October 2007 Archives

Mike McDonald leads the field at the end of day 1a with Dave Colclough not far behind. Among them are 19 PokerStars players and a quick look at who's left shows...

Mike McDonald – Canada –- 67,250
Dave Colclough – UK -- 59,350
Phidias Georgiou – Cyprus -- PokerStars player -- 55,475
Kristian Kjøndal – Norway -- 53,150
Jacques Zaicik – France -- PokerStars player -- 48,225
Andrew Black – Ireland -- 45,675
Simon Christensson – Sweden -- PokerStars player -- 45,000
Christoffer Egemo Hansen – Denmark -- 43,050
Kevin Vreeswijk – Holland -- 42,725
Marcel Baran – Germany -- 40,150
Henric Stråth -- Sweden -- PokerStars player -- 39,000
Csaba Malnai – Hungary -- 37,250
Johnny Lodden – Norway -- 37,225
Casper Hansen – Denmark -- PokerStars player -- 37,150
Johannes Steindl – Austria -- 36,500
Adrian Koy – Germany -- 35,850
Andrew Grimason – Ireland -- PokerStars player -- 35,400
Sebastian Ruthenberg – Germany -- PokerStars sponsored player -- 35,175
Oran Holt – Norway -- 33,450
Kenneth Hicks Jr. – USA -- PokerStars player -- 30,950
Aleksandr Arutjonov – Estonia -- PokerStars player -- 30,150
Noah Boeken -- Holland -- Team PokerStars Pro -- 27,825
Daniel Ryan – USA -- PokerStars player -- 27,550
Carl Hostrup – Denmark -- 26,850
Brandon Schaefer – USA -- PokerStars player -- 26,725
Stig Top-Rasmussen – Denmark -- 26,300
Martin Wendt – Denmark -- 25,125
Ian Woodley – UK -- 24,550
Christopher Hamman – USA -- PokerStars player -- 18,875
Hans Eskilsson – Sweden -- 18,550
Mark Segal – UK -- 18,500
Paul Testud – France -- 17,750
Reijo Manninen – Finland -- PokerStars player -- 17,525
Len Collin – Ireland -- 17,275
Michael Hogbom – Sweden -- PokerStars player -- 16,100
Gustaf Jonasson – Sweden -- 15,200
Johan Storakers – Sweden -- 15,050
Thierry Van den Berg – Netherlands -- PokerStars player -- 14,250
Daan Ruiter – Netherlands -- 14,125
Terje Augdal – Norway -- 13,925
John Conroy – Ireland -- 11,525
Reuben Peters – USA -- PokerStars player -- 11,050
Mathieu Gallienne – France -- 10,750
Martin Rask -- Denmark -- 10,175
Davide Calabro – Italy -- 8,125
Patric Fredriksson – Sweden -- PokerStars player -- 5,850
Jan Sjavik – Norway -- 5,450
Seth Blackman – USA -- PokerStars player -- 5,000

The Royal Dublin Society

Far from being ravaged by any potential Guinness hangover the start of the EPT Dublin saw 91 poker players from across Europe and the world fresh, on time and ready to take their €8,000 seat to the next round of the EPTs fourth season. Industries Hall at the Royal Dublin Society would be home for the best of them for the next nine hours. By close of play less than half would be permitted to return for day 2.

Liked, local and lesser known faces were here, including Team PokerStars Pros Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Dario Minieiri and Noah Boeken. So too the likes of former EPT winners Brandon Schaeffer, Rob Hollink and Pascal Perrault, plus multiple WSOP bracelet winner Erik Seidel, Englishman Barny Boatman, local boy Andy Black and Dave Colclough - to name just a few.

Whilst the day would end well for Boeken and Schaeffer, both ElkY and Dario Minieiri felt the wrath of a day that wasn’t going their way. Dario fell before dinner, ElkY shortly afterwards. Neither beat Barny Boatman to the rail, however. The Hendon Mobster was out among the first when his top pair flush draw was left floundering on the river.

Of the PokerStars players Rupinder Bedi was in good spirits and could have been classed as ‘most likely to succeed’, having just come from winning over $400k online. Playing his first EPT his initial anxiety gave way first to confidence and then to disappointment as he crashed out, two pairs, aces and queens, against a set of nines.

A familiar face from EPT London was PokerStars player Phidias Georgiou, back to cross his London watermark where he narrowly missed out on the final table. Wearing his emotions on his sleeve and across his face the Cypriot played with flair, his tired looking face belying his confident approach as he attempted to pick up where he left off at The Vic.

They may not have exited the tournament but both Noah Boeken and Brandon Schaeffer experienced those perilous moments that precede defeat - being all-in a few times - but both came through nicely. First Brandon was down to a modest 6.5k before doubling through Andy Black, using this new momentum to climb away from danger on what had been a difficult table.

Former ‘Magic’ player and Team PokerStars Pro Noah Boeken performed his own tricks to stagger away from 2k to 30k in about the time it takes to book a flight home. In true Boeken style he put a lot of it down to good fortune.

“It’s tough when you make the nuts” he’d said with a grin after doubling up with pocket nines on a flop of 9-5-5. The chips were headed back his way and he finished the day above average.

It wrapped up day 1a – 48 players likely to sleep well. We do it all again tomorrow as day1b gets comfortable in Industry Hall, starting at 2pm.

Dublin – home to James Joyce and Bono (among others) and for the next five days the EPT Dublin, the fourth leg of this year’s tour which moves on from Baden, Austria, where Englishman Julian Thew took the honours two weeks ago.

Whilst Joyce coloured the literary world with his pen and Bono brought anthems and big sunglasses to the rock stage, the EPT players arriving for a pre-tournament soiree had their own beautiful day in mind – one that takes shape at some point on Saturday evening if all goes to plan, accompanied by a large check and a ticket to the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo later next year.

That would be for tomorrow, but tonight it was to the heart of downtown Dublin - The Gravity Bar - a lavish party type place perched above the Guinness storehouse and boasting fine drink and an even finer view – a 360 panorama of the Dublin skyline or in our case the twinkling lights of a city braced for the opening days of what is now officially Autumn (Fall to those on the western side of the Atlantic) where the sunlight hours grow short and people turn indoors for entertainment.

The Irish capital is tailor made for good company. Whoever you are, wherever you come from Dublin holds the monopoly on making you feel welcome. Here it’s literally possible to bottle hospitality and export it around the world – it’s called Guinness, an Irish stout beer and trusted ice-breaker which most sampled tonight purely to take the chill from the bones.

Cliche of course – the Emerald Isle of passion, music and the black stuff (Guinness’s alter ego) - but it could explain the popularity of this EPT leg, which traditionally captures the attention of Irishmen and Englishman from across the Sea. Last year one such traveller took honours after a thrilling performance going by the name Roland de Wolfe. Ahead of a field of hundreds Roland took the plaudits, becoming the first player ever to bag both a WPT and EPT title in the process.

Whether any more records will be set this year it’s unclear, but we’ll find out starting tomorrow at the Royal Dublin Society.

When the Asia Pacific Poker Tour came to life earlier this year, it advertised events in Manila, Seoul, and Sydney. All along, however, there were mysterious references to another event that had still not yet been confirmed. Now we know what organizers were talking about.

Today, the APPT announced it is throwing two major events in Macau, China at the end of November. Between November 22-27, the PokerStars-sponsored APPT will hold a $2,500 buy-in main event and a $15,000 High Rollers event at the Grand Waldo Hotel & Casino in Macau.

Since 1999, Macau has been transforming itself into the Far East's gambling capital. Now, it's on its way to becoming one of the poker capitals of the East. PokerStars is walking in step with the APPT and offering tons of satellites to the brand new event in Macau.

APPT President Jeffrey Haas said, "The APPT Macau will be a landmark moment for poker in Asia and globally, as it will be the first government-sanctioned real-money poker tournament played in the People's Republic of China's Special Administrative Region of Macau."

For full information on the newest APPT event, visit the APPT Macau home page.

It’s a pretty safe assumption that most new poker players begin with Texas Hold’em. I know I did - taking it by the neck, shaking it and waiting for the loose change to fall out of its pockets, however long it took.

In terms of being easy to learn hold’em is unrivalled. Two cards to you, another five on the board leaving you to make the best of it. Turning that into a winning formula though is a different thing altogether but it gets your fledgling poker career off the ground.

As you get stuck into that you might think the prospect of learning another game is out of bounds - a minefield best not crossing until you have a good grip of the hold’em horns. But as sure as I’m mixing my metaphors the same basic principles apply to these other games.

Yes, beyond the hazy horizons of Hold’em Land lay other exotic games, poker variants which provide a welcome break from the status quo where you can swap cards, or see your opponent’s cards even before the betting starts! Each has its own secrets, intricacies and infuriations but will add something to your repertoire that hold’em alone can’t provide - a feather in your cap or a string to your bow and a greater understanding of the game. And if it turns out you’re bad at them well it wasn’t my fault – it was just an idea.

Personally speaking, and I realise this might be fickle, when it comes to other forms of poker it’s the names that attract me most – it’s one things to say you play hold’em, or even Omaha, but few things match the smugness of being able to add to a conversation the line “Sure, hold’em is good, but I’m a deuce-to-seven-triple-draw-lowball player myself.” Prepare for people to raise eyebrows and laugh off your pretentiousness.

That might just be me of course. And 2-7 triple draw is just one option of many available on PokerStars.net. A quick glance in the lobby and you’ll see various games on offer – Omaha, stud, five card draw, and some things called HORSE and HOSE – each just waiting for you to take a seat.

With such an abundance of choice what say we try a few? Bear with me as I set out on a quest to conquer each by getting stuck in at the business end, hopefully shedding some light on each game along the way. If you’ve ever been put off from dabbling in other games fearing what life might be like on the other side of the hold’em fence then allow me to be the one to don the safari hat, grab a metaphorical elephant gun (some chips from my play money bankroll) and walk out into the long grass. I’ll be back, but in what shape I can’t be sure.

Each week I’ll be trying a new a new game on PokerStars.net, sitting in on a ring game and then seeing what happens. I’ll get to grips with how to play the game first before using chips in anger to increase my stack. 2,000 chips seem like a good starting point and I’ll carry what’s left forward each week, whether it looks like a row of glorious towers or a twisted piece of scrap metal.

Of course this is just an outline. I may have to add a few rules as we go along. For instance the author reserves the right to introduce a ‘re-buy’ rule should my 2,000 starting stack prove woefully optimistic in light of my playing ability, but I’ll log the losses either way. No one ever said poker was an exact science and I’ll also try to avoid the temptation to make many more rules up as I go along.

I’ll start with triple draw because, you know, hold’em is good but I’m a deuce-to-seven-triple-draw-lowball-player myself. Then will follow Omaha, stud, and the seemingly agricultural games of H.O.R.S.E. and H.O.S.E.

It will either make or break my bankroll but I sleep easy knowing I have friends in PokerStars support to bail me out. You can join in too, trying out the new games and seeing how you get on. Look out for me this week on PokerStars.net – go easy on the guy with the handle ‘muhalo’ and we should get along just fine.

See you at the tables...

Brad Willis reports on the result of the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker...

Being a poker player and running a blog can sometimes be a hard gig. You run the risk of giving too much of yourself and your game away. Regardless, there are hundreds upon hundreds of people who spend part of their day playing cards and part of their day writing about the game or whatever else strikes them.

