| Buy-In: | $5,756 + $360 |
|---|---|
| Prize Pool: | $1,542,092 |
| Entrants: | 282 |
Ronny Kaiser arrived in Tallinn this week as the Prince ready to claim his inheritance. After a mouth-watering display at the final table today, he claimed just that; Kaiser, the King of EPT Tallinn, the first champion of the EPT’s eighth season.
The 21-year-old’s coronation was witnessed by a packed rail that had watched a captivating and turbo-charged finale, wrapped up in four-and-a-half hours, bringing a memorable week in Tallinn to a close. If this is a sign of things to come, the next ten months on the tour should prove to be a vintage season.
Kaiser leaves Estonia floating on the acclaim of fellow players and the plaudits of those of us watching from the rail, stalking the leaders until the moment he burst to the front.
Kaiser’s primary adversary through three days of play was the Polish player Grzegorz Cichocki, who he would finally meet, and destroy, heads-up.
“It’s very nice to win. I’ve been the chip leader for three days but I’ve got deep before and always finished 20th. This time I thought, ‘I should win this.’”
“It was funny,” said Kaiser when asked about having Cichocki on his left for the last two days. “We were next to each other for two days but the first big pot that we played was when were heads-up. It wasn’t deliberate; we just busted all the other guys. It wasn’t a conscious decision to avoid him, I wasn’t scared.”
The speed with which the final was concluded speaks volumes for Kaiser’s mastery. He dominated the heads up, which proved nothing short of a battering for the Pole who could only watch as Kaiser took what was rightfully his. The only player since Day 2 to have more chips than Kaiser was Cichocki. It was right that these two met heads-up but ultimately the right man won.
Kaiser played down his achievement, particularly the steam-rollering of his final opponent. “It’s strange because we were really deep, but I just won every hand,” he said. “I wasn’t really bluffing, I just had it every time.”
Ronny Kaiser the new EPT Tallinn champion, and winner of €275,000.
Kaiser had taken the advantage from Day 3 and from there he had no reason to look back, the view from his gilded perch on top of a stack of chips giving him complete command. Instead he used his remarkable focus to hunt down his prize, with a now familiar sleep-till-noon expression and his left hand holding his hood across his neck, presumably to hide any pulsing giveaways.
For Cichocki this was all an agonizing near-miss. Having put in a tireless and almost perfect performance, he just happened to run into Kaiser at his most powerful. Against anyone else we may well have been writing about new Polish records tonight – in fact his runner-up spot makes him the highest finishing Pole in EPT history. Alas, the story lies elsewhere.
The day started with a line-up to rival any final table in the world, with Kaiser and Cichocki, Sami Kelopuro and Jani Sointula starting as heavyweights.
Arvi Vainionkulma was first to go. Still bruised from a hand against Cichocki at the bell last night, he got his short stack into the middle in only the second hand of the day, running it into Kaiser, with predictable results.
Kelopuro would follow an hour later, seemingly nonplussed when Kaiser made a straight on the turn to deny ‘LarsLuzak’ from converting online success into a bricks and mortar foundation.
Kelopuro’s exit caught everyone by surprise, not least Erlend Melsom, who got a €10,000 bump before he departed in sixth place.
While Melsom was grateful to Kelopuro, Stuart Fox felt the same way towards Melsom. The Norwegian PokerStars Qualifier busted when his ace-king was rivered by Jani Sointula’s ace-queen, all while Fox looked on with two big blinds to his name. Fox had Sointula to thank for his bump in prize money, up to €55,000, which he collected after the very next hand, drawing dead against Kaiser’s trip kings.
With four left it seemed Kaiser and Sointula were trying a two-pronged pincer move on the Pole, first Kaiser landing a few jabs, then Sointula. To a certain extent it worked. The unshakable Cichocki was beginning to lose pots, his impressive armoury of orange chips slowly retreating to a rear-guard of blue.
But Cichocki weathered the storm, and began firing back, Sointula taking the full force of it when in what proved a decisive hand, he unlocked Sointula’s tournament hopes with a flopped straight. Sointula was watching from the rail within half an hour.
That left three, including arguably the happiest man in Tallinn. While Kaiser and Cichocki were setting records for Switzerland and Poland, Aasmaa was doing the same for his country, becoming the first Estonian to reach an EPT final. When he departed in third he looked like a man delighted to have won €110,000; his last ditch king-ten was flattened to Cichocki’s aces.
That cleared the way for Kaiser and Cichocki, the result perhaps a foregone conclusion. They may have begun heads up almost even but Kaiser had all the momentum and soon made it pay.
The longer version of the day’s action can be found at the links below, it really was worth repeating. You can also find today’s video blogs, and all the Tallinn videos from the week, on PokerStars.tv.
Final table profiles
Level 23 & 24 updates
Level 25 updates
That’s all then from Tallinn, an insta-hit for those of us making a first trip here. Our thanks to the staff of the Swissotel for unbeatable customer service, and for the pretzel sticks.
The European Poker Tour now heads for Barcelona for the second event of the new eighth season, starting on 27 August.
Until then, it’s good bye from Tallinn.
All photos on PokerStars Blog from Tallinn are ©Neil Stoddart/PokerStars.
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.
5pm: Full wrap imminent
Stick around for all the details of Ronny Kaiser’s remarkable triumph. The full wrap is imminent.
4.35pm: It’s all over: Grzegorz Cichocki out in second, earning €180,000
Ronny Kaiser champion of EPT Tallinn, winning €275,000
The one way traffic has eventually reached its destination. After two days trying, Ronny Kaiser has finally stacked Grzegorz Cichocki in a final that lasted little more than four and a half hours. Ronny Kaiser is the champion of EPT Tallinn, at the age of 21.
The final hand played out like this: Cichocki made it 60,000 from the button and Kaiser three bet to 165,000 from the big blind. There was nothing at all unusual about that.
Cichocki, however, three bet shoved all in for his last 250,000-odd and Kaiser didn’t think long before saying, “OK, I call.”
Kaiser showed A
9
and was already way ahead of Cichocki’s 8
6. The flop put him even further in front when it came A
K5. “Zwei runners,” intoned the German-speaking rail, but not even ein runner was forthcoming. The [10s] turn left Cichocki drawing dead, and the 9 finished it off.
Laura Cornelius talks to the EPTs newest champion, Ronny Kaiser…
4.29pm: Three hands batter Cichocki
Gregorz Cichocki is getting crushed by the Ronny Kaiser steamroller at the moment and is down to 1,600,000 conceding a huge deficit to Kaiser.
Hand one: Kaiser c-bets a J6Q flop for 80,000. Call. The 10 turn is checked and Kaiser calls a 150,000 lead into the 3 river. Cichocki shows J9 but Kaiser takes the pot with Q8. Down to 2,400,000
Hand two: Kaiser three-bets from the big blind and takes the pot pre-flop.
Hand three: Kaiser opens the button and is called. Another 80,000 c-bet is called on the flop, which reads 10K2.
Kaiser bets 160,000 on the 8 turn. Cichocki calls and does so again when Kaiser blasts 575,000 on the 6 river. Kaiser shows AA. A frustrated Cichocki flashes a black king. The Pole is down to around 1,600,000. He’s up against the ropes here. — RD
4.20pm: Kaiser beginning to krush
After an extended period of what can only be described as faffing around — raises of 75,000 from the button, called in the big blind, folded after a bet on the flop — Ronny Kaiser has just taken a potentially decisive lead in this heads up duel.
Grzegorz Cichocki raised to 75,000 from the button and Kaiser called. So much, so typical. They went to a flop of 28K, which Kaiser checked. Cichocki bet 85,000 and Kaiser found the check-raise, making it 175,000.
Cichocki wasn’t convinced and three-bet to 360,000. Kaiser called.
The A turned and Kaiser checked. Cichocki bet 460,000 at that, but again Kaiser called. The A rivered and Kaiser checked again. Cichocki checked behind.
Kaiser indicated that Cichocki was first to show, as the last aggressor, but Cichocki opted to muck instead. Kaiser showed a bare three to his appreciative rail and took it down. — HS
4.10pm: Cichocki forcing Kaiser back
Gregorz Cichocki is making some inroads into Ronny Kaiser’s chip lead here. A small pot was taken by the pole with bottom pair before the following hand played out.
Cichocki limped the button and Kaiser raised to 90,000. Call. Kaiser fired 105,000 into the K63 flop and was called for a second time. A larger 180,000 was bet by Kaiser at the 7 turn and was raised to 500,000 by Cichocki. Kaiser passed. He’s still ahead but by less. Chip counts are roughly 4,000,000 to Cichocki and 4,400,000 to Kaiser. — RD
3.57pm: First points to Cichocki
Gregorz Cichocki has won the first two hands of this heads up, but neither have been substantial.
The first was a 75,000 open from Ronny Kaiser on the button, which was called, as was his 60,000 c-bet into a 34A flop. The A turn was checked. Cichocki led 130,000 into the 6 river and took the pot.
The second hand was a raise and take by the Pole who is now up to 3,700,000. Kaiser still ahead with 4,750,000. — RD
3.47pm: Heads up chip counts
Here they are:
Ronny Kaiser: 4,912,000
Grzegorz Cichocki: 3,537,000
There has never been either a Swiss or a Polish winner of the EPT, so national hero status awaits one of these two. — HS
3.45pm: Estonian hopes fade as final goes heads-up
Almost without pause we’re heads-up in the EPT Tallinn main event after Grzegorz Cichocki eliminated local hero Raigo Aasmaa, the first Estonian to reach a final table, in third place.
After Cichocki called in the small blind Aasmaa moved all in from the big blind which Cichocki called immediately. It was soon clear why as he turned over AA while Aasmaa flipped up K10.
A huge crowd had by now surrounded the table. The players shook hads ahead of the flop.
5Q974
It was over on the turn when Cichocki made the flush. Aasmaa departed to huge applause looking like a man who was quite pleased to have won €110,000.
We’re heads-up in the main event with the clock stopped. Cichocki hasn’t said a word all day. Kaiser is conferring with his friends on the rail. Play resumes shortly. – SB
3.40pm: Second time lucky for Kaiser: Jani Sointula out in fourth, earning €80,000
“Here we go again,” said Jani Sointula as he moved all in pre-flop from the big blind, over Ronny Kaiser’s raise to 145,000. Kaiser didn’t take long to call this time, and they were racing for Sointula’s tournament life.
Sointula: AK
Kaiser: 77
This time, it was Sointula who needed to catch, but he didn’t. The board ran 98648 and Sointula was toast.
The Finn shook every hand around the table and didn’t wait to see his 900,000-odd slid to Kaiser. We’re down to three. — HS
3.38pm: Sointula shoves and doubles
Jani Sointula is not the kind of man to blind out and has been all-in the last two hands. The first was an open shove that picked up the blinds to pump him up to 456,000, the second was a three-bet all-in over the 60,000 open raise from Ronny Kaiser.
“Count,” said Kaiser pointing at Sointula’s stack.
The Swiss obviously had a decision on his hands: “You’re so good at pre-flop all-ins,” said Kaiser.
Sointula smiled, acknowledging the fact that he’d out flopped hard in a couple of big pots this tournament.
