| Buy-In: | $6,986 + $419 |
|---|---|
| Prize Pool: | $6,436,080 |
| Entrants: | 945 |
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
After an unusual day in the Berlin Grand Hyatt it sure was good to get back to the poker. The usually uncomplicated task of turning 24 players into eight may have been delayed midstream, but when play resumed it was the usual feast of tournament poker, frustrating and thrilling in equal dollops, finishing peacefully just after eleven o’clock.
With just eight remaining an extended day was put to bed. Tucked in nicely tonight is chip leader Kevin MacPhee from the USA, while behind him Ketul Nathwani of the UK and Ilari Tahkokallio of Finland are his main rivals to the Berlin crown.
Their return tomorrow was locked in when Norman Kastner busted in ninth place a short time ago, his departure closing this particular chapter ahead of blank slate tomorrow, where a guaranteed €1 million will be won by one of these:
Kevin MacPhee, USA, PokerStars player, 6,070,000
Ketul Nathwani, UK, PokerStars player, 4,685,000
Ilari Tahkokallio, Finland, 3,940,000
Marc Inizan, France, 3,655,000
Marcel Koller, Switzerland, 3,590,000
Artur Wasek, Poland, 3,530,000
Marko Neumann, Germany, PokerStars qualifier, 2,185,000
Nico Behling, Germany, 960,000
The fortunes of Team PokerStars Pro today were carried by Johannes Strassmann and Jude Ainsworth. Strassmann, who made his eighth EPT cash, departed in 23rd place while Ainsworth, who seems to go deep whenever he plays cards, busted in 19th.
A complete record of the eliminations and payouts, including those of Theo Jorgensen, a dominant force yesterday, and Joao Barbosa, who chalked up another cash finish, can be found in full on the payouts page.
In the meantime there’s nothing to beat an EPT at full speed to get the adrenaline whirring, and you can recap all of today’s action at the tables by clicking the links below.
Introduction and seat draw
Level 23, 24 and 25
Levels 26 and 27
For our foreign readers, who may have struggled to read this far down the page, there’s always the German, Swedish and Dutch blogs, but well done for getting this far anyway.
Our thanks to Neil Stoddart for all of today’s photography and to the EPT Live team who return in the usual fashion tomorrow broadcasting live action from start to finish, as well as a little Oscar news if we know James Hartigan. One last hat tip to the security guard Roman and all the staff of Grand Hyatt.
Right then. See you for the final table at noon tomorrow.
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
11.15pm: That’s it for the night
With those two quick bust outs below we’re down to our last eight who will come back to play in tomorrow’s final – and the chance to win the €1 million first prize.
A full wrap of today’s dramatic events will be with you soon, as will the official chip counts. What they’ll show is that Kevin MacPhee is our overnight chip leader. — SY
11.12pm: Kastner out in ninth, final table table set
Just after the exit hand below came to its conclusion, Norman Kastner went out in ninth, the final table bubble boy. He had raised to 140,000 and Marc Inizan made it 430,000. Kastner then moved all in – call!
Kastner: [ac][qd]
Inizan: [as][kd]
Kastner needed to hit, but the board ran [kh][7d][3h][8c][ad], and the man from Germany was out. — SY
11.10pm: Cruel exit for Amendelo
Italian Alfonso Amendelo was primed for a timely double up when he got all in for his last 360,000 with [qs][qc] against Ketul Nathwani’s [4s][4d]. Cue time for some usual Italian celebration – until the flop came [4c][10s][5c], giving the man from the UK the lead. The [2s] turn and the [5d] river kept him there, and Amendelo departed in tenth for €50,000. — SY
11.05pm: Lucky double for Koller
Marcel Koller was looking likely to be our next victim, but the river had other ideas. Artur Wasek limped from mid position, Koller called from the small blind and Nico Behling checked his option in the big. On the [6h][2s][qs] flop, Koller checked, Behling bet 140,000, Wasek folded and then Koller called.
The turn was [kd] and Koller checked again. But when Behling bet 280,000, Koller moved all in for 1,275,000 on top. Call!
Koller: [qc][9d]
Behling: [qh][10h]
Koller was out-pipped and about to go bust, but the river was [9h] giving him two pair. He apologised to Behling, who was left with one million and a frown. — SY
11pm: Blind battle ends in death
Luca Cainelli has been eliminated in 11th place for €40,000. The action folded around to him in the small blind and he moved all in for 535,000. Ilari Tahkokallio was sat in the big blind and called after he got a count of his opponent’s stack.
Tahkokallio: [as][8h]
Cainelli: [ad][6s]
The board ran [7h][7s][ts][4h][5h]. A split pot was looking likely after the flop but somehow the Finn managed to dodge all the high cards to take the pot. —MC
The full counts have been updated on the chip count page.
10.40pm: Break time
Players are on a 15 minute break.
10.40pm: Micky Mouse and the bluff
In the last hand before the break Ketul Nathwani bluffed Alfonso Amendola off a pot. Nathwani raised pre-flop from the cut-off and was called by the Amendola from the big blind. Both checked the [8c][6h][6s] flop before Amendola check-called a 160,000 bet on the [qs] turn. The river came [4d] and Nathwani bet 460,000 when checked to him. Amendola took a long time to think and then asked his opponent “Will you show if I fold?”
“I’ll tell you what I’ll do,” Nathwani replied. “I’ll toss a coin and if you call it right I’ll show.”
The Italian duly folded and handed Nathwani a coin. “Do you want Micky Mouse or the 1?” asked Nathwani. He chose Micky Mouse and that’s what fell when the coin was tossed. Nethwani opened [ks][jd] for king-high and headed off for break with a smile on his face.
10.30: Another double for Amendola
Alfonso Amendola’s roller coaster continues. It was all in pre-flop between the Italian and Artur Wasek.
Amendola: [ah][6s] (and about 900,000)
Wasek: [ad][jc] (and about 5 million)
The board ran [9d][8c][9c][6c][6d] and Amendola doubled up to 1,900,000. Wasek is down to about 4,300,000. — MC
10.25pm: Otto out
Artur Wasek increases his stack to a threatening 4.7million after busting Paul Thomas Otto, who had spent several levels turning his stack in to two artistic pyramids.
Wasek had raised to 110,000 pre-flop and Otto re-raised from the big blind to 275,000. Call. On the [3s][7d][3d] flop, Otto made it 150,000, Wasek re-raised to 400,000, Otto moved all in for around 1.7million and Wasek made the call.
Wasek: [kd][5d]
Otto: [ac][8s]
Wasek needed to hit a pair or make his flush – and there was no mucking about on the turn when the [2d] did just that. The [2h] river made no difference. We’re down to 11. — SY
10.20pm: Big hands on both tables
Norman Kastner raised to 125,000 from under-the-gun and Ilari Tahkokallio called in the big blind. The flop came [4h][6c][kh], which they both checked, and then the [7h] turned. Tahkokallio bet 140,000 and Kastner was amenable, sliding out the call. The [js] came on the river and Tahkokallio bet again, this time 245,000. Kastner again called, but mucked when Tahkokallio showed [ks][8c].
As all this was going on, there was a bigger pot playing out on the other table. Details of that one are on their way. — HS
10.10pm: Same same but different
Marko Neumann and Luca Cainelli were both all in but both had pocket queens and the pot was chopped up. —MC
10.05pm: 12 left
Evgeniy Zaytsev soon found himself all in and then out of the tournament. Paul Thomas Otto min-raised from under-the-gun before Zaytsev moved all in from the button for a total of 910,000. Ketul Nathwani then moved all in as well from the big blind and this prompted Otto to fold. Zaytsev tabled [kh][qh] but was dominated by the Brit’s [ad][qs]. The board offered no help for either player and the last remaining Russian leaves us.
— MC
9.55pm:Pushing but no takers
One of our remaining tables has two short stacks in the shape of Luca
Cainelli and Alfonso Amendola. Both are trying to get the magical double up,
but there are so far no takers. -MC SY
Cainelli just tried two hands in a row. On the first it was folded around to
him in the small blind, he pushed for 400,000 and Amendola folded his big
blind. Cainelli showed [qd][qc] in disgust. Next hand he tried again, but no
one wanted to call. Then Amendola pushed his last 410,000 – and again he
picked up the blinds and antes for his trouble. -
9.50pm: It’s a bit like this at the moment
On table three, Artur Wasek raised to 175,000 from the cut off and Paul Otto moved all in from the big blind. It was about two million and Wasek folded.
On table two, Ilari Tahkokallio raised to 115,000 from the cut off and Marc Inizan moved all in from the big blind. Tahkokallio folded.
