Jorma Nuutinen and Franck Makaci were tangling over a fairly juicy pot. There looked to be around 9,000 in the middle and they had got to the river of a board reading .
Nuutinen had a bet of 4,500 in front of him and Makaci was agonising over his decision, telling Nuutinen that he wasn’t a bluffer and implying he had a real hand. A minute ticked by before Makaci released his hand telling the Finn, “Alright, you win.” If he was hoping to see some cards to relieve the mental torture he was right out of luck as the pot was pushed to Nuutinen and his cards remained a mystery.
When there's been a lot of action in a hand and someone turns over trips, you might say you run into a big hand. When you're calling bets and someone turns over that same trips, you might call it slowly walking into it. Such was the case for EPT London champ David Vamplew just now.
David Vamplew opened for 400 from early position. The player on the button thought for a bit before calling, the big blind came along as well.
The three of them checked on and the dealer did his duty burning and turning: . The big blind bet out 600 and both Vamplew and the button made the call.
The completed the board and the big blind tossed in a 1,000 and 500 chip. Vamplew made the call and so did the button.
The big blind showed for rivered trips and Vamplew and the button mucked.
Dmitry Yurasov opened the action from the button for 400 and Ghassan El-Hoss in the small blind and big blind Dimitar Danchev decided to stick around.
The flop of saw no action but on the turn card it was checked to Yurasov who bet 775. A fold from El-Hoss but Danchev threw out the call.
The river was the and a final check from Danchev saw a bet of 1,575 from Yurasov. Danchev mulled it over and gave his opponent a quick look but the inscrutable Yuraov waited patiently before his bet did the trick and he collected the pot.
Leonid Markin, who won EPT Prague's €50,000 High Roller for €771,360 last December, is playing today and is off to a reasonable start. He's up from the 30,000 starting stack, let's keep it that.
He was just seen checking a flop after having opened under-the-gun. The big blind had already checked, and Markin's other opponent behind him checked as well.
The on the turn was for free and the big blind tossed in 400 in chips. Markin glanced over to the third player involved before calling. Markin's left hand neighbor folded and Markin and the big blind saw a river.
The made for two pair and an ace on the board, and the big blind bet out 375. Markin made the call without having to give it too much thoughts.
The big blind showed for not much of anything, Markin tabled and received the chips in the pot.
Ognyan Dimov and Pascal Aznar: At it first hand (photo: Neil Stoddart)
Most players hadn’t even taken their seats at EPT Deauville when Ognyan Dimov picked up aces on the very first hand of the day. He raised, was re-raised, and then what happened? PokerStars Blog watched every players dream (or nightmare) play out and you can read it right here.
Dominik Panka had been biding his time since he sat down but he found a hand he liked under the gun and opened for 300. His bet saw a succession of folds until it got to the player in the small blind who three-bet to 725. Panka made the call and it was heads up.
The dealer spread a flop of and Panka called a bet of 500. The turn card saw no action but on the river the player in the small blind threw out 700. It didn’t take long before Panka called and it took less time for his cards to hit the muck when he was shown the .
Giuseppe Zarbo and Erich Tedeschi took a flop of in a raised pot. Zarbo was first to act and he fired out a bet of 875. Tedeschi quickly called from the button to see the turn.
The dealer put out the on fourth street and Zarbo slowed with a check. Tedeschi knocked the table back, allowing the to complete the board. Zarbo reached for chips, moved out 1,500, and instantly found a call from Tedeschi.
Zarbo rolled over for a flopped top pair of aces. Tedeschi took one look at his opponent's cards before flinging his own to the muck. Zarbo pulled the pot and now has about 35,000 in chips.
Eugene Katchalov has recently sat down as the number of player steadily increases, now up to 162 entrants, no doubt looking to finish one place higher this time around.
The Team PokersStars Pro came agonisingly close to the title here in Deauville last year, finishing second for €379,500.
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and the dealer did his duty burning and turning: 
. The big blind bet out 600 and both Vamplew and the button made the call.
completed the board and the big blind tossed in a 1,000 and 500 chip. Vamplew made the call and so did the button.
for rivered trips and Vamplew and the button mucked.
saw no action but on the turn card 
it was checked to Yurasov who bet 775. A fold from El-Hoss but Danchev threw out the call.
on the turn was for free and the big blind tossed in 400 in chips. Markin glanced over to the third player involved before calling. Markin's left hand neighbor folded and Markin and the big blind saw a river.
made for two pair and an ace on the board, and the big blind bet out 375. Markin made the call without having to give it too much thoughts.
saw no action but on the river 
the player in the small blind threw out 700. It didn’t take long before Panka called and it took less time for his cards to hit the muck when he was shown the 
.
on fourth street and Zarbo slowed with a check. Tedeschi knocked the table back, allowing the 
to complete the board. Zarbo reached for chips, moved out 1,500, and instantly found a call from Tedeschi.
