The second Day One of the European Poker Tour’s penultimate event of Season Eight, the EPT Grand Final, is in the books, with player numbers coming in right around the field size drawn for the 2011 version of the tournament.
After Day 1A brought in a nice sized field of 271 players (of which 165 survived), there was concern that the Day 1B field would have to be massive to reach last year’s figures. The players came through on Day 1B, with another 394 players stepping to the felt, to bring the total number of players to 665. This is comparable with the 2011 version of the EPT Grand Final, which was held in Madrid (this year, the EPT Grand Final has returned to Monte Carlo) and pulled in 686 players following the events of 2011’s “Black Friday.”
With the €10,000 buy in, the players who will walk away from the Monte Carlo Bay Hotel & Resort with some cash will definitely have something to show for their efforts. 96 players from the 665 player field will be able to add a line to their tournament resumes, taking home a minimum of €15,000. The top prize is almost equal to last year’s payout, €1.5 million, as well as the prestige of taking down one of Europe’s top tournament awards.
The tables were difficult on Day 1B, even though the field was much bigger than on Wednesday. The Team PokerStars Pro stable was out in full force, with Barry Greenstein, Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, Jonathan Duhamel and €5000 Grand Final Heads Up champion Vicky Coren among those who put their €10K on the line. Other notable players who were matched up with each other among the tables included Tom Marchese and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Mike “SirWatts” Watson, Erik Seidel and Victor Ramdin and Matt Jarvis and Justin Bonomo.
Several of these top names were able to get off to a good start. Jason Mercier added some chips during the early going when, with the board showing a straight, he forced a player to lay down his hand with a river bet. On a King high board, Ramdin picked up a nice pot when he was able to show his opponent the pocket Aces in his hand. One of the big movers during Day 1B, however, was Annette Obrestad.
Early in the tournament, Obrestad was able to chip up on a K-J-10-2-3 board, pushing both Juan Manuel Pastor and Olivier Busquet out of a five handed pot on the flop. Firing all the way to the river, Obrestad also was able to get her lone opponent remaining to back down after her triple barrel betting. The former World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion continued to rout the field as the hours grew late.
Busquet would be one of Obrestad’s victims after she put him all in while she held pocket Jacks. Busquet, who recently missed out on winning an EPT event in Campione, Italy, was more than glad to make the call holding pocket Queens. That changed on the flop, when Obrestad was able to run down those Queens on the J-4-3 board; once no saving Queen came on the turn or river, Busquet was eliminated from the tournament.
Obrestad, who recently signed a sponsorship deal with Lock Poker, would continue her rampage later in the night. After a raise from the Norwegian, Mark Teltscher decided to put her to the test by pushing all in. Obrestad made an immediate call, tabling another pocket pair of Jacks, which were ahead of Teltscher’s off suit K-Q. The drama ended almost immediately, with a Jack on the flop, and Teltscher was already gone from the table by the time the river card fell.
Busquet and Teltscher weren’t the only notable casualties of Thursday’s action. Tennis champion Boris Becker, World Poker Tour champion Sean Jazayeri, EPT Berlin champion Davidi Kitai, David Williams, Maria Ho, Shaun Deeb, Duhamel, Coren and Jarvis all headed to the rail during Day 1B play. By the end of the night, Nicolas Yunis had assumed not only the day’s chip lead but the overall lead in the tournament.
1. Nicolas Yunis, 191,700
2. Ivan Kudriavtcev, 186,200
3. Andoni Sanchez, 181,300
4. Martin Kabrhel, 167,800 (Day 1A chip leader)
5. Franck Blanc, 160,800
6. David “Doc” Sands, 160,300
7. John Eames, 157,200
8. Alessio Isaia, 139,600
9. Malte Moenni, 136,900
10. Andres Artinano, 125,200
Action continues on Friday at the EPT Grand Final with 394 players total remaining in the event. The tournament will work its way through the weekend, crowning the final champion for Season Eight on the EPT on Tuesday evening.
