This Week in Poker -- August 15-21

Check out CardPlayer.com every Friday for a weekly wrap-up of the news from the live poker tournament trail.

Card Player Player of the Year Update

1: Eric Baldwin — 4,588
2: Vitaly Lunkin — 4,337
3: Angel Guillen — 3,492
4: Cornel Cimpan — 3,450
5: Mike Leah — 3,137
6: Brock Parker — 3,132
7: Alexandre Gomes — 3,120
8: Jeffrey Lisandro — 3,018
9: Poorya Nazari — 3,000
10: Jude Ainsworth — 2,840

This Week in Poker

PokerStars EPT Kiev Main Event Day 2

Day 2 of the €5,000 no-limit hold’em main event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Kiev stop began with 203 players. Action was fast to start the day, as 40 players fell during the first level of play, and it never slowed down — just 68 players remained at day’s end. Lost along the way were Vitaly Lunkin, Faraz Jaka, Vadim Trincher, Dragan Galic, Nikolay Evdakov, Shaun Deeb, and Team PokerStars pros Alex Kravchenko (pictured right), Ivan Demidov, and Katja Thater.

The money bubble will bust when 40 players remain tomorrow, and those who survive will all walk away with at least €7,610. The eventual winner will walk away with €330,000. The schedule calls for play to last until 32 players remain on day 3, so it should be a short day in the Kiev Sports Palace.

Notable players still in contention include Liya Gerasimova, Arnaud Mattern, and “Miami” John Cernuto. Check back at the end of day 3 for another summary of the action from Ukraine.

Top 10 Chip Counts:

Vitaly Tolokonnika (Russia): 371,100
Maxim Lykov (Russia): 367,900
Jonas Kronwitter (Germany): 365,400
Kirill Boydachenko (Russia): 341,500
Michael Jurgen Meyburg (Germany): 289,300
David Aslanyan (Russia): 261,500
Eduard Dombovsky (Ukraine): 235,100
Viktor Ivanov (Russia): 235,000
Priit Turner (Estonia): 233,400
Vyacheslav Rotach (Russia): 231,000

Notable Chip Counts:

Liya Gerasimova: 180,400
John Cernuto: 44,700
Arnaud Mattern: 24,900

Notable Eliminations:

Vitaly Lunkin
Katja Thater
Ivan Demidov
Faraz Jaka
Vadim Trincher
Dragan Galic
Alex Kravchenko
Shaun Deeb
Nikolay Evdakov

Asian Poker Tour Main Event Begins

The $32,000 HKD ($4,400 USD) no-limit hold’em main event at the 2009 Asian Poker Tour stop in Macau will begin at noon local time on Thursday, Aug. 20. The main event will run for four days and will crown a champion on Sunday, Aug. 23. Players will begin with 10,000 in tournament chips in the main event, and the levels will be 60 minutes long. Blinds will begin at 25-50. There will be a 15-minute break after every two levels. Here is a look at the full schedule for the main event:

Thursday, Aug. 20: Day 1A
Friday, Aug. 21: Day 1B
Saturday, Aug. 22: Day 2
Sunday, Aug. 23: Final day

Many top professionals are expected to make an appearance at the event, including members of the Poker Pack, which includes J.C. Tran, Nam Le, Steve Sung, Quinn Do, and Chino Rheem. Rheem recently won a side event in Macau, taking home $64,200 HKD for his victory in event No. 4 ($1,150 HKD no-limit hold’em with rebuys and add-ons). Rheem was also a part of Team Korea, which won $406,060 HKD for their victory in event No. 9 ($64,000 HKD no-limit hold’em battle of the nations). Other side-event highlights include David Steicke winning $1,000,000 HKD for his victory over runner-up Nam Le in event No. 6 ($164,000 no-limit hold’em high-rollers event). Nine of the side events have crowned champions so far, and six remain on the schedule. Here is a list of the side-event winners, along with the events that have yet to be contested.

Side Event Winners

Event No. 1: Jingyi Zhu — $51,500 HKD
Event No. 2: Chow Kut Fu — $31,500 HKD
Event No. 3: Bryan Huang — $49,877 HKD
Event No. 4: Chino Rheem — $64,200 HKD
Event No. 5: Raymond Fu — $52,500 HKD
Event No. 6: David Steicke — $1,000,000 HKD
Event No. 7: Yann Pauchon — $38,734 HKD
Event No. 8: Philipp Gruissem — $117,750
Event No. 9 (Battle of the Nations): Team Korea — $406,060

NOTE: Team Korea consisted of Chino Rheem, Steve Sung, and Brandon Wong

Remaining Side Events:

Thursday, Aug. 20: Event No. 10 ($3,500 HKD no-limit hold’em bounty event)
Friday, Aug. 21: Event No. 11 ($2,500 HKD no-limit hold’em)
Saturday, Aug. 22: Event No. 12 ($2,500 HKD no-limit hold’em shootout)
Saturday, Aug. 22: Event No. 13 ($1,150 HKD no-limit hold’em rebuys+add-ons)
Saturday, Aug. 22: Event No. 14 ($1,500 HKD ladies no-limit hold’em)
Sunday, Aug. 23: Event No. 15 ($2,500 HKD six-handed no-limit hold’em)

Check back on CardPlayer.com on Sunday, Aug. 23 for a recap of the final table from Macau.

Looking Ahead

WPT Legends of Poker

Saturday, Aug. 22: Day 1
Sunday, Aug. 23: Day 2
Monday, Aug. 24: Day 3
Tuesday, Aug. 25: Day 4
Wednesday, Aug. 26: Final Table

PokerStars APPT Macau

Event Schedule

WPT Slovakia

Event Schedule

Bay 101 Open

Event Schedule

Related Articles

Mandara Wins EPT Cyprus $10k For $709,285

Weis Continues Career Year With EPT Cyprus Triumph

EPT Cyprus: Gutierrez Wins Second High Roller Title

Most Viewed Articles