European Poker Tour

The New EPT Blog

2005-08-23T21:49:00.000+02:00

If you've come here looking for news on Season 2 of the European Poker Tour, please visit the New EPT Blog by clicking here: Poker Blog.

All of Season 1's archives will remain here. All of Season 2's new can be found on the official PokerStars blog at the link above.

Monte Carlo Grand Final Report

2005-03-20T07:17:00.000+01:00

For a hand-by-hand account of the Monte Carlo Grand Final final table, you can click here. The final eight results are here. The other 19 finishers' results of the Grand Final are at the bottom of this link.

Monte Carlo in the hours before dawn is no different than any small city with respect to the March chill in the air and undercurrent murmur of late-night revelers in their waning hours of weekend release. At a little Irish pub just down from the Monte Carlo Grand hotel, a four piece rock band filled the small space from the floor to the rafters. Guinness fell from the taps and formed a perfect head at the top of the pints. Had the cliff faces not risen above the dark horizon and had the sea not allowed the wind to blow its scent across the city's two sqaure miles, the casual observer might not have guessed he were sitting in the world's second smallest country.

Sitting just outside on a patio, European Poker Tour creator John Duthie sat sipping on a Coca Cola. His shoes were on his feet, but had slipped of his heels.

"It's hard to believe," he said, a cigarette dangling form his fingers, "it was just a year and a month and ago I sat in the bath and thought, 'that would be a good idea.'"

In the 12 hours before, he'd seen a bathtime idea ultimately realize itself. It was a multi-event, multi-country series of televised poker tournaments spread across Europe, sponsored and supported by PokerStars.com and culminating in the EPT's Monte Carlo Grand Final.

As the hour slid ever close to sunrise, Duthie slipped into the darkness, the first year of his creation behind him.

John Duthie directing his vision

It's sometimes hard to comprehend the poker world. It's the type of place where people dressed in ratty denim and wrinkled shirts will step wildly into a $200,000 heads-up game just to make up the $150,000 they lost the night before. It's a place where a player will readily sit down for a ten-person €5000 crap-shoot, but fight wildly for a free €25 dinner.

It's in this world that Duthie, PokerStars.com, and the retinue of the world's poker players have spent the last half a year. It began with a number of events stretching across Europe. It ended just a few hours ago here in the Pricipality of Monaco. The Grand Final cost players €10,000 to enter. That was just the monetary cost. Before it was over, they would give and earn more than they'd ever expect.

To learn how we arrived at the final eight, you can read the archives of this web site. To learn how we reached the Grand Final Champion, you need only read the rest of this post.

The Final Eight

When it began, all eyes were on the young Brandon Schaefer. Just a few months from heading off to graduate school for his MBA, Schaefer had followed his friend to Deauville for the French Open. What started as a "buddy road trip" story fit for Hollywood ended with an ending even California screenwriters wouldn't venture. The two friends took first and second place in the French Open and won seats into the Grand Final. Schaefer's friend wouldn't fare so well in Monaco, but Schaefer scraped and battled his way to the final table and went into the ultimate day as the chip leader.

A few days before, Schaefer had randomly brought a grapefruit to the poker table with him. Regular poker observers assumed it was an odd homage to poker great Johnny Chan. As it turned out, Schaefer just wanted some fruit. But over the course of a few days, it became a symbol for his success. Just before the final table began, the floor director ran to Schaefer and handed him a small grapefruit.

"From your mom," he said

Schaefer and the grapefruit

Joanne Schaefer, Brandon's mother, and Carl Olson, Schaefer's friend, sweating him from the stands

While Schaefer had the chip lead, he also had seven other players to face. Some said it would end in tears...

Seat 1: Romain Feriolo 475,000
Seat 2: Alex Stevic 57,500
Seat 3: Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 181,000
Seat 4: Ben Grundy 90,500
Seat 5: Kevin Seeger 364,500
Seat 6: Mikhail Ustinov 68,500
Seat 7: Brandon Scahefer 488,500
Seat 8: Rob Hollink 384,000

We lost the first of the seven on just the sixth hand of the contest. Under the gun, Mikhail Ustinov raised more than three times the big blind under the gun. With an even shorter stack than Ustinov, EPT Barcelona champ Alex Stevic came over the top all in. Ustinov called with QQ. Stevic had JJ. The dealer laid out the first three community cards. The crowd gasped when they saw a jack. Stevic had made a set and Ustinov never improved his QQ. Ustinov left in 8th place with €59,500

It would take another 14 hands before another small stack left the table. Holland's Rob Hollink opened the pot for a 3x the big blind raise and fellow poker blogger Ben "Milk Bar Kid" Grundy called from the small blind. The flop came down 6KQ. Both players checked. The turn came a jack. Grundy checked, Hollink bet out 25,000. Grundy considered hs play for a long while then moved in for the rest of his chips. Hollink didn't think for a second and called. Grundy showed AJ. Unfortunately for the young man, he'd walked right into a well-laid Hollink trap. Hollink held KK for a flopped set. Grundy left in 7th place for €79,500

Ben "Milky Bar Kid" Grundy

While Frenchman Romain Feriolo came into the day with a lot of chips, his tournament experience was limited. That inexperience would eventually manifest itself in the wholesale spreading of Ferilolo's chips around the table. The first beneficiary was Alex Stevic. The first time, it wasn't Feriolo's fault, necessarily. Feriolo had put in a large raise and Stevic came over the top all-in. Feriolo called. Stevic showed him KQ. Feriolo held AT, but the flop came down AKK, giving Stevic trips. Stevic' Swedish fan club exploded in jubilation while Feriolo's lady sat silently in the stands. A tough poker player herself, she had poked me in the back earlier in the week when I got in the way of her watching Feriolo's play. It still hurts.

Just a few hands later, Feriolo would bluff off a nice part of his stack and give Schaefer a nice bump in chips. On the button, Schaefer raised from the big blind and Feriolo called. The flop came down AK6 with two clubs. Feriolo checked and Schaefer bet out a little more than half the pot. With a bit of flair, Feriolo called. The turn was a non-club ten. This time Feriolo bet out a little less than half the pot. Schaefer flat called. The river was another non-club ten. Feriolo again bet out and Schaefer, who apparently had quite a read on his French opponent, called again. Schaefer flipped up A4 for two pair. Feriolo showed 78 of clubs for a missed flush draw.

Perhaps Abdulaziz Abdulaziz wanted a part of the action. From the button, Feriolo came in for a raise and from the big blind, Abdulaziz came over the top all in. Feriolo called with 88 which was a winner against Abdulaziz's K6. Abdulaziz departed in six place taking home €99,500

Abdulaziz Abdulaziz

While the table had been a bit tight up to this point, maybe it was something in the last few plays that opened the floodgates. Under the gun, Schaefer raised three times the big blind and Californian Kevin Seeger called from the big blind. The flop came down T64 with two clubs. Seeger checked, Schaefer bet, and Seeger came back over the top all in. It wasn't a hard call for Schaefer. After all, he had aces. Seeger showed 88 and never improved. Seeger took fifth place for €118,000

Kevin Seeger

Things began to get a bit odd from there. Feriolo made a small raise from the button. Stevic, in the small blind, tripled the bet. Feriolo made as if to call, but put out too many chips. His move ended up meaning a minimum re-raise. It gave Stevic the opportunity to move all in. Feriolo, for some reason, called and showed QT to face Stevic's AA. Stevic won to cheers from his fan section.

Feriolo still had chips, however, but wouldn't for long. Facing a sizable raise from Schaefer, Feriolo called from the small blind. The flop came down J28. Feriolo bet out a little more than half the pot. Schaefer called. The turn was a queen. This time Feriolo bet out about half the pot and Scahefer called again. With the pot now at 412,000, the river came down as a three. Again, Feriolo bet out, but this time less than half the pot. Schaefer called without much thought...and Feriolo...mucked his cards. Scahefer only had A8 for third pair, but it must've been good.

Just a few hands left, with relatively few chips left in his stack, Feriolo got in with the best hand, A3, versus Rob Hollink's K2, but Hollink flopped a king and Romain Feriolo left in 4th place, taking home €139,000.

Romain Feriolo

That win left Hollink and Schaefer as the top two chip stacks. It seemed inevitable they would end up heads up. Hollink made it official a few hands later, getting all his money in the middle with KK against short-stacked Stevic's AQ. As if to seal the deal with authority, the flop came down with with two kings to give Hollink flopped quads and send Stevic back to Sweden in fourth place with €178,000.

Alex Stevic

Heads up: Vigorous youth versus careful experience

Brandon Schaefer and Rob Hollink headed into heads up play with near equal stacks. While the producers were counting the chips, I heard a familiar voice over my left shoulder.

"Brandon. Brandon, come here."

It was Greg Raymer. I didn't listen in, but I suspected Raymer, 2004 World Series of Poker champion, was giving Schaefer some advice.

Advice from a champion

Had the chips been different, it might have been a different game. See, Schaefer had been amassing his stack versus fairly loose play. That's not how Hollink had been playing. Hollink usually sat back and waited until he was fairly certain he had the best of it. Whether Schaefer could switch gears would determine whether he could best the Dutch poker pro.

A future MBA student versus a poker pro

The players sparred for a couple of dozen hands. Hollink took the upper hand, either showing down the better cards or pushing Schaefer off his hand. Then Schaefer took hold and battled back to a good lead, his aggressive style getting the better of Hollink. And then the crowd saw the key hand.

From the button, Schaefer made the standard raise and Hollink called. The flop came down T3T. Schaefer bet out, Hollink doubled the bet, and after some thought, Schaefer announced he was all in. Hollink called immediately. Schaefer knew he was in trouble. He stood up and walked away from the table as the the announcer said what Schaefer already knew. Hollink held a ten. Schaefer's three would do him no good. He lost more than half his stack on that hand.

Seconds later, in another hand, it was over. Although Schaefer still had some chips to play with, he didn't get them all in with top pair on the flop. By the river, Hollink had made two pair, got all-in, and bested Schaefer in the heads-up contest. Schaefer got €350,000 for second place.

Schaefer in between his mother and the lovely Caroline Flack, hostess of the EPT

After four days of grueling play, the unassuming Dutchman, Rob Hollink walked away in first place, taking home a massive first place prize, €635,000.

Afterthoughts

The sun is coming up in Monte Carlo now. The EPT and PokerStars crews are getting ready to board flights from the nearby Nice airport. It will be several months before everyone sees each other again. This grand experiment, by my estimation, has worked fantastically.

This blog has been a work in progress and one I think, based on e-mails and traffic reports, has been a respectable success. While it was a lot of very hard work, I never could've done it without the EPT television crew, all of the folks from PokerStars, tournament directors Thomas Kremser and Warren Karp, their hard-working dealing staff, and the staffs of the various venues we've visited. You folks are all real professionals and it has been an honor working with you.

I'd also like to thank the readers who came to this blog during the tournaments and offered their good wishes and advice.

Most of all, I'd like to thank all the players who endured my constant photography, nagging questions, and the occasional misspelled name or incorrently reported hand. You folks are the reason I do this and I thank you for putting up with me.

Now...we all just have to wait until the next EPT event. While my eyes are heavy from several weeks of action, I, for one, can't wait.

