PokerStars EPT High-Roller Recap -- Day 2Final Table Set -- Erik Cajelais Leads the Pack |
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It was a fast paced day at the 2009 PokerStars EPT High-Roller Championship at the Hilton London Metropole hotel. A total of 31 players still remained of the original 75 and all had their eyes set on the final table of eight, some camera time on EPT Live and of course, the £542,000 first-place prize.
Because of the tournament’s short three-day schedule, the blind structure was missing a few levels in order to speed up the tournament. Though it was clearly noted for all players before they bought in, it still caught Team PokerStars Pro William Thorson by surprise.
Thorson spent most of the first few minutes arguing across a few tables toward the tournament director, wondering out loud why the structure was “bad.” Others at the table seemed to agree with him, but not as vocally. Nonetheless, the director relented and granted the players an additional level of play. It didn’t make much of a difference for Thorson, however, as he was eliminated just short of the money.
Notables who fell just short of a cash included Vicky Coren, Michael McDonald, Justin Smith, Humberto Brenes and Joe Hachem.
Meanwhile, the recent WSOP E bracelet winner and already very strong Erik Cajelais kept on getting stronger, taking out the likes of Masaaki Kagawa, Dario Minieri and Andrew Feldman en route to the final table.
When field was finally trimmed to nine, they consolidated themselves at one table, trying to determine who would walk away from the bubble with nothing to show for their two days of work.
After a few rounds on the bubble, Adolfo Vaeza raised in early position and saw short stack Joel Nordkvist announce that he was all in. Immediately, Vaeza got up out of his seat, despite more action pending in front of him, and walked around behind Nordkvist, where his acquaintance was standing to talk things over. The table immediately protested and Vaeza casually walked back to his chair, unaware of the situation.
The floor was called over, saw no malicious intent and ruled that his cards were still live. Vaeza hemmed and hawed for a bit and then made the call with pocket kings, which have been good to him all tournament. Nordkvist showed A-Q and lost when the board brought no help.
Be sure to check back on Friday when we bring you the conclusion of this championship event, along with the EPT Live feed so you can watch all the action live.
Here’s a look at the chip counts:
1. Erik Cajelais — 893,500
2. Matthew Glantz — 647,500
3. Eugene Katchalov — 530,000
4. Adolfo Vaeza — 468,000
5. Leo Fernandez — 460,000
6. Ilari Sahamies — 311,000
7. Shane Reihill — 236,000
8. Dennis Phillips — 218,500
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