“Okay,” said Kaiser thumping down a stack of orange chips.
Kaiser: KJ
Sointula: A4
Sointula advantage held all the way to the river of the 4Q668 to double to 950,000. — RD
3.30pm: From the tournament floor
With Ronny Kaiser…
3.20pm: Back to it
Four remain heading into level 25, where blinds are 15,000-30,000 with a 4,000 ante.
The counts for the remaining players are as follows:
Ronny Kaiser – 4,750,000
Grzegorz Cichocki – 2,786,000
Raigo Aasmaa – 641,000
Jani Sointula – 427,000
When I grow up, I want to be Ronny Kaiser. — HS
Reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey, 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.
1.35pm: Break time
That was the last hand before the break. Updated chip counts are on the chip-counts page and we’re going into the next level, with blinds at 12,000-24,000. Fox has two big blinds left, while Kaiser has a chip lead of two big blinds. — HS
1.30pm: Fox floored
The final hand before the break has all but floored Stuart Fox and put Jani Sointula right back among the big stacks. Those two players had had a bit of history, with Fox three betting Sointula a couple of times already on this final table. But when Sointula decided to take a stand, he was well equipped – and Fox also had significant enough holding to call him.
Here’s how it went. It was folded to Sointula in the hijack, and he raised to 40,000. Fox, in the cut off, raised to 105,000 and it made its way back round to Sointula. He took his time, but eventually moved all in for a total of 596,000.
Fox, with almost exactly that in his stack, took an age to make his decision, but eventually he called. And it all made sense:
Fox: AQ
Sointula: KK
Fox needed to hunt out an ace, but couldn’t find one. The board ran 87823 and Sointula pulled off a major double up.
Fox is left with 50,000. Sointula has 1,200,000. — HS
1.25pm: Sami Kelopuro eliminated in seventh place, earning €35,000
With five minutes remaining on the level Sami Kelopuro has been eliminated in seventh place.
Ronny Kaiser opened for 40,000 from early position which Kelopuro called from the big blind. The flop came 329 which Kelopuro checked. Kaiser bet 45,000 which Kelopuro then called for a 5 turn.
Again, Kelopuro check-called Kaiser’s bet of 120,000 for a 8 on the river. But by now the hand was destined to go well for Kaiser. Kelopuro checked for a final time, leaving it to Kaiser to bet a stack of oranges worth 225,000. With 830,000 or so behind Kelopuro announced he was all in.
Kaiser, suddenly animated in his chair as if blown back by a shockwave, said he needed a count, but the dealer wasn’t even half way through this formality before Kaiser said he called, turning over A4 for a turned straight, which Kelopuro immediately acknowledged had his beaten.
There followed an awkward moment of protocol, the lame duck Kelopuro waiting in his chair while the tournament director ran through the situation for those watching on the rail. Kelopuro had mucked his hand, but the all-in-called required a showdown. The Finn waited, smiling slightly, as the dealer turned over Kelopuro’s AK. Finally he was allowed to leave.
Kelopuro out in seventh, while Kaiser moves up to roughly 2,700,000. – SB
1.22pm: Last three hands
Back to back raise and takes from Jani Sointula (under-the-gun) and Erlend Melsom (hijack). Ronny Kaiser may well have been trying the same thing with the same 40,000 raise Sointula and Melsom had made but he found a caller in Raigo Aasmaa on the button.
The board was checked to the 2910J turn which Kaiser fired 50,000 into. Whatever plan Aasmaa may have been making as he reached for his chips was thrown when fumbled a few on the table. He mucked immediately after. — RD
1.10pm: You don’t see it every day
Quads on a final table? Quad aces? Yep, Grzegorz Cichocki has just added another couple of hundred to his stack by turning a rag ace into four-of-a-kind and extracting some value from Sami Kelopuro.
Kelopuro had taised to 45,000 from the cut off, which Cichocki called in the big blind. It was the two of them to a flop of KAJ, which was checked in both spots. The A turned, and Cichocki checked again. Kelopuro bet 58,000 and Cichocki called.
The river was A and Cichocki now led at it for 82,000. Kelopuro made a pretty-much instant call — a king? a jack? — but Cichocki rolled over A7 for the quads. They were, um, good. I think. — HS
1.05pm: Heavyweight battle
Sami Kelopuro opened for 45,000 in middle position which Ronny Kaiser called from the cut off. Jani Sointula was in the big blind and also called, the three major players in a hand together.
The flop came 599 and Sointula checked. Kelopuro, performing one of those virtuoso finger ballets, transferring different chips to different piles before reuniting them for a bet, pushed in 78,000 in various colours, which Kaiser called with a stack of yellows. Before you could turn you head to look see for yourself, Sointula had already folded.
The turn came K which both players checked and they did the same for the 4 river. Kelopuro turned over 53. The dealer looked at Kaiser who simply nodded. Kelopuro up to 1,150,000 while Kaiser drops to 1,800,000. – SB
1pm: Big stacks tangling
Redraws can be a big part of tournament variance and the final table plonked Gregorz Cichocki – second in chips – on the left of chip leader Ronny Kaiser. Conceding position to the only player that can all but knock you out isn’t good and already there’s been a swing towards the Pole. Cichocki is certainly going to be giving Kaiser some cause for concern.
Kaiser opened from the small blind and Cichocki made the call. Kaiser c-bet 42,000 into the K5A flop but check-folded to 75,000 on the 3 turn. Cichocki marginally in front at the moment. — RD
12.55pm: Melsom back in the hunt
After the departure of Arvi Vainionkulma and the chipping up of Stuart Fox, Erlend Melsom was left on the short stack. He moved all in from under the gun and got everyone to fold, and it got even better on the next hand.
Melsom had posted the big blind and it was folded all the way round to Sami Kelopuro in the small. Kelopuro announced that he was all in, tempting Melsom to play for his stack. Melsom was obliging, barely taking breath before calling the shove. Melsom was behind with KJ to Kelopuro’s A[10c], but there was plenty of equity there.
The flop was blank: 357. But the turn was the bingo J. And after the Q rivered, Melsom was counting his chips for the double up.
He had 305,000, so ended the hand with about 620,000. Kelopuro has 985,000 remaining. — HS
Seems like a good time actually to check in with Erlend Melsom, who talked to Laura Cornelius before play began:
12.50pm: Fox force 500
A chair has been removed from the table following Arvi Vainionkulma’s departure and players have been invited to make use of the space. Stuart Fox dragged himself and his chips about 12 inches to the left, Jani Sointula next to him moved about six inches, while Raigo Aasmaa just shuffled in his seat a bit.
The last couple of hands have been about Fox moving centre stage. He opened for 42,000 from the cut-off which Ronny Kaiser raised to 89,000 from the big blind, putting Fox under pressure. After a minute to think it over Fox moved all in for about 380,000, prompting Kaiser, who had no doubt planned for this eventuality, to fold.
In the next hand Fox opened for 42,000 again, which Grzegorz Cichocki called from the big blind for a flop of Q93. Cichocki checked. Fox, who plays with his fist against his mouth, as if about to cough, bet 104,000. Like Kaiser, Cichocki folded. Fox up to more than 500,000 now. – SB
12.45pm: Here’s what you could have won…
The remaining EPT Tallinn payouts are as follows:
1. €275,000
2. €180,000
3. €110,000
4. €80,000
5. €55,000
6. €45,000
7. €35,000
There’s some big money to be won here and if you want to see who the nearly men were then click on this link here. — RD
12.40pm: First faller, Arvi Vainionkulma out in 8th (€25,000)
Arvi Vainionkulma started the day as the shortest stack and was the player most likely to be the first all in. Chip dynamics don’t lie, he was. Ronny Kaiser opened for 40,000 from early position and Vainionkulma moved all-in for 220,000 from the small blind. Sami Kelopuro passed in the big blind and Kaiser made the call.
Vainionkulma: AK
Kaiser: 44
Ahhh, the classic race situation. Kaiser zipped off on the 275 flop with Vainionkulma needing to catch an ace or king on the turn or river. None of his six outs materialized on the 6 turn or Q river. Kaiser back to 2,400,000.
Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor of the European Poker Tour Season 8 no less, had offered a last longer bet for any player wearing a Skrill patch. Vainionkulma opted into that challenge winning it with aplomb to claim his buy-in back so that’s €25,000 clean profit for the Finn. — RD
12.30pm: Pole-axed
There’s absolutely no doubt who has emerged as the early table captain: Grzegorz Cichocki has won four hands on the spin. After taking the pot from Ronny Kaiser detailed below, he then went on a pre-flop raising mission, making it 40,000 from button and cut-off in successive hands, then 45,000 from the hijack on the next.
The former and the latter of those resulted in him picking up the blinds and antes, and the middle one earned him even more. On that occasion Stuart Fox decided to defend his big blind and they went to a 6A5 flop. Fox checked, Cichocki bet 50,000 and took it down. — HS
12.25pm: Line-up
Wanted for a crime near you. The final table players at EPT Tallinn:
12.22pm: Pot to Poland
Sami Kelopuro, wearing a watch that looks like it’s worth about three times the value of my car when it was new, opened for 45,000 in the hijack, which Ronny Kaiser called from the button. In the small blind was Grzegorz Cichocki, ready to raise to 120,000. Kelopuro passed but Kaiser called after looking at his cards again and covering half of his face with his hood.
The flop came 5K8 which both players checked for a Q turn card. Both checked again for a 5 river at which point Cichocki checked to Kaiser. The Swiss bet 330,000. Cichocki went to his chips and pushed forward the call.
“Good call,” said Kaiser, immediately mucking his hand, allowing Cichocki to fold without showing and denying the rest of us a peek at what he had. – SB
12.15pm: Kaiser on the button
It’s the first hand of the EPT Tallinn final table and with Ronny Kaiser on the button we all expected a three-bet to come in when Raigo Aasmaa opened under the gun for 45,000. It didn’t but the young Swiss did make the call, as did Gregorz Cichocki in the big blind.
Aasmaa c-bet 60,000 into the A45 flop and took the pot. First blood to the Estonian. — RD
12pm: Ready for the final push
Morning all. Everyone ready for the final table? Good.
We’ve been touting this moment for a few days now, but we have eight players lined up for what might turn out to be one of the most combustible final tables in EPT history. Say what you like about Ronny Kaiser, Sami Kelopuro and Jani Sointula, but they’re not afraid to get their chips in.
Reporters here in the Swissotel Tallinn have also noticed a certain inclination to mix it up in Grzegorz Cichocki, who may be a new face but has certainly showed some flair and experience in his play. He is second in chips at the start of the day.
Stuart Fox, the British representative, has been nursing a short stack for longer than he cares to remember. But if he finally gets more than 20 big blinds in front of him, Fox too will come racing to the party.
With a partisan home crowd behind Raigo Aasmaa, the Estonian is going to be focused on becoming the first Estonian to win an EPT main event. And if these tournaments have taught us anything, even the lesser known are never out of it. Arvi Vainionkulma and Erland Melsom could yet have a say.
Play is due to start at noon. It won’t. So stick around and join us when it does. Your guess is as good as mine.
In the meantime, check out those full player profiles on the player profile page. Then look at the starting chip-count page. And then come back right here.