Monte Carlo Grand Final Day Three Wrap-up with results

2005-03-18T20:52:00.001+01:00

Earlier in the day, Brandon Schefer said to me, "I'm living a charmed existence."

Whether it is charm or an inborn skill, the young man from Seattle Washington is on his way to writing a very, very good story.

Just a few weeks ago, he had no plans to play on the European Poker Tour. He won a seat for free on PokerStars.com to the French Open just so he could go play with his buddy, Carl Olson. He and Olson provided the French Open crowd with quite a story by placing first and second. They both won seats to this event and now Schaefer has made the final table again and comes in as the chip leader.

Brandon Schaefer

The hour now grows quite late. We've just put in three 12-13 hour days of poker. Now, only eight are still alive.

Final Table

Seat 1: Romain Feriolo 475,000
Seat 2: Alex Stevic 57,500
Seat 3: Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 181,000
Seat 4: Ben Grundy 90,500
Seat 5: Kevin Seeger 364,500
Seat 6: Mikhail Ustinov 68,500
Seat 7: Brandon Scahefer 488,500
Seat 8: Rob Hollink 384,000

The Frenchman who now lives in Spain, playing in his first live tourney

Abdulaziz, the 19 year-old student who apparently had to pull the wool over his mom's eyes to come here. He also won his seat on PokerStars.com and ended up chopping the pot with the co-winner. His opponent took the cash, Abdulaziz took the seat. Guess who got the better deal?

A fellow blogger, Ben Grundy struggled to stay alive all day but picked the right spots and made the TV table

Kevin Seeger, the man behind the chips. Ask him how he feels, he almost always responds with gusto, "I feel GOOD. I feel STRONG."

Mikhail Ustinov, the quiet Russian

Brandon Schaefer

Alex Stevic, winner of the EPT Barcelona event, told his lovely lady Cecilia if he made the final table, he was taking her on a shopping spree. Cecilia, get out the Mastercard

Rob Hollink, right, next to the dearly departed 9th place finisher,Jani Sointula

Now, they play for money that is hard to view as insignficant.

Payouts

1st: €635,000
2nd: €350,000
3rd: €178,000
4th: €139,000
5th: €118,000
6th: €99,500
7th: €79,500
8th: €59,500

If you think your heart, and, yes, your soul can handle it, let's take a quick ride through the day.

Possibly Potential?

There's a guy in the U.S. they call the Blogfather. He often borrows a catchphrase from a certain Zeppelin catastophe which I couldn't help but re-borrow all day today.

"Oh, the humanity."

It's all I could think as I watched hopes and Monte Carlo dreams dashed like Buddhist sand sculpture built in playground sandbox.

Perhaps it is the players' potential that made this day such a hard one to watch. As the beginning of the day, the 38 players who started each had the potential to leave with money in their pockets. Sure, some players' potential was greater than others. But, that's not the point. Nearly all of the players controlled some portion of their destiny. In the end, 30 of them left this room without a chance to take the championship. For some of them, it happened at their own hand. For others, the cruelest of Fates stepped in and robbed them of their chance at greatness.

No full house, but we better have a boat, because we're about to go to the river

The Fates were ugly to the likes of young Nate Kelly. The poor kid flopped the nut straight only to face running cards that sent him home in 31st place, just four out of the money.

Nate Kelly, no money but a great bad beat story to tell

The Fates played games with The Flying Dutchman Marcel Luske's heart. Facing two flat callers, Isabelle Mercier raised from the small blind. Finding AQs in the big blind, Luske moved over the top for all his chips. Mercier called. Luske showed his cards and Mercier flipped over QQ. The flop came down 689, leaving Luske with an overcard. The turn gave him his ace and a flush draw. It left Mercier with only one out. That out, the queen of diamonds, came on the river. It sent Luske out before we reached the money.

The Flying Dutchman, Marcel Luske

Queen Isabelle Mecier

The queen of this room lived by the queen and nearly died by the queen a moment later (thanks to fellow blogger Mean Gene for the thought). With the blinds at 1000/2000, Mercier raised to more than 6000. Brandon Schaefer flat called from the big blind. The flop came down with two clubs. Mercier made a pot-sized bet and Schaefer came over the top for the rest of his chips. Mercier called. Schaefer showed KQ in clubs for a club draw. Mercier turned over aces with the ace of clubs. The turn and river came running queens to give Schaefer trips. From across the room, railbirds thought Schaefer had lost he hand. He appeared crestfallen. He later explained the look on his face was excited relief. He also said he felt a little bad for laying such a tough beat on Mercier. Nontheless, Schaefer said he couldn't have played the hand any differently. With a little shrug, Schaefer admitted, "I'm living a charmed existence."

Brandon "I'm Not Good Enough to Fold" Schaefer

Others would not be so charmed. Enter Willie Tann.

The Bubble: Who needs a river when you have a turn

With only 28 players remaining (27th gets paid, 28th gets nothing), Willie Tann raised an uncalled pot from the small blind with KT. Rob Hollink, chip leader at the time, called from the big blind. The flop came down ten-high with two diamonds. Tann, who still had nearly 100,000 in chips, bet out. Hollink flat called. The turn was the five of diamonds. This time Tann checked-called a Hollink bet. The river, as it turns out, was irrelevant. Willie check-called Hollink's all-in bet. Hollink showed T5 for a flopped top pair and turned two-pair. Tann's KT was no good and he left on the bubble.

Willie Tann, drinking a bubbly drink as he bubbles out of the Grand Final

Later, in an interview, Tann said, "I feel very miserable." He sulked around the room for some time, before sitting down at an empty table behind Hollink. Hollink overheard Tann telling the story of his exit to a young lady. Hollink turned around.

"Willie," Hollink said, "I really think you made a big mistake."

"Mistake?" Tann was indignant.

"Raising the chip leader out of position with king-ten..." Hollink mused.

Tann, still miffed, mumbled, "Yah, you're the best player. Forget it."

The Grind

Once we reached the money, the grind began. The small stacks battled to stay alive, and the big stacks (and sometimmes a good stroke of luck) obliged.

Abdulaziz doubled up after Gus Hansen called his KQs all in bet with 89c. Hansen later gave the rest of his stack to Martin Wendt after jacks couldn't hold up against AK.

Ben Grundy doubled up after getting all-in with AQ versus Martin Wendt's KK. Grundy flopped two pair for the win.

Jani Sointula survived as well with A9 of hearts when he made a flush against Kevin Seegers pair of tens.

Moments later, Abdulaziz raised the 6000 big blind to 25,000 and Julian Gardner came over the top all in with JJ. Abdulaziz held aces and those aces held up, crippling Gardner. Gardner left shortly thereafter.

The beat of the night came from the hands of Kevin Seegers. With a very nice-sized stack, he somehow got all in with KQ of hearts versus Martin Wendt's AK. The flop couldn't have been more powerful. It came down all hearts, crippling Wendt and ruining his chances at a good finish.

A little side action

A funny thing happened on the way to eight players. At these festivals, players can essentially call their own Sit&Go tournaments. It gets sort of fun. Throughout this night I heard calls for everything. Omaha-8, Seven Stud Eight or Better, you name it. And then...as we wound down to 11 players, I heard that a a crowd formed in an anteroom, where ten players say down for a €5000 No-Limit Hold'em Sit&Go. The winner of that tournament would end up getting more than the 12th place finisher in the Grand Final. oward the end of the night, John Fanning, Greg Raymer, and Marcel Luske ended up in a €1000 Sit&Go together. That's one thing about poker players: give them a deck of cards and they'll create the action in a vacuum.

Action in the anteroom, the final table of the €1000 event

After a quick look, I wandered back to the Main Event where the tough beats continued. After that, it was dfficult to watch much more. While I watched almost every card, I won't subject you to all of it.

Suffice it to say, when we reached the final ten, I was sitting behind Isabelle Mercier. She had hung on and hung on, doubling through when necessary. With her lipstick sitting next to her chipstack, she sighed. She looked exhausted.

"Can I get you something?" I asked. "Dou you need anything?"

She looked around for a second, smiled, then laughed.

"I need...to double up a couple more times. I need...chips." She laughed again and headed toward the final table.

That's what keeps me going during these marathon events. After 36 hours of poker over three days, when asked if they need anything, these people only want one thing.

They want to win.

Moments later, Mercier got all-in with the best hand AJ versus AT.

Her opponent rivered a runner-runner flush and she was gone. Later she wandered by with the look of 36 absent hours in her eye. She apologized as if a runner-runner flush wqas her fault.

When she softly stepped away, she whispered, "Next time..."

A little while later, we lost the last player of the day. This is how it ended up.

€39,300

9th--Jani Sointula

€23,900

10th--Isabelle Mercier, Canada
11th--Michael Luber (The Anvil), USA (PokerStars.com FPP qualifier)
12th--Anthony Lellouche

€19,800

13th--Martin Knape
14th--Martin Wendt (Svend sværd), Denmark, (PokerStars.com FPP qualifier)
15th--Julian Gardner (MrCoco), Great Britain, (PokerStars.com FPP qualifier)

€15,800
16th--Gus Hansen, Denmark
17th--Scott Bush (Shrubluv), USA, (PokerStars.com FPP qualifier)
18th--Eugene Katchalov

€11,900

19th--Jonathan Senn (holdem2000), USA (PokerStars.com cash qualifier)
20th--Kevin O'Connell
21st--John Fanning, USA
22nd--Martin DeKnijff, Sweden
23rd--Barny Boatman, G.B.
24th--Declan Barker (Hitecdeck), Ireland(PokerStars.com cash qualifier)
25th--Harry Fitzpatrick (Surrey Rock), (PokerStars.com cash qualifier)
26th--Ben Sprengers (-BBJ-), USA (PokerStars.com cash qualifier)
27th--Ryan Walters (bbaced), Canada, (PokerStars.com Frequent Player Point qualifier)

We begin the final table tomorrow at 5pm. The current plan is to live blog it hand-by-hand. See you then.

In the money--Willie Tann busts on the bubble

2005-03-18T17:04:00.000+01:00

Willie Tann just lost the rest of his chips to Dutch chip collector Rob Hollink.
In a fairly confusing hand, both players got all in on the river. With a diamond draw on the board, Tann called Hollink's all-in bet with top-pair, king kicker with KT. Hollink turned over two pair T5. Wilie had been ahead on the flop, but fell behind when Hollink made his two pair on the turn.

We are now in the money. (Declan Barker just asked me to send word home to the family that he has made the money, so...there.)

Mercier busts Marcel and other wild action

2005-03-18T16:37:00.000+01:00

Marcel Luske just busted out int 30th place. Isabelle Mercier sat in the small blind and faced two flat calls. Mercier raised and Luske came over the top all-in from the big blind. The two limpers folded and Mercier called. Luske showed AQ, Mercier showed QQ. The flop came down 689. Mercier was ahead, but Luske had an overcard and flush draw. Then an ace came on the turn putting Marcel ahead and leaving Mercier with only one out. That out, the queen of diamonds, came on the river and Luske was gone.