Yep, that’s how they’re rolling at the moment. — HS
9.40pm: Lucky Behling
Nico Behling has doubled-up in lucky fashion through his neighbor Evgeniy Zaytsev to stay alive. All the chips went in pre-flop with Behling holding [ad][jd] to the Russian’s [kd][kh]. The board came [4c][4s][as][5d][6s] to put Behling up to 2.8 million. Zaytsev down to 900,000. —MC
9.30pm: Go Joh
Carsten Joh was the first player out after dinner break. He raised from under-the-gun and then moved all in when Artur Wasek three-bet from the big blind. Wasek called with ace-queen and saw he was racing Joh’s pocket jacks. The board ran [7c][td][ks][6h][jc], with Wasek making a straight on the river. Wassek is up to nearly 3 million —MC
9.20pm: Return to action
Well then. It’s been a strange old day. But for fans of poker tournaments, here’s the situation: we’ve just got back from the dinner break with 14 players still in the mix. Their full, updated, accurate counts are on the chip-count page and details of everyone busting so far in this event are on the prize-winners page.
The idea at noon today was to play to our final table of eight, and despite interruptions nothing have changed. Six more players will depart this evening until we have our last handful.
Kevin MacPhee? He’s a lock for the final table, right? Hmmmm.
PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order determined by a random-number generator): Howard Swains, Marc Convey, Simon Young and Stephen Bartley.
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
Morning all and welcome back to Germany.
It’s the penultimate day of EPT action from the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz. That means 24 players still with a shot at the €1m first prize, but by the end of the day there can only be eight left.
Without any more waffle than is enough to take this text winding around the little logo to the left there, let’s crack straight on with the day’s table draw.
There it is look, down there.
Table 1 (will be featured on EPT Live)
1 – Carsten Joh Germany 609,000
2 – Artur Wasek Poland 1,405,000
3 – Jude Ainsworth Ireland Team PokerStars Pro 539,000
4 – Johannes Strassmann Germany Team PokerStars Pro 515,000
5 – Stefan Huber Switzerland 1,850,000
6 – Kevin MacPhee USA PokerStars player 2,526,000
7 – Jonas Gutteck Germany 1,486,000
8 – Ilya Gorodetskiy Russia PokerStars qualifier 989,000
Table 2
1 – Iikka Tahkokallio Finland 1,564,000
2 – Mathias Kuerschner Germany PokerStars qualifier 516,000
3 – Norman Kastner Germany 1,270,000
4 – Lennart Holz Germany 600,000
5 – Marc Inizan France 2,109,000
6 – Marko Neumann Germany PokerStars qualifier 1,448,000
7 – Joao Barbosa Portugal 794,000
8 – The Duc Ngo Germany 144,000
Table 3
1 – Alfonso Amendola Italy 640,000
2 – Ketul Nathwani UK PokerStars player 2,056,000
3 – Paul Thomas Otto Germany 1,546,000
4 – Marcel Koller Switzerland 865,000
5 – Nico Behling Germany 505,000
6 – Evgeniy Zaytsev Russia 1,368,000
7 – Luca Cainelli Italy 558,000
8 – Theo Jorgensen Denmark 2,408,000
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
12.55pm: Barbosa time
Joao Barbosa has been the most active player on table two so far. The first hand he played went his way when he three-bet Marc Inizan’s late position raise from the small blind. Short-stack The Duc Ngo dwelled for an age before folding from the big blind and Inizan’s cards were quickly into the muck after him.
The very next hand Barbosa raised to 54,000 from the button and was called by Iikka Tahkokallio in the big blind to go to a [2s][3c][7d] flop. The Finn led out for 59,000 but was raised to 180,000 by Barbosa. His response was to re-raise to 380,000 and that sent Barbosa a clear message and he folded. —MC
12.45pm: For starters
Alfonso Amendola opened for 52,000 which Ketul Nathwani called, as did Luca Cainelli in the big blind. On the flop of [kd][as][js] Cainelli checked to Amendola who made it 200,000 to play. No one wanted to though and Amendola takes the first pot.
On the next hand Nathwani opened for 62,000. Evgeniy Zaytsev was on the button and raised to 160,000 in total. Nathwani announced “all-in” and Zaytsev wasted no time in folding. – SB
12.40pm: First featured all in
Jude Ainsworth made a standard opening raise and Carsten Joh called from the big blind. The two of them were alone to a flop of [2h][7h][js] and after Joh checked, Ainsworth put out a continuation bet of 83,000. Joh had something planned here, though, and moved all in for 545,000.
The two of them had almost identically-sized stacks at the start of the day, meaning Ainsworth had to decide whether to call for his tournament. Eventually he thought better of it, leaving himself with about 450,000. Joh is up to about 750,000. — HS
12.30pm: Under way
We’re off. On the featured table, Ilya Gorodetskiy raised to 56,000 and was hit by an early three-bet from the chip leader Kevin MacPhee. MacPhee raised to 128,000 and Gorodetskiy was forced out. — HS
12.15pm: Not yet
Yeah, yeah, television delays, microphone issues, etc., etc. We’ll be starting soon.
11.55am: Ready to go
We’re at the business end of EPT Berlin, with all 24 remaining players now guaranteed €23,000. But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the one million euros waiting for the winner.
Players have finished having their photos taken in readiness for use in the peerless EPT Live broadcast, which you can follow here. Chips are being tipped out bags and stacked once more. We’ll be off in just a moment or so.
PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of singing ability) Stephen Bartley, Simon Young, Marc Convey and Howard Swains
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
6.45pm: Gorodetskiy all in
Ilya Gorodetskiy just moved all in for around 850,000. Artur Wasek had the option of calling, and pulled a few faces thinking about it, but passed.
6.40pm: Let it snowfest
Despite the peculiar circumstances of the day there’s still a freeroll to think about online. It starts at 7.15pm CET and is cleverly called the “PokerStars.tv Freeroll” and has a $2,000 prize pool. You can find it under events/ept and that all important password is “snowfest”.
6.35pm: Behling not bailing
On a flop of [8h][jh][6s] Ketul Nathwani made it 105,000 to play before Nico Behling raised to 280,000 and Nathwani called for a [3h] turn. Nathwani then checked the river before Behling bet 475,000. Nathwani thought for a while but let this one go.
6.20pm: Kuerschner toast
Mathias Kuerschner has followed Ainsworth out the door, despatched by Norman Kastner. Kuerschner raised to 80,000 from early position and Kastner, to his left, made it 220,000. Kuerschner shoved – his total was about 500,000 – and Kastner called.
Kastner: [jc][jh]
Kuerschner: [ad][qd]
The flop brought some possibilities: [8h][9d][10s], but the [kh] turn and [7c] river were blanks. Kuerschner is a goner and we’re down to 18. — HS
6.20pm: Four-bet gone wrong
Kevin MacPhee has extended his chip lead by knocking out Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth. The Irishman raised and then four-bet shoved when re-raised by MacPhee. MacPhee called for a showdown:
Ainsworth: [5s][6s]
MacPhee: [9c][9d]
The board ran [7c][qd][js][6h][2h] to send MacPhee up to around 4 million in chips. Ainsworth gets €23,500 for his efforts —MC
6.10pm: Jorgensen out
Two hands after the restart and Theo Jorgensen is out. Sitting on the big blind with less than 500,000 he was looking for something good after steaming a bit earlier.
“Now this is where I need to wake up with aces,” said Jorgensen, as the action as folded to Evgeniy Zaytsev in the small blind. Zaytsev lumped in a tower of orange chips worth 500,000 and left it up to Jorgensen. “Okay, I call.”
[ad][2s] for Jorgensen, [5c][4h] for Zaytsev.
The board ran with Jorgensen asking for an ace: [7s][7d][3h][kh][5s]. Jorgensen wished the others good luck and left for the rail. — SB.
6.05pm: Play resumes
After the unfortunate incident much earlier this afternoon, play in the main event is about to resume. The main television table was unaffected, but the two remaining outer tables were disturbed when players evacuated the tournament area. It was down to the players and the cool head of tournament boss Thomas Kremser to ensure the chips were returned to their rightful owners.
One table had a disputed amount of chips, with both Alfonso Amendola and Ketul Nathwani, who were sitting next to each other, saying they were short by half a million. There were more 700,000 “stray chips” in the middle of their table, but no accounting for the missing 200-300,000. Kremser counted all chips left in play, and indeed 200-300,000 were missing. In this case, he ruled that he would introduce the difference in chips back in to play. All other players were briefed on this and gave the collective agreement.
It has just been announced that there will be no more live webcast for the rest of the day. But as far as everything else goes, it’s business as normal. We have 20 players left, and at 6.05pm local time we now carry on and play on tonight until we reach a final table of eight. — SY
5.40pm: Take a bow, Ilari Tahkokallio
Whatever happens in this tournament from now on, we’ve just seen one of the classiest moments of all time around the poker tables. The man who deserves all the credit is Ilari Tahkokallio, from Finland. Here’s why.