This year, the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker drew 1,337 player/writers from around the world. The final table showed just how international the game and blogs are. The nine final table players came from eight different countries.

Eighty-one players won everything from duffel bags, to iPods, to xBoxes. The final table players won some big prizes, including Portugal's LParreira, who beat out everybody and will be joining us for the 2008 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas in January.

Here are the final table players and what they walked away with. Congratulations to all.

2007 World Blogger Championship of Online Poker Final Table Results

1. LParreira (Portugal) -- $12,000 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure package
2. mathwise (Canada) -- 50" Plasma TV
3. lborba (Brazil) -- 24" computer monitor, a Canon Rebel digital SLR camera, and a Sony Camcorder
4. ulan-ude (United States) -- poker table, a deluxe 500-piece clay chip set, Sunday Million ticket
5. Abellyus (France) -- Entry into various tournaments
6. NileFever (United Kingdom) -- Entry into various tournaments
7. stakaman1962 (Greece) -- Entry into various tournaments
8. BoreN =P (Norway) -- Canon Rebel Digital SLR Camera
9. fourflushers (United States)- Luxury Poker Chip Set

Julian Thew, EPT Baden winner

There are poker players, there are popular poker players, and then there is Julian Thew.

Talk to anyone on the international poker scene for any length of time and you'll never hear a bad word said about the player from Nottingham, England. There are likely to be a few tales of crazy bets with fresh air, turned flushes, horrific outdraws and one-outers on the river. But by general assent, Thew is one of the good guys.

And now he's the good guy who also done good: Thew is the EPT Baden champion, beating 281 other players to the title and earning €670,800. He said in his pre-match interview that he wanted to pay off his mortgage by the time he was 40. He was $20,000 short and had two weeks until the big day.

Consider it paid. And how about another house? Or a car?

The day started in typical fashion in this picturesque little spa town in the Austrian mountains. We supped coffee, ate luxurious pastries, sampled sauerkraut und wurst as these eight eyed a fortune:

Vladimir Poleshchuk - Russia - 624,000
Julian Thew - England - 610,000
Denes Kalo - Hungary - 468,000
Manfred Hammer - Germany - 369,000
Anton Allemann - Switzerland - 254,000
Thierry van den Berg - Holland - PokerStars player - 227,000
Thomas Fuller - USA - 190,000
Ted Lawson - USA - 81,000

But the players had hardly had a chance to wipe the ketchup from their chops before two were on their way out of the tournament arena.

Both were skewered by Vladimir Poleshchuk, of Russia, the player with a name and unforgiving table manner to prompt a thousand "Impaler" references crackling round the media room.

On the very first hand, Anton Allemann, the Swiss player who had stayed near the chip lead for two days, was busted with ace-king on a king-high flop. Vladimir also had a king but the decisive card was the nine that had also appeared: matching the nine in Poleshchuk's hand. Auf Wiedersehen, Anton.

The very next hand and Vladimir was at it again. This time, Ted Lawson, the WSOP bracelet holder from the United States, was on his way. Lawson had king-queen of clubs, but Vladimir had found ace-nine of hearts and the flop was all red and heart-shaped. Lawson was despatched, €83,600 richer for his EPT debut.

At this point Vladimir looked unassailable, both in terms of cards and obvious headlines being produced by the journalists. In the second regard, only Manfred Hammer came close: there were plenty of "Hammertime!" shouts heard around Baden, as well as speculation as to Manfred's middle name. Anything beginning with "C" -- for MC Hammer -- would have been too perfect.

No one ever found out, more's the pity, because Hammer was next to be beaten out of the tournament and again it was Vladimir who did the damage. Manfred had 5-5, all in pre-flop, but Vladimir's ace-queen matched an ace on the flop and while Hammer was our sixth placed finisher, Vladimir broke through the million mark.

By this point, the three quietest players at the table were Thomas Fuller, from the United States, Denes Kalo, from Hungary, and Thierry van den Berg, the PokerStars player from Holland.

But while better things beckoned for the first two -- Fuller, in particular, beginning a charge forward with some aggressive moves and an outdraw of J-J with 7-7 -- van den Berg slid out the door.

Thierry had certainly kept his table chatter up for the opening exchanges, but had been frustratingly card dead and ended up pushing in behind jack-nine. Fuller, who now had enough to back his ace-ten, made the call and sent the final PokerStars player to the rail, €132,900 richer.

When we went four-handed, the action slowed dramatically and the stacks started to level out. Vladimir, Julian and then Thomas all took the chip lead, but never by too much, until a monster hand occurred between the Englishman and the American.

It started as a three-way pot, with only Denes sitting out after Thomas raised in early position. The flop came Kc-6c-Qh and got a little tricky: Thew checked, Vladimir checked, but Thomas slid in a half-pot bet. Thew thought for a moment but ended up raising, which got rid of Vladimir. However Thomas was going nowhere but all in, and Julian called.

We expected big hands and we weren't far wrong. Thomas had pocket sixes and had flopped bottom set. Julian had queen-eight of clubs, for middle pair and the flush draw. They wished each other good luck and the turn was revealed.

Ace. Of. Clubs.

That was the key card for Thew as he filled his flush. Thomas had re-draw outs for the full house, but none came and the young American, whose friend had predicted he'd finish fourth, was felted and out soon after.

Fuller fulfilled that friend's prophesy when he moved in with ace-six and ran into Denes Kalo's pocket sevens. Fuller was gone, with a reputation greatly enhanced by his play here. Thew, although his nemesis at the table, had also become his friend when they shared a table in Barcelona last month, and here around the final table. Thew was among many who acknowledged that Thomas had not made a mistake the whole day.

Still, Julian, Denes and Vladimir had a job to do. No room for regrets or recriminations.

But there was not much left in the day for Vladimir either and now Denes had turned assassinator-in-chief. The Hungarian had a king-jack when all of Vladimir's chips were in the middle, behind ace-queen. Denes had filled a straight by the river and ended it for Poleshchuk. He earned €225,000.

So, it was heads up - and it went on for a long time. The blinds reached 20,000-40,000, the highest ever reached in an EPT tournament.

As the action hotted up, Thew kept cool by means of his now-trademark table fan, and he was waving it casually in the air when Denes was making a power play: shoving all-in pre-flop. Thew hardly hesitated to make the call and showed his ace-eight. It was looking strong against Kalo's ace-five.

But Julian never counts chickens before they're hatched: he's put plenty of outdraws on folk far more brutal than a five popping up now. However, flop, then turn and then river were all blanks and Thew blinked, smiled, shook hands, smiled again, and began life as an EPT champion.

With a house all of his own.

EPT Baden final result:

1st - Julian Thew, England, €670,800 (+ €10,000 buy-in into EPT Grand Final)
2nd - Denes Kalo, Hungary, €375,000
3rd - Vladimir Poleshchuk, Russia, €225,000
4th - Thomas Fuller, USA, €160,820
5th - Thierry van den Berg, Holland, PokerStars player, €132,900
6th - Manfred Hammer, Germany, €105,000
7th - Ted Lawson, USA, €83,600
8th - Anton Allemann, Switzerland, €60,000

Julian Thew, EPT Baden winner
There are poker players, there are popular poker players, and then there is Julian Thew.

Talk to anyone on the international poker scene for any length of time and you'll never hear a bad word said about the player from Nottingham, England. There are likely to be a few tales of crazy bets with fresh air, turned flushes, horrific outdraws and one-outers on the river. But by general assent, Thew is one of the good guys.

And now he's the good guy who also done good: Thew is the EPT Baden champion, beating 281 other players to the title and earning €670,800. He said in his pre-match interview that he wanted to pay off his mortgage by the time he was 40. He was $20,000 short and had two weeks until the big day.

Consider it paid. And how about another house? Or a car?

The day started in typical fashion in this picturesque little spa town in the Austrian mountains. We supped coffee, ate luxurious pastries, sampled sauerkraut und wurst as these eight eyed a fortune:

Vladimir Poleshchuk - Russia - 624,000
Julian Thew - England - 610,000
Denes Kalo - Hungary - 468,000
Manfred Hammer - Germany - 369,000
Anton Allemann - Switzerland - 254,000
Thierry van den Berg - Holland - PokerStars player - 227,000
Thomas Fuller - USA - 190,000
Ted Lawson - USA - 81,000

But the players had hardly had a chance to wipe the ketchup from their chops before two were on their way out of the tournament arena.

Both were skewered by Vladimir Poleshchuk, of Russia, the player with a name and unforgiving table manner to prompt a thousand "Impaler" references crackling round the media room.

On the very first hand, Anton Allemann, the Swiss player who had stayed near the chip lead for two days, was busted with ace-king on a king-high flop. Vladimir also had a king but the decisive card was the nine that had also appeared: matching the nine in Poleshchuk's hand. Auf Wiedersehen, Anton.

The very next hand and Vladimir was at it again. This time, Ted Lawson, the WSOP bracelet holder from the United States, was on his way. Lawson had king-queen of clubs, but Vladimir had found ace-nine of hearts and the flop was all red and heart-shaped. Lawson was despatched, €83,600 richer for his EPT debut.

At this point Vladimir looked unassailable, both in terms of cards and obvious headlines being produced by the journalists. In the second regard, only Manfred Hammer came close: there were plenty of "Hammertime!" shouts heard around Baden, as well as speculation as to Manfred's middle name. Anything beginning with "C" -- for MC Hammer -- would have been too perfect.

No one ever found out, more's the pity, because Hammer was next to be beaten out of the tournament and again it was Vladimir who did the damage. Manfred had 5-5, all in pre-flop, but Vladimir's ace-queen matched an ace on the flop and while Hammer was our sixth placed finisher, Vladimir broke through the million mark.

By this point, the three quietest players at the table were Thomas Fuller, from the United States, Denes Kalo, from Hungary, and Thierry van den Berg, the PokerStars qualifier from Holland.

But while better things beckoned for the first two -- Fuller, in particular, beginning a charge forward with some aggressive moves and an outdraw of J-J with 7-7 -- van den Berg slid out the door.

Thierry had certainly kept his table chatter up for the opening exchanges, but had been frustratingly card dead and ended up pushing in behind jack-nine. Fuller, who now had enough to back his ace-ten, made the call and sent the final PokerStars qualifier to the rail, €132,900 richer.

When we went four-handed, the action slowed dramatically and the stacks started to level out. Vladimir, Julian and then Thomas all took the chip lead, but never by too much, until a monster hand occurred between the Englishman and the American.

It started as a three-way pot, with only Denes sitting out after Thomas raised in early position. The flop came Kc-6c-Qh and got a little tricky: Thew checked, Vladimir checked, but Thomas slid in a half-pot bet. Thew thought for a moment but ended up raising, which got rid of Vladimir. However Thomas was going nowhere but all in, and Julian called.

We expected big hands and we weren't far wrong. Thomas had pocket sixes and had flopped bottom set. Julian had queen-eight of clubs, for middle pair and the flush draw. They wished each other good luck and the turn was revealed.

Ace. Of. Clubs.

That was the key card for Thew as he filled his flush. Thomas had re-draw outs for the full house, but none came and the young American, whose friend had predicted he'd finish fourth, was felted and out soon after.