Edited (this was worse than I thought): Then, moments later, with the blinds at 1000/2000, Mercier raised to more than 6000 and Brandon Schaefer flat called. The flop came down with two clubs. Mercier made a pot-sized bet and Schaefer came over the top for the rest of his chips. Mercier called. Schaefer showed KQ in clubs for a club draw. Mercier turned over aces with the ace of clubs. The turn and river came running queens to give Schaefer trips. Schaefer has now rocketed to near 100K in chips and Mercier's stack has been significantly reduced. Schaefer's face tells the story if a man who feels almost guilty. "I'm living a charmed existence."

In other news, Robert Mizrachi has made a surprise exit, apparently losing all his chips to Kevin O'Connell. O'Connell ended up most of those chips to Rob Hollink when Hollink's AK beat O'Connell's QQ.

Lastly, Nate Kelly, the tenacious young American has lost his bid to money here in Monte Carlo.

We're on the bubble.

Day Three Insta-Photo Gallery

2005-03-18T15:03:00.000+01:00

We are just six players away from the money and now comes the point where people cling to life, the callousses on their fingers (earned from days of riffling chips) are scraping against the ledge that divides the money line.

Today will likely be a series of smaller posts once we hit the money, so keep your eyes open. Here's something to keep your eyes entertained until we reach that point.

Kevin Seeger, chip leader

Day 3 Featured table

Marcel Luske at the featured table

Isabelle Mercier

Frequent Player Point qualifier Scott Bush, again at the featured table

Brandon Schaefer, ever-smiling, brought another grapefruit with him today

Declan Barker

American Nate Kelly hangs on. He's doubled up twice today to make it closer to the money

Robert Mizrachi

Monte Carlo Day 3 Underway

2005-03-18T14:45:00.000+01:00

We've hard a series of technical difficulties this morning and are off to a slow start. We have lost a few players at the start. I'll be back shortly with some introductory words and a status report. We'll be in the money shortly.

Monte Carlo Day 2 Wrap-up and Chip Counts

2005-03-18T02:19:00.000+01:00

I've been playing poker for about as long as I can remember. My dad taught me the game with a deck of Bicycle cards and some plastic Hoyle chips. The game is not just a part of my life. It's a way of life.

What makes that a little spooky is that I've come to realize recently that I'm so incredibly, obliteratingly frightened of the game's cruel, cruel ways that I can't walk into a cardroom without wanting to crawl into a French maid's arms and suck my thumb.

Perhaps, I'm overstating it a bit. Nonetheless, this can be a cruel, frustrating game. I think, maybe, Marcel Luske said it better and without invoking French maids. After getting dealt a string of rags, Luske beseeched a new dealer, "At least give me two good cards. I don't have to play them. Just give me two good cards."

He stopped for a moment, considering the possibility, his bright red tie still perfectly tied. "Give me king-queen suited," he said. "I'll be happy. At least I'll have a picture to look at."

Marcel Luske

Maybe it was late night delirium speaking, but I got his point. He'd been hovering on a medium to small stack all day long. Later, I stood watching over his shoulder. Facing having to call just half a bet in the small blind, he looked over his shoulder at me and jumped as if I were the ghost of his long-dead grandmother. He then promptly turned around and folded with force.

"Did I scare you out of it," I asked.

"No," he said, then paused. "I scared myself."

That, folks, is how fear works in a cardroom. It comes out of nowhere. In one moment you can be leaning back in your chair, laughing it up with the fellas, and sipping on a cool Evian from a glass bottle. The next moment you can feel the sweat in the small of your back every time you move because something in the room shifted and half of your chips just slid to the other side of the table.

The greatest and saddest example came in the form of Andreas Harnemo, second place finisher at the EPT's Vienna event.

Andreas Harnemo with 90,000 in chips, second from right

I considered re-writing this, but I think this portion of an earlier post sums it up best.

Andreas Harnemo (above, second from the right) a quiet man from a little place on the Artic Circle, seemed to be the man to beat. Fresh off a second place finish in Vienna. Harnemo rolled into today and collected chips like wild tourists during a seedy Las Vegas casino brawl. Somehow over the course of two levels, Harnemo created a mountain of chips 90,000 high. Ever the quiet, affable Swede, Harnemo sat quietly, using his chips and re-raises as daggers.

And then the waiters walked in and quiety announced the dinner menu. Apparently everyone was hungry for some Harnemo. French Open winner Brandon Schaefer flopped the nut straight against Harnemo. Jan Heitmann got all in with aces versus Harenmo's ace-king. It began a series of events that ultimately resulted in Harnemo breaking his silence, slamming his hand on the felt, and, yes, losing every one of his 90,000 in chips.

Now, Schaefer and Mikail Ustinov, who were both diners at the Cafe d'Andreas, have come together as chip leaders, each with more than 90,000. Schaefer cleansed his palate with a ripe grapefruit, which was apparently not an homage to Johnny Chan.

From there it seemed Brandon Schaefer would have more trouble getting the grapefruit juice off his hands than making it into the money. He stepped onto the featured table with around 90,000 in chips. Before he knew it, he got involved in a hand with one of the tightest players in the tournament, Steve Stolzmann. The exact details of the hand, in the end, are fairly irrelevant. Suffice it to say, Stolzmann got all in after the flop with Schaefer. By the river, Stolzmann had made a straight flush. He used Schaefer's chips to cruise into Day 3.

Steve Stolzmann, center

Schaefer surived, but over the course of the next couple of hours ended up falling down below 40,000 in chips. When I left the cardroom, he was checking his e-mail on a laptop that features some beautiful French woman on the desktop. His computer got more attention than the game at some points.

The talk of the day, for a great while, were the people doing all the talking. Here's another brief snippet from the dinner break post:

If silence is golden, the featured table is no precious metal. In Europe, table talk is not all that common. In some cases, it just doesn't happen at all. So, at our new featured table, it's amazing the European sensibilities haven't combusted into something like the Sterno flames that keep the food warm.

The first ingredient is John Fanning, one of the Fannings behind the (in)famous music downloading service Napster. I feared for a few minutes Fanning may fall unconscious, as I didn't think he was breathing between sentences. Funny, it seemed, because of majority of conversations took place with the second ingredient Robert "Merci, Mama!" Cohen, a man who speaks little English.

A Frenchman standing near his table remarked with a smirk, "He doesn't speak French very well either." I'm pretty sure he was kidding.

But Cohen is a good player who can hold on to his small stack for hours on end.

If you add a sprinkle of Nathan Kelly to that mix, you have the recipe for a table so loud and gregarious, the words rumble all the way down the French coastline.

Because the table was made for TV, the EPT producers put the players on the featured table.

Steve Stolzmann, a Wisconsin firefighter who learned poker from his son, had fallen into a long run of folding. At one point Fanning looked up and said, "Steve, where are you from?"

"Wisconsin," Stolzmann replied.

"Do they ever raise in Wisconsin?" Fanning smirked.

"No," Stolzmann said dryly. "We only limp. And fold."

Just about the time I was thinking Stolzmann should've said, "We only raise dairy cows," Robert Cohen exclaimed, "Ssssssssh!"

The table looked up and Cohen nodded to Stolzmann. Cohen closed his eyes and rested his head on his hands in the international symbol for, "He's sleeping."

Who says you need to speak the same language to have a good laugh?

As I was recovering from my chortle, young Nathan Kelly jumped up and threw on his coat in disgust. He'd been steaming for the better part of an hour. Cohen had put him on tilt by raising and raising and raising.

Now, Kelly had pushed in the rest of his stack with a pair of sevens. Fanning had called with pocket eights.

The dealer laid out the turn as Kelly begged for a seven. It didn't come.

On the verge of full implosion, Kelly watched as the dealer laid out the turn...a seven.

Kelly reversed his implosion and exploded into his wireless mircophone, removing his coat and getting ready to sit. Then someone pointed out the four diamonds on the board. Fanning had the eight of diamonds.

Kelly pulled his coat over his head and begged for a club. When the dealer laid out a black rag, Kelly again fell into his chair, exhausted. He had held on again.

The funny thing...someone had mucked a seven. Kelly had a one-outer and hit it.

Nate Kelly

Cohen didn't make it to tomorrow. Kelly survived with just a little more than 6000 in chips. Fanning...well, Fanning had a bit of an issue on one of the last hands of the night.

I was away from his table monitoring another hand when a railbird ran up and said, "Did you see that? The Napster guy just pushed all in with pocket threes." As it turned out, Fanning had done so after the flop with three overcards on the board. His opponent had the biggest overcards of all...two aces in the hole. Fanning who had spent the entire day building a stack fell back to average just before we broke for the night.

John Fanning

Fanning was not the only one to face aces. The vacant seat Fanning filled at one point belonged to a young man named Jan who labored forever over all all-in call from Rob Hollink. When Jan finally called the queen-high board for almost all his chips, Hollink turned up aces.

Jan, socked by aces

Hollink, who crippled two players in twenty minutes, picking up pocket aces twice in the same level

And then there was a Friend of Bloggers, Patrick "Curzdog" Curzio who battled all day long to keep his chipstack fresh. Twice in ten minutes he ran into Declan Barker. Twice in ten minutes Barker had aces. It's not hard to figure out how Barker makes it into Day 3 and Curzdog will have to watch from the rail.

Curzdog

At the end of the day, several players had stormed toward the top. Robert Mizrachi won a huge hand at the end of the night to move him into third chip position. Kevin Seeger won several big hands to go into tomorrow with the lead. FPP qualifier Scott Bush battled steadily all day long to work his way toward the top. And there were others.

Willie Tann, 8th in chips

Isabelle Mercier, 12th in chips

Thirty-eight players remain as we head into tomorrow's Level 11 (750/1500/150). It is still anybody's game. Play resumes at 2pm Monte Carlo time.

Day Two Chip Count

1-Kevin Seeger 147,100
2-Rob Hollink 139,500
3-Robert Mizrachi 117,500
4-Romain Ferilio 103,100
5-Julian Gardner 98,800
6-Scott Bush 95,800
7-Jani Sointula 79,900
8-Willie Tann 78,100
9-Martin Wendt 73,100
10-Mikhail Ustinov 70,900
11-Martin Knape 70,800
12-Isabelle Mercier 70,000
13-Alexander Stevic 66,500
14-Kevin O'Connell 63200
15-John Fanning 58,000
16-Anthony Lellouche 57,100
17-Martin DeKnijff 56,100
18-Eugene Katchalov 54,400
19-Micheael Luber 48,700
20-Markus Golser 45,400
21-Ben Sprengers 45,100
22-Eric Misterzegger 40,600
23-Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 40,100
24-Harry Fitzpatrick 38,900
25-Declan Barker 38,200
26-Ben Grundy 37,600
27-Brandon Schaefer 36,000
28-Barny Boatman 34,300
29-Jonathon Senn 32,700
30-Steve Stolzmann 27,800
31-Ryan Walters 26,400
32-Morten Jensen 26,100
33-Gus Hansen 23,000
34-Marcel Luske 19,300
35-Joseph Grech 14,000
36-Howard Chow 11,800
37-Henry Terranova 11,700
38-Nate Kelly 6,600

Chip counts going into final level of the day

2005-03-17T22:31:00.000+01:00

Beginning the 600/1200/100 level, the final of the day, with 48 players remaining, here are some of the chip leaders:

Romain Feriolo: 100K
Rob Hollink: 95K
Mikhail Ustinov: 82K+
Scott Bush: 80K+
Willie Tann: 80K
John Fanning: 78K
Martin Knape: 75K+
Brandon Schaefer: 70K+
Jan H. 70K+
Robert Mizrachi: 68K+
Julian Gardner: 65K+
Gus Hansen: 60K
Isabelle Mercier: 50K+
Kevin Seeger: 50K
Anthony Lellouche: 48K+

Dinner in Monte Carlo

2005-03-17T19:45:00.000+01:00

There were two different menus tonight. At the Café de Paris, there was roasted lamb, baked ham, ravioli Marsala, and a shrimp cous cous. I also had a nice strawberry tart.