— HS
Reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey, 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.
3.07pm: Break time
That’s the end of the level. Players are on a 15 minute break.
3.05pm: Dire straight for Sointula
We’re now witnessing more and more hands that are a pleasure to watch, like the latest, a massive hand that could result in Jani Sointula’s demise.
Sointula opened for 50,000 on the button which Grzegorz Cichocki called from the big blind for a flop of 8J10. Cichocki then checked to Sointula who bet 58,000, before firing back with 137,000. Sointula grabbed his chips from across the line, pulled them back and replaced them with a call.
The turn came 3. Cichocki went to his stack, not quite as well armoured with orange chips anymore, and assembled a bet of 247,000. Sointula called.
The river came Q. Cichocki went for some blue chips, then dug out a second column he had in reserve. He got 400,000 ready, then 440,000, then 447,000 which he pushed forward. Another shock wave, this one forcing Sointula back in his chair, his arms stretched behind his head, eyes bulging. He had 900,000 back and for a second I thought I saw the flash of a “what the hell” expression before he calmed himself. Then he called.
The tournament director announced the call to an eager crowd. Cichocki didn’t show immediately, waiting for Sointula to finish paying his fee. Then, like he was plunging a knife into his chest, Cichocki pushed his cards forward and turned over 97.
Cichocki had flopped the straight to win the 1,700,000 pot. Sointula nodded, sighed and sucked it up, looking down at the 450,000 he had left.
“Set,” said Sointula in the post-mortem. – SB
3.02pm: Sointula punished Aasma
In this four-handed action Jani Sointula is applying a lot of pressure and it was Raigo Aasmaa who was most recently on the Finn’s anvil. Aasmaa opened his small blind to 50,000 and Sointula move all-in asking Aasmaa if he wanted to play for his remaining 700,000. He did not. Sointula up to around 1,500,000 – an uptick of half-a-million since being forced to fold by Kaiser earlier this level. — RD
2.58pm: Kaiser gives up, wins anyway
Ronny Kaiser checked the turn of a K310A board against Gregorz Cichocki having c-bet 55,000 and had the look of a man who had given up on the hand. The A river was also checked by both players and Kaiser showed 77 to take the pot. — RD
2.55pm: Sointula guns for Cichocki
The attack on Grzegorz Cichocki’s stack continues, with Jani Sointula now helping himself to a few more. Cichocki is not, however, going to change his aggressive pre-flop approach and is continuing to put his chips out there as bait.
Cichocki opened to 48,000 from under the gun (which is also the four-handed cut off) and Sointula called from the big blind. They saw a 958 flop, which both players checked. The [10s] turned and Sointula bet 75,000, which was not enough to persuade Cichocki away. But the 180,000 bet from Sointula on the K river did the trick.
Cichocki folded. — HS
2.50pm: Taking on the Pole
Ronny Kaiser called in the small blind to see a flop of 965 with big blind Grzegorz Cichocki. Kaiser checked to the Pole who bet 62,000 which Kaiser called for an A turn. This time Kaiser led the betting, making it 90,000 which Cichocki called for a 2 river. Kaiser then went to his chips again, throwing in 135,000. Cichocki called but was forced to pass when Kaiser turned over A8. Another 280,000 to the Kaiser slush fund.
At the moment Raigo Aasmaa has been reduced to a mere spectator. He just got a walk in the big blind but you sense it was only because Kaiser was leaning back to take a swig of Coke.
The Estonian did get involved in the next hand, however, calling in the small blind when Kaiser opened for 48,000 under the gun. The flop came 52Q and Aasmaa bet 65,000. Kaiser was keeping things small though, and folded, Aasmaa’s gains not yet big enough to reverse his fortunes as the short stack.
In the next hand Cichocki was the target again, Kaiser re-raising the Pole’s under the gun raise to 50,000 from the big blind, making it 150,000 to play. Cichocki got the point.
Then, in what may be a subtle pincer move by the Finns on Cichocki, Sointula took him on, opening from the button for 50,000 which Cichocki called in the big blind.
The flop came 8310 which both players checked for a 4 turn card. Cichocki threw in another 55,000 which Sointula called for a K river. Cichocki bet another 75,000 but Sointula was not going anywhere, calling and showing 710. Cichocki was beaten, showing J4. – SB
2.40pm: Kaiser shows willingness for Cichocki battle
Ronny Kaiser has been drawn to the left of Grzegorz Cichocki for two full days now, and one gets the impression that the battle might be coming to a head. Kaiser has bided his time and remained incredibly patient in pots against his Polish adversary (who has been closest to him in chips throughout) but there is a definite hint that something is about to give.
Just recently, Cichocki raised the 48,000 from the cut off and Kaiser three bet to 134,000 from the big blind. Cichocki called. The flop came J7[10s], which they both checked, but when the Q turned, Kaiser steamed out with a 140,000 bet. Cichocki folded.
There’s not all that much of interest in the hand itself, but it definitely represented a change in gears from Kaiser. I can’t actually remember a previous occasion on which Kaiser has been the victor in a notable pot between those two, but I think Kaiser has now decided it is time to attack. — HS
2.30pm: Sointula and Kaiser clash over one million pot
Jani Sointiula and Ronny Kaiser have just gone to war over a one million pot which has left Sointula battered and bruised but certainly not out.
Sointula opened the cut-off for 50,000 and was called on the button by Kaiser and Raigo Aasmaa in the big blind. Sointila c-bet 85,000 into the K5J flop and Kaiser raised to 175,000. Sointula made the call.
The 2 was checked by Sointula. Kaiser dropped a large chunk of orange 25,000 chips across the line for a 350,000 bet. Sointula made the call and then checked the 5 river.
Kaiser was offered a showdown, he refused to take it and moved all-in. One million in the pot and one million left in Sointula’s stack. The Finn looked unhappy to pass but is still chipped up more than Aasma. Kaiser up close to 4,000,000 now. — RD
2.20pm: Cichocki loses one as Kaiser goes for lead
Ronny Kaiser opened on the button for 48,000 which Grzegorz Cichocki raised to 130,000 from the small blind. Kaiser then called for a flop of 1067.
Cichocki bet 170,000 but Kaiser was waiting with a re-raise, making it 375,000 to play. Cichocki sat still for a moment before folding, the first time in the final that he has lost out a big pot. Kaiser showed him 10. – SB
2.15pm: Big stacks keep it small
The average stack is now close to 90 big blinds, so there is plenty of play in this one yet. Two of the biggest stacks, Jani Sointula and Ronny Kaiser, are going at one another, with each showing a good degree of respect to their opponent.
On two recent hands, they exchanged the best part of 200,000 each time, first Kaiser giving to Sointula and then winning it back.
After Sointula raised to 50,000 from the button, Kaiser defended from the small blind. That took them to a flop of 3A4, where Kaiser check-called a 55,000 continuation bet from Sointula.
The turn was 9 and now Kaiser attacked, betting 90,000. But Sointula refused to budge and called. The river was J and Kaiser checked. Sointula bet 135,000 and after a huge dwell (huge by Kaiser’s standards at least), the Swiss folded.
A couple of hands later, they were at it again. This time Sointula made up Kaiser’s big blind and the went to a flop of 427 for the absolute minimum spend. Sointula checked, Kaiser bet 35,000, Sointula called.
The turn was 5. Sointula checked, Kaiser bet 90,000, Sointula called. The river was 3. Sointula checked, Kaiser bet 180,000 and this time Sointula folded.
Raigo Aasmaa has become the tournament short stack, but with about 35 big blinds, he is not in any immediate peril. — HS
2.05pm: Fox out in 5th (€55,000)
Stuart Fox has just been knocked out and looks relatively happy about it. Fox had been down to fumes at the break and was due to bust in 6th but the clash the Jani Sointula knockout of Erlend Melsom gifted the Brit an additional €10,000.
The very next hand he was in for all but 1,000 of his stack when Kaiser opened from the hijack for 50,000. Sointula called in the small blind and Fox flicked in his last chip to make the call. Kaiser made a small bet on the turn of the K82K board to isolate the action and show Fox that he was drawing dead. — RD
1.55pm: Erlend Melsom eliminated in sixth place
In the first hand back from the break a stroke of luck for Jani Sointula sends Erlend Melsom crashing to the rail.
Melsom had opened to 50,000 from under the gun. The action was folded to Sointula in the big blind who asked Melsom how much he had left. The answer was something like 400,000 which prompted Sointula to move all in. Melsom called, showing AK to Sointula’s AQ.
Sointula managed a smile as the waited for the board. It was all clear for Melsom until the turn, with a board of 758A. At this point only a queen would save Sointula while duly arrived, the Q suddenly sending Melsom out in sixth place to a round of applause from everyone in the room.
It’s worth nothing that Stuart Fox was down to two big blinds at the time. He couldn’t help bumping fists with Sointula. – SB
1.35pm: Break time
That was the last hand before the break. Updated chip counts are on the chip-counts page and we’re going into the next level, with blinds at 12,000-24,000. Fox has two big blinds left, while Kaiser has a chip lead of two big blinds. — HS
1.30pm: Fox floored
The final hand before the break has all but floored Stuart Fox and put Jani Sointula right back among the big stacks. Those two players had had a bit of history, with Fox three betting Sointula a couple of times already on this final table. But when Sointula decided to take a stand, he was well equipped – and Fox also had significant enough holding to call him.
Here’s how it went. It was folded to Sointula in the hijack, and he raised to 40,000. Fox, in the cut off, raised to 105,000 and it made its way back round to Sointula. He took his time, but eventually moved all in for a total of 596,000.
Fox, with almost exactly that in his stack, took an age to make his decision, but eventually he called. And it all made sense:
Fox: AQ
Sointula: KK
Fox needed to hunt out an ace, but couldn’t find one. The board ran 87823 and Sointula pulled off a major double up.
Fox is left with 50,000. Sointula has 1,200,000. — HS
1.25pm: Sami Kelopuro eliminated in seventh place, earning €35,000
With five minutes remaining on the level Sami Kelopuro has been eliminated in seventh place.
Ronny Kaiser opened for 40,000 from early position which Kelopuro called from the big blind. The flop came 329 which Kelopuro checked. Kaiser bet 45,000 which Kelopuro then called for a 5 turn.
Again, Kelopuro check-called Kaiser’s bet of 120,000 for a 8 on the river. But by now the hand was destined to go well for Kaiser. Kelopuro checked for a final time, leaving it to Kaiser to bet a stack of oranges worth 225,000. With 830,000 or so behind Kelopuro announced he was all in.
Kaiser, suddenly animated in his chair as if blown back by a shockwave, said he needed a count, but the dealer wasn’t even half way through this formality before Kaiser said he called, turning over A4 for a turned straight, which Kelopuro immediately acknowledged had his beaten.
There followed an awkward moment of protocol, the lame duck Kelopuro waiting in his chair while the tournament director ran through the situation for those watching on the rail. Kelopuro had mucked his hand, but the all-in-called required a showdown. The Finn waited, smiling slightly, as the dealer turned over Kelopuro’s AK. Finally he was allowed to leave.
