Le Monde du Poker.

February 21 2012, Marc Convey

Day 1b of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Copenhagen took place Tuesday. Seven 60-minute levels lwere played, just like on Monday's Day 1a, but that’s where the similarities ended.
On Monday, 83 players entered, whereas on Day 1b 216 players paid the DKK37,275 (€5,000) buy-in for their chance at an EPT title.

On Day 1a, it was easy for us to spot who was leading the way because Steve O’Dwyer ran away with the lead and bagged up 190,975. The lead seemed to change every 30-minutes on Day 1b, making nailing down a leader difficult. One man had to rise to the top by the end of play, however, and that was Mads Wissing. He quietly went about amassing his stack and leads the 131 who made it to Day 2 with 127,500 in chips.

Members of Team PokerStars Pro had a relatively good day. Theo Jorgensen (55,450), Johnny Lodden (77,400), Luca Pagano (44,225), Martin Staszko (23,875), and Team PokerStars Online's Mickey Petersen (57,075) will all be back to battle on Day 2. Viktor Blom and Jude Ainsworth were the only two who didn’t make it through.

Blom was eliminated in the middle of the day after his top pair, top kicker lost to an opponent who hit a straight on the river. Ainsworth fell within the last 30 minutes of the day. He called all-in with ace-queen on the river of an board, but lost to Adam Eliasson who had flopped a set with .

It was great to see all the tables full at the beginning of play and to see so many Nordic players joking around and catching up for, probably, the first the first time this year. Unfortunately for some of them, the smiles didn’t last. Martin Jacobson, Rasmus Nielsen, William Thorson, Per Linde, Peter Jepsen, Oscar Kroon, Jesper Hougaard, David Sonelin, and Jens Kyllonen were all sent to the rail.

EPT Copenhagen Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts

The players from Day 1a and Day 1b will combine to form a 179-player field on Wednesday. The PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be bringing you all the action when play resumes at 1200 CET (0600 EST).

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February 20 2012, Matthew Pitt

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Copenhagen Main Event kicked off Monday at Casino Copenhagen inside the luxurious Radisson Blu Scandinavia Hotel. A slightly less-than-anticipated crowd of 83 players exchanged DKK37,275 (€5,000) for 30,000 tournament chips and the chance to follow in the footsteps of poker's great players by becoming an EPT Champion.

Seven 60-minute levels were played on Day 1a, and during that time Steve O'Dwyer somehow managed to multiply his starting stack by more than six times, ending the day with a tournament-leading stack of 190,975. O'Dwyer initially flew under the radar and seemed to acquire his large stack "out of nowhere," and when the PokerNews Live Reporting Team asked him how he came about having such a substantial chip stack, he replied, "I just got lucky."

Obviously luck plays a major part, such as near the end of the night when O'Dwyer looked down to find a pair of kings in the hole and saw Giulio Mascolo four-bet jam for more than 30,000 chips while holding a much inferior pair of jacks. The kings held and O'Dwyer, runner-up at EPT London last year, saw his stack swell to the size it is now.

Hot on the heels of O'Dwyer is Finnish youngster Lauri Varonen who ended the day with 165,150 in chips. Varonen has some solid results to his name so far in his relatively short career, the highlights of which include an outright win in a €2,000 buy-in event in Finland that netted €82,688 ($120,961) and a 14th place finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Triple Chance event at last year's World Series of Poker where he picked up $39,397.

Two former EPT champions made it through to Day 2 and are still in with a chance of becoming the first-ever double EPT champion. Roberto Romanello is the best placed of the duo having bagged up 115,475 chips, good enough for third place, and David Vamplew will return to Wednesday's Day 2 armed with 31,825 chips.

Joining the two former champions are two of PokerStars Team Pros in the shape of Arnaud Mattern and Pierre Neuville. They ended the day with 19,900 and 15,000 in chips, respectively, so both will have extra work to do when they return to their seats on Day 2.

Day 1b gets under way at 1200 CET (0600 EST) where a much larger crowd should fill the vast Casino Copenhagen tournament area. Amongst those already confirmed to play are Team PokerStars Pros Johnny Lodden, Viktor Blom and Theo Jorgensen, Martin Jacobson, former EPT Copenhagen champion Anton Wigg and a whole host of other talented individuals.