Fuller fulfilled that friend's prophesy when he moved in with ace-six and ran into Denes Kalo's pocket sevens. Fuller was gone, with a reputation greatly enhanced by his play here. Thew, although his nemesis at the table, had also become his friend when they shared a table in Barcelona last month, and here around the final table. Thew was among many who acknowledged that Thomas had not made a mistake the whole day.

Still, Julian, Denes and Vladimir had a job to do. No room for regrets or recriminations.

But there was not much left in the day for Vladimir either and now Denes had turned assassinator-in-chief. The Hungarian had a king-jack when all of Vladimir's chips were in the middle, behind ace-queen. Denes had filled a straight by the river and ended it for Poleshchuk. He earned €225,000.

So, it was heads up - and it went on for a long time. The blinds reached 20,000-40,000, the highest ever reached in an EPT tournament.

As the action hotted up, Thew kept cool by means of his now-trademark table fan, and he was waving it casually in the air when Denes was making a power play: shoving all-in pre-flop. Thew hardly hesitated to make the call and showed his ace-eight. It was looking strong against Kalo's ace-five.

But Julian never counts chickens before they're hatched: he's put plenty of outdraws on folk far more brutal than a five popping up now. However, flop, then turn and then river were all blanks and Thew blinked, smiled, shook hands, smiled again, and began life as an EPT champion.

With a house all of his own.

EPT Baden final result:

1st - Julian Thew, England, €670,800 (+ €10,000 buy-in into EPT Grand Final)
2nd - Denes Kalo, Hungary, €375,000
3rd - Vladimir Poleshchuk, Russia, €225,000
4th - Thomas Fuller, USA, €160,820
5th - Thierry van den Berg, Holland, PokerStars qualifier, €132,900
6th - Manfred Hammer, Germany, €105,000
7th - Ted Lawson, USA, €83,600
8th - Anton Allemann, Switzerland, €60,000

9 - Gunnar Rabe - PokerStars qualifier - €38,600
10 - Sebastian Ruthenberg - PokerStars player - €38,600
11 - David Sonelin - Sweden - PokerStars qualifier - €30,000
12 - Michael Durrer - Germany - PokerStars qualifier - €30,000
13 - Age Spets - Norway - €25,700
14 - Hans Eskilsson - Sweden - €25,700
15 - Pascal Perrault - France - €19,300
16 - Peter Gould - England - €19,300
17 - Alexander Kravchenko - Russia - €12,860
18 - Hector Fuentes - Spain - €12,860
19 - Victor Goossens - Holland - €12,860
20 - Alan Smurfit - Ireland - €12,860
21 - Kalil Rahal - France - €12,860
22 - Andreas Hoivold - Norway - €12,860
23 - Jiri Vacek - Hungary - €12,860
24 - Daniel Mangas - Spain - €12,860

Julian Thew, England, wins EPT Baden, earning €670,800

Denes Kalo, Hungary, eliminated in second place, winning €375,000

10.15pm: We have a winner. Julian Thew has ace-eight against Denes Kalo's ace-five and they get it all in pre flop. Denes needs the five and it never materialised: Julian is the champion - and a very popular one at that.

10pm: The heads up battle has been cagey. Very, very cagey. Julian takes a pot, Denes takes a pot, with the stacks similar to how they started after half an hour of play. They've taken a short break for some air. We await the crowning of a champion.

9.15pm: We're heads up between Julian Thew, of England, and Denes Kalo, from Hungary.

They have:

Thew - 1,754,000
Kalo - 1,069,000

Here we go.

9.05pm: Vladimir Poleshchuk, Russia, eliminated in third place, winning €225,000
Denes raises pre-flop from the button and Vladimir comes over the top for his whole stack. Vladimir shows A-Q and is ahead of Denes's K-J, but it's outdraw time, as Denes fills a straight on the river. Down to two.

8.55pm: Thomas Fuller, USA, eliminated in fourth place, winning €160,800.
And just like that, Thomas is gone. He couldn't recover from the crippling blow suffered at the hands of Julian Thew and then moved in with A-6. Denes Kalo calls with 7-7 and hits another seven, ending the hopes of Fuller. Down to three.

The players request a two minute break as the blinds go up to 15,000-30,000, with a 3,000 ante. Thew has more than half the chips in play: 1.8 million. Vladimir is now back in second, with 571,000 and Denes has edged into third. He has 261,000. Thomas, who just lost that massive pot, is trailing with 137,000.

8.45pm: Huge pot. Vladimir raises 70,000 pre-flop and Thomas Fuller starts peering ominously at the Russian's stack. He calls, and then Julian Thew also gets involved. He calls. They see Kc-6c-Qh and Julian and Vladimir check. Thomas, who seems to be strong, fires just more than 100,000 into the 228,000 pot, giving Thew a tough decision. He announces a raise and bumps it up even further: the pot swells to 788,000. Vladimir gets out the way but Thomas moves in and Julian calls. Thomas has a set of sixes, Julian Q-8 of clubs for middle pair and the flush draw. It was already a massive, massive pot and when the ace of clubs came on the turn, it gave Thew the flush and sent him into a commanding chip lead. It's about 1.8 million and Fuller is felted.

8.41pm: Vladimir and Denes play a 150,000 pot: the flop came 10-9-J - check, check - then the turn brought another 10. Check check. The river was a king and Denes bet and took it.

8.40pm: Big pot brewed between the two chip leaders, but soon fizzled out. Thomas Fuller raised pre-flop and Julian Thew called. The flop came 4s-3d-10c and Julian bet it. Thomas folded.

Thomas Fuller is the tournament chip leader, with about 980,000. Thew is second with about 780,000. Vladimir and Denes are third and fourth, respectively.

8.32pm: Julian raises from the small blind and Vladimir calls from the big. The flop comes K-J-6 and both players check, as they do when the 8 comes on the turn. Julian then bets on the J river and sends Vladimir into the tank. The Russian thinks and thinks and then folds.

8.30pm: Julian Thew, who took a bit of a hit from Thomas Fuller a few pots before, raises from the button but is met with a re-raise all in from Vladimir in the small blind. Julian lays it down and loses 60,000.

8.20pm: Thomas Fuller takes down a sizeable pot, betting into a ten high flop, with both Julian and Vladimir still involved. They both pass and the American, who's impressed everyone on this final table, climbs up again.

8.02pm: Big pot - and a double up for Denes Kalo. The chip leader calls the Hungarian player's all in pre flop with pocket nines. Kalo has pocket jacks and there's nothing to worry about on the board. Kalo is back in the game with about 500,000.

8pm: Back from the dinner break, with the four remaining players sitting behind the following chips:

Julian Thew - 986,000
Thomas Fuller - 762,000
Vladimir Poleschuk - 744,000
Denes Kalo - 331,000

And they're playing for:

1st - €670,800
2nd - €375,000
3rd - €225,000
4th - €160,820

6.45pm: That's the dinner break. There are four left, and Julian Thew has edged into the chip lead, ahead of Thomas Fuller, then Vladimir Poleshchuk and Denes Kalo. Full counts to follow.

6.40pm: Julian Thew raises from the button and Thomas Fuller calls from the big blind. The flop comes 4-J-K and Thomas checks. Julian bets and takes it, showing A-K.

6.35pm: Thomas Fuller raises pre-flop and Vladimir calls. It's a lucky-looking flop: 7-7-7 and, after Vladimir checks, Thomas bets into a 200,000 pot. Vladimir then unleashes the check-raise, but it's only the minimum. Thomas Fuller moves all in. Wow. The pot goes up to 760,000, the biggest of the tournament so far. Vladimir folds, and slips right down the board. Thomas shows ace-king for a super-powerful move and he might now be in second place, behind Thew.

6.30pm: Denes Kalo raises to 58,000 from the small blind. Julian calls in the big blind and the flop brings J-Q-J. Both players check and see a scary ace on the turn, which prompts a check from Kalo. Julian tosses 30,000 into a pot of 124,000 and Kalo calls. Julian tables the queen, and scoops.

6.25pm: Three way pot, with Vladimir calling from the button; Denes maing up the small blind and Julian checking the button. The flop comes Ks-Qd-9c and Vladimir makes a small bet. That prompts Denes to move all in and Vladimir quickly folds.

6.15pm: Thomas Fuller raises pre-flop and Vladimir calls. The board comes 6-7-8 rainbow and Thomas puts in a small bet that's an easy call for the Russian. They both check the jack turn, then Thomas fires again on the 9 river, obviously representing the 10 for a straight. Vladimir buys it, and folds. Thomas takes a 230,000 pot.

6pm: No sooner is that last update typed than Kalo moves all-in pre-flop against Thomas Fuller. Fuller folds.

5.50pm: Back from the break and a big pot developed between Julian Thew and Denes Kalo. A sizeable bet on the ragged flop picked it up for Thew. Kalo has been quiet today -- perhaps card dead, perhaps attempting just to edge up the payout scale. Only the television edit will show.

5.20pm: The players take a ten minute break. Chip counts:

Vladimir Poleshchuk - Russia - 984,000
Julian Thew - England - 880,000
Thomas Fuller - USA - 569,000
Denes Kalo - Hungary - 459,000

5.15pm: With all four remaining players sitting with no more than about 400,000 between first and fourth, the action is slow here in Baden. Julian Thew has pinched a couple of blinds and antes, but was also caught with his fingers in the till by Denes Kalo, who called a 50,000 river bet and Julian mucked.

4.45pm: The blinds are at 6,000-12,000 and the stacks are levelling out. Julian Thew just picked up a pot with A-Q, and then re-raised a Thomas Fuller pre-flop raise. Vladimir thought about it, but folded, but Thomas decided to call. The pot was about 250,000 at this point. The flop came Kd-6c-2h and Julian checked. Thomas checked behind and the turn was 9s. Julian bet out for 90,000 which sent Thomas deep into the tank. Thomas eventually folded, and Julian picked up that quarter-million to temporarily halt Thomas's move up the leaderboard.

4.30pm: Thierry van den Berg, Holland, PokerStars qualifier, eliminated in fifth place for €132,900.
Thomas Fuller continues his charge. He raises pre-flop and Thierry van den Berg moves his short stack all in over the top. Fuller calls quickly and shows A-10; Thierry has J-9s. The flop brings queen-eight-king, which is an inside straight draw for the PokerStars qualifier from Holland. But the turn and river are blanks and Thierry is out.

Four players remain:

Vladimir Poleshchuk - Russia - 1million
Julian Thew - England - 700,000
Thomas Fuller - USA - 670,000
Denes Kalo - Hungary - 470,000

4.25pm: Thierry van den Berg, the PokerStars qualifier from Holland, raises pre-flop and Thomas Fuller moves all in for the second hand in a row. He has Van den Berg covered and the Dutchman thinks then folds. Fuller is on the move.

4.20pm: It's tough to get precise chip counts at the moment, but Vladimir is still out front with around about 1 million. Julian Thew remains second with about 700,000.

4.15pm: Thomas Fuller is the next one all in against Vladimir, and he's not in good shape with 7-7 against J-J. That is, until a seven flops and the last remaining American doubles up, handing Vladimir his first hit. Fuller ends with a full house -- sevens full of tens -- and is up to about 250,000.

