button, and he raised to 1,800. Kurganov called from the big blind, and the flop came down . Both players checked.
The turn was the to pair the board, and both players checked again. Then, the completed the board on the river. Kurganov checked, and Gruissem fired 3,000. Kurganov called.
"Nuts!" exclaimed Gruissem with a smile, showing the . While it wasn't exactly the nuts, Kurganov mucked his hand, and Gruissem scooped the first pot of the day at the table.
Besides being a champion field hockey player and formidable force at the poker table, Fatima Moreira De Melo recently added the title of reality show winner to her list of accomplishments after winning a Dutch-Belgian version of Survivor, as she explained to Sarah Grant.
Three months later, Ruthenberg topped a field of 619 players – including a stacked final table containing Sam Chartier (7th - $253,908), Jason Mercier (6th - $324,946), Davidi Kitai (3rd - $455,000) and Fintan Gavin (2nd - €792,000) – to in the EPT Barcelona for $1,941,401.
Ruthenberg took a 5-1 chip lead into heads-up play and it took just three hands for him to capture the title. In the final hand, Gavin moved all in preflop with the and Ruthenberg called with the . The board ran out and Ruthenberg’s two pair emerged victorious.
Ruthenberg, who was born February 6, 1984 and studied IT at university, has $3,457,186 in career tournament earning, with nearly $2.4 million of that coming in 2008. Prior to that he won $100,836 and $441,672 in 2006 and 2007 respectively, and after two slow years from 2009-2010 where he earned a combined $81,650, he stormed back in 2011 and won $442,238, which included a 55th-place finish in the WSOP Main Event for $130,997 and runner-up in the EPT Berlin €10,000 No Limit Hold’em 8 Max for $163,668.
Ruthenberg’s success earned him a coveted spot as a Team PokerStars Pro and he continues to represent the site at stops around the world as well as on the virtual felt. Without a doubt, Ruthenberg is among the most accomplished and relevant of the former EPT Barcelona winner.
We're mere minutes away from kicking off the second day of play here at the EPT 10 Barcelona Main Event at the beautiful Casino Barcelona. Today, the fields from the two starting flights will combine into one. The biggest stack in the room belongs to Day 1a chip leader Dragan Kostic who will be bringing 215,000 to the felt. Right behind Kostic sits Day 1b chip leader Florian-Dimitrie Duta who has a stack of 187,000.
The two starting flights each played the first eight levels of the tournament, effectively trimming the field by a solid margin. That being said, the field still remains star studded as he head into the second day of play. Some of the returning big stacks and notable names include Shannon Shorr (121,500), Philipp Gruissem (119,700), Andrew Moreno (91,800) Scott Seiver (84,800), Jake Balsiger (79,800), Dani Stern (65,500), and Kevin Iacofano (58,800).
Team PokerStars will also have a strong showing heading into Day 2. With names like Ville Wahlbeck (128,600), Christophe De Meulder (111,500), Jan Heitmann (77,400), Vanessa Selbst (75,800), Liv Boeree (59,100), Angel Guillein (54,000), Luca Pagano (51,800) Marcel Luske (43,500), Jonathan Duhamel (24,200), and Jason Mercier (18,000) returning to the felt, we will truly be in for some exciting action.
Play kicks off soon here at the Casino Barcelona so be sure to stay tuned to all of our live updates for the latest action from the tournament floor!
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. Bura checked and Piippo led for 2,000. She was called by Naud but Bura then check raised to 6,000. Piippo get out of the way but Naud made the call. The turn card was the 
and Bura continued the story with a bet of 9,000. Naud was a believer and released his hand.
against Petersen's 
.
, and he was eliminated. Petersen climbed to about 60,000 in chips.
. Both players checked.
completed the board on the river. Kurganov checked, and Gruissem fired 3,000. Kurganov called.
and Ruthenberg called with the 
. The board ran out 
and Ruthenberg’s two pair emerged victorious.