Follow all the action over on the PokerNews Live Reporting pages throughout the tournament and make sure you follow us on Twitter and like us on Facebook to stay up-to-date with all the very latest news and promotions from around the poker world.

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December 05 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour headed to Prague this week and Day 1a kicked off on Monday. The first of two starting flights brought out 234 runners, capped off by the very late entry of Bryn Kenney. At the end of the day, around 140 players remained. Topping them all was Vedzizhev Beslan with 132,200 chips.

Among those who came out to play were Team PokerStars' Toni Judet, Pat Pezzin, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Rino Mathis, Theo Jorgensen, Richard Toth, Marcin Horecki, Martin Staszko and Michael Keiner. Of that bunch, only Judet and Horecki failed to make it through the day.

Other notables taking their seats at the felt on Day 1a included Steve O'Dwyer, James Akenhead, Mike Watson, Chris Moorman, Eoghan O'Dea and Michael Benvenuti. They've all made it through the first gauntlet of levels and will be back for Day 2 on Wednesday.

O'Dea lost a big pot early in the day against Raffaele Gerbi. All of the money went in on the turn with O'Dea holding a straight. Gerbi held two pair and filled up on the river to crush O'Dea. The 2011 November Niner battled back though, including a big double through Christopher Brammer when his top pair held up on the flop. O'Dea was set all-in by Brammer, who held . O'Dea had . After the turn and river, O'Dea was back with some barking chips at nearly double the starting stack. He finished on 50,800 in chips.

The biggest name in the field came out to play after a long hiatus from tournament poker. "The Great Dane," Gus Hansen, came sporting a banana and a Bible along with his poker face. Hansen kept his nose buried in his book most of the day and didn't play the normal loosey-goosey Hansen style that we're accustomed to seeing, but he managed to finish on 52,600 in chips.

The way it looks right now, this event should easily clear 600 runners total. Today's field surpassed the Day 1a field from last year and Day 1b should mirror that. On Tuesday, Day 1b will kick off at 1200 CET (0300 PST) for another eight levels of play.

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AppId is over the quota
October 05 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Poker Festival isn't all about the Main Event. There are plenty of events on the schedule to provide tons of action for the players, and the event with the largest buy-in kicked off on Tuesday — the £20,000 EPT London High Roller.

Last year, the EPT London High Roller was won by Team PokerStars Pro Jose "Nacho" Barbero. He bested a field of 77 players to take home the £556,000 first-place prize. Much is the same this year in terms of field size and prizes. The event attracted 75 elite players, and first place is worth a whopping £520,000.

At the end of Day 1, 30 players remained and Sam Stein had emerged as the chip leader, bagging up 240,000 chips (the starting stack was 50,000). Coming in behind him are Mike Watson (225,900) and Isaac Haxton (199,200).

The event attracted some of the best players in the world, including Team PokerStars Pros Johnny Lodden, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, John Duthie, Barry Greenstein, Vanessa Rousso, Juan Maceiras and Vanessa Selbst, but all were all eliminated on the day.

According to the PokerStars Blog, Selbst was sent to the rail by 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion and fellow Team Pro Jonathan Duhamel. Greenstein was eliminated by Haxton towards the end of the night after the two got it in on an flop. Greenstein held and Haxton . The turn brought the and the river the to give Haxton a winning straight and eliminate Greenstein.

Other notable eliminations included Viktor Blom, Theo Jorgensen, Matt Waxman, Justin Bonomo, Tobias Reinkemeier and Tony G.

There's plenty of firepower still left in the field, though. Outside of the top three who were mentioned, 2010 WSOP November Niner Phil Collins, 2010 WSOP Europe Main Event champion James Bord and 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Joe Hachem are all still in contention. They'll be joined by Mike McDonald, Sam Trickett, Eugene Katchalov and Olivier Busquet, among others.

Day 2 of the High Roller kicks off at 1200 BST (0400 PDT) in London. The top eight spots are being paid and PokerNews will have a recap from the action after play is complete.

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AppId is over the quota
October 04 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 4 concluded on Tuesday at the 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Poker Festival Main Event with 24 players remaining. Leading the way is Mattias Bergstrom with 1.838 million in chips.