In the poker room, the menu was a bit different. The appetizer was a ripe grapefruit. The salad was a one-outer. The main course was a mysterious Swede. I suspect those who feasted are now sitting somewhere with the top button of their trousers undone.

Andreas Harnemo (above, second from the right) a quiet man from a little place on the Artic Circle, seemed to be the man to beat. Fresh off a second place finish in Vienna. Harnemo rolled into today and collected chips like wild tourists during a seedy Las Vegas casino brawl. Somehow over the course of two levels, Harnemo created a mountain of chips 90,000 high. Ever the quiet, affable Swede, Harnemo sat quietly, using his chips and re-raises as daggers.

And then the waiters walked in and quiety announced the dinner menu. Apparently everyone was hungry for some Harnemo. French Open winner Brandon Schaefer flopped the nut straight against Harnemo. Jan Heitmann got all in with aces versus Harenmo's ace-king. It began a series of events that ultimately resulted in Harnemo breaking his silence, slamming his hand on the felt, and, yes, losing every one of his 90,000 in chips.

Now, Schaefer and Mikail Ustinov, who were both diners at the Cafe d'Andreas, have come together as chip leaders, each with more than 90,000. Schaefer cleansed his palate with a ripe grapefruit, which was apparently not an homage to Johnny Chan.

Table talk defined

If silence is golden, the featured table is no precious metal. In Europe, table talk is not all that common. In some cases, it just doesn't happen at all. So, at our new featured table, it's amazing the European sensibilities haven't combusted into something like the Sterno flames that keep the food warm.

The first ingredient is John Fanning, one of the Fannings behind the (in)famous music downloading service Napster. I feared for a few minutes Fanning may fall unconscious, as I didn't think he was breathing between sentences. Funny, it seemed, because of majority of conversations took place with the second ingredient Robert "Merci, Mama!" Cohen, a man who speaks little English.

A Frenchman standing near his table remarked with a smirk, "He doesn't speak French very well either." I'm pretty sure he was kidding.

But Cohen is a good player who can hold on to his small stack for hours on end.

If you add a sprinkle of Nathan Kelly to that mix, you have the recipe for a table so loud and gregarious, the words rumble all the way down the French coastline.

Because the table was made for TV, the EPT producers put the players on the featured table.

Steve Stolzmann, a Wisconsin firefighter who learned poker from his son, had fallen into a long run of folding. At one point Fanning looked up and said, "Steve, where are you from?"

"Wisconsin," Stolzmann replied.

"Do they ever raise in Wisconsin?" Fanning smirked.

"No," Stolzmann said dryly. "We only limp. And fold."

Just about the time I was thinking Stolzmann should've said, "We only raise dairy cows," Robert Cohen exclaimed, "Ssssssssh!"

The table looked up and Cohen nodded to Stolzmann. Cohen closed his eyes and rested his head on his hands in the international symbol for, "He's sleeping."

Who says you need to speak the same language to have a good laugh?

As I was recovering from my chortle, young Nathan Kelly jumped up and threw on his coat in disgust. He'd been steaming for the better part of an hour. Cohen had put him on tilt by raising and raising and raising.

Now, Kelly had pushed in the rest of his stack with a pair of sevens. Fanning had called with pocket eights.

The dealer laid out the turn as Kelly begged for a seven. It didn't come.

On the verge of full implosion, Kelly watched as the dealer laid out the turn...a seven.

Kelly reversed his implosion and exploded into his wireless mircophone, removing his coat and getting ready to sit. Then someone pointed out the four diamonds on the board. Fanning had the eight of diamonds.

Kelly pulled his coat over his head and begged for a club. When the dealer laid out a black rag, Kelly again fell into his chair, exhausted. He had held on again.

The funny thing...someone had mucked a seven. Kelly had a one-outer and hit it.

He yawned last night and today has found no chance to rest

When it came time for dinner, I rushed in the direction of the ravioli Marsala and found myself at dinner with Patrick "curzdog" Curzio. His fiancee, a fine young lady, was almost in the middle of an apoplectic fit. While she'd brought a book to read (The House of Sand and Fog, I noticed), she'd not read a page. Curzdog had been giving her a heart attack all day long. At one point he was down to just more than 1000 in chips. Just before dinner, he'd brought his stack back up to a respectable level, but gotten all in with Barny Boatman. Curzio held pocket queens. Boatman held pocket eights. The flop came down with an eight and Mrs-to-be Curzdog nearly died. Right there on the floor. It was only made worse (better, actually) when the dealer laid out a queen on the turn, giving curzdog the set-over-set win and rocketing him up to 25K in chips.

They both had wine with dinner (that's curz and his fiancee, not curz and Boatman)

Feel free to look below for chip counts from the dinner break. We've started back now with 57 players remaining. We'll play either two more levels or down to 27 players, whichever comes first.

Swedish apocolypse--Dinner break chip counts

2005-03-17T19:05:00.000+01:00

How it happened is almost impossible to say. I'm not sure we'll ever hear the full story.

Andreas Harnemo, the man who held a comfortable chip lead just one hour ago...

has lost it all.

All. He's gone.

As the players get ready to head to dinner, here are some chip numbers to tide you over.

Mikail Ustinov: 90K+ (Thanks to Rolf from Poker Pages for the help on this one)
Brandon Schaefer: 90K+
Anthony Lellouche: 70K+
Willie Tann: 70K
Robert Mizrachi: 70K+
Isabelle Mercier: 50K+
Julian Gardner: 55K+
Scott Bush: 50K+
Jan H. 45K+
Ben Sprengers: 45K
Gus Hansen: 40K

Monte Carlo In-Game Chip Report Updated with Photos

2005-03-17T17:43:00.000+01:00

Heading into the 300/600/75 level with 75 players remaining, here are some notable chip stacks.

Andreas Harnemo, 2nd place finisher at EPT Vienna event: 90K+
Markus Golser: 60K
Alex Jacob: 54K
Robert Mizrachi: 54K
Julian Gardner: 50K
Barney Boatman: 50K
John Fanning (of Napster fame): 50K
Anthony Lellouche: 50+ (he was much bigger but just doubled up Yalie Alex Jacob)
Isabelle Mercier: 45K
Ben Sprengers: 44K
Scott Bush: 43K
Alexander Stevic: 40K+
Jan H: 40K
Brandon Schaefer: 37K+
Marcel Luske: 35K

Murderer's Row, from left to right, Julian Gardner, Brandon Schaefer, Andreas Harnemo, and Barney Boatman

John Fanning, one of the brains behind Napster, builds a stack on a table so talkative it became the featured table during the break

Isabelle Mercier, playing good cards and collecting chips

After riding a smaller stack most of the afternoon, Marcel Luske won a big pot just before the break to bring his stack up over 35K

Johnny Chan may have his trademark orange, but Brandon Schaefer has his grapefruit

Monte Carlo Featured Table Action

2005-03-17T15:29:00.002+01:00

I try my best to avoid rampant expression of opinion here. Still, I feel compelled to point this out from the beginning of this post:

Reality TV sucks eggs. Hard boiled eggs.

That is, with one exception. That exception sits just a few feet from my workstation.

There is nothing egg-sucking about televised poker.

Each day, the EPT is featuring one table. Today, it has been exceptionally fun to watch.

It began with Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen, the radiant Cecilia Nordenstam, and "Friends of Bloggers" Patrick "curzdog" Curzio and Scott Bush, Mads Andersen, Luis Jaikel, Kirill Garasimov, and Martin Vallo.

Hansen, a man who can play just about any two cards to success, threatened to be quite a foe.

Nordenstam, despite her disarming beauty, is not one with whom to trifle.

While the action around the room has been very good so far, I decided to sit and watch the featured table for a bit. Patrick "curzdog" Curzio came to the featured table with one of the smaller stacks and looked to double up as early as he could. The players folded around to curzdog in the small blind. When he threw out a raise, I read him for a steal. The bet was just big enough to be fishy. Little did I or his opponent in the big blind realize, that was exactly what curzdog wanted everyone to think. His opponent came over the top all in. Curzio had him covered and immediately called, showing pocket aces. The big blind had KQ and never improved.

Patrick "curzdog" Curzio (left)

The story of the featured table so far has been Scott Bush. The PokerStars.com Frequent Player Point qualifier came to the table with just more than 22,000 in chips. While he rarely plays weakly, I expected him to shrink a bit in the face of Gus Hansen. Again, I'm learning to stop expecting things. Bush did the exact opposite, raising and re-raising Hansen at almost every opportunity. Only once in the first level did I see Bush lay down a hand to a Hansen bet, and that was to a check-raise on a raggedy board. On the last hand of the last level, Bush showed down queens on a jack-high board for another big win. Bush is now nearing 40,000 in chips with the blinds at 300/600/75.

Scott Bush

Of course, there is other action around the room. Alexander Stevic, the champion of the EPT Barcelona event, began the day as chip leader with nearly 49,000 in chips. At the first break, he had about the same amount.

Alexander Stevic

In other news, French Open winner Brandon Schaefer has moved up to more than 40,000 in chips. EPT Vienna second place finisher Andreas Harenmo has built up a nice stack as well. Blogger Ben "Milky Bar Kid" Grundy had doubled up twice, taking his small stack and turning it into 20,000 in the first level of the day. And at last report, Isabelle Mercier had turned her 17,000 Day 2 starting stack into 45,000.

I'm out in search of big-stack play.

Monte Carlo Grand Final Day 2 begins

2005-03-17T14:15:00.000+01:00

As I walked up the stairs to this ballroom, players were rushing in and out, changing their clothes, and wiping sweat from their brow. Just a few minutes into the day and already there is stuff about which to talk.

Young American Justin Bonomo, already on the shortstack, had the displeasure of drawing the big blind on the first hand today. He pushed in the rest of his chips and his time was done. It also appears that Russian Tennis Star Yevgeni Kafelnikov has departed early in the day.

The TV producers have picked a fine and diverse featured table. Gus "The Great Dane" Hansen, the radiant Cecilia Nordenstam, and "Friends of Bloggers" Patrick "Curzdog" Curzio and Scott Bush are four of the eight at the table. Mads Andersen, Luis Jaikel, Kirill Garasimov, and Martin Vallo round out the list.

The main room is dim for TV purposes and both rooms are hot. Suddenly I find myself glad I wore a short-sleeved, stinky shirt this afternoon.