4.10pm: The chips have been flowing in one direction only today, and that is towards Vladimir Poleshchuk. He now has about 1.2 million in chips.

4pm: Manfred Hammer eliminated in sixth place, winning €105,000
Manfred Hammer finds all his chips in the pot with 5-5 and is called by Vladimir Poleshchuk with A-Q. The flop brings an ace immediately and Hammer never recovers. Hammer time is over. Down to five, with Poleshchuk, the Russian player, having accounted for all three of today's eliminations.

2.35pm: Predictably, it's slowed a little after those amazing early-day bust-outs. Just time to update the tournament situation: they're playing level 20 with blinds of 5,000-10,000 and a 500 running ante.

2.27pm: Ted Lawson, USA, eliminated in seventh place, winning €83,600
As we struggle to contain the urge to use the headline "Vlad the Impaler", Vladimir Poleshchuk earns his second scalp of the day, on the second hand. This time it's Ted Lawson who's all-in with king-queen of clubs. Poleshchuk has ace-nine of hearts and flops three hearts for the flush. Lawson out in seventh and we're down to six, without even completing an orbit of the table.

2.25pm: Anton Allemann, Switzerland, eliminated in eighth place, winning €60,000
An amazing start here in Baden, for everyone except Anton Allemann. The young Swiss player was all in with ace-king on a flop of king-nine-ten. Vladimir Poleshchuk called with king-nine for two pair and Anton was out - first hand of the day

2.15pm: Cards are in the air.

The final table line-up.
Standing, from left: Vladimir Poleshchuk, Thierry van den Berg, Julian Thew, Manfred Hammer, Ted Lawson
Seated, from left: Thomas Fuller, Denes Kalo, Anton Allemann

Welcome back to Baden, where we're all set for the final table of today's European Poker Tour (EPT) event. There were 282 players when we began on Sunday afternoon and now there are just eight homes in seven different countries to which the big money will be finding its way.

We have two Americans, a Russian, an Englishman, a Hungarian, a Swiss and a Dutchman currently seated around the trademark sandy baize of the EPT final table. They are, in seat order:

Seat 1: Thierry van den Berg, 35, Holland - 227,000 in chips PokerStars qualifier
Thierry, a former chef from Almere, is a regular PokerStars qualifier and won four EPT seats last year on PokerStars, as well as four World Series seats. He also qualified on PokerStars for EPT Dublin at the end of October. Thierry, who has a 6-year-old daughter, turned pro a year ago. He made the final table of the $5,000 NLHE Six Handed tournament at last summer’s World Series but has never cashed before in an EPT. He said: “I can play my own game today as I’ve finally got a good stack.”

Seat 2: Manfred Hammer, 55, Germany - 369,000
Manfred Hammer, 55, was born in Dinkelsbuehl, Germany but now lives in Bregenz in Austria. Married with three children and two grandchildren, he is the co-owner of a construction company. He says his business means he rarely has time to play poker and this is by far his biggest success. Prior to EPT Baden, his biggest tournament win was second place in an Austrian tournament last July.

Seat 3: Julian Thew, 39, England - 610,000
Father-of-two Julian has been a professional player for two years and is very popular on the European poker circuit. The former draughtsman from Nottingham is having a great year, having just won the Plymouth leg of the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour. He said “I promised myself I’d pay off our mortgage before I turned 40 and that’s in two weeks time - I’m only $20,000 short at the moment. ” This is Julian’s third EPT final table and seventh EPT cash. His biggest EPT win to date was fourth in Copenhagen during season one for $30k.

Seat 4: Vladimir Poleshchuk, 42, Russia - 624,000
Vladimir, a 42-year-old father-of-two from Moscow, has been playing Texas hold’em for six years and turned pro after just a year. Vladimir says his biggest win in poker so far was winning a $1,000 tournament in Korona, Russia, for $40,000. He bought in to last year’s EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo but failed to cash. The former army officer said: “I feel pretty comfortable about my game, and confident about today’s final table. I’ve been playing well against some pretty strong players. And I’ve enjoyed being in Baden; it’s a beautiful town.” Vladimir is being supported here by his wife Elena.

Seat 5: Ted Lawson, 49, South Florida/Las Vegas, USA - 81,000
Despite Baden hosting his EPT debut, Ted Lawson, from South Florida, is well known on the international poker scene. The married father-of-three has ten World Series cashes including three final tables and a bracelet. He now features prominently in both the Cardplayer and Bluff magazine rankings and has made 12 final tables this year. Describing himself as a poker professional, Lawson runs 21st Century Holding, the NASDAQ-listed company he founded with his wife in 1983.

Seat 6: Thomas Fuller, 24, Boulder, Colorado, USA - 190,000
Former psychology student Thomas took up poker after watching the film Rounders and has been a professional player for over two years. He also played in EPT Barcelona last month but had a “bad beat”. He said: “Actually that’s been true of all my big tournaments– I’ve either played badly or taken brutal beats – apart from this one!

Seat 7: Denes Kalo, 31, Hungary : 468,000
Dénes Kaló was born and lives in Budapest, Hungary. He works as the sales manager of a broker company and has been playing poker for 3 years. His best poker result to date was coming second in the 2006 EPM Vienna. Outside of poker, Denes is a sailing enthusiast.

Seat 8: Anton Allemann, 24, Switzerland : 254,000
Anton is one of two psychology students sitting at today’s final table (the other is American Thomas Fuller). He took up poker 18 months ago after a mere glimpse of the payout structure at an EPT event showed how much money could be won. He started playing online but now likes both online and live events. He said: “My previous biggest win was a cash game in Vegas during the World Series – I made $40,000 in one night. I think I’m an aggressive player, but I can also be flexible and adapt to the table conditions”

Howard Swains reports from the EPT Baden...

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a final table.

After a quick, slow, quick, slow day in Baden, we finally shaved the field down from 40 to the eight players who'll duke it out tomorrow for the EPT Baden crown.

They are, in order of chip stacks:

Vladimir Poleshchuk - Russia - 624,000
Julian Thew - England - 610,000
Denes Kalo - Hungary - 468,000
Manfred Hammer - Germany - 369,000
Anton Allemann - Switzerland - 254,000
Thierry van den Berg - Holland - PokerStars player - 227,000
Thomas Fuller - USA - 190,000
Ted Lawson - USA - 81,000

The 40 began falling in the very first hand, and taking the earliest bath was Hevad "RaiNKhan" Khan, the Team PokerStars pro from the United States. RaiNKhan took a nasty beat from Julian Thew at the end of yesterday, and shoved his short stack in when it was folded to him first thing today. Not a bad move most of the time, but Manfred Hammer -- whose name has spawned repeated "Hammer time!" shouts in the press room today -- found aces. That was that for RaiNKhan.

At the same time on the television table, Carlo di Renzo was running into Alan Smurfit's aces. The carnage had officially started.

In went the chips and out went the players. We lost PokerStars players Matt Tyler and Roman Yitzhaki, as well as well-known European pros Thor Hansen and Surindar Sunar. Soraya Homam, Harald Poeschl and Johann Fest also took the walk.

Then, no sooner had the bubble floated into view, than it was burst by Heimo Kraner, from Austria. We were in the money.

It didn't last long for Daniel Mangas, from Spain, who had his kings outdrawn by Thew's jacks. Thew went on a charge for the rest of the day, finding big cards when necessary, and playing the big stack with aplomb. He's second in chips going into tomorrow.

Among his victims was Pascal Perrault, the final remaining EPT champion after Andreas Hoivold was eliminated in 22nd. Also hitting the spas with a bundle of cash were Alexander Kravchenko, the World Series final table finisher, and David Sonelin and Michael Durrer, PokerStars players, who perished in 11th and 12th, respectively.

Many of their chips found their way into the stack of Vladimir Poleshchuk, from Russia. He'll take the chip lead into the final. His last victim of the day was the PokerStars player Sebastian Ruthenberg, who couldn't repeat his third place finish in Dortmund earlier this year. He went out in 10th.

When the final nine assembled around the not-really-final-table -- we play to eight on the EPT -- there were a couple of short stacks in front of Gunnar Rabe, from Sweden, and Ted Lawson, of the United States. Rabe was the first to find a hand -- pocket tens -- but they weren't good enough to beat Manfred Hammer's queen-ten, which turned a straight.

So it was over. The eight were decided and they're in line for a monster payout when proceedings begin again at 3 p.m. central European time.

Today's eliminations:

9 - Gunnar Rabe - PokerStars player - €38,600
10 - Sebastian Ruthenberg - PokerStars player - €38,600
11 - David Sonelin - Sweden - PokerStars player - €30,000
12 - Michael Durrer - Germany - PokerStars player - €30,000
13 - Age Spets - Norway - €25,700
14 - Hans Eskilsson - Sweden - €25,700
15 - Pascal Perrault - France - €19,300
16 - Peter Gould - England - €19,300
17 - Alexander Kravchenko - Russia - €12,860
18 - Hector Fuentes - Spain - €12,860
19 - Victor Goossens - Holland - €12,860
20 - Alan Smurfit - Ireland - €12,860
21 - Kalil Rahal - France - €12,860
22 - Andreas Hoivold - Norway - €12,860
23 - Jiri Vacek - Hungary - €12,860
24 - Daniel Mangas - Spain - €12,860

The final table payouts:

1st - €670,800
2nd - €375,000
3rd - €225,000
4th - €160,820
5th - €132,900
6th - €105,000
7th - €83,600
8th - €60,000

Howard Swains with the round-up from day 2 in Baden...




And there we have it, day two is over.

We started with a field of 156 still afloat in the tournament and now we're down to 40. Some of the biggest names are still around; many others have gone. There's very little mercy shown during the course of one of these days, and this one has been particularly brutal.

It all started, I suppose, when Sander Lyloff, the overnight chip leader, lost two massive pots and was out: leader to loser in a matter of three levels. Then the deluge started: trotting up the stairs from press to poker rooms inevitably meant passing someone on the way down announcing another big-name departure.

They fell like flies. Barny Boatman lost with a set of nines. Then the Team PokerStars Pros started taking the hits: Noah Boeken couldn't double his overnight short-stack; Dario Minieri's fours lost to queens; Luca Pagano departed; Barry Greenstein signed his book and left; Andre Akkari was on his way back to Brazil; Katja Thater, who'd clung on for hours, eventually also took the fall just before dinner.

By the end, only RaiNKhan of the Team PokerStars pros was still in the field, but he has a micro-stack, after Julian Thew rivered a straight in the final orbit of the day. We also lost both PokerStars players who had previously won EPTs: Mats Iremark and John Shipley were both eliminated in the early evening.

So where did all the chips go? Well, PokerStars players Sebastian Ruthenberg, from Germany, and Roman Yitzhaki, from the United States, still have plenty. As do PokerStars players Michael Durrer, Thierry van den Berg, David Sonelin, Matt Tyler and Gunnar Rabe.