Kelopuro out in seventh, while Kaiser moves up to roughly 2,700,000. – SB
1.22pm: Last three hands
Back to back raise and takes from Jani Sointula (under-the-gun) and Erlend Melsom (hijack). Ronny Kaiser may well have been trying the same thing with the same 40,000 raise Sointula and Melsom had made but he found a caller in Raigo Aasmaa on the button.
The board was checked to the 2910J turn which Kaiser fired 50,000 into. Whatever plan Aasmaa may have been making as he reached for his chips was thrown when fumbled a few on the table. He mucked immediately after. — RD
1.10pm: You don’t see it every day
Quads on a final table? Quad aces? Yep, Grzegorz Cichocki has just added another couple of hundred to his stack by turning a rag ace into four-of-a-kind and extracting some value from Sami Kelopuro.
Kelopuro had taised to 45,000 from the cut off, which Cichocki called in the big blind. It was the two of them to a flop of KAJ, which was checked in both spots. The A turned, and Cichocki checked again. Kelopuro bet 58,000 and Cichocki called.
The river was A and Cichocki now led at it for 82,000. Kelopuro made a pretty-much instant call — a king? a jack? — but Cichocki rolled over A7 for the quads. They were, um, good. I think. — HS
1.05pm: Heavyweight battle
Sami Kelopuro opened for 45,000 in middle position which Ronny Kaiser called from the cut off. Jani Sointula was in the big blind and also called, the three major players in a hand together.
The flop came 599 and Sointula checked. Kelopuro, performing one of those virtuoso finger ballets, transferring different chips to different piles before reuniting them for a bet, pushed in 78,000 in various colours, which Kaiser called with a stack of yellows. Before you could turn you head to look see for yourself, Sointula had already folded.
The turn came K which both players checked and they did the same for the 4 river. Kelopuro turned over 53. The dealer looked at Kaiser who simply nodded. Kelopuro up to 1,150,000 while Kaiser drops to 1,800,000. – SB
1pm: Big stacks tangling
Redraws can be a big part of tournament variance and the final table plonked Gregorz Cichocki – second in chips – on the left of chip leader Ronny Kaiser. Conceding position to the only player that can all but knock you out isn’t good and already there’s been a swing towards the Pole. Cichocki is certainly going to be giving Kaiser some cause for concern.
Kaiser opened from the small blind and Cichocki made the call. Kaiser c-bet 42,000 into the K5A flop but check-folded to 75,000 on the 3 turn. Cichocki marginally in front at the moment. — RD
12.55pm: Melsom back in the hunt
After the departure of Arvi Vainionkulma and the chipping up of Stuart Fox, Erlend Melsom was left on the short stack. He moved all in from under the gun and got everyone to fold, and it got even better on the next hand.
Melsom had posted the big blind and it was folded all the way round to Sami Kelopuro in the small. Kelopuro announced that he was all in, tempting Melsom to play for his stack. Melsom was obliging, barely taking breath before calling the shove. Melsom was behind with KJ to Kelopuro’s A[10c], but there was plenty of equity there.
The flop was blank: 357. But the turn was the bingo J. And after the Q rivered, Melsom was counting his chips for the double up.
He had 305,000, so ended the hand with about 620,000. Kelopuro has 985,000 remaining. — HS
Seems like a good time actually to check in with Erlend Melsom, who talked to Laura Cornelius before play began:
12.50pm: Fox force 500
A chair has been removed from the table following Arvi Vainionkulma’s departure and players have been invited to make use of the space. Stuart Fox dragged himself and his chips about 12 inches to the left, Jani Sointula next to him moved about six inches, while Raigo Aasmaa just shuffled in his seat a bit.
The last couple of hands have been about Fox moving centre stage. He opened for 42,000 from the cut-off which Ronny Kaiser raised to 89,000 from the big blind, putting Fox under pressure. After a minute to think it over Fox moved all in for about 380,000, prompting Kaiser, who had no doubt planned for this eventuality, to fold.
In the next hand Fox opened for 42,000 again, which Grzegorz Cichocki called from the big blind for a flop of Q93. Cichocki checked. Fox, who plays with his fist against his mouth, as if about to cough, bet 104,000. Like Kaiser, Cichocki folded. Fox up to more than 500,000 now. – SB
12.45pm: Here’s what you could have won…
The remaining EPT Tallinn payouts are as follows:
1. €275,000
2. €180,000
3. €110,000
4. €80,000
5. €55,000
6. €45,000
7. €35,000
There’s some big money to be won here and if you want to see who the nearly men were then click on this link here. — RD
12.40pm: First faller, Arvi Vainionkulma out in 8th (€25,000)
Arvi Vainionkulma started the day as the shortest stack and was the player most likely to be the first all in. Chip dynamics don’t lie, he was. Ronny Kaiser opened for 40,000 from early position and Vainionkulma moved all-in for 220,000 from the small blind. Sami Kelopuro passed in the big blind and Kaiser made the call.
Vainionkulma: AK
Kaiser: 44
Ahhh, the classic race situation. Kaiser zipped off on the 275 flop with Vainionkulma needing to catch an ace or king on the turn or river. None of his six outs materialized on the 6 turn or Q river. Kaiser back to 2,400,000.
Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor of the European Poker Tour Season 8 no less, had offered a last longer bet for any player wearing a Skrill patch. Vainionkulma opted into that challenge winning it with aplomb to claim his buy-in back so that’s €25,000 clean profit for the Finn. — RD
12.30pm: Pole-axed
There’s absolutely no doubt who has emerged as the early table captain: Grzegorz Cichocki has won four hands on the spin. After taking the pot from Ronny Kaiser detailed below, he then went on a pre-flop raising mission, making it 40,000 from button and cut-off in successive hands, then 45,000 from the hijack on the next.
The former and the latter of those resulted in him picking up the blinds and antes, and the middle one earned him even more. On that occasion Stuart Fox decided to defend his big blind and they went to a 6A5 flop. Fox checked, Cichocki bet 50,000 and took it down. — HS
12.25pm: Line-up
Wanted for a crime near you. The final table players at EPT Tallinn:
12.22pm: Pot to Poland
Sami Kelopuro, wearing a watch that looks like it’s worth about three times the value of my car when it was new, opened for 45,000 in the hijack, which Ronny Kaiser called from the button. In the small blind was Grzegorz Cichocki, ready to raise to 120,000. Kelopuro passed but Kaiser called after looking at his cards again and covering half of his face with his hood.
The flop came 5K8 which both players checked for a Q turn card. Both checked again for a 5 river at which point Cichocki checked to Kaiser. The Swiss bet 330,000. Cichocki went to his chips and pushed forward the call.
“Good call,” said Kaiser, immediately mucking his hand, allowing Cichocki to fold without showing and denying the rest of us a peek at what he had. – SB
12.15pm: Kaiser on the button
It’s the first hand of the EPT Tallinn final table and with Ronny Kaiser on the button we all expected a three-bet to come in when Raigo Aasmaa opened under the gun for 45,000. It didn’t but the young Swiss did make the call, as did Gregorz Cichocki in the big blind.
Aasmaa c-bet 60,000 into the A45 flop and took the pot. First blood to the Estonian. — RD
12pm: Ready for the final push
Morning all. Everyone ready for the final table? Good.
We’ve been touting this moment for a few days now, but we have eight players lined up for what might turn out to be one of the most combustible final tables in EPT history. Say what you like about Ronny Kaiser, Sami Kelopuro and Jani Sointula, but they’re not afraid to get their chips in.
Reporters here in the Swissotel Tallinn have also noticed a certain inclination to mix it up in Grzegorz Cichocki, who may be a new face but has certainly showed some flair and experience in his play. He is second in chips at the start of the day.
Stuart Fox, the British representative, has been nursing a short stack for longer than he cares to remember. But if he finally gets more than 20 big blinds in front of him, Fox too will come racing to the party.
With a partisan home crowd behind Raigo Aasmaa, the Estonian is going to be focused on becoming the first Estonian to win an EPT main event. And if these tournaments have taught us anything, even the lesser known are never out of it. Arvi Vainionkulma and Erland Melsom could yet have a say.
Play is due to start at noon. It won’t. So stick around and join us when it does. Your guess is as good as mine.
In the meantime, check out those full player profiles on the player profile page. Then look at the starting chip-count page. And then come back right here.
— HS
Reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey, 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.
The final eight of EPT Tallinn are as follows. They will play down to a winner on Sunday in the Swissotel, Estonia. First prize is €275,000.
A list of player who have already cashed can be found on the prizewinners’ page. Keep track of the progress of the final table by following PokerStars Blog’s live updates and chip counts.
EPT Tallinn final table player profiles
Seat 1: Grzegorz Cichocki, 38, Poland – 2,059,000
Cichocki has loved card games since childhood but only took up poker in 2005 after watching it on television. He is now a full-time professional playing live no limit hold ’em tournaments around Europe. He has played numerous EPTs but this is by far his best live result to date. His best cash before now was runner-up in a €700 side event at the first EPT San Remo in Season 4 but he also went deep at EPT Vilamoura last season and cashed in the EPT Grand Final in Madrid in May for €25,000.
Seat 2: Raigo Aasmaa, 23, Estonia – 904,000
Known online as “hotcocacola”, Aasmaa is a former IT consultant who started playing poker online in 2008 and then live tournaments the following summer. He turned professional in December 2009. At live events, he likes playing no limit hold ’em and pot limit Omaha and favours multi-table deep stack events. Online he specialises in low-stakes PLO heads-up cash games. Making the EPT Tallinn final table is by far his best live cash; prior to now, his biggest result was taking down the Latvian leg of the Baltic Hold ’em series in Riga last February for €7,200. He was runner-up in the Estonian Championship of Online Poker Main Event last November and third in the Estonian Poker Championship last January.
Seat 3: Jani Sointula, Finland – 769,000
Sointula is a familiar figure on the world poker circuit, and not just for his mane of blond hair that stretches down his back, which he has been growing since 2003. He also has a tournament resume going back more than eight years, with significant results from around the world. His first cash, and first tournament win, came here in 2003, the year he took up the game. A little more than a year later, after playing the first ever EPT in Barcelona, Sointula made his breakthrough, winning the Monte Carlo Millions, with more results following. He finished runner-up in the 2006 WPT Paris main event and last season came second in the EPT London High Roller. To date he has nearly $1.8 million in live tournament winnings. Nevertheless, this is Sointula’s first EPT main event final.
Seat 4: Stuart Fox, 32, UK – PokerStars qualifier – 514,000
Fox is a well-known poker professional in his home country and has been playing for eight years. Away from the live tournament circuit, he plays heads-up no limit hold ‘em cash games and tournaments online. He says EPT Tallinn has been a real grind, with his stack always seemingly hovering between ten and twenty big blinds. He doesn’t have any specific poker goals except to earn as much money as possible and keep his bankroll at a level where he can continue to play comfortably.
Seat 5: Arvi Vainionkulma, 21, Finland – 258,000
Vainionkulma, an economics student, is heading for the biggest live cash of his career in Tallinn – and is already freerolling after winning the last longer contest run by Skrill, the Official Payment Provider Sponsor of EPT Season 8. Prior to EPT Tallinn, Vainionkulma’s biggest win in a live event was €8,192 for making the final table of the €2k Midnight Sun tourney in Helsinki in June. He also final-tabled a €1k side event at the Irish Open in April. He says he’s happy to have made the final but disappointed that he’s now the short-stack after losing a giant pot to Grzegorz Cichocki on the penultimate hand of the day.
