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.
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
9:49 PM
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.
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
7:17 AM
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.
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
8:52 PM
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.)
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
5:04 PM
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.
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
4:37 PM
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
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
3:03 PM
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.
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
2:45 PM
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.
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
posted by Brad "Otis" Willis at
2:19 AM