When the tournament was interrupted earlier, Tahkokallio and Luca Cainelli were involved in a huge pot – and it was Cainelli’s tournament life on the line. Cainelli was all in and Tahkokallio had called. The board had been dealt to the turn.
Cainelli had [as][qd] and Tahkokallio had [ad][10h]. The four community cards were: [3c][kc][8s][4c] and so Cainelli, with about 400,000 at stake, was looking good for a double up. Tahkokallio had a stack of more than two million.
This was the precise moment that the tournament was interrupted and all eight players, plus the dealer, left the table in some haste. All their chips ended up scattered across the table with no real way of knowing who had what.
When players returned to the table, with the intention of resuming the tournament, the director Thomas Kremser spoke to the players and admitted that there was no way they could confirm 100% everyone’s stacks. However, he hoped that the players would agree to some kind of honour system whereby they claimed the number of chips they thought they were playing. The players agreed to this.
Then, however, they returned to the matter of the hand between Tahkokallio and Cainelli. Kremser said that there was no way they could guarantee that the deck had not been interfered with during the period the tournament room was evacuated. He said that his ruling had to be that the hand was dead and the players took their chips back. They could not deal the river.
Cainelli, and some of the Italian supporters, were not especially happy about the decision and Kremser suggested that he could reshuffle the deck and deal the river card, but only if both players agreed to that. Cainelli was happy but Tahkokallio didn’t say anything.
Kremser told Tahkokallio that he did not even have to make a decision, adding that Tahkokallio could simply say: “I don’t want to make a decision,” and Kremser would then make an official ruling.
After a few minutes, however, Tahkokallio said that the river should be dealt – meaning if it wasn’t a ten, he would pay Cainelli the value of his all in. This decision was greeted by a round of applause from the assembled media, players and staff. He essentially had a way of saving himself 500,000 chips, but allowed the poker gods to do their bidding.
The river was [5h] and so Cainelli doubled up, as Tahkokallio made a lot of friends.
They are now still sorting out the counts of the remaining players, and then play will resume soon after. — HS
4.35pm: Another quick word
The EPT spokesperson, Kirsty Thompson, and the tournament director, Thomas Kremser, recently made an announcement to the players in the tournament room. They apologised for the inconvenience of today’s incident and advised players in the €1,000 side event and the ladies event that a refund was available if they preferred not to continue in the tournaments.
Thompson and Kremser then directed the players to the official statement (see below) and advised that police are in the building to discuss any other matters.
Until we hear any further official word, please consider that to be the end of the incident. We now have a poker tournament to cover, which is scheduled to resume at 5pm local time.
Update: The €1,000 side event has now been cancelled, with full refunds for all players.
— HS
3.50pm: Latest: Scheduled resumption
Side events will restart at 4pm and the main event will resume at 5pm local time.
3.25pm: EPT statement
Following an incident a short while ago, please see this statement…
“An armed robbery by six men took place today at EPT Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to re-start all events at 4pm local time. A police investigation is under way. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible.”
Kirsty Thompson ([email protected])
In German…
“Es hat heute ein bewaffneter Raubüberfall bei der EPT Berlin stattgefunden. Niemand hat sich ernsthaft verletzt. Wir hoffen das Turnier um 16 Uhr Ortszeit wieder aufnehmen zu können. Die Polizei ermittelt. Wenn Sie Fotos oder Videoaufnahmen haben, die der Polizei weiterhelfen können, dann kontaktieren Sie bitte schnellstmöglich die Organisatoren der EPT.”
Kirsty Thompson ([email protected])
2.10pm: Interruption
OK, there’s been a bit of an incident here – and the tournament has been interrupted. We’re trying to establish precisely what happened and we will pass on that information when we have it. In the meantime, play has been suspended. — HS
2pm: Time to fold
Evgeniy Zaytsev opened for 72,000 from the cut off. Theo Jorgensen called on the button and the action moved to Alfonso Amendola in the small blind. Amendola counted his chips, moved some around a bit and thought for a bit. After a few minutes of this Jorgensen called time, Amendola calling shortly after.
The flop came [2c][8d][kh] which all three checked for a [as] on the on the turn. Amendola checked, Zaytsev then bet 84,000 and the others folded. – SB.
1.55pm: Gutteck gutted, MacPhee flying
Kevin MacPhee has been doing precisely what a chip leader should: raising and re-raising an awful lot on the feature table. He finally ran into some resistance when Jonas Gutteck fought back, but it ended up in disaster for the German.
MacPhee raised to 69,000 from the button and Gutteck smelled a rat, re-raising to 175,000 from the small blind. MacPheen was for real, though, and shoved all in. Gutteck was going nowhere and called – 1,772,000 total – which gave us a monster pot.
MacPhee: [ac][ks]
Gutteck: [ah][qs]
“I need a suckout,” said Gutteck. But he didn’t get it. The flop was [6c][kc][8h] and the [2d] turn meant Gutteck was drawing dead. — HS
1.45pm: Nathwani pushes
Ketul Nathwani is back on the up by doing what he does best; piling pressure on opponents. He raised to 68,000 from the button and then called a three-bet to 145,000 from Marcel Koller in the big blind. The flop came [3h][ts][td] and Koller continued the aggressive line with a 170,000 bet. Nathwani thought about it and then moved all in causing Koller to snap fold. Nathwani up to 2.5 million whereas Koller down to 650,000. —MC
1.40pm: Joh double the dough
Carsten Joh just got it all in pre-flop – he was the short stack, of about 390,000. Stefan Huber called.
Huber: [9d][9s]
Joh: [qh][jh]
The flop came [10c][3h][7h], offering loads of outs to Joh. The turn was an off-suit seven, so that wasn’t one of them, but the river was [qc], which certainly was. Joh has about 800,000 now. — HS
1.35pm: Ainsworth breaks the million mark
After being three-bet out of a couple of pots, Jude Ainsworth just four-bet jammed Kevin MacPhee – and got the call he was looking for. He had aces. Ainsworth raised to 67,000 pre-flop and MacPhee re-raised to 134,000. Ainsworth shoved for 563,000 and MacPhee called.
Ainsworth: [ah][ac]
MacPhee: [6s][6d]
The board gave some possibilities to MacPhee and he could have hit any four or any six when the first four cards out were [3h][5c][9d][2d]. But the river was a blank and Ainsworth doubled up. — HS
1.35pm: Ketul chipped up
On a flop of [7c][6c][9s] both Ketul Nathwani in the cut off and Paul Otto on the button checked for a [4d] turn. Nathwani then bet 155,000 which Otto called for a [3c] river card. Nathwani then assembled a bet of 375,000 and Otto called, folding when Nathwani showed [jc][tc] for the flush. Otto doesn’t show and there was a slight delay as he counted out what he owed. The delay was owing to Otto’s preference for stacking his chips in five chip blocks arranged into a pyramid shape. Nathwani approaching the 3,000,000 mark. — SB
1.30pm: Marcel Kollared
Evgeniy Zaytsev opened for 58,000 and Marcel Koller called in the big blind for a flop of [8d][qh][td]. Koller checked, as did Zaytsev for a [5c] turn. Now Koller bet 68,000 before Zaytsev raised to 144,000 in total, forcing Koller to pass. — SB
1.25pm: No two-time, again
The double-winner hoodoo continues. Joao Barbosa, who was the last player with the potential to win a second title, is out. He got is all in with these four cards out: [6h][2c][10h][qd] with an up and down straight draw, and [Kc][Js]. However Iikka Tahkokallio’s [Qs][6d] had hit two pair. Barbosa couldn’t hit any of his outs and he departs. — HS
1.20pm: Holz on the up
Lennart Holz is right back in this after more than doubling-up. Iikka Tahkokallio raised from early position to 54,000 before Holz moved all in from the button for 665,000 total. Marc Inizan flatted this big shove from the small blind and this prompted a quick fold from Tahkokallio to leave it heads up:
Holz: [td][th]
Inizan: [9c][9h]
The board ran [7c][7h][ah][qs][8d]. — MC
1.10pm: Ainsworth doubles
The very next hand after Johannes Strassmann was knocked out, his Team PokerStars Pro colleague Jude Ainsworth was also facing possible elimination. He moved all in from the button for 400,000 and Stefan Huber, in the big blind, called.
