End of day 2

---
EPT Update No. 27

A few spectacular pots just before close. Marcel Luske lost a big pot, doubling up Isabelle. Isabelle first flatcalled a raise with pocket kings from the big blind, and then moved all-in when Marcel came over the top. Marcel's jacks got no improvement, and suddenly he is down to 20,000, while Isabelle has 70,000. And on another table, Gus Hansen had his personal dentist in Jani Sointula. On the first hand, he limp / reraised Hansen's button raise to make him throw away his cards, and on the second hand when Gus didn't throw away, Jani actually had the better hand: KK vs. AQ. The players, chip counts, and the seats for tomorrow, i.e. the redraw has been done already:

Ben Grundy 37,600 (tomorrow: table 5 / seat 1)
Ryan Walters 26,400 (1/7)
Isabelle Mercier 70,000 (2/1)
Eugene Katchalov 54,400 (3/7)
Steve Stolzmann 27,800 (4/7)
Abdulaziz Abdulaziz 40,100 (4/5)
Marcel Luske 19,300 (2/2)
Howard Chow 11,800 (1/1)

Dennis Scott Bush 95,800 (2/8)
Antony Lellouche 57,100 (1/4)
Julian Gardner 98,800 (5/4)
Martin Deknijff 56,100 (1/6)
Martin Wendt 73,100 (5/6)
Harry Fitzpatrick 38,900 (2/7)
Brandon Schaefer 36,000 (2/5)
Kevin Seeger 147,100 (1/8, chip leader)

Jani Sointula 79,900 (4/1)
Gus Hansen 23,000 (4/2)
Barny Boatman 34,300 (3/1)
Nathanael Kelly 6,600 (5/3)
Declan Barker 38,200 (1/2)
Ben Sprengers 45,100 (2/6)
Eirik Mistereggen 40,600 (5/2)
Henry Terranova 11,700 (4/8)

Jonathan Senn 32,700 (4/6)
Michael Luber 48,700 (3/2)
Rob Hollink 139,500 (3/5)
Kevin O'Donnell 63,200 (3/6)
Joseph Grech 14,000 (3/3)
Willie Tann 78,100 (3/4)
Neil Fanning 58,000 (2/4)

Romain Feriolo 103,100 (2/3)
Markus Golser 45,400 (4/3)
Alexander Stevic 66,500 (5/8)
Robert Mizrachi 117,500 (3/8)
Mikhail Ustinov 70,900 (4/4)
Martin Knape 70,500 (1/5)
Morten Jensen 26,100 (5/5)

38 players left in total. Tomorrow I will be there again for you guys. From Monaco, I say: Good night - see you all tomorrow.

---
EPT Update No. 26

Good news for the Dutch: Rob Hollink has moved into the chip lead! He is holding about 120,000 in chips now, after finding aces in the blig blind, with the small blind moving in on him. The Chief is playing very strong. Don't forget that at the start of this day he was down to just 10,000, and that his table draw was far from easy with Willie Tann in his back, someone who is very willing to get involved in pots with Rob, especially in position. Both Kirill Gerasimov and Tony G. are out, and we're down to 39 players. In about 10 minutes, we will be playing the last hand of the night, and I will try to have the final chip counts ready for you as soon as possible.

---
EPT Update No. 25

We are into the last hour of play, as we will play down until the end of this level. Markus Golser is down to 39,000, Martin Knape has 79,000 and the guy I have identified as Romain Feriolo (now, I am almost 100% certain that this is indeed him) is the first person with a clear 100,000+ stack. Play has become a bit tight, and it seems everyone wants to last until the third day. 46 players still in action, including lots of Scandinavians, quite a few young guys but also a few of the established poker pros like Marcel Luske and Gus Hansen, both in pretty good shape.

---
EPT Update No. 24

John Shipley has just gone out in a rather unfortunate manner. Holding aces, he raised the initial limper Martin Wendt. As it turned out, Martin came over the top with his deuces to make John lay down his hand - but with aces, he had nowhere to go of course. To make a long story short, a deuce came on the flop, giving Martin a 90,000+ stack, and sending home Shipley. On Rob Hollink's table 1 (Rob who is back at 75,000 again), Willie Tann has gotten some more ammo by flopping top set on an 832 board, up against jacks, and he is up to par with the Chief again. Going into the next (and possibly last) level with blinds of 600-1,200 and a 100 running ante, we are down to 48.

