End of day 2

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WHU Update No. 7

Now that all round 1 matches have been completed, I will give an overview of all round 2 qualifiers. The winners of each match will play against the winners immediately above or below them.

1
Angel Blanco Puras - Ivo Donev
Pascal Perrault - Roy Brindley
**
Carlos Muntan - Dave Ulliott
Stephen Pearce - Daniel Larsson
**
Albert Ashamn - Simon Trumper
Martin Cedercrantz - Ross Boatman
**
Peter Gunnardon - Paul Hersleth
John Kabbaj - Mickey Wernick
**

2
Dave Colclough - Noah Boeken
Josep M Talens - Juan Sastre
**
Raul Paez Corral - Alexander Kravchenko
Jon Huckle - Barny Boatman
**
Woody Deck - Richard Gryko
Jim Britton - Jamie Sharrat
**
Manuel Silva - Dan Simcelescu
Mathias Wilkens - Andreas Hagan

3
Derek Baxter - David Slowik
David Leigh - Rino Mathis
**
Hans Eskilsson - Gary Collins
Michael Keiner - Jac Arama
**
Peter Eichhardt - Isabelle Mercier
Frej Rutenskold - Bengt Sonnert
**
Chen Guosem - Padraig Parkinson
John Falconer - Antony Lellouche
**

4
Bruno Fitoussi - Jin Cai Lin
Cui Guogun - Ali Osman
**
Peter Abela - Julian Thew
Jatinder Singh - Roberto Binelli
**
Mark MacMahon - Luzhe Zhang
Bill Edler - Paul Jackson
**
Mattias Backstrom - Simon Nowab
Mark Foster - Rory Liffey

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WHU Update No. 6

Looking back at yesterday's first-round matches, we could see that most favorites had a rather smooth entry into the second round. Only Ram Vaswani and Carlo Citrone busted out, but this was more than anything because of a very tough draw, and the only real upset that I could see was the exit of young Luca Pagano. Today we will have an additional 32 round 1 matches. And there's quite a bit to look forward to, for instance the matches between "Chief" Rob Hollink and the -as described in one of Bob Ciaffone's books- "top flight player" Derek Baxter, and the exciting battle between Smokin' Steve Vladar and "No Mercy" Isabelle Mercier. All results and developments can be found below, and for more information about chips, blinds, limit increases etc. just scroll down to update no. 3 - you can find all the information there.

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WHU Update No. 5

Bracket 3:

Rob Hollink - Derek Baxter* (0h52)
... Rob had gotten into early trouble, down to about 3-to-1 in chips after just 30 minutes. After he had succeeded in stealing a few small pots against Derek, he then lost a huge one. Having raised with T9, he flopped QTT. He bet on the flop and turn and when the river created a backdoor flush, Derek suddenly came out betting 2,300 in a 4,000 pot. Rob called and indeed Derek had the flush. He had KJ of spades for an open-ended straight draw on the flop (note that a nine would have given Rob a boat though), and caught runner-runner to severely cripple the Dutchman. And another king-jack suited would actually seal his fate. Up against this exact same hand, with a king on the board, Rob's K8 of spades had a bad kicker, and one of the top favorites this week is out.
David Slowik* - Daniel Steine (1h05)
... The short-stacked Daniel had doubled through once to 1,800: all-in before the flop with kings against an ace-deuce, he made top full. But in the end, it was still David's chip power that made the difference.
---
David Leigh* - Benedetto Passantino (1h24)
... After just 25 minutes of play, David already had ganied himself a 7,700-2,300 chip lead. From there, it took him about one more hour to finish off Benedetto.
---
Rino Mathis* - Jeff Kimbler (0h54)
... The experienced Rino was up 7,200-2,800 within 30 minutes. His first attempt to knock out Jeff failed (J9 vs. JJ on an 876 flop, when a nine and a five on turn and river gave both players the same straight - the board played), but his second did not. Holding top pair, he got his opponent all-in on the turn with second pair, and the best hand held up.
---
Paul King - Hans Eskilsson* (4h59)
... After just little time, it is Paul who has built a massive chip lead, his opponent down to 1,400. But Hans Eskilsson used to be a Swedish national team football player, and is therefore accustomed to fighting back from behind, and to never give up - no matter how bad things seem to be. Almost two hours into the match, he had fought back to about 3,500. And well within the fourth hour, the Swede had actually taken the lead, holding two thirds of the chips. In the longest match of the day, he would indeed stand up as the winner.
Gary Collins* - Ben Grundy (1h12)
... With about 3,700 in chips left, Ben got himself all-in on the flop As 9c 6c, holding 87 for an open-ended straight draw. But Gary had Ac Jc for the best hand and the best draw, and didn't need to improve to win.
---
Chris Sokrati - Michael Keiner* (2h21)
... A very tight match. After about an hour or so, it was Michael who started to become slightly more aggressive. Or, as he said himself: "It was not easy, because my opponent played very strong. He gave nothing away. And in the end I was just plain lucky. With a 2-to-1 chip lead, we got all the money in in a bit of a gamble - and then the river gave me a royal flush!" Either way, the strong German is through to the second round, where he will face Jac Arama - another highly interesting match.
---
Sean MacMahon - Jac Arama* (0h47)