Ainsworth: [9c][9d]
Huber: [ad][js]
It was a race for Ainsworth’s life, but he ended up winning. The board came [3s][7d][7c][5h][9h] and Ainsworth’s house put him up to 800,000. — HS
1.05pm: Strassmann slain
Johannes Strassmann is out. His [ah][qs] couldn’t beat Artur Wasek’s [9d][9s] all in pre-flop when the board ran [8h][6s][5h][jc][4h]. — HS
1.03pm: One down
The overnight short stack The Duc Ngo has become the first player to be knocked out here today. Lennart Holz started the pot off with a raise to 52,000 from under-the-gun before Ngo moved all in from the cut-off for 96,000. Norman Kastner cold called from the big blind and Holz also called. Both players checked down the board that ended as [4h][5s][kc][6c][ac].
Ngo: [ts][9h]
Lennart Holz: [7c][7d]
Norman Kastner: [tc][td]
Kasnter took the pot and eliminated Ngo in the process. —MC
1pm: Jorgensen trips up Nathwani
Theo Jorgensen just added a few hundred grand to his stack, raising to 60,000 pre-flop and picking up Ketul Nathwani. The flop came [ad][10h][8d] and Jorgensen bet 90,000, which Nathwani called. They checked the turn of [5h] but Jorgensen bet 230,000 on the [8c] river. Nathwani called but was shown [jc][8c] by Jorgensen. — HS
12.55pm: Barbosa time
Joao Barbosa has been the most active player on table two so far. The first hand he played went his way when he three-bet Marc Inizan’s late position raise from the small blind. Short-stack The Duc Ngo dwelled for an age before folding from the big blind and Inizan’s cards were quickly into the muck after him.
The very next hand Barbosa raised to 54,000 from the button and was called by Iikka Tahkokallio in the big blind to go to a [2s][3c][7d] flop. The Finn led out for 59,000 but was raised to 180,000 by Barbosa. His response was to re-raise to 380,000 and that sent Barbosa a clear message and he folded. —MC
12.45pm: For starters
Alfonso Amendola opened for 52,000 which Ketul Nathwani called, as did Luca Cainelli in the big blind. On the flop of [kd][as][js] Cainelli checked to Amendola who made it 200,000 to play. No one wanted to though and Amendola takes the first pot.
On the next hand Nathwani opened for 62,000. Evgeniy Zaytsev was on the button and raised to 160,000 in total. Nathwani announced “all-in” and Zaytsev wasted no time in folding. – SB
12.40pm: First featured all in
Jude Ainsworth made a standard opening raise and Carsten Joh called from the big blind. The two of them were alone to a flop of [2h][7h][js] and after Joh checked, Ainsworth put out a continuation bet of 83,000. Joh had something planned here, though, and moved all in for 545,000.
The two of them had almost identically-sized stacks at the start of the day, meaning Ainsworth had to decide whether to call for his tournament. Eventually he thought better of it, leaving himself with about 450,000. Joh is up to about 750,000. — HS
12.30pm: Under way
We’re off. On the featured table, Ilya Gorodetskiy raised to 56,000 and was hit by an early three-bet from the chip leader Kevin MacPhee. MacPhee raised to 128,000 and Gorodetskiy was forced out. — HS
12.15pm: Not yet
Yeah, yeah, television delays, microphone issues, etc., etc. We’ll be starting soon.
11.55am: Ready to go
We’re at the business end of EPT Berlin, with all 24 remaining players now guaranteed €23,000. But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the one million euros waiting for the winner.
Players have finished having their photos taken in readiness for use in the peerless EPT Live broadcast, which you can follow here. Chips are being tipped out bags and stacked once more. We’ll be off in just a moment or so.
PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of singing ability) Stephen Bartley, Simon Young, Marc Convey and Howard Swains
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
8.10pm: Break
This is the dinner break. We’re taking an hour.
Full counts will be with us in a moment, but I can tell you that no one is anywhere near Kevin MacPhee and his 6.5 million stack. — HS
8.05pm: Stefan Huber busts
He’s been a force for most of the tournament, but Stefan Huber’s journey has come to an end, busted in 15th place by Kevin MacPhee.
The hand started with Ilari Tahkokallio raising to 90,000, Huber re-raised to more than 500,000, moving in a tower of orange 25,000 chips. But then MacPhee moved in three towers of orange chips – 1.5 million! Tahkokallio quickly got out of the way, but Huber called. He was all in for around 1.5million total.
Huber: [qc][qh]
MacPhee: [ad][kd]
The flop could not be better for MacPhee, coming [ac][5d][6d], matching his ace and giving him the flush draw. The turn was [10s] and the river [10d], completing the flush.
Huber collects €25,000, MacPhee now approaching six million chips. — SY
8pm: Nice bluff, sir
Marcel Koller opened from the cut off for 285,000. Nico Behling called for a flop of [jh][4d][8d]. Koller checked and Behling made it 310,000. Koller then pushed forcing Behling to fold. To make Behling feel a little worse, Koller showed king-ten. He’s up to around 2,000,000 while Behling slips down to 1,450,000. — SB.
7.55pm: What a call
Paul Thomas Otto just made a fantastic call all in on the river and was right. He raised from the button pre-flop and was called by Nico Behling in the big blind. Both checked the flop before Otto called a bet on the turn. Behling then over-bet the pot to the tune of a million and was called quickly. The final board read [6d][4s][kh][3h][6s] and Otto’s [ah][9d] bettered Behling’s [qh][7d]. —MC
7.50pm:Over for Ilya
Ilya Gorodetskiy is our 16th place finisher after being eliminated in unfortunate circumstances. He was all in pre-flop for 750,000 with [ac][kc] and was called by Marc Inizan with [ah][js]. The board ran [ad][jd][qc][4c][2s] and our Russian commentator friend leaves with €25,000. —MC(Source: SB)
7.40pm: Oh no…. oh yes!
Alfonso Amendola doubles up, although he thought he was out. Nico Behling raised pre-flop to 85,000 and Evgeniy Zaytsev called. When it was folded around to Amendola, the table short stack, he took one look at his cards, and moved all in for 340,000. Behling folded, but Zaytsev called in a flash.
Amendola: [10d][10c]
Zaytsev: [kc][qc]
The dealer went to deal the flop and Italian Amendola shouted: “Shut up!”, which was actually meant to be something like don’t deal a king or a queen rather than actually shut up. The flop came [5d][6d][3c]. Again Amendola begged: “Shut up!”, and again the [9d] was no problem. One more “shut up” and the river came [qd].
“Nooooo,” cried Amendola, seeing the queen and thinking he had been rivered and busted. But hang on, that fourth diamond on the river had made his flush. He was alive, causing some typical Italian celebration. He’s now up to more than 700,000. — SY
7.30pm: Put the Ketul on
Ketul Nathwani is back in the game after doubling up through Alfonso Amendola. The Italian had opened for 110,000 before Nathwani announced all-in. Amendola asked how much – between 700 and 800k – and called.
Nathwani showed [6s][6d] to Amendola’s [ad][qc].
Amendola clapped his hand and called on the poker gods. The board ran [2c][4d][th][3d][2h]. The gods weren’t listening. Nathwani doubles up to 1,500,000 while Amendola joins the short, down to 340,000. — SB.
7.20pm: Four-betting
Ever aggressive Kevin MacPhee opened the pot with a raise to 88,000 from under-the-gun which was three-bet to 206,000 by Stefan Huber in the cut-off. Marko Neumann was at in the small blind and after some thought moved all-in. Big hand or good timing? Either way his raise did the trick as both opponents folded quickly. —MC
7.10pm: Down to two
There are few enough players now to sit around two tables. The line-ups are below, and the chip-count page is the best place to find their stacks.
Table 2:
1 – Iikka Tahkokallio, Finland
2 – Stefan Huber, Germany
3 – Norman Kastner, Germany
4 – Marko Neumann, Germany
5 – Marc Inizan, France
6 – Kevin MacPhee, USA
7 – Luca Cainelli, Italy
8 – Ilya Gorodetskiy, Russia
Table 3:
1 – Alfonso Amendola, Italy
2 – Ketul Nathwani, UK
3 – Paul Otto, Germany
4 – Marcel Koller, Switzerland
5 – Nico Behling, Germany
6 – Evgeniy Zaytsev, Russia
7 – Artur Wasek, Poland
8 – Carsten Joh, Germany
(The television table (number one) is no longer in use.)
7pm: Tahkokallio put holt to Holz
Lennart Holz is out. After Iikka Tahkokallio raised pre-flop to 100,000 Holz re-raised to 200,000. Tahkokallio announced all-in and was called.[as][js] for Holz, [8c][9c] for Tahkokallio. The board ran [2c][4c][5s][9d][qc]. A handshake from Tahkokallio and Holz was off to the rail. — SB.
The latest knock-on effect of the earlier kerfuffle is that the scheduled break at the end of level 24 didn’t happen, and we’ve pressed on directly into level 25.