Monte Carlo Day One Wrap-up and Chip Counts

2005-03-17T04:41:00.000+01:00

Maybe it was the burning TV lights. Maybe it was the skulking anxiety. Maybe it was my imagination. Whatever it was, it seemed someone sucked the oxygen out of the room and left us all holding our breaths for the entire day. As early morning threatens to become sunrise, it's diffcult to comprehend that we just spent twelve hours in the middle of a poker tournament with a history-making €2.11 million prize pool. In these hours, in a perfectly oxygenated hotel room, it almost seems a dream, like something you might watch on TV.

In fact, this day began in front of TV camera. Here at the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final, a €10,000 buy-in event, the EPT television crew brought in its gear and introduced the television series to a daily featured table.

It began with familiar faces. 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer sat next to the vocal Tony G. The Russian tennis star Yevgeni Kafelnikov increased the star power. It was a place where even champions couldn't survive for long. PokerStars.com Frequent Player Point qualifier John Withers sat in the one-seat and had been having a rollercoaster day. His zenith arrived in the form of a pair of jacks. He got all-in with them and ran squarely into Raymer's aces. For Withers, though, luck came a'callin' and flopped him a jack. The beat didn't bust Raymer, but it hurt him. Shortly after the dinner break, Raymer bid goodbye to his tablemates.

If Raymer left with a feather in his cap, it was this: he outlasted the other WSOP Main Event bracelet-holder. 2003 champion Chris Moneymaker didn't last through the second level. A tablemate told me Moneymaker flopped the dummy end of a straight on an all-spade board. Though Moneymaker had a spade, it was only an eight. He went to war with his only opponent and ended up all in, finding himself up against the ace-high flush. He left the room quickly and left the larger-than-life posters of his own face behind him.

It was a day when the room would ride on a quiet murmur for hours, only to be shocked to life by the occasional primal scream. The first one that shook me from my chair came from the mouth of Italian Luca Pagano. All-in pre-flop with aces, he had his opponent, FPP qualifier Daniel Tierny, dominated. Tierney held kings. Like a child's balloon with an untied end, Pagano's hopes spluttered invisibly into the ether as the dealer laid out an AQTJ to give Tierney the Broadway straight. Pagano stood with uncontrolled yell and stalked the room like a lion that's just been shot with a too-small bullet. He still had chips and paced around the room until it was his turn to act again. He finished the day with a few chips and a much calmer demeanor.

Luca Pagano

Now, understand, I play a lot of cards. It takes quite a bit to give me the willies. And yet, somehow I actually found myself shaking a little bit after watching the following hand which I chronicled a little bit earlier.

I walked up on what might've been Brandon Schaefer's last stand. When I arrived, four community cards sat on the table. Several thousand euro sat in the pot and Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman had just pushed in the rest of his stack after a significant bet from Schaefer. Schaefer fell into agony. The board was king-high with rags accompanying the painted card. It was obvious that Schaefer, in early position, felt that Boatman, on the button, had either made two pair or a set. Schaefer made to muck his cards a couple of times, then counted out his stack again. Three times he held his cards in the air in front of his eyes and winced. He asked how much Boatman had left and then winced again after seeing Boatman had him covered. Just watching the hand, I fell into a slight shaking fit. Just when I thought Schaefer was going to give up, he said, "I'm not good enough to fold. I call." He pushed in the rest of his chips and flipped over two aces. Suddenly deflated, Boatman turned over K4 for top pair, weak kicker. The river didn't help Boatman, and Schaefer, who wasn't good enough to fold, took almost all of Boatman's chips and doubled up.

Ever-smiling, ever-winning, Brandon Shaefer

Schaefer and his buddy Carl Olson surprised everyone by taking first and second at the EPT French Open in Deauville last month. While Schaefer finished the day with a healthy number of chips, Olson couldn't get rolling today and will have to be happy watching his friend from the rail.

And the rail is a crowded place. Swede Mikael Westerlund, who made final tables at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and EPT Scandinavian Open, busted out very early. EPT Vienna champ Pascal Perrault soon followed, as did Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani. Devilfish lasted a bit longer, but in the end, couldn't survive until Day 2. More than 80 people wil spend the rest of their time in Monte Carlo enjoying the sights.

Pacal Perrault, no back-to-back EPT wins

Still, 121 players remain, some famous, some not. Each has their own story and whoever finally wins this thing will make it interesting. Here are a few shots and captions to help bring the morning home.

Danny Ashman, a young gun from Massachusetts, USA walked up to me before the final level and declared, "I'm going to win this tournament." He convinced me that it would make me seem much smarter if I predicted now that he would finish well. Convinced enough by his respectable chip stack, I took this picture and filed it away. Later, he got moved to then-chipleader Barney Boatman's table. On one memorable hand, Boatman turned a straight with T8 on a 99JQ board. He bet into Ashman who flat called. The river was a seemingly harmless deuce. Ashman put out a very callable bet and Boatman happily called with his straight. Ashman turned up 92 for the rivered boat and took down a very nice-sized pot. Maybe young Ashman was right.

Andreas Harnemo took second place in Vienna and has survived into Day 2 here at the Grand Final

The Great Dane, Gus Hansen, has been playing his game here in Monte Carlo to a little success, but not enough to make him a dominating force...yet

FOB (Friend of Bloggers) Scott Bush does his buddies proud by taking a respectable stack into the second day

Robert Mizrachi

Ben Sprengers, one of, if not the youngest player in the Grand Final. The young gun also cashed at at the PCA earlier this year

Barney, the surviving Boatman

After playing ten pots heads up with Gus Hansen and not faring well on many of them, student Nathan Kelly mumbled, "I'm exhausted."

If you don't feel like scrolling down through the rest of the posts (which frankly, I suggest you do), here are some details of where we go from here.

We'll be going into Level 6 tomorrow (200/400). One hundred twenty-one players remain. We'll likely play down to near 27 players on Thursday. The top 27 get paid. The final table will get paid the following amounts:

Final Table Prize Money

1) €635,000
2) €350,000
3) €178,000
4) €139,000
5) €118,000
6) €99,500
7) €79,500
8) €59,900

Here are the final chip counts, with many thanks to Tournament Director Thomas Kremser and his hard working staff:

1 Stevic Alexander 48,950
2 Boatman Barney 43,125
3 Benyamine David 41,700
4 Bruel Patrick 40,300
5 Knape Martin 40,275
6 Wilder Brent 38,975
7 Fanning John 38,900
8 Harnemo Andreas 38,750
9 Ashman Danny 37,625
10 Golser Markus 36,900
11 Shipley John 35,350
12 Lellouche Antony 35,275
13 Mizrachi Robert 35,050
14 Jacob Alex 33,850
15 Seeger Kevin 33,075
16 Andersen Mads 32,625
17 Jensen Morten 32,400
18 Senn Jonathan 31,275
19 Marciano Elie 30,850
20 Mustanoglu Osman 29,200
21 Grundtvig Christian 28,825
22 Schaefer Brandon 28,725
23 Gardner Julian 27,425
24 Guoga Antanas ("Tony G.")26,150
25 Heitmann Jan 25,925
26 Sprengers Benjamin 25,625
27 Sointula Jani 25,325
28 Atlani Maurice 24,925
29 Simms Gavin 24,650
30 Sonnert Bengt 24,175
31 Ovadia Ofer 24,150
32 Bush Dennis Scott 22,675
33 Fitzpatrick Harry 22,625
34 Nowab Simon 22,600
35 Tann Willie 22,050
36 O'Dea Eoghan 21,300
37 Ustinov Mikhail 21,100
38 Persson Tobias 20,750
39 Moran Brandon 20,400
40 Abecassis Michael 19,825
41 Harwood Joel 19,700
42 Walters Ryan 19,600
43 Bush Garry 19,250
44 Serjak Greg 18,950
45 Kabbaj John 18,800
46 Nathanael Kelly 18,550
47 Stolzmann Steve 18,400
48 Terranova Henry 18,275
49 Feriolo Romain 18,125
50 Grech Joseph 17,675
51 Mercier Isabelle 17,550
52 Hansen Gus 17,350
53 Jaikel Luis 17,225
54 Tiezney Daniel 17,200
55 Salmi Pekka 16,700
56 DeKnijff Martin 16,350
57 Quesada Manrique 16,175
58 Kollmann Erich 16,125
59 Figlesthaler Matthew 16,025
60 Gerasimov Kirill 15,850
61 Novak Istvan 15,850
62 Cohen Robert 15,275
63 Luske Marcel 15,250
64 Brown Andrew 15,025
65 Katchalov Eugene 14,300
66 Nagy Jonathan 14,300
67 Clarke Will 14,150
68 Chung Peter 13,400
69 Haddad Gilles 13,075
70 Betson Alan 13,025
71 Gould Peter 12,700
72 Nordenstam Cecilia 12,450
73 Jensen Brian 12,150
74 Koppel Eric 12,000
75 Thew Julian 11,850
76 Laszcz Xavier 11,550
77 Portano Desmondo 11,250
78 Tuft Tom 10,950
79 Kallakis M. Achilleas 10,925
80 O'Connel Kevin 10,750
81 Chow Howard 10,500
82 Lloyd David J. 10,450
83 Mistereggen Eirik 10,100
84 Hollink Rob 10,000
85 Gunnarson Peter 9,850
86 Ygborn Carl 9,825
87 Luber Michael 9,700
88 Edler William 9,625
89 Lennaárd Ken 9,600
90 Blanco Angel 9,550
91 Van der Burg Eric 8,950
92 Hony Ilya 8,750
93 Persson John 8,300
94 Vallo Martin 8,275
95 Curzio Patrick 8,000
96 Wendt Martin 7,975
97 Olsen Henrik 7,750
98 Boeken Noah 7,650
99 Sokalsk Vincent 7,575
100 Massoudnia Yousef 7,350
101 Adkins Sammy 6,850
102 Barker Declan 6,525
103 Boaz Lavie 6,475
104 Sukhotin Sergey 6,175
105 Wong Roland 6,125
106 Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 5,950
107 Pagano Luca 5,950
108 Bolliger Mark 5,900
109 Grundy Ben 5,800
110 Kafelnikov Yevgeni 5,475
111 Vladar Steve 5,325
112 Lerch Bruce 4,600
113 Sharma Rani D. 4,425
114 McNamara Niall 4,300
115 Pichee Andrew 4,125
116 Bonomo Justin 3,975
117 Cawley Russell 3,550
118 Arvidsson Björn 3,450
119 Segal Martin 3,050
120 Aaron Jeff 2,725
121 Wachter John 1,700

Behind the Scenes at the Monte Carlo Grand Final--Updated with key Brandon Schaefer hand

2005-03-16T22:06:00.000+01:00

A moment ago as we broke between levels three and four, I saw The Flying Dutchman Marcel Luske grab a young player by the shoulders and say "You cannot win this tournament today." He wasn't taunting him. He was educating the young man. Luske is well-known for being a mentor to young players. He's mentored such standouts at 2004 WSOP runner-up David Williams and Scandinavian Open champ Noah Boeken. The advice was good. No one can win this tournament today. Even the chip leaders at the end of this day have no guarantee of a good finish.

As such, I cannot report a winner today.

I do feel compelled to report that 2004 WSOP winner Greg Raymer has departed.