Seat 6: Sami Kelopuro, 24, Finland – 1,325,000
Over the past five years, Sami Kelopuro has built a reputation as one of the most fearless high-stakes online cash players, featuring regularly at all the biggest games on the net. In recent months he has also been focusing on his tournament game, with startling results. Kelopuro cashed in 12th at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo last April at the start of a huge hot streak. He won the SCOOP Main Event on PokerStars in May for more than half a million dollars, then went to Vegas and finished runner up in the $10,000 pot limit Omaha championship event at the World Series, earning another $500,000. His six registered live cashes, including 12th at EPT San Remo on season six, are all for more than $30,000. This is his first EPT final table.
Seat 7: Erlend Melsom, 23, Norway – PokerStars qualifier – 326,000
Melsom, who won his seat to EPT Tallinn via PokerStars’ steps satellites, has been playing poker ever since he left school. He has been playing live, on and off, since he began his career but this will be his only significant live cash to date and he hasn’t played an EPT for more than two years. Melsom plays most of his poker online, where his screen name is Sir_Winalot9. One of Melsom’s biggest achievements to date was snagging a SCOOP bracelet in the high-stakes version of event #11 ($2,100 PLO Heads-Up) in May. Overall, he has won more than $1 million playing online.
Seat 8: Ronny Kaiser, 21, Bern, Switzerland – 2,394,000
Kaiser started playing poker online when he was 18, focusing on multi-table tournaments and pot limit Omaha cash games, and doing well from the start. He built up a significant bankroll and then switched his attention to live Omaha cash games. Kaiser is now considered one of the biggest Omaha cash game players in Europe and is a regular at the €100-€200 games in Austrian casinos alongside fellow Swiss professional Anton Allemann and the Austrian player Nikolaus Jedlicka. He is also close friends with the German professional Benny Spindler and the two attend numerous EPT events together. Kaiser has several notable cashes at European live events including 20th place in San Remo on season six for €30,000.
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.
Ronny Kaiser leads eight players into the final of EPT Tallinn, all in search of their first EPT title, but with ample pedigree between them.
Kaiser is the Swiss enfant terrible of the live poker scene, but if he is to claim a title at the age of 21, he will have to oust the likes of Jani Sointula and Sami Kelopuro, two of this game’s relative veterans (you know, like, 36 and 24), to prevail.
Starting today with 24 players, Kaiser set the early tone, cracking the aces of Michael Graydon within the opening orbit. That began a rush for the rail and sent the fear of God through anyone finding aces in the hole.
Before the day was done, at least two others would have their aces cracked by eventual finalists: Kjartan Jonsson (who lost to Raigo Aasmaa and finished 17th) and Jeff Sarwer (Sointula, 13th). Kaiser sat calmly and simply continued his gentle progress into the big money—even though there were others snapping at his heels.
The final eight are as follows (in seat order):
1 – Grzegorz Cichocki – 2,059,000
2 – Raigo Aasmaa – 904,000
3 – Jani Sointula – 769,000
4 – Stuart Fox – 514,000
5 – Arvi Vainionkulma – 258,000
6 – Sami Kelopuro – 1,325,000
7 – Erlend Melsom – 365,000
8 – Ronny Kaiser – 2,394,000
That represents something close to a dream final table, proving that in a small-ish field, the cream can duly rise to the top. From day three onwards, many folk on media row have touted the possibility of the likes of Sointula, Kelopuro and Kaiser doing battle for the trophy — and so it came to pass.
Although we lost the aforementioned Sarwer, the double-bracelet winner Praz Bansi, and then Johan “busto_soon” Van Til in ninth today, that is an extraordinary concentration of talent remaining.
No one should underestimate the less well-known faces there either. Cichocki for instance sat to the left of Kaiser all the way until the last nine, and showed an amazing spirit for the battle. Poland has never crowned an EPT champion, and they’ve perhaps not had a better chance.
Likewise Estonia. Raigo Aasmaa carries home hopes into the final. Tomorrow will be a fine day.
The best way to pick through all the wreckage of day four is by following every elimination, double up and other notable nonsense in our level by level reports.
Levels 18 & 19 live updates
Levels 20 & 21 live updates
Levels 22 & 23 live updates
There are video blogs from Tallinn at PokerStars.tv.
Play resumes tomorrow at noon. Goodnight.
All photos on PokerStars Blog from Tallinn are ©Neil Stoddart/PokerStars.
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.
7.48pm: busto_now, play ends
Johan van Til has bubbled the eight-handed final table bringing play to an end for the day.
Sami Kelopuro opened the cut-off for 45,000 and a short stacked Van Til called in the big blind before moving all-in for 85,000 on the K1010 flop, another stop and go in these late stages. Kelopuro would either have it or not. He had it. He made the call.
Kelopuro: K8
Van Til: 22
Van Til was left with just two outs. He caught neither of them. Bagging and tagging to follow. Grzegorz Cichocki had won a large pot from Arvi Vainionkulma giving him a chance to contest for Ronny Kaiser’s chip lead – details of that hand, wrap of the day’s action and chip counts to come. — RD
7.38pm: Massive hand boosts Cichocki
In an unexpected hand Arvi Vainionkulma suddenly drops down to 230,000, giving the bulk of his stack to Grzegorz Cichocki.
Cichocki opened for 40,000 in middle position which Arvi Vainionkulma raised to 105,000 from the button. Cichocki called for a A68 flop which both players checked for a A turn.
Cichocki now bet 130,000 which Vainionkulma called for a 6 river. Then Cichocki bet again, 260,000 this time. Vainionkulma had 525,000 back and, hands trembling slightly, he moved two towers of yellow forward, his lips moving while counting the rest. Then he called.
Almost painfully slowly, Cichocki turned over Vainionkulma’s fate. AQ. All Vainionkulma could do was muck, down to 230,000. – SB
7.25pm: Play resumes
Play restarts with chip counts as follows…
Seat 1 – Johan van Til – 146,000
Seat 2 – Grzegorz Cichocki – 1,350,000
Seat 3 – Raigo Aasmaa – 920,000
Seat 4 – Jani Sointula – 805,000
Seat 5 – Stuart Fox – 500,000
Seat 6 – Arvi Vainionkulma – 801,000
Seat 7 – Sami Kelopuro – 1,318,000
Seat 8 – Erlend Melsom – 365,000
Seat 9 – Ronny Kaiser – 2,220,000
7.11pm: Break time
15 minutes.
7.10pm: The plight of Johan van Til
The break arrives with nine players remaining. All eyes are on Johan van Til, the short stack, who nurses 160,000 chips after posting his big blind. Arvi Vainionkulma opened for 32,000 in the hijack and, with the action folded to him, Van Til tanked before folding.
He followed that by folding his small blind in the next hand, again Vainionkulma opening for 32,000. Van Til is talented enough to fight his way out of a dire situation but he needs time, and that’s running out.
He passed his button and folded the next as across the table the main beneficiary of Van Til’s plaight, Erlend Melsom, the next shortest stack, looks on. – SB
7pm: Third nuts for Van Til
Johan van Til is down 176,000 after calling with the third nuts. Van Til had opened under-the-gun for 32,000 and had found a single customer in the shape of Ronny Kaiser in the big blind. Both players checked the 83K flop but Kaiser opted to lead 44,000 into the 9 turn. Van Til made the call.
The 2 river card brought the four flush and Kaiser bet once more, 69,000 this time. Van Til made the call and was show A4. The frustrated Dutchman showed the Q. Will busto_soon live up to his online moniker? With just 11 big blinds he is the player most at risk. — RD
6.45pm: One table remains
After a short pause the “last” table draw has been made. The players line up as below with approximate chip counts:
Seat 1 – Johan van Til – 320,000
Seat 2 – Grzegorz Cichocki – 1,400,000
Seat 3 – Raigo Aasmaa – 950,000
Seat 4 – Jani Sointula – 950,000
Seat 5 – Stuart Fox – 542,000
Seat 6 – Arvi Vainionkulma – 800,000
Seat 7 – Sami Kelopuro – 1,350,000
Seat 8 – Erlend Melsom – 310,000
Seat 9 – Ronny Kaiser – 1,650,000
6.40pm: Apicella busts in tenth
Vicenzo Apicella has bust in tenth after pulling an unsuccessful stop and go. Arvi Vainionkulma had opened the pot for 32,000 and Apicella had made the call from the small blind before shoving the QJJ flop for 130,000. Vainionkulma made the call.
“Full?” asked Apicella. No, not yet.
Apicella: 76
Vainionkulma: KJ
The K dropped on the turn to finish the hand. Final nine redraw to come. — RD
6.35pm: All ins all over
An all in on each table and no eliminations to show for it.
On table two Arvi Vainionkulma moved all in from the big blind after an opening raise of 36,000 by Vicenzo Apicella on the button.
While Apicella thought things over Erlend Melsom moved all-in on table one for 184,000. Stuart Fox eventually called him showing 1010. Melsom showed 10J which made top two pairs on a board of 8J994. That left Melsom on around 375,000.
Back on table two Apicella was still thinking, but this was not a hand he would win. He passed. Everyone lives on. – SB
6.30pm: Cichocki finishes the job on Sihvo
Grzegorz Cichocki is now getting the absolute maximum value out of every hand he plays, and has just finished the job against Lari Sihvo sending the Finn out in 11th.
Sihvo, left perilously short from the hand a moment ago, moved all in for his last 123,000. Ronny Kaiser, in the small blind, confirmed the count and then announced that he called.
Cichocki, in the big blind, snap-announced that he was all in, which elicited an instant fold from Kaiser.
Sihvo was therefore only up against one player for his tournament life, but wasn’t in the greatest shape. Sihvo had 78 to Cichocki’s AK, and when the board ran K7QK4, there was no way back for Sihvo. He departs in 11th. — HS
6.28pm: Party time
Perhaps Lari Sihvo won’t be in the mood for a party right now, but the rest of Tallinn’s poker-playing fraternity certainly were last night. Here’s proof:
6.25pm: Sihvo left short
Lari Sihvo has been left short stacked after a miracle turn and river for Grzegorz Cichocki.
Cichocki had opened for 32,000 from the cut-off and Sihvo had three-bet to 80,000. Cichocki made the call. Both players checked the 102K flop. Cichocki led the 6 turn for 124,000. Sihvo made the call. The 4 seemed to be a blank card. It wasn’t. Cichocki pushed out 207,000. Sihvo quickly made the call to leave himself with 125,000.
Cichocki turned over 53 for a rivered gutshot straight.
“Five three? Wow,” said Sihvo obviously a little upset about the turn (and river) of events, before turning to chatter to Jani Sointula in Finnish about the hand. Less than ten big blinds for the Finn with 127,000. Tough break. Cichocki up over a million. — RD
6.20pm: Out Foxing Sointula
In what proved a tense stand-off Jani Sointula opened for 32,000 from the small blind which Stuart Fox three-bet to 100,000 in the big blind. Sointula then four-bet 195,000 which Fox five-bet all-in for about 500,000 after a lengthy spell in the tank. Sointula folded immediately. He drops to 900,000, Fox moves up to 830,000. – SB
6.15pm: Flopping monsters, winning almost zip
Sometimes you just can’t get paid in poker, no matter how good your hand. Pity poor Grzegorz Cichocki in this one, but it’s difficult to see how he could have extracted any more with what turned out to be a monster.