6.50pm: Swip-swap
Nico Behling and Ketul Nathwani have pretty much swapped places on the leaderboard after the Brit bluffed off a chunk of chips to the German. Behling raised to 72,000 from first position and only picked up Nathwani on the button to go to a [5d][th][7h] flop. Behling check-called 120,000 here, a 305,000 bet on the [kh] turn and a 725,000 bet on the [4c] river. Nathwani tapped the table and revealed [ad][jc] but Behling took the lot with [ks][td] for two-pair. Behling up to 2.7 million, Nathwani down to 1.3 million. —MC
6.45pm: Gorodetskiy all in
Ilya Gorodetskiy just moved all in for around 850,000. Artur Wasek had the option of calling, and pulled a few faces thinking about it, but passed.
6.40pm: Let it snowfest
Despite the peculiar circumstances of the day there’s still a freeroll to think about online. It starts at 7.15pm CET and is cleverly called the “PokerStars.tv Freeroll” and has a $2,000 prize pool. You can find it under events/ept and that all important password is “snowfest”.
6.35pm: Behling not bailing
On a flop of [8h][jh][6s] Ketul Nathwani made it 105,000 to play before Nico Behling raised to 280,000 and Nathwani called for a [3h] turn. Nathwani then checked the river before Behling bet 475,000. Nathwani thought for a while but let this one go.
6.20pm: Kuerschner toast
Mathias Kuerschner has followed Ainsworth out the door, despatched by Norman Kastner. Kuerschner raised to 80,000 from early position and Kastner, to his left, made it 220,000. Kuerschner shoved – his total was about 500,000 – and Kastner called.
Kastner: [jc][jh]
Kuerschner: [ad][qd]
The flop brought some possibilities: [8h][9d][10s], but the [kh] turn and [7c] river were blanks. Kuerschner is a goner and we’re down to 18. — HS
6.20pm: Four-bet gone wrong
Kevin MacPhee has extended his chip lead by knocking out Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth. The Irishman raised and then four-bet shoved when re-raised by MacPhee. MacPhee called for a showdown:
Ainsworth: [5s][6s]
MacPhee: [9c][9d]
The board ran [7c][qd][js][6h][2h] to send MacPhee up to around 4 million in chips. Ainsworth gets €23,500 for his efforts —MC
6.10pm: Jorgensen out
Two hands after the restart and Theo Jorgensen is out. Sitting on the big blind with less than 500,000 he was looking for something good after steaming a bit earlier.
“Now this is where I need to wake up with aces,” said Jorgensen, as the action as folded to Evgeniy Zaytsev in the small blind. Zaytsev lumped in a tower of orange chips worth 500,000 and left it up to Jorgensen. “Okay, I call.”
[ad][2s] for Jorgensen, [5c][4h] for Zaytsev.
The board ran with Jorgensen asking for an ace: [7s][7d][3h][kh][5s]. Jorgensen wished the others good luck and left for the rail. — SB.
6.05pm: Play resumes
After the unfortunate incident much earlier this afternoon, play in the main event is about to resume. The main television table was unaffected, but the two remaining outer tables were disturbed when players evacuated the tournament area. It was down to the players and the cool head of tournament boss Thomas Kremser to ensure the chips were returned to their rightful owners.
One table had a disputed amount of chips, with both Alfonso Amendola and Ketul Nathwani, who were sitting next to each other, saying they were short by half a million. There were more 700,000 “stray chips” in the middle of their table, but no accounting for the missing 200-300,000. Kremser counted all chips left in play, and indeed 200-300,000 were missing. In this case, he ruled that he would introduce the difference in chips back in to play. All other players were briefed on this and gave the collective agreement.
It has just been announced that there will be no more live webcast for the rest of the day. But as far as everything else goes, it’s business as normal. We have 20 players left, and at 6.05pm local time we now carry on and play on tonight until we reach a final table of eight. — SY
5.40pm: Take a bow, Ilari Tahkokallio
Whatever happens in this tournament from now on, we’ve just seen one of the classiest moments of all time around the poker tables. The man who deserves all the credit is Ilari Tahkokallio, from Finland. Here’s why.
When the tournament was interrupted earlier, Tahkokallio and Luca Cainelli were involved in a huge pot – and it was Cainelli’s tournament life on the line. Cainelli was all in and Tahkokallio had called. The board had been dealt to the turn.
Cainelli had [as][qd] and Tahkokallio had [ad][10h]. The four community cards were: [3c][kc][8s][4c] and so Cainelli, with about 400,000 at stake, was looking good for a double up. Tahkokallio had a stack of more than two million.
This was the precise moment that the tournament was interrupted and all eight players, plus the dealer, left the table in some haste. All their chips ended up scattered across the table with no real way of knowing who had what.
When players returned to the table, with the intention of resuming the tournament, the director Thomas Kremser spoke to the players and admitted that there was no way they could confirm 100% everyone’s stacks. However, he hoped that the players would agree to some kind of honour system whereby they claimed the number of chips they thought they were playing. The players agreed to this.
Then, however, they returned to the matter of the hand between Tahkokallio and Cainelli. Kremser said that there was no way they could guarantee that the deck had not been interfered with during the period the tournament room was evacuated. He said that his ruling had to be that the hand was dead and the players took their chips back. They could not deal the river.
Cainelli, and some of the Italian supporters, were not especially happy about the decision and Kremser suggested that he could reshuffle the deck and deal the river card, but only if both players agreed to that. Cainelli was happy but Tahkokallio didn’t say anything.
Kremser told Tahkokallio that he did not even have to make a decision, adding that Tahkokallio could simply say: “I don’t want to make a decision,” and Kremser would then make an official ruling.
After a few minutes, however, Tahkokallio said that the river should be dealt – meaning if it wasn’t a ten, he would pay Cainelli the value of his all in. This decision was greeted by a round of applause from the assembled media, players and staff. He essentially had a way of saving himself 500,000 chips, but allowed the poker gods to do their bidding.
The river was [5h] and so Cainelli doubled up, as Tahkokallio made a lot of friends.
They are now still sorting out the counts of the remaining players, and then play will resume soon after. — HS
4.35pm: Another quick word
The EPT spokesperson, Kirsty Thompson, and the tournament director, Thomas Kremser, recently made an announcement to the players in the tournament room. They apologised for the inconvenience of today’s incident and advised players in the €1,000 side event and the ladies event that a refund was available if they preferred not to continue in the tournaments.
Thompson and Kremser then directed the players to the official statement (see below) and advised that police are in the building to discuss any other matters.
Until we hear any further official word, please consider that to be the end of the incident. We now have a poker tournament to cover, which is scheduled to resume at 5pm local time.
Update: The €1,000 side event has now been cancelled, with full refunds for all players.
— HS
3.50pm: Latest: Scheduled resumption
Side events will restart at 4pm and the main event will resume at 5pm local time.
3.25pm: EPT statement
Following an incident a short while ago, please see this statement…
“An armed robbery by six men took place today at EPT Berlin. Nobody was seriously injured. We hope to re-start all events at 4pm local time. A police investigation is under way. If you have video footage or photographs that could help the police, please contact the EPT organizers as soon as possible.”
Kirsty Thompson ([email protected])
In German…
“Es hat heute ein bewaffneter Raubüberfall bei der EPT Berlin stattgefunden. Niemand hat sich ernsthaft verletzt. Wir hoffen das Turnier um 16 Uhr Ortszeit wieder aufnehmen zu können. Die Polizei ermittelt. Wenn Sie Fotos oder Videoaufnahmen haben, die der Polizei weiterhelfen können, dann kontaktieren Sie bitte schnellstmöglich die Organisatoren der EPT.”
Kirsty Thompson ([email protected])
2.10pm: Interruption
OK, there’s been a bit of an incident here – and the tournament has been interrupted. We’re trying to establish precisely what happened and we will pass on that information when we have it. In the meantime, play has been suspended. — HS
2pm: Time to fold
Evgeniy Zaytsev opened for 72,000 from the cut off. Theo Jorgensen called on the button and the action moved to Alfonso Amendola in the small blind. Amendola counted his chips, moved some around a bit and thought for a bit. After a few minutes of this Jorgensen called time, Amendola calling shortly after.
The flop came [2c][8d][kh] which all three checked for a [as] on the on the turn. Amendola checked, Zaytsev then bet 84,000 and the others folded. – SB.
1.55pm: Gutteck gutted, MacPhee flying
Kevin MacPhee has been doing precisely what a chip leader should: raising and re-raising an awful lot on the feature table. He finally ran into some resistance when Jonas Gutteck fought back, but it ended up in disaster for the German.