And just moments ago a frustrated scream exploded from the table in front of me. Luca Pagano got all his money in with aces pre-flop vs a pair of kings. The board made his opponent, Daniel Tierny, a Broadway straight. Online players can be heard to remark, "Only online" when that happens to them. I'm here to tell you it happens more often than you think in live games. Pagano still has a few chips left, but is steaming like a kettle left on the stove too long.

I also hesitate to mention that one of the dyanamic PokerStars.com duo from Seattle, Carl Olson, has not had a good day and now sits on the rail keeping tabs on his buddy Brandon Schaefer. The pair traveled to Deauville together for the French Open and astounded everyone by taking first and second place and winning free seats into the Grand Final here.

Brandon Schaefer, French Open winner and PokerStars FPP qualifier protects his 18,000 in chips

Update: Just moments after I posted this, I walked up on what might've been Brandon Schaefer's last stand. When I arrived, four community cards sat on the table. Several thousand euro sat in the pot and Hendon Mobster Ross Boatman had just pushed in the rest of his stack after a significant bet from Schaefer. Schaefer fell into agony. The board was king-high with rags accompanying the painted card. It was obvious that Schaefer, in early position, felt that Boatman, on the button, had either made two pair or a set. Schaefer made to muck his cards a couple of times, then counted out his stack again. Three times he held his cards in the air in front of his eyes and winced. He asked how much Boatman had left and then winced again after seeing Boatman had him covered. Just watching the hand, I fell into a slight shaking fit. Just when I thought Schaefer was going to give up, he said, "I'm not good enough to fold. I call." He pushed in the rest of his chips and flipped over two aces. Suddenly deflated, Boatman turned over K4 for top pair, weak kicker. The river didn't help Boatman, and Schaefer, who wasn't good enough to fold, took almost all of Boatman's chips and doubled up.

So, with that behind me and before the action gets any more hot or heavy, I thought I'd offer a quick behind the scenes report. Most people's perception of poker tournaments is what they see on TV. There is so much more that goes on behind the camera. Here are just a few photos to give you some idea of what happens.

As the featured table plays under the TV lights, a crowd looks on and one of a few announcers calls out the action bet by bet and card by card over a microphone

All the while the rest of the room plays under dim softer lights (made dim for tv purposes)somewhat oblivious to the action taking place in front of the cameras. Although the room did cheer a moment ago when Devilfish got all-in behind with AJ vs. AQ and made trip jacks to win the hand

The poker widows sit on the rail, sweating their dearly departed. Incidentally, just to be fair, there are poker widowers around her as well

EPT creator John Duthie points out his next featured table to PokerStars' marketing wizards Tamar and Marta

Just a small portion of the assembled media here. Everyone else had run off to play cards. The scoundrels.

A producer and videographers form the EPT plan their next move. These guys shoot everything from cricket to poker and are pretty quick on their feet

An artist with a boom camera, this guys gets some of the prettiest shots of the feaured tables

The boom camera sweeps over the audience

This kind of tourament would not surive without some of the best dealers in the world. Neil is a dealer on the world poker circuit and knows his stuff

Rupert from the EPT counts out the chips as he builds the new featured table

When breaktime comes, many of the players rush outside the fishbowl to the smoking area

Monte Carlo Dinner Break News

2005-03-16T19:46:00.000+01:00

Well, just before the dinner break I had a massive post full of news, but, sadly, my computer got a jump start on supper and ate my work. So, now I set out to offer the computer dessert. Perhaps it will consider this something in the way of a chocolate mousse (which, incidentally, I just ate at the buffet and it was very good).

First off, the people in the money room have come up with a final number of entrants. Two hundred and eleven players put up the €10,000 buy-in. Oddly, 206 sat down to play. No word of a search party for the other five players.

With 211 buy-ins, the EPT and Pokerstars.com find themselves quite proud to report they have built the largest poker prize pool in European history.

TOP SIX RECENT POKER TOURNAMENTS IN EUROPE
1. EPT Grand Final, Monte Carlo €2,110,000
2. WPT Grand Prix de Paris €2,050,000
3. MasterClassics, Amsterdam, Holland €980,000
4. Prima Millions, Monte Carlo €835,135.31
5. EPT European Classic, London, €754,088
6. Ladbrokes Poker Millions, London €516,898

With €2.11 million in prize money, Tournament Director Thomas Kremser announced the payouts. Twenty-seven players will walk away with prize money. The final eight are in for a big year.

Final Table Prize Money

1) €635,000
2) €350,000
3) €178,000
4) €139,000
5) €118,000
6) €99,500
7) €79,500
8) €59,900

Players, we hardly knew thee

Players here are enjoying a fine, comfortable structure. They began with 10,000 in chips at 25/50 blinds. The levels have each been 90 minutes long and it has allowed players to surive and play their game. Nonetheless, we've lost 35 of the players who started the day. The notable departures include:

Hendon Mobster Ram Vaswani

Mikael Westerlund, the rampaging Swede who made final tables at both the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the EPT Scandinavian Open

Pascal Perrault, EPT Vienna champion

2003 WSOP champion Chris Moneymaker. Moneymaker reportedly went out in the second level after flopping the dummy end of a straight on an all-spade flop. Moneymaker had the eight of spades and got in a raising and re-raising battle with another player which eventually ended with all of Moneymaker's chips in the middle. The WSOP champ found out quickly that he was drawing nearly dead. His opponent had flopped the ace-high flush. Moneymaker departed quickly thereafter.

No Money today

Bloggers and friends of bloggers

If this is your first opportunity to read a poker blog, you may not be aware there is a thriving community of poker players and writers who are keeping the internet full of poker content (just Google "poker blog" and you'll see what I mean). One of those bloggers is not doing too badly at the dinner break. Ben "Milky Bar Kid" Grundy has just about doubled his stack in the first three levels.

Ben Grundy

Many readers likely know that 2004 WSOP champion Greg Raymer has been a frequent poster of the 2+2 forum. He's spent the first half of the day at the featured table with Tony G. and Russian tennis star Yevgeny Kafelnikov. Also at the table is PokerStars.com Frequent Player Point qualifier John Withers who has been having an up and down day. One of his up moments came at Raymer's expense. Withers got in pre-flop with Ramyer. Raymer held aces. Withers held jacks and a jack came on the flop. As a result, Raymer's stack has dwindled a bit. Fortunately, the blinds are still manageable and are giving the shorter stacks an opportunity to play a bit.

There are also a few FOBs (Friends of Bloggers) out there, as well.

Scott Bush

Patrick "curzdog" Curzio

Of course, many notable names remain in contention. Since they are far too many to name and be fair about it, I'll refrain from naming the notables who are still running.

We will play two more levels tonight before breaking for the evening. Tomorrow, we will play either five levels or down to 27 players, whichever comes first (my money is on the five levels, but whatta I know).

The players return from dinner in 16 minutes. I'll have another report in a while.

Monte Carlo Grand Final Begins...and we already have the TV table

2005-03-16T16:15:00.000+01:00

The ceiling in this cardroom is so high that if I fell from it I'd likely die. Or, at the very least, I'd be reduced to a mass of broken bones in a husk of torn flesh. Perhaps it seems an ugly idea, but this cavernous ballroom can be an ugly place, despite its beauty. The ugliness only resides in the rampant anxiety as more than 200 players protect their 10,000 chip starting stack. Some of the players are treating their stacks like AK-47s with unlimited ammunition. Other players are looking over their stacks like it was a basket of newborn kittens.

In a departure from the norm, the EPT television crew has moved in on day one. In addition to taping the final eight players on the final day, the producers have decided to feature one table every day.

While almost every table here has some degree of star-power, I suspect the producers had little difficulty picking the first featured table of the day. Under the TV lights right now sit 2005 WSOP champ Greg Raymer, the ever-vocal Tony G., and Russian tennis great, Yevgeny Kafelnikov.

Question: Will Tony G. be Greg Raymer's EPT version of Mike Matusow, or will everyone get along?

In the adjoining room, 2003 WSOP champ Chris Moneymaker is holding a quiet court at Table 23. He's one of the immediately recognizable faces in the room, not only because of his record, but because his visage is plastered on posters and banners all over the place. Perhaps it was little coincidence then that his face would show up in his own shadow.

Playing in one's own shadow

Amusing, if not a coincidence, was another face beaming near Moneymaker's poster.

Christy, Moneymaker's girlfriend, watching from a safe distance

Alas, no number of posters or lovely sweating from the rail could keep Moneymaker from leaving halfway through the second level. Seconds ago, he and Christy walked out of the room. An empty seat at table 23 and the curious lack of chips in Moneymaker's hand lead me to believe he won't be playing anymore in Monte Carlo this week.

Alex Jacob, the resident Yalie, in the moments before Moneymaker's departure. No more will he have to think about having a WSOP champ on his left

It is a wide variety of players here in Monte Carlo. It is perhaps the toughest line-up so far on the EPT.

Andreas Harnemo fresh off his second place finish in Vienna

Pascal Perrault, Vienna EPT champ

The always intimidating Devilfish

The Great Dane, Gus Hansen, making his return to the EPT from the states

Luca Pagano, 3rd place finisher at the EPT Barcelona

Simon Nowab, final table finisher in Vienna, and Noah Boeken, Scandinavian Open champion

And at the same time, the room is awash with players who've never see a tournament as large, with a prize pool so big, on tables so far away from home.

Ashland, Missouri, USA's Corey Myers, Frequent Player Point Qualifier on PokerStars.com

It appears we have well-eclipsed the 200 mark in players. The final number of runners and prize money is still being tabulated. This is shaping up to be, perhaps, the largest poker payout in European history.

Back with more in a bit.

Sitting down at destiny's table

2005-03-16T14:52:00.000+01:00

In Monte Carlo, there is no rain, no sleet, and certainly no snow. There is simply sun and a certain sense of destiny. It settled in here last night as the players converged from cities far and wide. Many of these players have made every stop on the European Poker Tour from Barcelona until now. A few sat down last nights for a few hands of poker to further warm their sensibilities.

As I type, more than 200 players are filing into this ornate ballroom and finding their seats on the Italian-crafted tables. The notable names and face are too many to mention. Certainly we have our champions from the other EPT events. We have many of the runners up. Other tournaments have their champions as well. So far today I've seen PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Champion John Gale and 2003 and 2004 World Series of Poker Champions Chris Moneymaker and Greg Raymer.

And beyond the notables, there is a significant number of unknowns here, as well. Many of them are PokerStars Frequent Player Point qualifiers. Others have qualified with cash. I met people from all over last night. Sweden, Denmark, the U.K., Dallas, Missouri, West Virginia, Maryland, and Washington state.

There are a few other neat things worth mentioning, but I'll save them for later. Now it's time to grab our seats in this seat of paradise. The Grand Final of the European Poker Tour is about to begin with prize pool of more than €2 million at stake.

Monte Carlo: Pre-Game In Paradise

2005-03-15T16:47:00.000+01:00

About the time poker godfather Doyle Brunson was winning his first World Series, my dad drove a Monte Carlo. Only a lonely dark night in Southwest Missouri, a driver cut Dad off and the Monte Carlo ended up crumpled in a ditch. Dad was okay but the car couldn't further serve as a conduit for childhood memories. That crumpled black mess was about all I really remembered of the Monte Carlo. And though I've been around a bit, I had not yet seen...this. This is Monte Carlo.