It was folded to him in the small blind and he limped into Vicenzo Apicella’s big blind. Apicella is the short stack, but wasn’t tempted to interpret the limp as weakness and so checked. The flop came AAQ and Cichocki checked.
Apicella still hadn’t seen anything he liked, so checked back, and that took them to a 5 turn. Check, check. The river was 3 and now Cichocki bet 25,000. Apicella quickly called, but mucked when Cichocki’s tabled AQ for the flopped boat.
He must have been praying for a shove throughout from the short-stacked Italian, but it simply never came. — HS
6.12pm: Melsom shove forces a fold
Raigo Aasmaa opened the button for 35,000 and was shoved on by Erlend Melsom in the small blind for around 300,000. Aasmaa passed and tossed 22 onto the table. — RD
6.10pm: Kelipuro struck by Aasmaa
Jani Sointula opened for 32,000 in the cut off which Sami Kelopuro called in the small blind. Raigo Aasmaa was in the big blind and raised to 105,000. Sointula asked how much he had left, then folded. Kelopuro tanked though, taking a long time to eventually call, watching Aasmaa at all times.
The flop came A102 which both players checked. For a Q turn which was also checked. Then, with a 5 river card, more checking. Aasmaa showed KK to win the hand. – SB
6pm: All go
Two all ins and two double ups within minutes of the new level starting.
First Vicenzo Apicella shoved for 87,000, prompting Lari Sihvo to shove, isolating Apicella. The big Finn turned over 44 which was behind Apicella ’s 55. The board changed nothing, running as it did 87JA5. Apicella up to 170,000 with Sihvo dropping to 620,000.
Then on table one, Raigo Aasmaa opened for 35,000 before Stuart Fox moved all in for 265,000. Aasmaa asked how much and called immediately on hearing the amount, turning over AQ. But Fox had JJ which held on a board of J106Q6. Fox up beyond 500,000 while Aasmaa slips down to 716,000. – SB
5.50pm: Eleven remain
Three more players will bust before the end of play today. They will not make the final table, which looks like it’s going to be an absolute belter. Chip counts are fresh in and Ronny Kaiser is still leading the field with 2,210,000. Find all the chip counts here. — RD
PokerStars Blog reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen James Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey and Howard Swains. Photos by 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.
5.33pm: Break time
Players are now taking a 15 minute break.
5.30pm: Down to 11
In what was a rapid fire hand PokerStars player Konstantinov Valerevish is out of the main event in 12th place.
Sami Kelopuro opened for 25,000 in the small blind which Valerevish raised to 82,000 in the big. Kelopuro then made a gesture with his hand to say he was all in, which Valerevish called, showing AQ. Kelopuro showed 43.
The board ran J5J42. The four did it, sending an unhappy Valerevish to the rail for his first EPT cash. He called out in Russian to a friend on the rail which might not have been complimentary. Whatever it was Kelopuro smiled. – SB
5.20pm: Tight fold
Jani Sointula isn’t usually too afraid to get involved, especially from the button and especially with a suited ace. But he is showing some genuine respect for his countryman Sami Kelopuro, folding to Kelopuro’s 72,000 three bet from the big blind after Sointula had raised to 25,000 from the button. Sointula showed Kelopuro, and the rest of the table, the A[10c] he was letting go. Tight fold. — HS
5.15pm: Cichocki still here
Grzegorz Cichocki is mostly flying under the radar today, what with all the fireworks coming from his right (where Ronny Kaiser is sitting) and over on the other tables, where aces are getting cracked left and right.
But he is entering almost every pot that is folded to him, raising to 24,000 from the cut off in a recent orbit and getting Lari Sihvo to fold his big blind, and then raising to 24,000 again on the next hand and drawing Johan van Til, defending, to a J[10s]7 flop.
Van Til checked and Cichocki bet 25,000. Van Til called. The 2 turned, and Van Til checked again. Cichocki bet 50,000 and took it down. That’s how to fly under the radar, keep afloat, and many other cliches at the same time. — HS
5.10pm: Apicella refusing to go
Vicenzo Apicella will not leave this tournament. He keeps getting down low and then doubling or tripling up. Ronny Kaiser was the player to most recently double him up having called his 74,000 three-bet shove with J8. Apicella showed K9 and won it with a nine on the flop. — RD
5pm: Sarwer – out
And suddenly Jeff Sarwer is on the rail, his tournament over despite a pair of aces that could have doubled him up and left him as good as certain to make the final.
Sarwer opened for 26,000 which Jani Sointula raised to 47,000. Sarwer then four-bet 125,000 before Sointula announced all in. To say Sarwer called immediately would be to say he took too long. It was a lightening flash call, and he flipped over his bullets.
Sointula, who has cracked aces before, muttered something and turned up 1010. Sarwer only needed to dodge another but his hopes were dismissed on the flop of 2910.
“That’s okay,” said Sarwer, who was painfully polite as his tournament was being dismantled in front of him. Sointula was fully aware he’d just got lucky.
On the turn card 3 Sarwer said it again, “That’s okay,” and then again on the river card 4, “That’s okay,” perhaps telling himself as much as Sointula, to whom he extended his hand. “Not a problem, sir.” An acknowledgement of Sointula’s genuine ability rather than this moment of good fortune.
It’s another “early” exit for the Canadian, a running theme of Sarwer’s relatively short tournament history. This year alone he finished 31st of 817 in the Triple Chance event at the World Series of Poker, two weeks after finishing eighth of 1,071 in the $1,500 Pot-Limit Omaha; not to mention EPT Warsaw in 2009, when he was bad-beated out in tenth.
Sarwer walked away, letting his guard down for only a second; “I ran deep, I’m used to it,” he said, a painful and so far accurate account of his plight. For now anyway. – SB
4.51pm: Careful moves
The action is very cagey right now. It’s little surprise given that the average stack is 54 big blinds and the final table is in sight. No-one willing to four-bet light at the moment. — RD
4.45pm: Sarwer attacking from the small blind
It was folded to Jeff Sarwer in the small blind and he grinned at his neighbour Erlend Melsom, who had posted the big. Melsom grinned back — neither of them having looked at their cards by this point — but soon the friendliness stopped. Sarwer raised to 33,000 and Melsom defended.
In icy silence, they went to a flop of 56J and Sarwer bet 42,000. Melsom called. That took them to a 6 turn, and they both checked.
the river was the 4 and Sarwer returned to the betting route, flicking out 65,000. Melsom didn’t seem to like it but realised it was time to concede. He folded. — HS
4.40pm: Norietis is next to leave
Rolands Norietis has been eliminated, with Jeff Sarwer claiming a third scalp. Norietis open shoved all in for 78,000 which Sarwer called, not quite expecting to see himself up against QQ. Sarwer in turn showed A2 and waited for the board. That came 67A107, the ace sending Norietis out, scoring his first ever EPT cash, while moves up to 400,000. – SB
4.35pm: Ruzicka coup de grace, out in 14th (€10,000)
Vojtech Ruzicka has been put out of his misery here getting his final 15,000 in with A6 after a min-raise from Rolands Norietis. Grzegorz Cichocki had called in the small blind but had passed to a small bet on the 925 flop. Norietis showed pocket eights, no heart, and held. Ruzicka out in 14th. — RD
4.30pm: Deep breath, inhale, Aasmaa breathes more easily
A huge, huge double up for Raigo Aasmaa, keeping Estonian dreams alive of home glory. The man to suffer was Vojtech Ruzicka, from the Czech Republic, who has been left looking as sick as the proverbial.
Ruzicka was on the button and Aasmaa in the small blind, which he defended to a button raise. The two of them went to a flop of 6J6 and then it all got a little silly. Aasmaa bet 62,000, Ruzicka raised to 135,000. Aasma shoved for 513,000 total, and Ruzicka called.
Ruzicka: [10c]6 for trip sixes.
Aasma: A8 for the nut flush draw.
Aasma didn’t have to wait long to vault into the lead. The turn came 3. The river did not pair the board – and Aasma was off to celebrate with his friends on the rail.
Ruzicka is left with 15,000 which, presumably, will be going in soon. — HS
4.15pm: Break’s over
Play restarts.
4.01pm: Break time
Another pause in the action as players take a 15 minute break.
4pm: Good call from Aasmaa
Raigo Aasmaa looked as if he was trying to force himself to call but his hand wasn’t responding. A 104,000 stack of chips was sat just shy of the line with his hand around it – it wasn’t moving forward. Sihvo had bet 104,000 into the JA358 board and Aasmaa had just 230,000 left. He finally made the call.
Aasmaa: QJ
Sihvo: KQ
Good call. Aasmaa up to 440,000. That’s the end of the level. — RD
3.50pm: Ruzicka takes on Kaiser
Vojtech Ruzicka opened from the hijack for 22,000 which Ronny Kaiser called on the button, as did Vicenzo Apicella from the big blind.
The flop came 3QJ which Apicella checked. Ruzicka threw in 31,000 which Kaiser called. Meanwhile Apicella folded.
On the K turn Kaiser watched Ruzicka as he made up his mind how to act. Eventually Ruzicka bet 75,000. Kaiser looked at his cards again, thought for a while, and called.
The river came 2. This time Kaiser didn’t look over at Ruzicka, and this time the Czech checked. Kaiser reached for his blue chips and counted out a bet of 120,000, placing it in the middle. Now Kaiser looked at Ruzicka.
It took a minute or so but Ruzicka passed. He’s down to around 500,000 while Kaiser, with a mighty stack in towers of 25 (ie. Difficult to count) has roughly 1,700,000. – SB
3.45pm: Seeing double
Jeff Sarwer just played two near identical hands, with the only difference being the opponent. Unfortunately for Sarwer, they both ended the same way with him forced to fold on the river in the face of opposing aggression. Let’s see if we can revolutionise* poker reporting by running these two hands side by side. Spot the difference.
On the first hand, Sarwer opened to 22,000 on the button, which was called in the big blind by Jani Sointula.
On the second hand, Sarwer opened to 22,000 from the cut off, which was called in the big blind by Stuart Fox.
The two players went to a flop of 5AK and Sointula checked. Sarwer bet 27,000, which Sointula called.
The two players went to a flop of J46 and Fox checked. Sarwer bet 26,000, which Fox called.
The turn came A and both players checked.
The turn came 7 and both players checked.
The river was 9 and now Sointula fancied betting. He led at that for 59,000.
The river was 7 and now Fox fancied betting. He led at that for 72,000.
Sarwer looked pained, checked back at his cards, looked at the board again and folded.
Sarwer looked pained, checked back at his cards, looked at the board again and folded.
He still has more than 200,000 to play with. — HS
3.40pm: Epp out, Sihvo stacking up
Lari Sihvo has taken another scalp to push him up to nearly 1,000,000. Sihvo opened the pot for 20,000 and was shoved on by Oleg Epp for 104,000. The action folded back around and Sihvo made the call.