Also in the field are Surindar Sunar, Age Spets, Julian Thew, Alexander Kravchenko and Alan Smurfit, among others.
The full chip counts for the 40 remaining players in Baden:

Anton Allemann (Switzerland) 140,000
Acar Mazlum (Switzerland) 136,000
Daniel Mangas (Spain) 134,500
Thomas Fuller (USA) 128,800
Vladimir Poleshchuk (Russia) 122,600
Michael Durrer (Germany) PokerStars player 116,000
David Sonelin (Sweden) PokerStars player 115,500
Julian Thew (UK) 114,700
Victor Goossens (Holland) 108,900
Denes Tamas Kalo (Hungary) 102,200
Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) PokerStars player 97,400
Hans Vimmo Eskilsson (Sweden) 96,800
Pascal Perrault (France) 95,700
Gunnar Rabe (Sweden) PokerStars player 81,300
Christophe Defforey (Germany) 81,200
Jiri Vacek (Czech Republic) 78,100
Hector Fuentes (Spain) 77,400
Heimo Krainer (Austria) 73,500
Thierry van den Berg (Holland) PokerStars player 69,800
Roman Yitzhaki (USA) PokerStars player 69,800
Age Spets (Norway) 68,500
Peter Gould (UK) 65,800
Gyoergy Moger (Hungary) 56,500
Dennis Naci Hansen (Denmark) 54,400
Alan Peter Smurfit (Ireland) 49,700
Kalil Rahal (France) 48,900
Andreas Hoivold (Norway) 48,900
Manfred Hammer (Germany) 47,200
Matthew Tyler (UK) PokerStars player 45,600
Christophe Benzimra (France) 37,500
Surinder Sunar (UK) 36,300
Alexander Kravchenko (Russia) 34,800
Harald Poeschl (Austria) 33,800
Johann Fest (Germany) 28,000
Edward Lawson (USA) 25,300
Soraya Homam (Germany) 25,000
Andreas Fluri (Switzerland) 23,300
Hevad Khan (USA) Team PokerStars Pro 21,300
Carlo Di Renzo (Italy) 16,200
Thor Hansen (Norway) 14,400

Picture (c) Neil Stoddart

Howard Swains reports on Day 1 at the EPT Baden...




And that's that.

We started at 6 p.m. with 282 players, we played six levels, and now the remaining 156 have bagged up and gone home. Job done. End of day one. See you tomorrow.

So, what happened?

Well, it's been a typically tough day on the European Poker Tour. But when the going gets tough, etc, etc., and there's a lot of toughness in this game.

Leading the pack at the end of the day is Sander Lyloff, the Danish player who won in Barcelona a few weeks ago. He has 66,150 but is looking over his shoulder at an amazingly high quality field. (The full chip count is at the bottom of this post.)

Fellow former EPT champions chasing that elusive second crown include Patrik Antonius (29,925), Ram Vaswani (22,175), Pascal Perrault (27,250), Mads Anderson (24,650), Thang Nguyen (21,200), Andreas Hoivold (22,650) and Noah Boeken, who finished with 4,575 after taking a late hit from Team PokerStars team-mate Katja Thater.

Thater finished with 17,525, surviving a table that not only included Boeken, but also Andre Akkari, the Team PokerStars Pro from Brazil, who doubled up at the death to finish with 27,925.

It was a pretty good day for the guys and gals in the PokerStars shirts. Despite losing Vanessa Rousso early in proceedings, and also seeing ElkY and Marcel Baran depart towards the end, Luca Pagano, Dario Minieri and RaiNKhan are still afloat, as is Sebastian Ruthenberg, a PokerStars player here in Austria. Barry Greenstein is leading the Team PokerStars Pros, with 30,325.

As ever, the numbers and the quality of play was raised in this tournament by a number of PokerStars players in the field. Among the 42 who started today, the name of Thierry Van Den Berg has featured prominently on leader boards. The $1,050 satellite winner from Holland is sitting pretty with 42,100.

Also well within spitting distance are Michael Durrer and Tobias Reinkemeier, both from Germany, as well as John Shipley (17,350), from England, who is a PokerStars player but needs no introduction to most followers of the game. As well as a World Series main event final table, Shipley won EPT London during season one, and has the class to match any previous major result.

End of day chip counts:

Sander Lylloff (Denmark) 66,150
Gyoergy Moger (Hungary) 46,775
Manfred Hammer (Germany) 43,825
Thierry Van Den Berg (Holland) PokerStars player 42,100
Markus Lehmann (Germany) 40,100
Michael Durrer (Denmark) PokerStars player 39,700
Raul Mestre Lleida (Spain) 39,700
Victor Escudero Mellado (Spain) 39,325
Christophe Defforey (Germany) 39,300
Thomas Wahlroos (Finland) 38,150
Sebastian Riviere (Sweden) 35,575
Mark Vos (Australian) 32,875
Mark Secher Petersen (Denmark) 32,675
Voitto Aulis Rintala (Finland) 32,625
Daniele Cuomo (Italy) 32,050
Andreas Fluri (Switzerland) 31,275
Luis David Sevilla Petit (Spain) 31,075
Tobias Reinkemeier (Germany) PokerStars player 30,750
Dan Bitsch Pedersen (Denmark) 30,650
Barry Greenstein (USA) Team PokerStars Pro 30,325
Patrik Antonius (Finland) 29,925
Sigi Stockinger (Austria) 29,675
Christian Aris (France) 28,900
Florian Langmann (Germany) 28,400
Dennis Naci Hansen (Denmark) 27,925
Andre Akkari (Brazil) PokerStars player 27,925
Roman Yitzhaki (USA) PokerStars player 27,900
Hevad Khan (USA) Team PokerStars Pro 27,825
Simon Munoz (Spain) 27,350
Pascal Perrault (France) 27,250
Balazs Gergely Biri (Hungary) 27,000
Julian Thew (UK) 26,525
Denes Tamas Kalo (Estonia) 26,475
Bonyadi Farzad (USA) 26,250
Robert Binelli (Italy) 26,200
Magnus Mamsen (Denmark) 25,500
Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) Team PokerStars Pro 25,300
Christophe Benzimra (France) 25,075
Mads Andersen (Denmark) 24,650
Edward Lawson (USA) 24,625
Adam Levy (Canada) PokerStars player 24,525
Harald Poeschl (Austria) 24,500
Janne Wilhelm Juutilainen (Finland) PokerStars player 24,050
Luca Pagano (Italy) Team PokerStars Pro 23,725
Acar Mazlum (Switzerland) 23,225
Johan Van Til (Holland) PokerStars player 23,150
Joep Durkstra (Holland) 23,075
Johnny Groenne Jensen (Denmark) 23,025
Andreas Hoivold (Norway) 22,650
Ram Vaswani (UK) 22,175
Jan Olav Sjaavik (Norway) 22,075
Armin Stocker (Switzerland) 22,025
Klaus Haunschmidt (Austria) 21,975
Johann Fest (Germany) 21,875
Thang Nguyen (Germany) 21,200
Martin Rask (Denmark) 21,025
Mikael Johansson (Sweden) PokerStars player 20,700
Mats Erik Iremark (Sweden) PokerStars player 20,700
Baroukh Fowzi (UK) 19,975
Paul Testud (France) 19,925
David Sonelin (Sweden) PokerStars player 19,675
Rino Mathis (Switzerland) 19,325
Philip Chen Yun Yeh (Sweden) 18,950
Hector Fuentes (Spain) 18,700
Theo Jorgensen (Denmark) 18,525
Vlado Sevo (Svn) 18,300
Richard Ashby (UK) 17,825
David Daneshgar (USA) 17,625
Matthias Neu (Denmark) PokerStars player 17,575
Katja Thater (Germany) Team PokerStars Pro 17,525
Joshua James Gould (UK) 17,350
John Shipley (UK) PokerStars player 17,350
Andreas Rathje (Germany) 17,250
Thor Hansen (Denmark) 16,800
Thomas Fuller (USA) 16,575
Eldos Davlet (France) 16,500
Martin Vallo (Denmark) 16,300
Kalil Rahal (France) 16,250
Alexander Kravchenko (Russiasia) 16,175
Szabolcs Attila Saskoey (Hungary) 16,075
Victor Goossens (Holland) 15,925
Hans Vimmo Eskilsson (Sweden) 15,625
Johan Storakers (Sweden) 15,150
Alan Peter Smurfit (Irl) 15,025
Werner Lorenzoni (Austria) 14,700
Giuseppe Festa (Italy) 14,625
Vladimir Poleshchuk (Russia) 14,575
Dave Colclough (UK) 14,550
Pier Paolo Ruscalla (Italy) 14,475
Bill Edler (USA) 14,400
Adrian Koy (Germany) 14,050
Roy Von Der Locht (Germany) 13,850
Jeffrey Glaser (USA) 13,750
Anton Allemann (Switzerland) 13,700
Krzysztof Czerwinski (Pol) PokerStars player 13,675
Andreas Krause (Germany) 13,575
Daniel Mangas (Spain) 13,550
Magnus Persson (Sweden) 13,425
Marcus Naalden (Holland) PokerStars player 12,600
Barny Boatman (UK) 12,575
Herbert Otto (Germany) PokerStars player 12,300
Morten Erlandsen (Denmark) 12,125
Josef Kollarits (Austria) 11,900
Raoul Gilmar Refos (Holland) 11,825
Christian Hohendorf (Germany) 11,625
Mark Bartlog (Germany) 11,575
Thanh Pham (Germany) 11,575
Dario Minieri (Italy) Team PokerStars Pro 11,450
Rein Roelof Zijda (Holland) 10,750
Dalibor Oliver Zjacic (Croatia) 10,475
Mika Paasonen (Finland) PokerStars player 10,425
Gabor Kovacs (Hungary) PokerStars player 10,425
Matthew Tyler (UK) PokerStars player 10,125
Peter Gould (UK) 10,075
Jonas Erik Svante Oedman (Sweden) 9,200
Justin Charles Smith (USA) 9,200
Pavel Blatny (Czech Republic) 9,050
Eva Marianne Ulrika Skoennemark (Sweden) 9,025
Jeppe Mikkelsen (Sweden) 9,025
Ilhan Eyikat (Turkey) 8,975
Daniel Tarnopol (USA) PokerStars player 8,975
Istvan Zsolt Novak (Hungary) 8,950
Katja Svendsen (Norway) 8,775
Marcin Krzysztof Horecki (Poland) PokerStars player 8,750
Age Spets (Nor) 8,700
Martin Jaeger (Austria) 8,675
Dean Plumley (UK) 8,650
Surinder Pal Singh Sunar (UK) 8,575
Michael Csango (Austria) 8,525
Heimo Krainer (Austria) 8,450
Matteo Taddia (Italy) 8,250
Ugur Coskun (Turkey) 8,025
Joris Bernard Antoine Jaspers (Holland) PokerStars player 7,875
Paul Christoffersson (Sweden) PokerStars player 7,750
Yakov Zvi Hirsch (USA) PokerStars player 7,325
Mika Puro (Finland) 7,125
Carlo Di Renzo (Italy) 6,850
Hugo Franca (Denmark) PokerStars player 6,675
Gunnar Rabe (Sweden) PokerStars player 6,600
Adriaan Schaap (Holland) PokerStars player 6,575
Danny Stiegler (Denmark) PokerStars player 6,475
Mark Raymond Segal (UK) 6,475
Benjamin Charles Johnson (USA) PokerStars player 6,200
Jan Bendik (Slovakia) 5,275
Sorin Posa (Romania) 4,875
Uffe Holm (Denmark) 4,750
Jiri Vacek (Czech Republic) 4,725
Zsolt Peter Mayer (Hungary) 4,675
Gianni Giaroni (Italy) 4,650
Noah Boeken (Holland) Team PokerStars Pro 4,575
Aurangzeb Sheikh (USA) 4,500
Mikkel Aakjar Lassen (Denmark) 3,925
Chris Bush (USA) PokerStars player 3,875
Soraya Homam (Germany) 3,575
Christina Stadel (Germany) 3,025
Manutscher Parsian (Austria) 2,650

Howard Swains reports from Baden...