Now, I'll offer the possibility that my senses were a bit needy. I'd just spent a week in Vienna, which is quite a nice city, but it was cold and snowy. A week in a cardroom had left me with a bit of sensory deprivation.

The flight from Vienna to Zurich swept us over the Swiss Alps, a sight so intense, my thoughts somehow reverted to desserts. The snowy mountains climbed so high in the air, they slid into the clouds. It looked like a giant field of meringue. Though I wanted to sleep, I couldn't help but find myself stuck the window. Maybe I was hungry.

After a short wait with player Justin Bonomo, Steve the Dealer, and half of the four-man dealing team known as The Hobbits, we were back in the air. When I touched down in Nice, France, palm trees greeted me with a south France, "Howdy."

A helicopter was waiting on its helipad and climbed into the sunset. Having spent an inordinate amount of time in choppers, I didn't prepare myself for the sight.

Arriving by chopper

Monte Carlo sunset from the air

The coast from above

Within minutes, I touched down in the Principality of Monaco. At just two square miles, it is the second smallest country in the world, just a little bigger than Vatican City. Home to the Grand Prix motor race, Monte Carlo is one of the four districts in this small country that's been ruled for 700 years by the same family. The current ruler, Prince Ranier, was once married to American film great Grace Kelly.

Though motorcyles, Mercedes, and Porsches zip through the streets, the best way to see this place is on foot. So, I set out in the late afternoon. There was no doubt, the EPT and PokerStars were in town.

Dealer Neil and French Open champion Brandon Schaefer chat outside the Hotel Hermitage

A giant PokerStars.com banner hangs from the outside wall of the local cinema

Just a hundred yards from the Hotel Hermitage, yachts that could buy my home hundreds of times over line the harbor. Seagulls and all varietys of flora and fauna make it difficult to remember, it's still winter.

The Monte Carlo Harbor

Impossibly blue water

I've been looked up by many a poker player, but never a bird

A stroll through town is awash with Cartier, Piaget, Dior, et al. And while the stores are very nice, nearly 200 people here are more concerned with one thing. Tomorrow, the richest poker tournament in European history will begin. The prize pool has eclipsed €1.75 million. Some of the best poker players from around the world are gathering now in prepartion for the four-day event.

The Monte Carlo Casino

If this is your first time to PokerStars EPT blog, feel free to browse the past entries to get a feel for the full coverage you can expect here. In the meantime, I'm out in search of players and stories. I suspect I won't have to look far.

EPT Vienna E-WSOP Final Table Wrap-Up and Results

2005-03-12T23:45:00.000+01:00

For a full hand history of the final table, click here. Be sure to join us here for the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo in just a few days)

Danger in Vienna

We live in an unsafe world. We live in a time of mayhem and danger. So, who in their right mind would make every effort to be on time for a meeting with a documented poker serial killer and a mysterious Swede with enough chips to scare the Frito Lay company?

The final table ready for play

This was the meeting place: an eight-seated table, surrounded by lights and flags of the world. By all accounts, there was only a minimal chance someone would be carried out unconscious. Eight players were willing to take the risk. After all, several hundred thousand Euros were at stake.

The players begin their quest for the title

It was the final table of the European Poker Tour's Vienna E-WSOP. What had started as a friendly competition had turned nasty in the night before, with players snapping at each other, slamming their cards on the table, and expressing a certain amount of crankiness.

They were eight men who defied the poker version of the expression "all men were created equal." After all, there was that mysterious Swede, Andreas Harnemo, who had defied his lack of professional playing time and stacked up more than 800,000 in chips.

Andreas Harnemo

And then there was the poker serial killer, Pascal Perrault, a popular Frenchman who had singlehandedly turned the losers lounge into a morgue in the days before. He sat second in chips and had his eyes set firmly on the prize.

Pascal Perrault

As play began, the chipstacks looked as follows:

Seat 1: Joachim Sanejstra, 129,500
Seat 2: Tim Ramsey, 152,500 (USA PokerStars.com online qualifier)
Seat 3: David Clayton, 287,000
Seat 4: Pascal Perrault, 641,500 (France)
Seat 5: Josh Schiffman, 197,000 (USA)
Seat 6: Simon Nowab, 301,000
Seat 7: Mika Puro,450,500 (Finland)(PokerStars online qualifier)
Seat 8: Andreas Harnemo, 821,000 (Sweden)

At first it seemed as if no one wanted to play in a big arena. While players sparred a bit pre-flop, we saw very few hands past the initial betting stage. In fact, it took 30 hands before...well, before the floor fell out from underneath the final table and players fell to their doom with it.

It began as so...

Simon Nowab, in an apparent blind-steal, raised all in with A7 offsuit. Mike Puro seemed happy to call with a pair of nines. The first card off the flop was a nine and it ultimately spelled Nowab's end. What had once been a tight final table was suddenly as loose as a goose in a noose. Nowab left the room in eighth place and 17,300 Euro.

Simon Nowab

Just two hands later, Josh Schiffman, half of the America's Duke University Mafia, raised more than two times the big blind, 40,000 chips, out of position. Andreas sat on the button and made it 120,000. Perhaps thinking Andreas was on a steal, Josh moved all in. Andreas called, turning over AQs. It dominated Josh's KJs both before and after the ace-high flop. Schiffman left in seventh place, taking home 23,000 Euro.

Josh Schiffman

On the very next hand, the players folded around to the small blind where David Clayton put in a huge raise, 92,000 into Perrault's 15,000 big blind. Perrault came over the top an pushed all in. Clayton called. Perrault's AJ easily survived Clayton's A5 offsuit. Clayton took sixth place and cashed for 28,800 Euro. Perrault's credentials as a poker serial killer were re-affirmed.

David Clayton

In just four hands, we'd lost three players and the bloodshed would not stop. Not ten hands later, the most interesting hand of the night unleashed itself on the table.

With the blinds still at 7500/15000/1500, Harnemo raised under the gun to 55,000. Without a great deal of concern on his face, Tim Ramsey pushed in the rest of his stack. For the first time in a great while, Harnemo seemed to fall into the tank. He pondered. Then he pondered some more.

And, then, out of nowhere he asked Ramsey, "Do you have a pair of sevens?"

If Ramsey responded, I didn't hear it. All I know is that when Andreas called, Ramsey flipped over a seven...and a seven. Harnemo held A9 offsuit. Ramsey seemed to be in good shape. The first four cards on the board were 3832. The river, however, came as an ace sending Ramsey back to the USA in fifth place wih 34,500 Euro.

Tim Ramsey

When the beating stopped, the chip counts looked like this:

Joachim Sanejstra: 127,500
Pascal Perrault: 799,000
Mika Puro: 527000
Andreas Harnemo: 1,500,000

Remarkably, the man who began the day with the shortest stack, Joachim Sanejstra, had managed to blind steal and hang on until fourth place. And when he finally went out, he got his chips in with the best hand. Mika Puro put in a raise to 45,000 (3x the big blind). Behind him, Harnemo made it 105,000 to go. After some thought, Sanejstra put in all his chips. Puro folded and Hernemo showed K7offsuit to Sanejstra's pair of fours. It was still a coinflip, which Harnemo won, pairing his king on the flop and hitting another on the turn. The shortest stack at the start of the day took fourth place and 40,500 for his efforts.

Joachim Sanejstra

A dinner break came unexpectedly and apparently, Mika Puro's dinner didn't agree with his poker timing. Just three hands into the after-dinner session, Puro raised to 55,000. Perrault immediately made it 150,000 to go. Puro came back over the top all-in and Perrault happily called, showing a pair of queens. Puro only had a pair of fours and he never improved. Puro left in third place with 51,800 Euro.

Mika Puro

Bettors would've likely put good money that Perrault and Harnemo would end heads up. However, I would defy anyone to predict the outcome. Perrualt's game is sometimes difficult to predict. At times he's fantastically tight. Other times he makes curiously hyper-aggressive moves. At the same time, he has many years of experience over Harnemo in big tournament play. The poker serial killer then set his target squarely on the mysterious Swede. Perrualt had 1.2 million in chips to Harenmo's 1.9 million.

Heads up

We got a taste of Perrault's aggressive style a few hands into heads-up play. Perrault called from the small blind and Harnemo raised a little more than 3x the big blind to 70,000. Perrault called and they saw a flop of Q2K. Both players checked to the turn, a nine. Harnemo bet out 50,000 and Perrault raised to 300,000. After some thought, Harnemo mucked a pair of sixes face up. With a grin, Perrault showed his bluff, a little hand some poker bloggers like to call The Jackhammer, J4.

While the players had battled to even stacks, Perrault had just set up a move that would end in Harnemo's undoing.

In the small blind, Perrault raised 3x the big blind to 60,000. Harnemo called and the flop came down 473. Harenmo checked to Perrault who bet out 150,000. Harnemo, perhaps remembering Perrault's move a little earlier, made it another 250,000 to go. With nary a thought, Perrault announced all in.

Harenmo didn't seem sure what to do. He seemed to like his hand but his face fell into a concentrated version of American actor Clint Eastwood's tough face. When Harenmo regained consciousness, he called and showed J7offsuit for top pair on the board (sevens with a jack kicker). With that, Perrault turned over a pair of nines, the hand that would eventually win and take nearly all of Harnemo's stack.

While Harenmo battled strongly for a few more hands, he eventually got the rest of his chips in with KJs, but ran right into Perrault's AJs. With that, it was over. Harenmo pocketed 101,400 for his second place finish.

The winning hand and its bountiful harvest

Perrault had the biggest fan club in the rooom and cheers rose to the rafters.

Pascal gets congratulations from his friends

It was a 184,500 payday for Perrault, a man so dedicated to this game, he reportedly named his baby daughter...Vegas.

A thumbs up from the winner

Pascal gets paid

And lest you think this is the last time Perrault and Harenmo will meet, both players received entries into the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo this coming week.

Please join me back here on this blog for full coverage of this fine circuit's biggest event.

EPT Vienna Final Results

184,500

1--Pascal Perrault, France.

101,400

2--Andreas Harnemo, Sweden

51,800

3--Mika Puro, Finland (PokerStars online qualifier)

40,500

4--Joachim Sanejstra, Austria

34,500

5--Tim Ramsey, USA (PokerStars Online Qualifier)

28,800

6--David Clayton

23,000

7--Josh Schiffman, USA

17,300

8--Simon Nowab

11,500
9--Jeffrey Rogers (PokerStars online qualifier)

6950

11-Paul Hersleth
12--Alan Betson (PokerStars online qualifier)

5750

13--Milurat Peric
14--Luca Pagano, Italy
15--Sigi Stockinger, Ireland

4600

16--Paul Testud
17--Cohen Robert
18--Mike Shalibi

3600
19--Tibor Tolnai
20--Horst Riedlinger
21--Bernhard Reither
22--Denis Kharitonov, Russia
23--Luis Jaikel, Costa Rica
24--BadGirl Pham, Great Britain
25--Harry Casagrande
26--Falker Leview, Russia
27--Joseph Grech

E-WSOP Day 2 Wrap-Up and Chip Counts

2005-03-12T02:37:00.000+01:00

Remember this face. Because every other player who has seen it today can't seem to forget it.