---
EPT Update No. 23

Guys, I did a bit of research about the guys who are holding the chips on table 4. If I'm not mistaken, they are: Martin Wendt 54,000, Harry Fitzpatrick 32,000, Istvan Novak 70,000. This in adittion to the large stacks I mentioned earlier, those of Antony Lellouche (55,000) and Julian Gardner (83,000). Anther player not mentioned before with a large stack is Romain Feriolo on table 16 / seat 1 with 77,000. On table 1, Rob Hollink's stack has shrunk to 50,000, while young Jan Heitmann ("Erdnase" on the Internet, if I'm not mistaken) has made a jump to 96,000, making him one of the largest stacks in the event. Finally, at the televised table (that has different players than before and an atmosphere that is not too great, with too many players who are either yapping too much or who are celebrating a bit too excessively - for my taste, that is) Steve Stolzmann has doubled up by making no less than a straight flush! Two players all-in on the flop, one with 5d 3d, Steve with 8d 7d on a Kd 6d 5s flop - turn 9d, river Td. Steve has about 45,000 now. 52 players left, blinds at 400-800 with a 100 ante for about 30 more minutes.
---
EPT Update No. 22

Good and bad new from the Dutch. Ilja Hony is out, but Rob Hollink is still gaining ground. Starting today with just 10,000, he has steadily worked his way up, and with 83,000 he is now in the top five at least. Marcel Luske still has an above-average stack with 47,000. The man that broke Andreas Harnemo -Kirill Gerasimov has just confirmed to me that this is indeed his fellow countryman Mikhail Ustinov- is chip leader with 96,000 in chips, Brandon Schaefer being a close second. Table 4 has a lot of stacks around 50,000, and has the potential for some firework. Finally, Master Classics Main Event winner Robert Mizrachi is looking good with 70,000. Play will resume in 20 minutes.






---
EPT Update No. 21

During the dinner break, I talked to Brandon Schaefer, who was one of the reasons why Andreas had lost his large stack. On the televised table, he had made the nut straight with his queen-jack, while the board gave Andreas an expensive second-best hand (KQ on a KT9 board for top pair / good kicker / gutshot straight draw). This was an important pot in two ways: not only did it severely cripple the (now busted) Harnemo, it also gave Brandon the chip lead at the table. He is one of the biggest stack in the event now with almost 90,000.

---
EPT Update No. 20

We all know that in poker things can change quickly. Andreas Harnemo, our chip leader just 30 minutes ago, is out! He had lost one or two pots, and with his stack down to 32,000, the following hand developed. In a raised pot, in midle position, he held queens, but the button proved to have aces. On a flop J96 with two spades, Andreas checked his overpair, his opponent (I'm pretty sure it's Mikhail Ustinov, but I will confirm that later) bet 10,000. Andreas check-raised all-in to 27,000, got called of course and was out. (His opponent has a stack of almost 100,000 now, and is suddenly one of today's chip leaders.) Cecilia Nordenstam is out as well. Favorites with decent-sized stacks: Gus Hansen 55,000, Marcel Luske 41,000, Rob Hollink 61,000, Willie Tann 72,000, Alexander Stevic 54,000, Julian Gardner 74,000, Antony Lellouche 64,000, Isabelle Mercier 45,000, Markus Golser 59,000. Markus had been losing a couple of pots and was faced with the aggressive Isabelle on his immediate left, but just before the break he came over the top of her frequent reraises while holding only a marginal hand to get her back in line, and as a result he has reached the break in good shape. Play has been suspended because of the dinner break, blinds will resume at 400-800, with a 100 ante. There are sixty players left.