The playing area here in Baden is spread across two main rooms and a couple of nooks and crannies.

The main poker room is a vast rectangular affair, which feels familiar to anyone who's ever been to any event of this size. But the second room, and its two adjoining wings, is amazingly bright and airy, putting paid once and for all to the notion that poker is a game played in smoky, dingy backrooms of pubs and clubs. This is more like a circular greenhouse, with a colourful mural-cum-mosaic on the ceiling.


Main room from above


The adjoining, more airy, poker room

Along one side of the room is a line of flags representing many of the players' nations, while waiters and waitresses wheel trolleys of drinks around like flight attendants. A cheery sign wishes all players "Good luck!" and best of all, the table numbers dangle from the ceiling on Christmas tree baubles.




Add to all this a very well received player's buffet -- there's nothing poker players enjoy more than a good feed -- and the net result is a poker tournament that feels uncharacteristically friendly. I'm certain there are more smiles than usual in the opening levels of such an event.

Photos (c) Neil Stoddart

It’s not all checks and raises at the EPT Baden...

Howard Swains reports from the next stop on the European Poker Tour...




Hello all, and a warm welcome to Baden, Austria, the third stopping point on this, the fourth season of the PokerStars European Poker Tour. So far this year, we've been to Barcelona and London, where a Danish backgammon expert and a Lebanese property developer, respectively, have worked their way to the top of the pile.

The game's the same in Baden, but the setting, as ever, is something new. Imagine if you could walk around the village painted on the front of a box of chocolates: attractive, multi-coloured cottages, rolling hills, the occasional cow or sheep. That's similar to the feeling one gets while approaching Baden.


Beautiful Baden

There's something of the pastoral, something of the Alpine and a definite sense of well-being; the result of the natural spa minerals that course through the water and permeate the air.

In truth, healthy living was not high on the agenda as the PokerStars welcome party kicked off this evening in the salubrious Bar 2, one of the town's very few nightspots. Players mingled with Team PokerStars pros -- and a complimentary bar left no one empty-handed.

So it was that Barry Greenstein, Hevad "RainKhaN" Khan, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Vanessa Rousso, Noah Boeken and Katja Thater -- all seasoned PokerStars pros -- joined Marcel Baran and Chad Brown in meeting the assembled party population of Baden. Joseph Mouawad was once just a PokerStars player, like many in Bar 2. Now, of course, he's EPT London champion and the man all are trying to emulate.


Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso and Chad Brown

The tournament begins at 6 p.m. central European time on Sunday and concludes on Wednesday, when we'll have our new champion.

But for tonight, at least, the focus was less on poker and more on chocolate fountains -- both white and dark -- and dancing the night away. Some players might be nursing a sore head when we convene around the tables tomorrow afternoon, but the action is unlikely to be quiet if past EPT are anything to go by.


Perfect pre-poker sustenance

Join us here for complete coverage of the event. We'll have photographs, reports, interviews and updates. It's going to be another cracker.

In 2005, PokerStars created a blog for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. A few weeks later, PokerStars created a blog for the European Poker Tour. A few weeks later, it followed that all of the events and more could be covered even better with an official PokerStars Blog. So, in April 2005, the first PokerStars Blog appeared on the Internet.

Since then, the PokerStars.net blog and its writers have been all over the world covering events from the World Series, to the EPT, to the brand new Asia Pacific Poker Tour.

Throughout this time, PokerStars has truly come to appreciate the contribution bloggers make to the poker community. So, for the past three years, PokerStars has hosted the World Blogger Championship of Online Poker (WBCOOP). In 2005, blogger easywind took home the WBCOOP championship. In 2006, the title went to Daleroxxu. This year, the event has once again gotten bigger.

The 2007 WBCOOP is a $40,000 freeroll open exclusively to bloggers. First prize is a $12,000 package to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. Other prizes include a 50" plasma tv, thousands of dollars in PokerStars tournament entries, and an amazing array of electronics and poker accessories. The only requirements to enter are having a regularly updated blog, registering, and posting the registration code on your blog.

The 2007 WBCOOP is October 14th, 2007 at 3:00pm ET on PokerStars.

So, if you're a blogger and want to get a little something back for the hard work you put into your blog, register today.

We'll see you at the tables.

World Blogger Championship of Online Poker Information
$40,000 worth of prizes, from huge tournament entries to top of the line electronics.

Registration will remain open until Saturday, October 13th at 6pm ET, so register today!

Email bloggertournament@pokerstars.com if you have any questions or comments.

It sounds like the blurb from a very cheesy travel brochure...

Golden beaches, crystal blue seas, cocktails as you watch the sunset sink into the ocean. This must be paradise.

Well forget blurb this really is pradise - Paradise Island in the Bahamas.

But let's go one step further shall we and add a dash more to this idyllic vision - how about adding endless poker to the mix? Now we've got Paradise! Well, funnily enough that’s what Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu has in mind and you could be there with him thanks to PokerStars.net.




Daniel Negreanu is one of the most famous names in poker and if you play your cards right (yes, that cliché is relevant here) you could join him in the Bahamas to play in the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure, now an off-shore stop on the prestigious European Poker Tour, for millions in prize money. How much exactly? Well in all more than 110,000 cash prizes are on offer, including...

• $8,000 buy in to the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure
• 7 nights accommodations at the Atlantis Resort and Casino
• $1,000 cash for travel
• Poker training with Daniel Negreanu
• More than 110,000 cash prizes from $1 - $600

Best of all, it’s completely free to enter, provided you reside in the United States or Canada and are of legal age. All you need for a chance to win is a FREE PokerStars account which you can download by clicking HERE.

The catch? Well I’ve looked and asked around and it seems you’ll need a week off in January.

So how do you qualify? Free tournaments are running every day at 6.30pm and 9.30pm ET for before or post dinner play. Actually scratch that you can play both, there’s no limit to the times you can enter.

For more information click HERE for tournament rules, a frequently asked questions page and more information on when you can play.

So as the saying goes, ‘what are you waiting for?’ Tournaments started on 29 September and continue until the end of November. That makes for plenty of chances to try, try and try again and give your poker skills a whirl.

Howard Swains wraps up the final of the EPT London...

Here's a list of poker players, who are also members of an exclusive club.

Brandon Schaefer (USA); Jeff Williams (USA); Gavin Griffin (USA); Magnus Petersson (Sweden).

As of tonight, there's another name to add to the subscription list: Joseph Mouawad. He comes from Lebanon and he's the most recent champion of a European Poker Tour event who came here as a PokerStars player only to to take the title - playing as a relatively unknown among some of the world’s best.


Joseph Mouawad: the latest EPT champion

It's only exaggerating the truth slightly to say that these are the people who stump up about the equivalent of a small blind on a cash table and turn it into the equivalent of ten years' wages for the average banker. Like turning a toothpick into a lumberyard, as one poker sage once described it.

Mouawad won £611,520 in today's tournament in London, the second stop-off during season four of the EPT. He beat 391 other players, who each parted with £5,200 for their seat in the Grosvenor Victoria casino. But only Mouawad, a property developer from Beirut, can walk out onto the Edgware Road as the new champion. And with that chunk of cash in his pocket.

We convened with the following people holding the following chips:

Florian Langmann - Germany - 927,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 780,000 (PokerStars player)
Marcel Baran - Germany - 583,000 (PokerStars player)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 477,000 (PokerStars player)
Antony Lellouche - France - 466,000
Paul Mendes - England - 282,000
Ian Cox - England - 234,000
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 190,000 (PokerStars player)

All eyes were on Florian Langmann, the reigning German poker champion, who came to the final table with the chip lead. But neither he, nor anyone else around the table, was willing to put too much at risk during the early stages, and that allowed the young Swede named Fredrik Haugen to haul his way up the chip ladder.

Fredrik -- a 19-year-old PokerStars player -- was the short stack, but shoved it in time and again early in the day to surrender that ignominious title.

Ian Cox, from Poole, England, was the victim of many of these powerful plays and soon found himself peering over the shortest stack. Without many other options, he pushed it in from the button behind king-seven. Florian Langmann called from the small blind with king-three, a dominated hand. But a three on the flop ended it for Cox.

Next out was the only other remaining Briton in the field: Paul Mendes, from London. In each of the preceding three seasons, the London leg of the EPT had always produced a home champion, John Shipley, Mark Teltscher and Victoria Coren.

But when Mendes's king-ten couldn't overtake the ace-king of Antony Lellouche, the run of British champions was over.

That left six, and the big stack was still Langmann's. But not for long. Mouawad had played solidly throughout all three days so far, but had also demonstrated a keen ability to change gears when the situation demanded it.

Sensing an opportunity here, Mouawad, who has played poker for 15 years, put his entire tournament life on the line with ace-king, calling a huge bet of Langmann's. The German held 4-4 and was visibly sickened by the call, even more so when an ace flopped and a monster pot, the largest of the tournament so far, went to Joseph.

Joseph's stack contained more than two million in chips and that allowed him to pick off some of the remaining players. It was barely a ripple in the Atlantic for Joseph to call Anthony Lellouche's all in with 23,000, the Frenchman having been crippled in a massive pot against Marcel Baran, another PokerStars player from Germany.

Mouawad only had jack-two, but had hit both on the flop. Lellouche's ace-five had been outdrawn and he was out the door.

That left five players, four of whom play on PokerStars. There was Mouawad, of course, Marcel Baran, Fredrik Haugen and Josh Egan, from New Zealand.

But when something had to give, it was Haugen. Florian moved all in pre-flop, clearly just hoping to pick up the blinds and antes. But he ended up picking up much more: Haugen called with ace-jack, which couldn't retain its lead against Langmann's queen-ten.

Haugen took £124,342 for fifth place.

So, down to four. And one of them, Josh Egan, must have been licking his lips. However, he couldn't quite capitalise. Florian Langmann managed to get all Josh's chips in the middle behind king-jack. Langmann had aces - the first time today, he claimed - and they stood up. The Tycoon_Kid is on his way back to New Zealand with £152,880.

That left three players, which quickly became two. Marcel Baran, another PokerStars player, might have been quiet at the table, but had nonetheless made all the right moves when necessary, getting his chips in when ahead, keeping them out the way when behind.

His elimination hand was no different, although his pocket fours were only a marginal favourite over his countryman's king-seven. And Langmann, who had lost a huge pot with fours earlier in the day, also watched them outdrawn again, this time to his profit. An ace flopped and Marcel missed his two outs: he was heading back to Germany with £203,840.

So, we were heads up. It was Lebanon versus Germany, and neither was going anywhere fast.

As in most heads-up battles, it was this way and that, but Joseph never really surrendered his chip lead. It all ended when both players limped to a flop and hit a pair. But Joseph's queens were bigger than Florian's nines. And another queen turned to give Joseph the money.

And there ended the EPT London, where PokerStars players ruled the roost. The four who made the final table ended up with more than a million pounds between them.