Sihvo: KQ
Epp: 1010
Sihvo hit two pairs on the Q578K board, Epp departed to pick up his 16th place €8,500 pay cheque. — RD
3.30pm: All ins
Two all-ins on table one, neither of which are challenged. First Rolands Norietis moved in, then a few hands later Stuart Fox did the same for 115,000. Again without reply. – SB
3.20pm: What a board. Van Til doubles
The new table arrangement means that Johan Van Til is now sitting alongside Sami Kelopuro, and the two got heavily involved on the first hand after the move. Those two online tyros were in the blinds when Erlend Melsom opened to 20,000 from middle position. Kelopuro, as is familiar, three bet from the small blind, making it 56,000 to play. But Van Til shipped all in for 219,000 over the top of that, persuading Melsom out.
Kelopuro went nowhere with his QQ. And he was miles ahead of Van Til, who opened AQ. The board apparently only strengthened Kelopuro’s hand, coming QA4, but when the A turned, we were looking at a boat versus boat encounter, with Van Til’s aces-over-queens bettering Kelopuro’s queens-over-aces.
Van Til doubled to about 460,000, something close to Kelopuro’s stack. — HS
3.15pm: Don’t count on it Jeff
The elimination of Kjartan Jonsson not only meant that he will probably now make his 5pm flight back to Spain, but also that the EPT Tallinn main event is down to its final two tables.
Jeff Sarwer, who had been sitting on one of the short-handed tables for quite some time, seemed relieved that some new players were coming to fill the empty chairs. “This six-handed Scandinavian madness is over,” he said.
“I’m Polish,” said Rolands Norietis, apparently unhappy to be tarred with the Scandinavian brush, even though he’s officially representing Latvia here.
“I’m technically Finnish,” said Sarwer, even though he is also Canadian.
To be perfectly honest, it’s madness at the moment whatever the nationality. — HS
3.10pm: Time called on Jonsson
Looks like that was last orders for Kjartan Bergur Jonsson. The Icelandic player departs in 17th after three-bet squeezing all-in with AQ into Lari Sihvo’s JJ for 240,000. Sihvo, the original raiser, moved all-in to isolate the action.
“Now I want you back,” said Jonsson, having lost a chunky pot to Sihvo earlier.
The flop did not reciprocate: 276.
“Damn you, boy,” said Jonsson. His outs reduced to the four non-diamond aces and queens. None came and the beer drinking Jonsson left the tournament floor. Looks like he’ll get to Spain with an extra €7,700 in his pocket. Sihvo up to 900,000. — RD
3.05pm: The Jonsson Show
More from Kjartan Jonsson who, on a flop of 5QJ, moved all in against Konstantinov Aleksandr Valerevish.
Jonsson looked over at Valerevish and tapped his watch. “I have a flight five o’clock,” he said. “Spain.”
So, he’s off to Spain at five, not Iceland.
Valerevish thought for a second. “You have hours… fold,” which got a few laughs.
“Why stay here when I can stay in Spain longer?” said Jonsson, before telling the tournament director, in a conversational way, that he was all in.
Valerevish folded. – SB
3pm: A head scratcher
Ronny Kaiser opened for 20,000 which was raised to 47,000 by Arvi Vainionkulma. Kaiser tanked for a while before calling for a flop of 4JK. Both checked for a 2 turn card. Vainionkulma bet 35,000 which again Kaiser called for a 8 river card.
Vainionkulma fired out another 130,000 leaving himself about the same amount behind. Kaiser scratched his head and tanked again, eventually folding. Vainionkulma up to 425,000. – SB
2.55pm: Melsom punishes Sarwer
Jeff Sarwer appeared to be contemplating a shove on a827J board. He had led 33,000 into the flop and called a raise to 75,000 from Erlend Melsom. The Norwegian had fired 92,000 into the turn and Sarwer had gone deep into the tank, slowly turning over a small pile of chips. Sarwer slowly picked up those chips and placed them on top of his main stack as if preparing to shove. He looked across at Melsom, he showed little reaction. Sarwer passed.
“You know, I had a damn good hand,” said Sarwer grimacing. He’s left with 300,000, Melsom up to 500,000. — RD
2.45pm: The magnificent 17
As we enter level 20, there are 17 players still left in the mix. And our dreams of an all-time final table are still very much alive. Ronny Kaiser, Jani Sointula, Sami Kelopuro, Jeff Sarwer and Johan Van Til are all still alive and with plenty of chips. Even three of them in the final eight is going to make this a classic.
Head over to the chip-count page to see how they stand at the moment. Ronny Kaiser has more than double his closest challenger. — HS
2.40pm: Video interlude
Who cares if we’re three levels in, here’s a video introduction to the day as Laura Cornelius meets Jani Sointula.
Reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen James Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey 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.
2.31pm: That’s the break
Players are taking a 15 minute break.
2.30pm: Three way all in
Vicenzo Apicella first doubled, then tripled up. He open shoved for about 25,000 with 68 which was called by Ruzicka with QQ. The queens looked good until the river card on a board of 428A8.
Then, Vitaly Grigoryev moved all-in for 63,000. Vojtech Ruzicka asked how much and then took a quick look across to Ronny Kaiser before calling in the cut off. Kaiser folded, as did the small blind. Apicella was in the big blind, nodded, and moved all-in for around 70,000. The cards were turned over:
Grigoryev: A7
Ruzicka: AJ
Apicella: KK
Ruzicka needed an ace to bust both of them. Instead, the kings held on a board of 564J9. Grigoryev was out, while Apicella moves up to a hard-to-believe-a-few-minutes-ago 250,000. – SB
2.28pm: Kelopuro piling on the pressure
Sami Kelopuro has been getting it quietly. Roland Norietis opened for 17,000 and was three-bet by Kelopuro to 44,000. Call.
Kelopuro fired 56,000 at the J102 flop and 124,000 at the 3 turn. The second volley was enough to batter Norietis into submission. Not a word spoken by the Scoop main event champion, a stark contrast to his neighbour Jeff Sarwer. — RD
2.25pm: Epp over easy
Oleg Epp has doubled up. After Lari Sihvo opened to 16,000 from the button, Epp shoved for 91,000 from the small blind. Sihvo called with 44 and Epp was racing with K[10s].
The flop hit Epp: AQK. And although the A turned, giving counterfeit outs to Sihvo, the 7 was a blank. It’s only a small hit to Sihvo, but a lifeline for Epp. — HS
2.20pm: Last call?
“My flight goes five o’clock,” said Kjartan Jonsson. “Maybe I’ll make it.”
Rumour is now fact and after that last hand with aces Jonsson was down to 78,000 and looking a cinch to make check-in. That was until he got his chips in against Konstantinov Aleksandr Valerevish who called him with 66. Jonsson showed J2, but you sensed that the poker Gods had found a favourite and weren’t finished with the Icelander.
The board ran 7A9J7 doubling Jonsson. After taking a pot uncontested a few hands previous he’d ironically boasted about winning back one yellow chip. Now he has lots. He may yet make the flight, but not with these angels on his shoulders.
NOTE: The Iceland Air flight at 5pm is the last flight to Reykjavik tonight. – SB
2.15pm: Kaiser limps
Can that be correct? Did Ronny Kaiser just limp the cut-off? Yes. Yes he did and yet he still won the pot.
Italian Vicenzo Apicella made up the small blind for an additional 4,000 leaving himself with just 28,000 – all his yellow 5,000 chips now fitting in one hand. Vitaly Grigoryev checked his big blind. A 8,000 bet on the 8J10 flop was enough for Kaiser to take the pot. Apicella due to bust or double shortly. — RD
2.10pm: “I’m going home.” Not yet
Lari Sihvo opened to 16,000 from early-position and Kjartan Jonsson raised to 48,000 from the button. Sihvo moved all in for 256,000 and Jonsson called straight away, offering his headphones to Sihvo and saying: “This is your going home song.” According to Jonsson, the song currently playing on his headphones was genuinely called “I’m Going Home” (perhaps it’s this one), but when the flop came 39A, all Jonsson could add was “Oh no.”
The K7 came on turn and river and Sihvo was counting out his chips for the double up. He is now north of 500,000 as Jonsson looks like he might be getting that 5pm flight back to Iceland after all. — HS
2.07pm: Jedlicka busts to Sarwer
Jeff Sarwer’s had a good level, he’s now up to 501,000 after busting Lauri Meidla. The Estonian open shoved his final 90,000 and was called by Sarwer in the cut-off. The action folded round and the hands were turned on their backs.
Meidla: 44
Sarwer: AA
The board blanked out and Meidla leaves in 19th for €7,700.
“No-one else wanted to come along,” said Sarwer, a little regretful that Jani Sointula hasn’t decided to try an isolation shove. — RD
2.05pm: Bye bye Bansi
Praz Bansi has bade the EPT Tallinn main event farewell. Bansi, a double bracelet winner, seemingly was unable to get out of second gear at any stage of the tournament but forced his way into the money.
His departure was caused by two hands. In the first he opened for 16,000 from middle position before Raigo Aasmaa shoved from the cut off for 138,000. Bansi said “I’ve had enough,” and called the all-in, turning over AQ. Aasmaa had JJ which survived the 76K310 board.
This doubled Aasmaa and left Bansi with 8,000, which was taken away from him in the very next hand which he played from the big blind, sans ante.
Konstantinov Aleksandr Valerevish raised from the cut off, taking it heads up with Bansi who turned over 42. Valerevish showed 22 and flopped a set on the K102J3 board, sending Bansi to the rail. – SB
2pm: Subbotin sunk with attack from the blind side
Andrey Subbotin has spent the first two hours today trying to get anything past the two men to his ;eft, the tournament leading Ronny Kaiser and Grzegorz Cichocki. Little did he know that he assassin was actually sitting to his right, on the blind side. Vojtech Ruzicka has just dispatched him to the rail.
Ruzicka raised from the cut off and Subbotin called on the button. And although they kept it pretty cagey through a flop of 1065 and a turn of 6, it all went in on a [10s] river.
Ruzicka’s 10-7 had become trips and Subbotin mucked and marched. — HS
1.45pm: The end of the tournament? No.
The way this pot played out, it seemed as thought we could be crowing an EPT Tallinn champion a day early. The battle between Ronny Kaiser and Grzegorz Cichocki suddenly got to the “All in”, “Call” stage, with Kaiser covering Cichocki. There was a hint of anti-climax when they both rolled over the same hand for the chopped pot.
It started with Andrey Subbotin raising to 17,000 from the hijack, attracting Kaiser (cut off) and Cichocki (button) along. They took a 839 flop, at which Subbotin bet 31,000. Kaiser and Cichocki called again.
The turn was Q, which Subbotin checked. Kaiser bet 80,000 and Cichocki called. Subbotin seemed to want to call too, but thought better of it and laid down whatever he had.
The river was A and Kaiser reached for a tower of the new, blue 10,000-denomination chip. His bet was 290,000 and Cichocki pretty quickly announced that he was all in for close to 800,000. Almost as quickly Kaiser called, and that’s when it really seemed likely that this was a tournament-definining moment.