MacPhee raised to 69,000 from the button and Gutteck smelled a rat, re-raising to 175,000 from the small blind. MacPheen was for real, though, and shoved all in. Gutteck was going nowhere and called – 1,772,000 total – which gave us a monster pot.
MacPhee: [ac][ks]
Gutteck: [ah][qs]
“I need a suckout,” said Gutteck. But he didn’t get it. The flop was [6c][kc][8h] and the [2d] turn meant Gutteck was drawing dead. — HS
1.45pm: Nathwani pushes
Ketul Nathwani is back on the up by doing what he does best; piling pressure on opponents. He raised to 68,000 from the button and then called a three-bet to 145,000 from Marcel Koller in the big blind. The flop came [3h][ts][td] and Koller continued the aggressive line with a 170,000 bet. Nathwani thought about it and then moved all in causing Koller to snap fold. Nathwani up to 2.5 million whereas Koller down to 650,000. —MC
1.40pm: Joh double the dough
Carsten Joh just got it all in pre-flop – he was the short stack, of about 390,000. Stefan Huber called.
Huber: [9d][9s]
Joh: [qh][jh]
The flop came [10c][3h][7h], offering loads of outs to Joh. The turn was an off-suit seven, so that wasn’t one of them, but the river was [qc], which certainly was. Joh has about 800,000 now. — HS
1.35pm: Ainsworth breaks the million mark
After being three-bet out of a couple of pots, Jude Ainsworth just four-bet jammed Kevin MacPhee – and got the call he was looking for. He had aces. Ainsworth raised to 67,000 pre-flop and MacPhee re-raised to 134,000. Ainsworth shoved for 563,000 and MacPhee called.
Ainsworth: [ah][ac]
MacPhee: [6s][6d]
The board gave some possibilities to MacPhee and he could have hit any four or any six when the first four cards out were [3h][5c][9d][2d]. But the river was a blank and Ainsworth doubled up. — HS
1.35pm: Ketul chipped up
On a flop of [7c][6c][9s] both Ketul Nathwani in the cut off and Paul Otto on the button checked for a [4d] turn. Nathwani then bet 155,000 which Otto called for a [3c] river card. Nathwani then assembled a bet of 375,000 and Otto called, folding when Nathwani showed [jc][tc] for the flush. Otto doesn’t show and there was a slight delay as he counted out what he owed. The delay was owing to Otto’s preference for stacking his chips in five chip blocks arranged into a pyramid shape. Nathwani approaching the 3,000,000 mark. — SB
1.30pm: Marcel Kollared
Evgeniy Zaytsev opened for 58,000 and Marcel Koller called in the big blind for a flop of [8d][qh][td]. Koller checked, as did Zaytsev for a [5c] turn. Now Koller bet 68,000 before Zaytsev raised to 144,000 in total, forcing Koller to pass. — SB
1.25pm: No two-time, again
The double-winner hoodoo continues. Joao Barbosa, who was the last player with the potential to win a second title, is out. He got is all in with these four cards out: [6h][2c][10h][qd] with an up and down straight draw, and [Kc][Js]. However Iikka Tahkokallio’s [Qs][6d] had hit two pair. Barbosa couldn’t hit any of his outs and he departs. — HS
1.20pm: Holz on the up
Lennart Holz is right back in this after more than doubling-up. Iikka Tahkokallio raised from early position to 54,000 before Holz moved all in from the button for 665,000 total. Marc Inizan flatted this big shove from the small blind and this prompted a quick fold from Tahkokallio to leave it heads up:
Holz: [td][th]
Inizan: [9c][9h]
The board ran [7c][7h][ah][qs][8d]. — MC
1.10pm: Ainsworth doubles
The very next hand after Johannes Strassmann was knocked out, his Team PokerStars Pro colleague Jude Ainsworth was also facing possible elimination. He moved all in from the button for 400,000 and Stefan Huber, in the big blind, called.
Ainsworth: [9c][9d]
Huber: [ad][js]
It was a race for Ainsworth’s life, but he ended up winning. The board came [3s][7d][7c][5h][9h] and Ainsworth’s house put him up to 800,000. — HS
1.05pm: Strassmann slain
Johannes Strassmann is out. His [ah][qs] couldn’t beat Artur Wasek’s [9d][9s] all in pre-flop when the board ran [8h][6s][5h][jc][4h]. — HS
1.03pm: One down
The overnight short stack The Duc Ngo has become the first player to be knocked out here today. Lennart Holz started the pot off with a raise to 52,000 from under-the-gun before Ngo moved all in from the cut-off for 96,000. Norman Kastner cold called from the big blind and Holz also called. Both players checked down the board that ended as [4h][5s][kc][6c][ac].
Ngo: [ts][9h]
Lennart Holz: [7c][7d]
Norman Kastner: [tc][td]
Kasnter took the pot and eliminated Ngo in the process. —MC
1pm: Jorgensen trips up Nathwani
Theo Jorgensen just added a few hundred grand to his stack, raising to 60,000 pre-flop and picking up Ketul Nathwani. The flop came [ad][10h][8d] and Jorgensen bet 90,000, which Nathwani called. They checked the turn of [5h] but Jorgensen bet 230,000 on the [8c] river. Nathwani called but was shown [jc][8c] by Jorgensen. — HS
12.55pm: Barbosa time
Joao Barbosa has been the most active player on table two so far. The first hand he played went his way when he three-bet Marc Inizan’s late position raise from the small blind. Short-stack The Duc Ngo dwelled for an age before folding from the big blind and Inizan’s cards were quickly into the muck after him.
The very next hand Barbosa raised to 54,000 from the button and was called by Iikka Tahkokallio in the big blind to go to a [2s][3c][7d] flop. The Finn led out for 59,000 but was raised to 180,000 by Barbosa. His response was to re-raise to 380,000 and that sent Barbosa a clear message and he folded. —MC
12.45pm: For starters
Alfonso Amendola opened for 52,000 which Ketul Nathwani called, as did Luca Cainelli in the big blind. On the flop of [kd][as][js] Cainelli checked to Amendola who made it 200,000 to play. No one wanted to though and Amendola takes the first pot.
On the next hand Nathwani opened for 62,000. Evgeniy Zaytsev was on the button and raised to 160,000 in total. Nathwani announced “all-in” and Zaytsev wasted no time in folding. – SB
12.40pm: First featured all in
Jude Ainsworth made a standard opening raise and Carsten Joh called from the big blind. The two of them were alone to a flop of [2h][7h][js] and after Joh checked, Ainsworth put out a continuation bet of 83,000. Joh had something planned here, though, and moved all in for 545,000.
The two of them had almost identically-sized stacks at the start of the day, meaning Ainsworth had to decide whether to call for his tournament. Eventually he thought better of it, leaving himself with about 450,000. Joh is up to about 750,000. — HS
12.30pm: Under way
We’re off. On the featured table, Ilya Gorodetskiy raised to 56,000 and was hit by an early three-bet from the chip leader Kevin MacPhee. MacPhee raised to 128,000 and Gorodetskiy was forced out. — HS
12.15pm: Not yet
Yeah, yeah, television delays, microphone issues, etc., etc. We’ll be starting soon.
11.55am: Ready to go
We’re at the business end of EPT Berlin, with all 24 remaining players now guaranteed €23,000. But that’s a drop in the ocean compared to the one million euros waiting for the winner.
Players have finished having their photos taken in readiness for use in the peerless EPT Live broadcast, which you can follow here. Chips are being tipped out bags and stacked once more. We’ll be off in just a moment or so.
PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of singing ability) Stephen Bartley, Simon Young, Marc Convey and Howard Swains
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
What with the near-thousand-strong field and barrage of side events, it has been a frantic crush in the Grand Ballroom here all week. Today, however, was always scheduled to be the biggest squeeze of all, when we needed to compress 124 players into the 24 chairs of the final three EPT tables.
We needn’t have worried unduly. Sure, there was some jostling and a few elbows jabbed into ribs, but it really didn’t last very long. All it took was a jiffy longer than six levels of play – plus a handful of wrecking balls – before we identified our biggest-earning men.
As you take a look at their identities on the list of the final 24, doff your cap to the four men at the top. It’s difficult to remember precisely how many rivals Kevin MacPhee, Theo Jorgensen, Marc Inizan and Ketul Nathwani personally eliminated, but they went neck and neck and neck and neck through a million, then two million chips, scattering unfortunates in their wake.
MacPhee, known as “ImaLuckSac” online, is a perennial PokerStars qualifier for the major events, but he has never before translated his impeccable internet game to the live environment with such devastating results. This has been the season of the online phenom. Can MacPhee be the latest champion?
It takes us back to the early days of the EPT to see Jorgensen up there and crushing. He was always deep on seasons one through three, and now after a break from the tournament scene, he has been rolling back the years.