Neil Pearce was the last player eliminated before action came to a halt for the day. He finished in 25th place and went out at the hands of Jeremy Kottler. Pearce was all-in preflop holding pocket sevens, up against Kottler who was holding queens. No help came on the flop, turn or river and Pearce was off to the payout desk, while Kottler raked in the pot. He bagged 1.693 million for the night, putting him in fourth place overall heading into Day 5.

Pearce wasn't the only player to go on Day 4. When play began, 62 players remained. Some of those to fall on the day included Barny Boatman (57th), Jamie Rosen (49th), Daniel Neilson (45th), Marvin Rettenmaier (41st), Steven Kelly (39th) and Roberto Romanello (37th).

A few Team PokerStars Pros also hit the rail: Ana Marquez (42nd), Humberto Brenes (32nd) and Salvatore Bonavena (29th).

Bonavena was the last Team Pro to hit the rail and was eliminated by Basile Yaiche. Bonavena was all-in preflop with against Yaiche's two fours. Although he flopped a king, Bonavena couldn't stave elimination as a four fell on the river to give Yaiche a winning set. There is still one Team Pro remaining in the field — Juan Manuel Pastor from Spain. He'll go into Day 5 with just under one million in chips at 960,000.

Joao Barbosa, winner of EPT Warsaw in 2008, Benny Spindler, James Mitchell, 2010 Irish Open champion, Kevin Iacofono, Martins Adeniya and Steve O'Dwyer[/b] have also made it to Day 5. Sebastian Blom, brother of Viktor Blom, will be the shortest stack returning with 59,000 in chips.

Day 5 Table and Seat Draw

The final 24 players will return Wednesday at 1200 BST (0400 PDT) for another day of play as the tournament moves towards the final table. Once the final eight are set, play will end for the day. Be sure to return to PokerNews for all of the live coverage.

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AppId is over the quota
October 04 2011, Donnie Peters

Day 3 of the 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Main Event concluded after four 75-minute levels of play on Monday. With 62 players remaining, James Mitchell is leading the way after bagging 1,071,500 in chips.

When the day began, 159 players returned to action. With only 104 places being paid out, 55 were destined to go home empty-handed. A few who fell prior to cashing included Tristan Wade, Jason Mercier, Jake Cody, James Akenhead, Kenny Shih and Dan Kelly. Sorel Mizzi was bounced from the tournament by Laurence Houghton in 106th place and set the stage for the 2011 EPT London bubble.

The bubble didn't last very long before it burst. Shortly after hand-for-hand play was announced, Steven Warburton moved all-in with , but unfortunately ran into the aces of Kyle Cheong. The flop gave Warburton a flush draw when it came down , but the turn and river failed to provide him with the help he needed, sending him out the door in 105th place.

With some money back in their pockets, plenty of players began hitting the rail. None were more famous than Doyle Brunson, who saw his tournament come to an end on Monday after he moved all-in with the and was dominated by Marco Leonzio's . After a board of , Brunson exited to the rail to a round of applause from the remainder of the field.

Other notable in-the-money finishes included Bolivar Palacios, Jeff Sarwer, Bryn Kenney and Sebastian Ruthenberg.

Top 10 Chip Counts

Day 4 will begin at 1200 BST (0400 PDT) Tuesday and the remaining 62 players will come back to play down to the final 24.

PokerNews will be back tomorrow to continue coverage of the 2011 EPT London Main Event. We hope to have you right here with us.

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AppId is over the quota
October 04 2011, Donnie Peters

The 2011 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London Poker Festival is more than just the Main Event. There have been many great events going on, producing hefty prize pools and packed fields. Some of the events included at this year's London Poker Festival are the £20,000 High Roller and European 8-Game Championship. PokerNews would like to highlight some of the results from a handful of the events that have been completed so far. Team PokerStars Pro David Williams and Michael Benvenuti are among the winners so far.

Notable finishes: Dylan Wilkerson (11th - £2,900)

*Denotes four-way deal

Notable finishes: Eddy Sabat (14th - £2,200)

*Denotes two-way deal

Notable finishes: Cecilia Pescaglini (9th - £660)

There are still plenty more events going on in London and PokerNews will have the reports of a few of them when they are complete.

Follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Follow Donnie Peters on Twitter — @Donnie_Peters

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