As it was, they both flipped off suit jack-tens for the turned straight. King-jack would have been a different story. — HS
1.40pm: Flight or fight
Vicenzo Apicella just moved all in for 90,000 but got no takers. Meanwhile on table three, Praz Bansi was in action, opening in early position for 16,000. His opponent was by now obvious. Kjartan Bergur Jonsson has moved on to Guns n’ Roses now, and a third beer. Rumour has it that Jonsson has a 5pm flight to catch and wants to either chip up or bust before them, a real flight or fight scenario. But, as Rick Dacey pointed out, with the beer he’s getting down him, even if he has to get a flight they’re not going to let him on anyway.
That said he’s playing like a man without obligations, and he re-raised behind Bansi, making it 38,000 from the big blind. Bansi paused, twiddling two yellow chips, before eventually folding. Jonsson allowed him to pick one card, a Q.
“Probably a good fold,” said Jonsson. – SB
1.32pm: Jedlicka busts to Sarwer
Stefan Jedlicka had just under 100,000 when he shoved his stack from the button into Jeff Sarwer’s big blind. The Canadian made the call for a large chunk of his stack with KQ and was shown A3.
The window card wasn’t good 7 for Sarwer but the rest of the board was: 287J. Sarwer up to just over 300,000.
“Always a call, no?” asked Sarwer to Jani Sointula.
“Yes,” replied the straight talking Finn.
“Didn’t expect to see an ace though,” said Sarwer, hinting that Jedlicka would have been shoving wide. — RD
1.25pm: All in from the off
An all-in from the off in level 19 and a double up for Arvi Vainionkulma who shoved pre-flop with K10 and was called by Andrey Subbotin with AQ. The board ran K7935 to send the chips to Vainionkulma, who moves up to around 260,000.
Elsewhere Stuart Fox just moved all in behind an opening raise to 16,000 from Jeff Sarwer. Sarwer though about calling and said it was close, later saying he folded king-queen. – SB
1.20pm: Pictorial evidence
It’s all been about Ronny Kaiser today, but we know that words sometimes can’t quite relay the full story. How about this picture? Believe us now?
1.07pm: Break time
Players are taking a break, during which chips will be coloured up. Play restarts in 15 minutes. — SB
1.06pm: Magic Jonsson
More from the Kjartan Bergur Jonsson corner which is proving to be the most interesting part of the room right now as Jonsson gets into his second beer.
Jonsson opened for 14,500 which Sami Kelopuro called from the button, the first time the pair had clashed. The flop came 68Q
Jonsson was straight to his chips, nodding to his music and betting 28,000. Kelopuro called for the 2 turn which this time Jonsson checked.
In a reversal from previous hands 301 now checked, leaving it to Kelopuro to bet, 58,500 in total. Finally Jonsson put a hand down. – SB
1.05pm: Aces no good for Jonsson
Kjartan Bergur Jonnson has just had his aces cracked by Raigo Aasmaa to drop to 230,000 and is understandably a little annoyed about it.
“What a bull****,” said Jonsson as he counted out the 130,000 he had to pay Aasmaa.
The board read AQ2J7 for a rivered flush for the Estonian who had three-bet shoved all-in pre-flop. Jonsson had flopped a set but Aasmaa’s 55 had the all important flush draw. — RD
1pm: One way traffic
The only player who can really damage Ronny Kaiser at the moment is his neighbour Grzegorz Cichocki. But the way it’s going so far, the chips are only moving in one direction, and that’s from Poland to Switzerland. Kaiser hust added another 200,000 chunk to his stack after this coup.
Andrey Subbotin opened to 13,000 from the cut off and Kaiser called on the button. That set up the squeeze from Cichocki in the small blind, and he made it 32,000. (He’s been making it 32,000 pretty much every hand.)
Subbotin thought better of tangling with the two biggest stacks in the room, and folded. But Kaiser called. They went to a 2JJ flop. Cichocki bet 32,000 and Kaiser raised to 70,000. Cichocki called.
The turn was 4, which they both checked. And the river was 6. Cichocki checked again, but not so Kaiser. He bet 125,000. Cichocki dwelled for a while but eventually called. However Kaiser turned over 66 for the rivered full house which was, unsurprisingly, good enough.
Kaiser now moves close to two million. Cichocki has about 790,000. — HS
12.40pm: The Jonsson show
More almost belligerent raising from Kjartan Bergur Jonsson, who has nearly finished his first beer of the day, although technically speaking, and using a strict 24 hour clock, that may not be strictly true. He opened again from the hijack for 14,500 which Lari Sihvo called from the big blind for a flop of JK9. Sihvo then checked to Jonsson who lumped in 23,500 more, which Sihvo called.
On the Q turn both players checked before the J river card. Sihvo checked again and watched Jonsson assemble a clumsy looking 35,500. Clumsy it may have been but it was still too much for Sihvo, who passed.
Jonsson removed his headphones and sat up straight, blinking heavily while looking around, like he’d just emerged from a night in a tent. He started on 270,000, and is now up to around 350,000. – SB
12.35pm: Double up for Apicella
The last remaining Italian, Vicenzo Apicella, moved all in from early position for his last 72,500. It was folded to Vojtech Ruzicka in the small blind, who seemed to be pondering a marginal call. Eventually he did call and the big blind folded, but then it became evident that Ruzicka had primarily been pondering how to get his neighbour involved in the pot as well.
Ruzicka tabled QQ. However, that wasn’t good enough. Apicella had found KK and the board blanked to double up the Italian. — HS
12.40pm: Partying EV for Jonsson?
A number of the final 24 players attended the EPT Season 8 party last night but none so enthusiastically took part as Kjartan Bergur Jonnson. Throwing caution to the wind the Icelander started celebrating his EPT win a couple of nights early so much so that he’s nursing a not-so-good-morning beer right now.
One glass to the good, Jonsson is not letting the exuberance of last night slow him down, if anything it’s getting him moving. Head bouncing, headphones leaking music Jonsson defended his big blind from a 12,000 Laris Sohvo raise. Sihvo c-bet 13,000 into the 767 flop. Jonsson in reply snatched at a pile of yellow 5,000 chips and slammed them forward for a 55,000 check-raise. Sihvo made the call.
The A hit the turn and Jonsson wasted no time in announcing that he was all-in for around 200,000. As Sihvo sat riffling chips and looking at the board Jonsson lifted his beer and took a swig.
“It may be my last beer in Tallinn,” said Jonsson.
Sihvo eventually passed. Last orders is yet to be called on Jonsson, he’s up to 350,000. — RD
12.30pm: Vuolle’s adventure ends with €7,700 booty
The EPT Tallinn Adventure of Petri Vuolle is over as he becomes the latest player to fall at the hands of Ronny Kaiser. Vuolle shoved for his last 59,000 with K9 and was looked up by Kaiser and his KQ. Kaiser’s hand stayed good through flop, turn and river.
Vuolle, however, has no reason to feel dejected. He is the man who has parlayed a €2 investment through countless satellites, both on PokerStars and live here in Tallinn, to book his spot in his first major tournament.
He heads back to Finland with €7,700 at the end of a very profitable adventure indeed. — HS
12.20pm: Sodcasting
He may not realise it, but Kjartan Bergur Jonsson has been ‘sodcasting’ a lot in the main event – playing music loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn’t actual sodcasting, it coming though his headphones, rather than being broadcast deliberately for everyone to hear. But Jonsson has his music turned up so loud that the noise comes through anyway. Yesterday something poppy, today something more classical.
Either way that, and the beer he’s drinking, has taken nothing away from his focus. He opened on the button for 14,500 which Johan Van Til called from the small blind for a flop of 53A. He then checked to Jonsson who bet another 31,500. Van Til called without fuss for a 7 turn card before checking again. A final blast of 57,000 from Jonsson was enough to force Van Til to pass. – SB
12.15pm: Sihvo starts it, someone else finishes it
On table three Lari Sihvo min-raised two hands in a row, first getting a call from Konstantinov Aleksandr Valerevish and Kjartan Bergur Jonsson. On a board of 108Q5 Valerevish raised to force the others out. In the second Raigo Aasmaa moved all-in from the cut-off. Sihvo asked for a count – 123,500 in total – but passed. – SB
12.10pm: Graydon smashed by Kaiser, king gets richer
Look out: the world. Ronny Kaiser has just won another pot close to a million, knocking out Michael Graydon within the first orbit of the day. They got it all in pre-flop, Graydon with pocket kings, Kaiser with ace-king. But when you’re hot, you’re hot. Kaiser rivered a straight to send Graydon out in 24th and his entire 455,000 stack to Kaiser. — HS
12.05pm: At it straight away
No one ever really thought there would be a sedate opening to the day, but any doubt has already been laid to rest. On table two, it was folded to Ronny Kaiser on the button, who raised to 12,000. Grzegorz Cichocki, to his left in the small blind, three bet to 26,000 and Kaiser called. The flop was J5[10d] and Cichocki led for 33,000. Kaiser folded. It can be done.
On a neighbouring table, Stefan Jedlicka raised to 12,500 from early position, Jani Sointula three bet to 38,000 and that was enough. — HS
11.55am: Morning
Howdy everyone. It’s day four of EPT Tallinn, the day we trim a field of 24 to the eight that will constitute our final table. Progress has been remarkably smooth so far, slicing a field of 281 to the last three tables in barely 18 levels.
Today’s table draw is available by clicking that link, where you’ll find the new that the two tournament leaders, Ronny Kaiser and Grzegorz Cichocki sitting beside one another.
The two dominant stacks on table three are two of the internet’s most fearsome campaigners: Sami “Lars_Luzak” Kelopuro and Johan “busto_soon” Van Til. Neither looks like busting any time soon and are angling for their first EPT final table.
Play is due to begin at noon, so join us on the very stroke of ten past for the first action.
Reporting team in Tallinn: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Rick Dacey 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.
The day four seat draw is below, and for the second day in succession the players on the two biggest stacks will be sitting next to one another.
Ronny Kaiser, who has more than a million in chips, has the Polish player Grzegorz Cichocki one spot to his left.
The three remaining tables seat 24 players. On day four, we play down to a final eight.
Day four table and seat draw
(Table, seat, name, chips)
1 1 Stuart Fox 115,000
1 2 Rolands Norietis 362,500
1 3 Stefan Jedlicka 156,000
1 4 Arvi Vainionkulma 102,500
1 5 Lauri Meidla 402,000
1 6 Jeff Sarwer 156,500
1 7 Erlend Melsom 297,500
1 8 Jani Sointula 640,000
2 1 Michael Graydon 455,000
2 2 Vitaly Grigoryev 179,000
2 3 Petri Vuolle 89,500
2 4 Vojtech Ruzicka 518,500
2 5 Andrey Subbotin 480,500
2 6 Ronny Kaiser 1,194,000
2 7 Grzegorz Cichocki 867,000
2 8 Vicenzo Apicella 97,000
3 1 Kjartan Bergur Jonsson 270,000
3 2 Johan van Til 598,000
3 3 Praz Bansi 103,500
3 4 Sami Kelopuro 575,000
3 5 Lari Sihvo 330,000
3 6 Oleg Epp 111,000
3 7 Raigo Aasmaa 128,000
3 8 Konstantinov Aleksandr Valerevish 320,000
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.
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