Inizan led almost pillar-to-post in a huge recent tournament in Belgium, making the final table after leading from day one. And he’s on track for a repeat here. The Frenchman has been in the top handful every day and rode some early storms to bounce back late today. He is right back in this one.
As for Nathwani, he too has been a huge bully, thundering through anyone foolish enough to stand in his way. One of those players was the Team PokerStars Pro Julian Thew, who almost cracked his fellow Brit’s aces. But almost wasn’t good enough.
Thew was joined on the prizewinner’s page by his Team PokerStars Pro colleagues William Thorson, Marcel Luske, Ben Kang and Vlad Zguba, the latter enjoying his first major result in the familiar livery before falling late on.
Johannes Strassman (515,000) and Jude Ainsworth (539,000) continue to fly the flag on the final three tables.
Full details of how everything went down today can be found throughout these links below.
Introduction: One hundred to go
Levels 17&18 live updates
Levels 19&20 live updates
Levels 20, 21 and 22 live updates
And then stick pins in your eyes and wriggle them around read all about the same thing in German, Swedish or Dutch.
There are video blogs on PokerStars.tv and you might want to bookmark that neighbourhood ahead of tomorrow’s EPT Live coverage of the penultimate day.
All pictures are ©Neil Stoddart.
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
9.25pm: Collado closes day three
Jan Collado would bring the day to an end, moving in with [tc][jh]. Waiting to call was Iikka Tahkokallio with [8s][8c] and the board delivered the goods. [7d][2s][td][9d][6c]. Collado was gone in 25th position, drawing day three to a close.
A full report on all the events of the day will be coming up shortly — SB.
9.30pm: That’s Gross
Christophe Gross won’t be coming back tomorrow. He just lost a monster million pot against Kevin MacPhee in what must be the biggest coin flip of the tournament so far. Gross had raised to 54,000 and MacPhee replied with a bet of 148,000. PokerStars player Gross wasted no time moving all in for his last 500,000, and MacPhee snap called.
MacPhee: [ad][kd]
Gross: [10h][10c]
Off to the races, and MacPhee won it as the board ran [5h][q][8c][kc][5h]. — SY
9.24pm: Zguba-doobie-don’t
In what would be the first of a short sharp burst of eliminations Vlad Zguba has departed. He moved all-in for 290,000 which Iikka Tahkokallio called, showing [ah][8h]. Zguba needed to hit, turning over [kh][qd] but got nothing from a [7d][3s][4c][jd][jh] board. — SB.
9.20pm: That was quick
No sooner are they back from the break, than they’re done for the night. The last couple of eliminations happened in a flash – full details are on their way. — HS
9pm: Level up
We’re on a 15-minute break. Blinds will be 12,000-24,000 (2,000 ante) when the 28 runners come back. — MC
9pm:Tricky ruling
Thomas Kremser had to be called over from the other side of the room to sort out a messy situation at one of the remaining tables. Stefan Huber had raised and then called Nico Behling’s all-in push from the next seat. Behling tabled pocket eights but before anyone could get to see the Swiss player’s cards the dealer raked in all the cards on the table thinking Huber had folded. Kremser ruled that as all the mucked cards had been pulled in with the deck there was no fair way of recreating the board fairly. Therefore the only way to solve the situation was to chop the antes and blinds up between the two players and move on. —MC
8.55pm: ‘I was always going to call you’
Carsten Joh opened for a raise to 50,000 from the cut-off before Theo Jorgensen three-bet to 140,000 from the button. Joh responded by moving all-in for 317,000 and the Dane called very quickly with [3d][3h]. Joh pumped his fist when he saw what he was up against (prob thought he had three outs one way or another) and tabled [ad][6d]. The board ran [6s][5s][kd][jh][ks] to double-up Joh.
Jorgensen was notably annoyed at his opponent’s play and said to him “I was always going to call you”. —MC
8.50pm: On your Markos, get set, go…
Marko Mikovic has been busted by Marko Neumann. Now there’s only one Marko left in the field. Mikovic made it 50,000 pre-flop and got a call from Neumann and also from Marc Inizan (albeit after a rather long think).
The flop was [qd][2s][8d], Mikovic checked, Neumann bet 100,000, Mikovic moved all in, Neumann called!
Neumann: [ad][qh]
Mikovic: [ah][kd]
The turn was [js] and river [3c], and that changed nothing. We’re down to 28. — SY
8.45pm: Witness the sickness
Paul Otto opened for 50,000 before Jan Collado re-raised 100,000 more. Otto moved all-in forcing Collado to fold.
A table along Tu Tuan To moved all-in. Hang on, no he didn’t, inadvertently forgetting to lob in four blue chips. His bet was 160,000 which Alfonso Amendola thought about calling.
“This is for sure,” said To, holding up the four blue chips, indicating it would be going in.
“I know it is for sure,” replied Amendola who had the call counted out. Nah, fold.
Back on the other table Ilya Gorodetskiy made it 45,000 from the button which was called by Mathias Kuerschner. The flop came [ac][2s][9s] which both players checked for a [qh] turn. Kuerschner made it 50,000 and Gorodetskiy wasted no time calling. On the [4h] river both checked it down, Gorodetskiy taking the pot with [9d][8d] to Kuerschner’s [8s][7d]. — SB.
8.40pm: Action flop
Christophe Gross opened the pot with a raise to 44,000 from under-the-gun before calling Artur Wasek’s three-bet to 120,000 from the big blind. The flop came [kc][8s][ts] and at this point the fireworks went off. Check-bet-raise and all-in type of action occurred to get all the chips across the line. Wasek tabled [tc][td] for middle set to Gross’s [ks][6s] for top pair and flush draw. The turn came [2d] and river [3d] to see Wasek double-up to 1.2 million. Gross down to 600,000 chips. —MC
8.35pm: Get this man some money
Olaf Sagorski is the latest to do the walk of shame. In the small blind Norman Kastner moved all in, covering Sagorski by some way. He called, showing [ac][3h], but he was a mile behind Kastner’s [ah][qs].
The board ran [6s][9s][ad][as][kh], and Sagorski shook a few hands before seeking out the cash desk, where €21,000 would be waiting for him. — SY
8.30pm: Barbosa takes nice pot
While the bluff hand below was going on, another big pot was brewing on the neighboring table. Joao Barbosa raised to 40,000 pre-flop and got calls from Jan Collado and Iikka Tahkokallio. The flop was [3c][qs][2d] and Barbosa made it 45,000. Only Collado called.
The turn was [6h] and this time Barbosa made it 95,000. Again Collado called. Finally, on the [js] river Barbosa made it 210,000. This time Collada went deep into the tank, and eventually passed. — SY
8.25pm: Jorgensen bluff
Well he is chip leader, so it makes audacious bluffs a little easier. Theo Jorgensen made it 90,000 pre-flop and got a call from Norman Kastner. On the [kh][ah][8d] flop Jorgensen made it 120,000 and again Kastner called. Then on the [3c] river Jorgensen kept up the pressure, adding 260,000 to the pot. This time Kastner went deep in to the tank. So deep that Jorgensen eventually called the clock on him.
As the countdown went all the way to zero Kastner did not move. His hand was dead. With that, Jorgensen triumphantly showed [6h][7s] for absolute air. — SY
8.20pm: Huber a Neumann
On a flop of [tc][ah][qs] both Marko Neumann and Stefan Huber checked for a [8h] turn card. Neumann checked to Huber who bet 86,000, called for a [as] on the river.
Again Neumann checked. Huber reached higher, making it 216,000 which Neumann called. Huber turned over [ad][ts], good enough to take the pot. — SB.
8.15pm: One down
Carlos Oliveira moved all-in pre-flop. Marcel Koller on his immediate left did the same. It was just the two of them and soon enough two would become one. Koller showed [as][ac] to Oliveira’s wincing [ah][8d]. The board ran [4h][jc][4d][kd][4c]. Oliveira to the rail. — SB.
8.10pm: Not giving up without a fight
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is not giving up on this tournament without a fight despite a couple of knock-backs. He is being ultra aggressive in his quest to get back in this. Firstly he three-bet all in after Ketul Nathwani had raised it up. Nathwani asked for a count but let it go. Next it was Ainsworth who opened with a raise to see Nico Behling call from the big blind. Both checked the flop before Ainsworth treated the German’s 56,000 bet on the [3h][jd][qh][6d] board with another shove. It worked as Behling folded. Ainsworth up to 510,000. —MC
8pm: Ein outer
There was the kind of whoop in the tournament room that meant either someone had let off some fireworks, or there’d been a monster suck-out. It turned out to be the latter – and it was pretty whoop-worthy. Eike “Not Erik” Seidel had hit a one outer on the river to keep himself in the tournament.