---
EPT Update No. 19

A few important things. First, Anthony Lellouche has lost a big pot and is now down to 52,000, which is still a significant amount of course. Second, on table 14, there are a lot more chips than on any other table in this event. In addition to chip leader Andreas Harnemo, there's Julian Gardner, Jan Heitmann and a bunch of other players who all have 30,000 or more. In fact, it is the only table in the house that does not have any small stacks. Depending on when this table will be broken, one or two players may well amass a massive stack here. And finally (sadly) we have lost Luca Pagano. All-in preflop with ace-king of spades against 44, the flop was excellent (KKQ), but a four on the turn sealed his fate. The blinds: 300-600, with a 75 ante, and 77 players still in.



---
EPT Update No. 18

Interesting developments on table 15 in the Left Room. Markus Golser has won a decent-sized pot against one of the chip leaders, Kevin O'Connell. Markus having flopped the nut flush in late position (Ad 9d on a final board 4d 2d 7d Jh 7c), got check-called by Kevin on both on the turn and also the river (a 7,000 bet there). Both Markus and Kevin have about 54,000 stacks now, and Isabelle Mercier is sitting there too with about 41,000. Other big stacks: Antony Lellouche on table 4 / seat 2 with 81,000 (the chip leader), Barny Boatman with 55,000 on table 12 / seat 9, Neil Fanning on table 13 / seat 8 with 64,000. Table 14 has two big stacks with Julian Gardner (60,000, seat 3) and Andreas Harnemo with 64,000 in seat 5 meaning the Swede has excellent position on the Englishman. In fact, as I am writing this, it has been brought to my attention that the man who did so well in Vienna last week, has built his stack up to even more than that: 90,000 total.

---
EPT Update No. 17

With the blinds now at 200-400 and a 50 ante, lots of players suddenly find themselves in a little bit of trouble. One of them was EPT Copenhagen winner Noah Boeken, who is out. We've got 92 players left, and lots of players who hold chips in the 40,000-60,000 region, and this also includes the dangerous Julian Gardner (who is sitting next to EPT Deauville winner Brandon Schaefer).

----
EPT Update No. 16

Some players with a lot of chips:

Alexander Stevic:
He is holding close to 50,000, and has been moved to table 3, a table full of young guns. He is sitting with Erik Mistereggen, John Persson and Luca Pagano, to name but a few, and also with young Scandinavian Martin Knape, who is very dangerous with a 40,000+ stack.

Barny Boatman:
His tough table 10 with Isabelle Mercier and Martin Vallo has just been broken. Barny now has the honor to play against Martin Deknijff (with 17,000), Robert Mizrachi (with 35,000) and Patrick Bruel (also with 35,000) on table 11. Barny has slightly more than 40,000.





David Benyamine:
Sitting with over 40,000 on table 1 with some fairly short stacks from dangerous players (Rob Hollink and Willie Tann).

John Fanning:
This very talkative gentleman has accumulated a lot of chips on table 13, with around 45,000 now. He is the only large stack at that table right now.






--
EPT Update No. 15

I've got some great news for the Dutch! The list with names and chip counts that I received yesterday, had just 110 instead of 121 players, and it was some Dutch players who were missing on this list. This means that Rob Hollink is still in. In fact, he has just won a good-sized pot against Bruce Lerch with KK against AJ, and he has built his 10,000 stack up to 15,000. Ilja Hony is also still in. With his 8,750 stack, he is sitting immediately next to the also shortstacked Noah Boeken on table 9. Eric Vandenburg has almost 10,000 on table 2, and "Flying Fox" Marcel Luske has just busted out Yevgeniy Kafelnikov. The man from Russia raised all-in to 5,100 under the gun with KQ, and Marcel in the blind had an easy call with AK.

Another player missing on yesterday's list is poker superstar Gus Hansen, but he is still in on table 6 with over 17,000. This has become the feautured table, because in addition to Gus we have the patient Kirill Gerasimov, the excellent John Kabbaj and the breath-taking Cecilia Nordenstam (who is also part of Martin Deknijff's Martins Poker team). This should make for some excellent television, I guess! The British young and rising star Julian Thew is out. I will be back shortly with more info on the players. 99 players left, with the blinds still 150-300, ante 25.