PokerStars European Poker Tour Vilamoura -- Day 1A Recap136 Become 76 on First Day of Play of Brand-New EPT Event |
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The very first PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Vilamoura kicked off yesterday at the Vilamoura Casino in the sunny and quaint Portuguese resort. Although Vilamoura is one of the largest tourist beach resorts in Europe, the attraction this time was more of the green and felt-like variety.
PokerStars pros and familiar names turned out for the inaugural €5,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event, but not all of them could make it past the first starting day.
As day 1As go, a smaller field than day 1B is usually anticipated. 136 players took to the felt with high hopes, but that figure became 76 before play was through. The chip leader at the end of the day was Austrian Ljubomir Josipovic with 192,900. He is followed closely by Lithuanian PokerStars qualifier Dominykas Karmazinas with 183,000 in chips, and in third place is Dutch Team PokerStars pro Ruben Visser with 172,400.
Of the 76 who survived are five Team PokerStars pros — Jason Mercier (53,900), Joep Van Den Bijgaart (39,700), Katja Thater (14,500), Chad Brown (24,500), and Visser (see above).
Here are some more notables and their chip counts:
Michel Abecassis — 85,500
Martin Wendt — 71,400
Antony Lellouche — 71,000
Shaun Deeb — 61,200
Joao Barbosa — 59,700
Jan Veit — 47,700
Marc Naalden — 47,400
Maria Maceiras — 47,000
Barny Boatman — 34,000
Rolf Slotboom — 25,700
Thomas Bichon — 22,300
However, not everyone could make it through to day 2.
Here are some of the major bustouts from the day:
Early on in the day, Shaun Deeb completed his small blind and then called Mike McDonald’s raise to 625. The flop came A
J
9
, Deeb checked, McDonald [pictured left] bet 700, and Deeb check-raised it to 2,025.
McDonald was not going to be put off and made a small reraise to 3,325. Deeb bet enough to put McDonald all in, and McDonald made the call showing A Q. He was ahead, as Deeb turned over Q
10 for the straight draw. The turn was another 9, but the river sealed the deal, and McDonald’s fate, with the 8 to make Deeb’s straight.
French Team PokerStars pro Arnaud Mattern got increasingly frustrated with his opponent Illia Kainov as he just could not get the better of him when the two were involved in a hand. Finally, Mattern (in his own words) got it in with kings against queens and lost.
Dutch Team PokerStars pro Ruben Visser raised from early position and got three callers to see a flop of K 6 5. Visser then bet 3,800 and was called by Guillaume De La Gorce and the player in the big blind. The 10 was dealt on the turn, and Visser bet 11,300. De La Gorce took some time and then made the call. The river was the Q, and both players checked. Visser then said, “Ace high, it’s all yours” as he showed A 2, but a shocked-looking De La Gorce mucked his hand, and Visser took the pot, moving up to 130,000 in chips. De La Gorce was still sitting strong however with 76,000, but not for too much longer.
The two were at it again on a board showing 10 8 6 9 9. De La Gorce’s tournament life was on the line as the remainder of his chips went into the middle on the river. The Frenchman turned over J 10 for the flush, but Visser revealed pocket sixes for the full house.
Other notable casualties throughout the day were Ludovic Lacay, Dragan Gallic, and Thomas Brolin.
Day 1B kicks off today at noon local time (4 a.m. PST) when more familiar faces and aspiring pros will make an appearance at the Casino Vilamoura to do it all over again. Those who remain at end of play will go on to face the survivor’s of day 1A tomorrow.
Check out this PokerStars TV interview with Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier before he sits down to play today:
Watch EPT6 Vilamoura Day 1A Elky Interview on PokerStars.tv
Don’t forget you can catch all the action as it happens at the PokerStars blog in the live tournaments section on CardPlayer.com during the entirety of this event, and on Saturday, Nov. 21 and Sunday, Nov. 22 you can watch all of the action on the EPT Live video feed. Card Player Europe will also supply a daily recap for each day of this exciting event, so stay tuned.
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