Seidel was all in pre-flop with pocket fours; Christophe Gross called with aces. There was a four and an ace on the flop, the turn was a blank, but the river was the case four. Whoop indeed. — HS
7.50pm: Falaschi flayed
It’s getting to the stage of the tournament where reporters quite often outnumber players, particularly the smaller sites representing specific nations, and the always-enthusiastic Italian press in particular. At the last break, Italy had three representatives still in the tournament, and 73 media. Very soon after, however, they lost a player, Luca Falashi, leaving just the 37 and a half reporters to follow the two left.
Falashi moved all in pre-flop for 321,000 and Evgeniy Zaytsev had the most to think about. After a couple of minuted Zaytsev made the call, covereing Falashi, but they were racing.
Falashi: [5d][5s]
Zaytsev: [ad][js]
The flop brought no help: [3d][7d][qh] but the turn [jd] wsa greeted with an outraged splutter. The [3s] river couldn’t help Falaschi’s hopes and he is now out. — HS
7.45pm: Frankenburger’s monster
After an opening bet of 43,000 from Jonas Gutteck, Dennis Frankenburger moved all-in. Gutteck called and the field was about to shrink by one. [ah][kc] for Gutteck, [8d][8h] for Frankenburger.
The board ran [ks][2s][kd][2c][js], the flop cutting Frankenburger down and sending him to the rail in 34th place. — SB.
7.30pm: Level up
We’re on a 15-minute break. Blinds will be 10,000-20,000 (2,000 ante) when the 34 runners come back. — SY
7.25pm: Another gone, only ten to go
Frank Schaefer has gone, leaving just 34 players still alive in EPT Berlin. A swift calculation, using all fingers on both hands, reveals we need to lose ten more players and the day is done.
On this one, the flop was showing [5s][4s][as] and Schaefer had bet 80,000. What he hadn’t counted on was Kevin MacPhee re-raising all-in. MacPhee had Schaefer covered, and the German tanked for a good few minutes before making a crying call. “I have an ace,” said MacPhee. “Oh” said Schaefer.
MacPhee: [ah][9s]
Schaefer: [3s][3d]
The [6c] turn opened opened up more outs for Schaefer, but the [5h] river was not one of them. — SY
7.15pm: This sack is full of luck and skill
Kevin MacPhee is on a charge that’s helped him up to 1.38 million chips. First off he busted former French International footballer Vikash Dhorasso when he picked up pocket kings against his queens. Then he took a chunk out of Luca Falaschi when he turned trip sevens and got a value bet paid-off by the Italian. The Italian actually tried to min-raise on the river too but got his betting sizes mixed up. Just as well for him as 260,000 plays a lot better than 140,000 at this stage. —MC
7.10pm: Check-calling
The board was reading [9c][qs][6c][6d] and Ilya Gorodetskiy out of his chair. He’d folded when Paul Thomas Otto had bet again on the flop, making it too rich for to carry on and instead he folded a red ace and a red king. Besides, he had bigger problems. He’d just managed to delete all of his notes from the previous level from his PDA and was busy pushing buttons trying to get them back.
What was left was a heads-up chess match between Otto and Iikka Tahkokallio who had been check-calling up to now, checking on the turn before Otto made it 160,000 to go. Again Tahkokallio called for a [4s] river card. By now there was 600,000 in the middle now and a crowd had gathered.
Tahkokallio checked again. Otto wanted to know how much was in the pot, but was told by the dealer that he’d have to work that out himself. Calculating that seemed easy though compared to working out how much Otto himself actually had. His chips are stacked in fives, in a pyramid formation, reds to one side, yellows and blues on the other. It’s anyone’s guess, but there’s more than enough there to bet 300,000.
Tahkokallio thought for a while and called. Otto turned over [ad][as]. Tahkokallio could only nudge his cards to the muck. — SB
7pm: Squeeze me
Here are two examples of the “squeeze play” – with markedly different results. The first took a chunk from the stack of Vlad Zguba; the second eliminated Roland Reckeweg and put Marc Inizan right back in the mix.
Squeeze one: Jan Collado opened for 36,000 under-the-gun and Paul Otto called on the button. That’s the start of any good squeeze and doesn’t Vlad Zguba, in the small blind, know it. Zguba made it 100,000.
Collado folded, but Otto wasn’t so easily persuaded. He called, forcing them both to a [8d][9s][3h] flop. Zguba followed through, betting 100,000, but Otto meant business too, and called again.
The turn was [qh] and after Zguba checked, Otto moved all in, which gave Zguba cause for consideration, before he found a fold. That was a squeeze gone awry.
Squeeze two: A few tables down, Marko Mikovic made it 40,000 from the cut off and Reckeweg called in the small blind. Here we have those two crucial ingredients of a squeeze pie again.
Inizan, in the big blind, accepted the invitation and made it 132,000 from the big blind. Mikovic folded but Reckeweg announced that he was all in, for 313,000 more. Inizan did some calculating, and seemed to figure that he had to call. Reckeweg might not originally have liked the call, but he certainly would have when the cards were on their backs:
Reckeweg: [qc][10d]
Inizan: [9s][8d]
A few railbird who hadn’t seen the preceding action found this to be extraordinary, but it all made sense in a weird kind of meta-game/mathematical way. As, I suppose, did the board of [jh][ac][9c][4d][9h] which gave trips to Inizan, beating the better hand, and sending Reckeweg looking for the exit.
Inizan now has more than a million. — HS
6.55pm: Andre adds to giant stack
Andre Einbrodt has been eliminated by Stefan Huber to put Huber’s stack up to 1,620,000. Huber raised and then snap-called Einbrodt’s all in push. Einbrodt tabled [a][j] but he’d run into Huber’s [kh][kd]. The board offered no help and that was all for Einbrodt. —MC
6.45pm: Ainsworth in freefall
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth is now down to 400,000, with two hands doing significant damage to his once-huge stack. First he managed to double up Alfonso Amendola. The Italian had made it 38,000 pre-flop and Ainsworth, believing he could make him put down his hand, moved all-in. Amendola thought for a moment or so before making the call.
Ainsworth: [ah][4d]
Amendola: [ad][kc]
No dramas came on the [6s][3c][10d][qh][jh] board and Amendola doubled up to 820,000.
Soon after, Ainsworth got involved again, this time with Christophe Gross. There was already 200,000 in the middle and on the [8s][10c][9h] flop Ainsworth made it 72,000 and Gross called. Ainsworth then checked the [5h] turn and folded when Gross put out 123,000. — SY
6.40pm: Nothing specific
Eike Seidel opened for 36,000 pre-flop which Christophe Gross re-raised to 84,000 from the button. No use being reckless, Seidel folded.
Luca Falaschi moved all-in, twice, getting no takers either time.
On a flop of [ac][9h][kc] Roland Reckeweg bet big, 250,000. Marc Inizan was on his left and moved all in, sending Reckeweg into the tank for several minutes. It took him a while but he folded.
6.30pm: Jorgensen extends lead
Amir Tassoudji is out, yet another victim of the seemingly unstoppable train that is Theo Jorgensen. Tassoudji raised to 36,000 from early position and Jorgensen called from the big blind. The flop was [kd][6d][ah] – then it kicked off. Tassoudji made it 56,000, Jorgensen re-raised to 112,000, Tassoudji moved all in for around 330,000 more – call.
“You have a set?” asked Tassoudji.
“Yes,” replied Jorgensen
Tassoudji: [ac][10s]
Jorgensen: [6c][6h]
The [2c] turn and the [3d] river changed nothing, and Jorgensen raked in another tidy profit. — SY
6.20pm: Nathwani thaws Thew
Julian Thew is out, sorry to say, although he provided a story right to the last. He open shoved for 240,000 with [10d][8d] but ran headlong into Ketul Nathwani’s aces.
Thew has remarkable resilience though and this flop was one for the Thew purists: [10h][8s][9d]. That’s an aces-cracking board for the Team PokerStars Pro, but the pendulum swung back to Nathwani with the [ah] turn. The [5h] river was irrelevant. — HS
6.10pm: We’re back
No news on whether or not there will be a dinner break today but we play on into level 21 regardless. Just 45 players remain and we play on tonight until a further 21 have been eliminated. Check out the latest finisher on the payout page while the current scores are available on the chip count page.
PokerStars Blog reporting team (in order of where they believe Alfonso Amendola will finish EPT Berlin): Marc Convey (ninth), Simon Young (21st), Stephen Bartley (26th), Howard Swains (32nd).
This EPT is brought to you by PokerStars, the official sponsor of the European Poker Tour. Win your way into the biggest events Europe has to offer at Europe.
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