Anyone know a property developer who might know a good spot for a lumberyard?

Quotes:

Joseph Mouawad, winner

"It was a great experience; I didn't expect it at all. It was fun and a big achievement and I went up against some good players. But I never thought I'd win the championship.

"I've played casinos in Lebanon where a lot of people are starting to play. People know about Joe Hachem who's from Lebanon."

On the call with ace-king:

"We talked about the hand in the break and he said: 'How can you call with ace king?' I said: 'How can you go all in with a pair of fours?' But at the time I thought 'what the hell' and I played my intuition."

"Sometimes you get nervous but again you get used to it. He had more experience than me so I played my game. I thought if it happens it happens."

"I promised my son I'd buy him a car, so he'll get a car."

Florian Langmann, runner-up

"There was always a chance I could win, even with the short stack. At one point [Joseph] had all the chips while the others had just a few hundred thousand each. I had to push in all the time. Then Antony made his move so I waited until he went out.

"Heads up is always a gamble. He played very strangely and I tried to hit something but I didn't. I'm always trying to win but you don't expect it. This is really great."

EPT London final table results and payouts:

1st -- Joseph Mouawad -- Lebanon -- £611,520 (PokerStars player)
2nd -- Florian Langmann -- Germany -- £346,528
3rd -- Marcel Baran -- Germany -- £203,840 (PokerStars player)
4th -- Josh Egan -- New Zealand -- £152,880 (PokerStars player)
5th -- Fredrik Haugen -- Sweden -- £124,342 (PokerStars player)
6th -- Antony Lellouche -- France -- £97,843
7th -- Paul Mendes -- England -- £77,459
8th -- Ian Cox -- England -- £57,075

Last Friday saw the last eight of the EPT London set and ready for the final, as Howard Swains reported...

Let's start at the end.

The final table of this week's EPT London will feature the following eight players chasing this trophy.

Florian Langmann - Germany - 927,000
Joseph Mouawad - Lebanon - 780,000 (PokerStars player)
Marcel Baran - Germany - 583,000 (PokerStars player)
Josh Egan - New Zealand - 477,000 (PokerStars player)
Anthony Lellouche - France - 466,000
Paul Mendes - England - 282,000
Ian Cox - England - 234,000
Fredrik Haugen - Sweden - 190,000 (PokerStars player)

How we got here is a long, long story that began at 1pm today. At that point there were 40 players, headed by Surinder Sunar, Ben Grundy and Anthony Lellouche. As you can see, only the Frenchman Lellouche survived unscathed on a day where the poker "names" had it rough.

Erik Friberg, who had previously sat around a World Series main event final table, came back today with just 7,000 chips and shoved them in on his second hand. He went out. And then we raced towards the bubble, losing Carlo Citrone, another well-known professional in 33rd place, the last not to get paid.

In the money, we found some genuine world class players: former EPT champions Pascal Perrault and Roland de Wolfe; WPT champion Sunar, and a certain Team PokerStars pro named Moneymaker.

But none of them would make it to the end. De Wolfe hit a couple of miracle flops to stay alive early in the day, but went out in 19th. Perrault was edged out in tenth, just an inch, or metric centimetre, from the final table.

And as for Moneymaker? Well, he'd played some of the best cards of his career to go deep here: he was the star that everyone was trying to dethrone. He dodged some bullets and shot plenty of his own, but he couldn't stop Florian Langmann's flush draw getting there, and he'll have to wait to add an EPT win to his WSOP bracelet.

Let's hear it, then, for the PokerStars players - all in one way or another following in Moneymaker's footsteps. There was Katja Svendsen, who had bossed and bullied her way through the field for three days, only coming unstuck when a well-timed squeeze-play, with 5-4, was miraculously called by Joseph Mouawad's 7-8. She came 27th.

That was one place higher than Martyn Reeve, of Wales, and five below Vijayan Nagarawan, who is going back to Malaysia with £12,230. Peter Petersen takes the same back to Denmark.

And we also bade farewell to Phidias Georgiou, from Cyprus, who had entertained railbirds and struck fear into players all the way to 11th place, good for £28,537.

But that's not all. That's by no means all.

Of the eight men reconvening for that final table tomorrow, four of them are PokerStars players.

Leading them is Joseph Mouawad, who knocked out Katja. He continued to eliminate player after player, until he'd got up to 780,000.

Marcel Baran, from Germany, also hacked and slayed his way through the field. He'll be back with 583,000.

And Josh Egan's long flight from New Zealand was clearly worth the trouble. He'll be returning tomorrow with 477,000 and the prospect of a huge win.

The final PokerStars player is also still in with a great shout. Fredrik Haugen, of Sweden has 190,000 and is in the unique position of being the only Nordic player on an EPT final table. I'm sure that's a first.

Seat 1: Ian Cox, 45, UK – 234,000
Of all the final table players, Ian Cox, a poker pro and sports bettor from Poole, Dorset, has the most experience beneath the studio lights. His first live poker came after the 2005 Poker Million and he’s played in three later TV tournaments. Cox spent 11 years terrorizing fixed odds bookmakers with his knowledge of golf betting, before moving to the exchanges. He took up poker while waiting for market moves. Three final tables from 11 live events in 2006 and six from 14 this year attest to the skills of a natural.

Seat 2: Florian Langmann, 24, Germany – 927,000


Florian Langmann

Florian, the reigning German champion, carries the chip lead to the final table of the EPT and is enjoying the best year of his fledgling poker career. A professional player taking a break from studies in Dresden, he made two final tables in this year's Bellagio Cup in Las Vegas and cashed in EPT Dortmund last year. Originally from Verden in Germany, Florian usually plays high-limit SNGs.

Seat 3: Anthony Lellouche, 27, France – 466,000


Antony Lellouche

Parisian Antony Lellouche mainly plays live poker in high stakes cash games around the world. He is both respected and well-liked by his peers and mentors, including the “godfathers” of French poker Claude Cohen and Jan Boubli. Antony turned pro nine years ago, honing his skills at the smallest limit games at the Aviation Club. Fearless and intuitive, Antony has already made two WSOP final tables and come close in two EPT Grand Finals – 12th in 2005 and 21st in 2007. Today gives him his biggest tournament payout to date.

Seat 4: Fredrik Haugen, 19, Sweden, PokerStars player - 190,000


Fredrik Haugen

Fredrik, from Gothernburg, is already a highly experienced poker player. With EPT final tables often dominated by Swedes, Fredrik is – unusually - the last Swedish survivor at EPT London and, being the short stack, his task is hardest. One thing in his favour is his girlfriend Elvedina who made the journey with him, providing moral support from the rail. She admitted to being “very nervous” but Fredrik looks far more relaxed. His previous biggest win was 32nd place at EPT Dortmund last year.

Seat 5: Josh Egan, 23, New Zealand, PokerStars player - 477,000


Josh Egan

Student Josh has had a "massive roller-coaster" at the London EPT. Down to 3,000 in chips on Day 1, three great hands (fives, sixes and kings) turned it around for the 23-year-old from Auckland. He also previously played in the 2006 World Series where he came 602nd for $20,000. His strategy for today is suss out the table – and avoid chip leader Florian Langmann.

Seat 6: Marcel Baran, 28, Germany, PokerStars player – 583,000
Marcel, from Aschaffenburg in Germany, has been pro for two years after quitting his job as a web developer. The decision has paid off as he’s now on the verge of his biggest cash yet. Marcel took up poker after coming home late one night and catching TV highlights of EPT Season 1. He is now set to improve on his previous best - 11th (€25,870) in EPT Dublin. “I’m not nervous. I’m only nervous when I’m all in. In a hand, I’ve no time to be nervous!”

Seat 7: Paul Mendes, 44, UK - 282,000


Paul Mendes

Londoner Paul has been a striking figure at EPT London thanks to his distinctive Stetson– a gift from Vegas. He said: “I wear it for special occasions – and this is certainly one of those.” Today’s final table place is by far Paul’s biggest result to date. His previous biggest win was £1,200 after coming 8th in a tournament in Edinburgh a couple of years ago. The 44-year-old screenplay writer took up poker when he was working in a petrol station. He was invited to a game by some regulars, won the game and hasn’t looked back since.

Seat 8: Joseph Mouawad, Lebanon, PokerStars player - 780,000


Joseph Mouawad

It was nearly over before it began for Joseph Mouawad. He planned to come here with friends but when they cancelled, he nearly did too. Thankfully he changed his mind and is now second in chips. “My friends are following the action from home instead. They’re very excited.” Married with three children, the real estate developer from Beirut began playing poker nearly 15 years ago. He took up Hold’em two years ago when it became popular in his local casino. Today will be his best result yet. “I’ll be nervous for the first 15 minutes - but then I’ll get going.”


Back row L to R: Antony Lellouche, Florian Langmann, Fredrik Haugen, Ian Cox
Front row L to R: Josh Egan, Marcel Baran, Paul Mendes, Joseph Mouawad

All pictures (c) Neil Stoddart

As the APPT took place on the other side of the world the European Poker Tour continued season four in London...

London...

It doesn't quite have the instant poker cache of, let's say, Texas, but there's really nothing new about the game that can be taught to denizens of the Grosvenor Victoria Casino on London's Edgware Road. Nothing at all.

These players were shuffling up and dealing before most of the new breed of poker professional were even born. In fact, they were probably riffling chips at the very moment that some of these new kids were on their way into existence. And even if these players had been the fathers, they'd probably more likely have been in the line for some pot-limit Omaha than at the maternity ward.


The Grosvenor Victoria Casino

Poker is a passion at the Vic at least the equal to any venue across the world. And as the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) rolls into town for the second stop of season four, the locals lie in wait.

The EPT has been dominated throughout its three-year existence by players from the Nordic countries. But the London date has always been the exception. In season one, everyone shipped it to John Shipley. Season two saw the emergence of Mark Teltscher, who has since become a familiar face around the final tables of the world.

And last year, the homecoming queen was Victoria Coren, such a familiar face that they named the place after her. Or so history should be rewritten to confirm.

Representing Team PokerStars, were many familiar faces: those of Chris Moneymaker, Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater, Noah Boeken and Luca Pagano. Also joining them for their first outings as members of this exclusive club were Dario Minieri, the sensation from Italy, and Hevad Khan, he of a million consecutive sit and gos and a World Series final table.

Oh, and Khan had added another title to his resume: the night before he’d won the fabled, fabulous Hold 'Em 100 tournament in London, a well-known charity event with the proceeds going to the Royal Marsden hospital. Khan bested a field of more than 120 to take the prize - including seeing off Gavin Griffin, EPT Grand Final winner, who finished 10th.

Also in the line up were the usual players who know a thing or two about live events. Mats Iremark, Brandon Schaefer and Thang Nguyen are previous EPT champions. Keith Hawkins, Iwan Jones, James Dempsey, Mel Judah and Osman Mustanoglu are well known pros.

It took five days but by Friday night, as the clock stuck the weekend, the final eight were in place.

Sean Callander reports on the closing stages of the APPT Seoul...

The Hebrew word “Tzabra” or “Sabra” is used to describe native Israelis. A tzabra is a tough desert plant that thrives under harsh conditions. Under its thorny exterior, the “Tzabra” protects a softer, less severe interior.