Andreas Harnemo, Sweden

Now, let's take a walk in down a back alley where a modern-day Jack the Ripper is skulking in wait.

Welcome to the Vienna Morgue

Parisian Pascal Perrault calls himself the PP Bandit. Perhaps on some days it is a fitting moniker. However, to the none-too-casual observer, it would seem something doesn't fit today. See, bandits steal. Sometimes they pillage. They don't often kill.

Perrault is a murderer. Check that. He's a serial killer. I've seen the victims in the morgue as proof.

Victim: Elky

Elky held JJ. The Bandit held KT. The Bandit wins. That's where the serial killing began.

Victim: Justin Bonomo

Perrault raised pre-flop to 7000 (a little more than 3x the BB). Justin Bonomo made it 17,000 to go. Perrault pushed all-in and Bonomo called. The Bandit showed KQo offsuit. Bonomo, who had built his stack back to a respectable level was happy to show pocket kings.

Enter: carnage.

A queen on the flop and queen on the turn sent Bonomo home. I can't describe the look on his face. Later, I suggested he go get four drinks at once. His eyes, still glazed from the beat, swept the room and settled on nothing.

I decided it was an inappropriate time to break out the ever-trite, "That's poker" and let Bonomo wander on.

Victim: Noah Boeken

It seemed as if no one could stop The Bandit. Just a few hands after nearly doubling up with a set of twos, Noah Boeken raised the pot by 3x the big blind to 9000. The Bandit pushed all in and Boeken almost immeditely called. The Bandit showed a pair of nines. Boeken slammed his pair of tens on the table.

Seconds later the dealer laid out the flop. Right in the middle of it sat a nine. Boeken was out and The Bandit stole another players chips.

All the other players at the table muttered in unison, "Unbelievable. Unbelievable."

I can't count the victims. And I have a hard time counting the Bandit's chips.

I've seen so much blood. So much blood...

I need to clean my eyes. Let's talk about more pleasant things for a second. Just a second.

SERVICE!

Let me say this about the Concord Card Casino. The service here is fantastic. Yell, "Service!" and you get service. The waitstaff is omnipresent. And get this: the cleaning crew cleans the men's room at what seems like hourly intervals.

It's the little things that please me. In the rough and tumble world of bigtime poker, you have to appreciate the amenities.

Of course, as a tournament reporter, I can focus on such things when I'm not writing or snapping pictures.

It's the poker players who have to concentrate. Day Two of the E-WSOP, after all, was enough to make a grown man cry.

That's where the nice-nice talk ends.

Shattered

The glass broke and splintered all over the floor and only a waitress seemed to notice. It was the beginning of Day 2 and Jennifer Walsh (Hickory, NC) had come into the day with a large stack. In the span of just a few hands, she'd given it all away. It happened so quickly, one might not've noticed. She doubled up Tony "Tikay" Kendall and Ross Boatman, calling Tony's all-in bet with AQ against Tony's TT. Then she got all in with pocket fives against Boatman's nines. Again, she lost. And as she wallked away, she brushed a table and knocked a beer glass to the floor.

While in the long run, Walsh was a long shot, her hasty exit and shattered glass seem to be an ugly harbinger of the day to come. It was an afternoon and evening of shattered hopes, shattered glass, and shattered memories for the 83 people who began the day.

The chips would move quickly, so fast they were hard to track. Players rocketed from nothing to something then back to nothing before the ink was dry on my notepad. As the afternoon progessed, the Bandit emerged from the crowd and started his killing spree.

By the dinner break, we were down to 35 players. A king's buffet of beef, pasta, and salmon greeted players in a heated outdoor tent. Inside, the chips sat alone at the table. Three players, Pascal "PP The Bandit" Perrault, Andreas Harnemo, Mika Puro held more than 200,000 going into the 1500/3000/300 level.

Mr. Bubble Bush

As I've noted before, I love bubble-time. When the next player who leaves is the last to leave without money, the drama is intense.

In case you missed the bubble post, here's a snippet:

Getting to the money was as comedic as it was sad.

With 28 players remaining, Londoner Gary Bush was on a desperately shortstack and was holding on by the skin of any teeth he could find. Once, he doubled up with AQ against Joachim Sanejstra and it gave him new life.

In the interim, others came close to bubbling.

In one case, a player from the U.K. pushed in and a Frenchman labored and labored over whether to call. At one point, he picked up a mock phone and desperately asked "Mama? Mama?" The man needed advice. Finally he folded KT suited and saw his opponent turn over AK.

Clutching his heart like America's Fred Sanford in a heart attack fit, the man again picked up his mock phone and said, "Merci, Mama! Merci!"

Merci, Mama!

Shortly thereafter on another table, the button made an ill-advised blind steal and the big blind pushed all-in. The amount of money in the pot required the button to call. Still, the big blind begged.

With a pint of Beefeater Gin in him, the big blind stood and belted out the chorus to SuperTramp's "Give a Little Bit."

"Give a little bit!," he sang. "Give a little bit of your chips to me!"

The button called and with a smile turned over nine-three. The big blind had AT and took down the hand.

Finally, it came back to Gary Bush. Again in desperation, he pushed in with pocket fives and again Sanejstra called. This time with A7. Bush's hand didn't hold up and he left with no cash.

Bubble Bush

The Monied

Post-bubble, the all-ins became much more common. The action moved fast, with yesterday's chipleader, Denis Kharitonov giving away almost all of his chips to American Tim Ramsey in two hands.

"I've been waiting two days to do that to him," Ramsey said with a smile.

Tim Ramsey

And from there is became a show of middle stacks battling against Andreas Harnemo and Pascal Perrault. Both players had his own table to control until they condensed to the final ten. Luca Pagano and Paul Hersleth suffered a couple of fairly ugly beats to get knocked out of TV contention. Pagano's opponent made a five-outer, Hersleth had AK vs KQ and lost.

When ten players converged on one table, the players became increasingly irritable. The friendly banter that had been commonplace earlier in the day was replaced by harsh tones, angry faces, and the occasional ugly exchange between the players. Hardly a flop was seen and the ones that were were fairly uneventful. That was until Lothar Landauer and Mika Puro got all-in pre-flop. Landauer held QQ. Puro had AQ. Puro turned his ace and Landauer was gone.

Just a couple of hands later, Jeffrey Rogers raised all-in with 33. Simon Nowad called with AK and made his ace on the turn. Rogers was out on the next hand.

Finally, after more than 24 hours of play over two days, we reached the TV table. Hopefully after some rest the players won't be as snarky.

Final table

Seat 1: Joachim Sanejstra, 129,500
Seat 2: Tim Ramsey, 152,500 (USA PokerStars.com online qualifier)
Seat 3: David Clayton, 287,000
Seat 4: Pascal Perrault, 641,500 (France)
Seat 5: Josh Schiffman, 197,000 (USA)
Seat 6: Simon Nowad, 301,000
Seat 7: Mika Puro,450,500 (Norway)
Seat 8: Andreas Harnemo, 821,000 (Sweden)

Now you know why I told you to remember this face.

Andreas Harnemo, Sweden

Here were the fortunate and skillful players who finished in the money.

11,500
9--Jeffrey Rogers (PokerStars online qualifier)

6950

11-Paul Hersleth
12--Alan Betson (PokerStars online qualifier)

5750

13--Milurat Peric
14--Luca Pagano, Italy
15--Sigi Stockinger, Ireland

4600

16--Paul Testud
17--Cohen Robert
18--Mike Shalibi

3600
19--Tibor Tolnai
20--Horst Riedlinger
21--Bernhard Reither
22--Denis Kharitonov, Russia
23--Luis Jaikel, Costa Rica
24--BadGirl Pham, Great Britain
25--Harry Casagrande
26--Falker Leview, Russia
27--Joseph Grech

The final table begins Saturday at 5pm.

We'll be here and plan to live-blog every hand of the final TV table.

E-WSOP Final Table Set

2005-03-11T22:53:00.000+01:00

Eight players remaining. Sweden's Andreas Harnemo has the chip lead, with Pascal Perrault in a strong second. Finishers are below. Full report with chip counts shortly.

Chip leader Andreas Harnemo

11,500
9--Jeffrey Rogers (PokerStars online qualifier)

6950

10--Lothar Landauer
11-Paul Hersleth
12--Alan Betson (PokerStars online qualifier)

5750

13--Milurat Peric
14--Luca Pagano, Italy
15--Sigi Stockinger, Ireland

4600

16--Paul Testud
17--Cohen Robert
18--Mike Shalibi

3600
19--Tibor Tolnai
20--Horst Riedlinger
21--Bernhard Reither
22--Denis Kharitonov, Russia
23--Luis Jaikel, Costa Rica
24--BadGirl Pham, Great Britain
25--Harry Casagrande
26--Falker Leview, Russia
27--Joseph Grech

In the money, and goodbye Mr. Bubble Bush

2005-03-11T21:12:00.000+01:00

After a long hand-to-hand session, we've finally reached the final 27 players, and, hence, the money.

Getting to the money was as comedic as it was sad.

With 28 players remaining, Londoner Gary Bush was on a desperately shortstack and was holding on by the skin of any teeth he could find. Once, he doubled up with AQ against Joachim Sanejstra and it gave him new life.

In the interim, others came close to bubbling.

In one case, a player from the U.K. pushed in and a Frenchman labored and labored over whether to call. At one point, he picked up a mock phone and desperately asked "Mama? Mama?" The man needed advice. Finally he folded KT suited and saw his opponent turn over AK.

Clutching his heart like America's Fred Sanford in a heart attack fit, the man again picked up his mock phone and said, "Merci, Mama! Merci!"

Shortly thereafter on another table, the button made an ill-advised blind steal and the big blind pushed all-in. The amount of money in the pot required the button to call. Still, the big blind begged.

With a pint of Beefeater Gin in him, the big blind stood and belted out the chorus to SuperTramp's "Give a Little Bit."

"Give a little bit!," he sang. "Give a little bit of your chips to me!"

The button called and with a smile turned over nine-three. The big blind had AT and took down the hand.

Finally, it came back to Gary Bush. Again in desperation, he pushed in with pocket fives and again Sanejstra called. This time with A7. Bush's hand didn't hold up and he left with no cash.

Bubble Bush

Now we're in the money.

For those watching the young guns, Noah Boeken and Elky have both busted out, as well. Pascal Perrault is still the chip leader, now with 326,000 in chips.

Updates as they are warranted.

E-WSOP Day 2 Dinner Break

2005-03-11T18:35:00.000+01:00

The buffet has beef, salmon, and pasta.
The players have chips.
These players have the most:

Pascal "PP The Bandit" Perrault
Andreas Harnemo
Mika Puro

All of them have slightly more than 200K in chips.

We're headed into the 1500/3000/300 level with 35 players remaining. We've dispatched with nearly 50 players since 2pm. I don't think I'm making any grand prediction when I suggest the next four hours will not go as quickly.

Then again, as my dad like to say, "Lord knows I've been wrong before."