It's a perfect analogy for our first PokerStars Asia Pacific Poker Tour Seoul champion, Israel’s Ziv Bachar.


Ziv Bachar

The soft-spoken 25-year-old showed no mercy during the final table at the Sheraton Grande Hotel. He brought the chip lead to the final table, and was rarely threatened on his way to the $139,872 first prize.

Bachar, who works in the real estate industry in his native Israel, continues a great year for poker players from the Mediterranean nation of just over seven million people.

At the World Series of Poker earlier this year, high stakes poker pro Eli Elezra captured his first WSOP bracelet in winning the seven-card stud hi/lo event over poker legend Scotty Nguyen (and winning a 10-1 bet from Team PokerStars Pro Barry Greenstein that he would win a bracelet in 2007).

Final Table Summary:

In contrast to the first APPT final table in Manila last month (which lasted well into the early hours), play lasted less than six hours and 111 hands.

Just three players returned after the dinner break – Sid Kim the chip leader on 983,000, Bachar on 740,000 and Jo Berec on 139,000. It wasn’t long until the chips were flying. On hand 97, Berec moved all-in from the big blind for 116,000, and Bachar called instantly. Berec (Ad 6h) was marginally ahead of Bachar’s Qh 10d, and the Australian made two-pair to double through and spark his comeback.

Five hands later, the heads-up line-up was decided after Bachar and Sid Kim watched a flop of Jc 6c 2s. Both players checked and the turn came 3d. Kim bet 50,000, Bachar raised to 100,000, Kim pushed all-in and Bachar couldn’t get the rest of his chips in fast enough.


Final table action

The Israeli showed 6h 3c for two pair, while Kim’s Qc 4c gave him a flush draw. However, the 2d on the river missed the American, and he was out in third place.

Unlike the 60-plus hand heads-up battle at the APPT Manila event, the duel between Bachar and Berec lasted just nine hands.

With a chip lead almost 10:1 over Berec, Bachar picked his mark and made the call when Berec pushed all-in with Kd 9c.


Jozef Berec

Bachar had his nose in front with Kc 10c, but the drama wasn’t over. The flop came Qh Qc 6d, meaning Bachar’s 10 was still in play, but a Ks on the turn threw Berec some more lifelines.

But a meaningless 2d on the river gave Bachar kings and queens with a 10 kicker to win the tournament.

“It was a relief to get over Jozef so quickly,” Bachar said as the enormity of his victory started to sink in. “He’d been so aggressive and unpredictable, but I thought I was in with a good shot even though K 10 isn’t a great hand.”


Ziv Bachar

It’s back to work in Tel Aviv for the modest APPT Seoul champion, but we’re hoping to see Ziv Bachar in Sydney for the APPT Grand Final in December. And that’s probably when you’ll next hear from me – on behalf of the APPT Seoul team, it’s “anyonghi gaseyo” or goodbye, from the Walker-hill Casino in Seoul, South Korea.

Sean Callander reports on the final of the APPT Seoul...

A few nervous poker players have just made their way into the TV studio for the final table of the APPT Seoul main event in the Walkerhill Sheraton Grande Hotel on the outskirts of the South Korean capital.

It’s drizzly and gloomy outside, but the lights are shining bright here at the final table – we’ve actually relocated upstairs to one of the Sheraton Grande ballrooms from the Walker-hill Casino.


Final Table Seoul APPT

Paul Adams, an American who lives just to the north of Seoul, has added a distinctly East Asian feel to the final table by discarding the suit and tie he’s worn in the past two days for a traditional Korean outfit called a hanbok. In terms of final table fashions, Adams is already a clear winner.

Like the APPT Manila final table, we have a league of nations battling for the title: an Israeli, an Australian, a New Zealander, a French-Canadian, a Swede-based in Malaysia, a Norwegian and a trio of Americans who all make their home in South Korea.

The 25-year-old Isareli Ziv Bachar is our chip leader on 415,000, with Australian Jo Berec close behind on 350,000. The remaining seven players are covered by 70,000 in chips, so it promises to be a fierce battle for the title. Blinds are starting at 3000/6000 with a 500 ante, and the dealer button will start with Michel St Pierre in seat eight.

Final table profiles

Seat 1: Ziv Bachar (ziviland on PokerStars, 415,000 in chips)
For such a small nation, Israel has an impressive two-from-two record at APPT events. Following on from Maor Feldinger’s final table appearance in Manila (he finished fifth), his countryman Ziv Bachar has emulated that feat by making the last nine in Seoul. The 25-year-old from Tel Aviv, who works in the real estate industry, started his own business 18 months ago. He brings considerable poker experience to the final table, having finished ninth in the 2006 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in the Bahamas (worth $95,000) and was victorious in the € 500 No Limit Hold'em Event at last year’s PokerStars EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo (worth €54,400). He is the chip leader heading into the final table.


Ziv Bachar

Seat 2: James Honeybone (nzvr4poker on PokerStars, 171,500 in chips)
This 23-year-old from Hamilton on New Zealand’s North Island is one of poker’s true believers. He’s a real student of the game, and loves talking hands and poker folklore at every opportunity. Just about to wrap-up a business management course, Honeybone’s poker education is also coming along in leaps and bounds. After cashing for more than $US80,000 in the 2006 Barcelona Poker Classic, he has continued that solid form with cashes in the 2007 NZ Poker Championships and the 2007 Victorian Poker Championships. He’s also etched a permanent mark in the APPT record books, by winning the first tournament ever held as part of the new tour: the PHP5000 Manila Cup at last month’s APPT event in the Philippines. His girlfriend Jacqui will be the first to congratulate him if he gets over the line.


James Honeybone

Seat 3: Jozef Berec (jbjeoli on PokerStars, 350,000 in chips)
Barely known outside his native Melbourne, the performance of Jo Berec in the APPT Seoul main event might make the poker world start to sit up and take notice. The 48-year-old pro player has been in a hot vein of form over the past 12 months. He won the $550 No Limit Hold’em title and $74,000 at the 2007 Aussie Millions, and backed-up with victory in the Victorian Poker Championships main event (worth just over $250,000) two months ago. Berec, who led the field for a significant part of day two, emigrated to Australia from Hungary more than 20 years ago and formerly ran a business with his brother before turning his full-time focus to poker.


Josef Berec

Seat 4: Daniel Schreiber ("rekrul'member of Team PokerStars, 185,500 in chips)
Having won the 2007 WSOP $5000 Heads-up event at the age of 22, Daniel Schreiber became the fifth youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever. Schreiber, who had never cashed in a prior WSOP event, defeated Mark Muchnik by winning both matches in the finale to earn $425,594. The first match took 79 hands while the second lasted only 11. The field of 392 players was the largest heads-up hold 'em tournament in history. Formerly ranked #1 in the USA for the strategy video game Starcraft, Schreiber moved to South Korea in 2004 from Commack, New York, to compete as a professional gamer. Yet, he found his true calling as a poker pro. Daniel Schreiber is a member of Team PokerStars.


Daniel Schreiber

Seat 5: Paul Adams (zadignose on PokerStars, 184,000 in chips)
It’s been an unforgettable two days for 39-year-old Korean-based American Paul Adams. Originally from New York City (where he earned a degree in film and TV production from New York University), Adams has not only qualified for his first major final table, he found out during a break on day two that his wife is pregnant with their first child! Adams learned to play poker as a youngster and fondly remembers his first experience of Texas Hold’em at the Bullwhackers Casino in Blackhawk, Colorado. An English teacher at a private academy, he has lived in Korea for 18 months.


Paul Adams

Seat 6: Roger Spets (titantilts on PokerStars, 168,000 in chips)
This 40-year-old Swede burst onto the APPT scene with an impressive showing in the opening event in Manila. After leading at numerous times on day two, he eventually bowed out in sixth position (worth $26,966). Not bad for a player making his first live tournament appearance. Spets, who runs a wealth management company in Malaysia, joined the APPT Seoul field along with fellow final table participants from Manila, Japan’s Kazuhiro Sato and runner-up Ira Blumenthal. However, Spets enters the record books as the first player to feature at two APPT final tables. Spets has been playing poker for only two and a half years, starting out in home games before turning his focus to cash games and sit ‘n’ goes.


Roger Spets

Seat 7: Shinhan Sid Kim (110,500 in chips)
No Korean players are permitted to play in the Walker-hill Casino, but Shinhan Sid Kim comes as close to a local as anyone in the APPT Seoul field. Kim was born in Korea but moved to the USA as a four-year-old. After growing up in Ventura, California, he returned to Korea 10 years ago. Now 38, he’s turned more than 20 years of poker experience into a final table berth in his first major tournament appearance. Kim, who battled a short stack for much of the event but struck when it mattered, operates a chain of hagwons (or private schools) throughout Korea and also provides opportunities for Koreans to learn English through his own radio show and his own line of books.


Shinhan Sid Kim

Seat 8: Michel St Pierre (MSTP007 on PokerStars, 149,500 in chips)
The sole North American to make the final table of the APPT Seoul main event, Michel St Pierre is originally from Repentigny in Quebec, Canada but now resides in Montreal. A contractor who works in property development, he has been playing poker for about three years and has considerable experience in a number of major Canadian poker tournaments. The 29-year-old St Pierre is hoping the “jouissance” (or enjoyment) he’s been experiencing in South Korea will continue all the way to the APPT Seoul title.


Michel St Pierre

Seat 9: Seval Hægeland (Biffen 1 on PokerStars, 127,500 in chips)
It’s been a massive month for Norwegian poker after 19-year-old Annette Obrestad won the 2007 WSOP Europe main event. Seval Hægeland is hoping to follow in her footsteps with victory in the APPT Seoul main event. A native of Lyngden in southern Norway, the father-of-two has been a lifelong poker player, and first picked up on Texas Hold’em about four years ago. Now the 40-year-old is hoping to use the experience he picked up in last year’s PokerStars EPT event in Barcelona to steer him to victory in Seoul.


Sevel Haegeland

You may not have heard of ‘StarCraft’ but in Korea players of this popular video game are treated as celebrities, as Sean Callander reported...

Daniel Schreiber is as close to a ‘hometown’ player battling it out for the APPT Seoul title.

Like fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand ‘ElkY’ Grospellier and Team PokerStars member Guillaume Patry, Schreiber relocated to Korea (from his home in Commack, New York) to compete as a professional Starcraft player. Yep, that’s right, a video game.


Daniel Schreiber

The trio are treated like celebrities here, and can’t go out without being swamped by fans of the game. Like Grospellier and Patry, Schreiber turned his focus to poker and quickly built a reputation as one of the top high stakes players.

He turned that practice to immediate success when he captured the $5000 Heads-up championship at the 2007 World Series of Poker, becoming the fifth youngest WSOP bracelet winner ever.

“I've played for a while now. I started out playing ring games or the six-handed but then I started testing myself with heads-up,” Schreiber said.

“I learned a lot from the players who had more experience and who were probably better than me. I took that experience and used that to improve my game to the point where it is today.”

But for a player who honed his skills on a video game, did Starcraft offer any preparation for the cut-throat world of poker?

“You’d be surprised, StarCraft and poker are similar games. I like to say they are both games of missing information. You have to figure out what your opponent is doing, then use that information against them. If you're good at StarCraft, you’re likely to be good at poker.”