... The colorful Jac was off to a flying start. After just 30 minutes of play, he was already holding over 70% of the chips in play. And well within the hour, he had his shortstacked opponent all-in before the flop with nines against the seven-five of hearts. The best hand held up, and JacAttack is through.
---
Christian Engblom - Peter Eichhardt* (0h35)
Isabelle Mercier* - Steve Vladar + TT (3h11)
... Not a lot of excitement on the televised table. It seemed both players wanted to avoid big confrontations early in the match. After an hour of play, both stacks were still about equal, but at the break Steve has gained a 2-to-1 chip lead over the dangerous Isabelle. But Isabelle was able to fight back! Holding aces, she bet all-in on the flop, got called - and won. She was now back in the saddle, with 7,600 in chips, and from there went on to win the match - even though Steve did not give up easily. In the final hand, Isabelle's pocket tens held up, and the elegant Canadian is through.
---
Brian Benedon - Frej Rutenskold* (0h25)
... Brian had gotten into early trouble, and with less than 2,000 left he flopped a jack-high flush draw. His opponent's top pair held up.
---
Howard Plant - Bengt Sonnert* (1h20)
---
Santiago Terrazas - Chen Guosem* (0h11)
... After just a couple of hands of play, both players got their stacks into the middle before the flop. Chen was a big dog holding nines against tens, but a nine came on the flop to bust out the hometown player.
---
Padraig Parkinson* - Joe Beevers (1h35)
... In a highly interesting match, where the colorful Padraig seemed more concrened with the developments on the adjacent table (that of Burnley John Falconer against Kevin O'Connell), it was the INishman who would beat the strong Joe Beevers. The Elegance had aces in a raised pot, and then when the flop came TT2 with two spades, all the remaining money went in: about 2,000. Padraig had what Joe probably figured him for, a flush draw, and indeed a third spade came on the river.
---
John Falconer* - Kevin O'Connell (1h29)
... After having made a good call on the river with a mere third pair (Q4 on a board with an ace, a king and a queen, and three clubs on top of that), John had Kevin down to 2,400, and from there went on to win the match.
Antony Lellouche* - Romain Feriolo (1h25)
... The creative Antony was close to busting out the unpredictable Romain, holding a flush draw + overcard against Romain's pair of tens with two cards to come. But two blanks fell, keeping the man from Marbella alive with a slight chip lead of about 5,800 in chips. In the end, it was probably Antony's bigger experience that paid off.
---

Bracket 4:

Bruno Fitoussi* - Santiago Planas TT (0h46)
... Right after completion of the Isabelle match, it was another Aviation Club prominent to perform in front of the cameras: ACF boss Bruno Fitoussi, former winner of this World Heads Up. But in fact, his opponent didn't have a clue who he was, and who he up against! Also, Santiago played an extremely aggressive game, so it was not easy for Bruno to take control over the match. Fitoussi won an important pot when he raised with AK, got called by KJ, and was then able to trap his opponent for a bit of money. Having gotten the lead, he could then start bullying some more. In the end, he raised to 350, and when Santiago reraised all-in to 1,400, the Frenchman decided to call him with A6, figuring his opponent could make this play with a wide range of hands. He was correct: Santiago had a mere ten-five suited, and the best hand held up.
Jin Cai Lin* - Erik Forsberg (1h04)
... The dangerous and highly aggressive Jin had gotten off to a flying start. After 25 minutes of play, he was already holding over 8,000 in chips. And well within the hour he had clinched the match, when his top pair / jack kicker held up against his opponent's middle pair / jack kicker. All in all, a good day for the Asians, because in addition to Jin, there were also good wins for Cui Guogun and Lu Zhe Zhang.
---
Cui Guogun* - John Cunningham (0h04)
... The fastest match of the day. In no time, Cui had his opponent down. Holding K9 against 98, with a board K98xx, both had flopped two pair, and top two pair held up.
Gary Chatterton - Ali Osman* (4h52)
---
Peter Abela* - Rosa Massimiliano (1h51)
... In a raised pot, it was big blind Rosa who checked to small blind / button Peter. Flop: JT8, and Peter now bet 900. When Rosa then check-raised all-in to 2,500, he had to think for a very long time, but in the end decided to call with his AT. His read was correct: Rosa had QT for second pair / weker kicker + gutshot. No surprises, and Peter is through to the next round.
Julian Thew* - Per-Werner Svenson (2h34)
... One of the rising stars in European poker, Julian Thew, was down to just 1,200, and on the verge of elimination. But he then made a great resurrection! Having built his stack up to 3,075, he managed to get all the money in preflop with pocket aces against ace-queen suited. This was a hand taped for television, so both players had to wait for three or four minutes for the hand to conclude. And then the board got scarier and scarier for Julian. On the flop, he found himself up against a gutshot (JT2), on the turn against an open-ender (9), but in the end the best hand held up. Julian was in the lead now with just over 6,000, and from there was able to keep the initiative. When he had Per down to 1,300, he could afford to gamble a little. All-in with queen-eight of hearts against a pair of treys, he made a straight to beat the young Swede. An excellent come-back from an excellent player, who may be one of the top favorites here this week.
---
Jatinder Singh* - Paul Gamhart (3h48)
Roberto Binelli* - David Mahmood (0h56)
... After the elimination of Luca yesterday, we still have a colorful Italian in the race. Roberto Binelli had a fairly easy match against David, and after about an hour of play he was through.
---
Jim Goodwin - Mark MacMahon* (1h37)
Lu Zhe Zhang* - Chris Evans (0h51)
... The sympathetic Zhang, who lives in Vienna, needed to survive one coin flip to get back into the match. All-in for 1,850 with 77 against KQ, his sevens held up. And then, when he had gotten the lead, he was able to clinch the match. With a flop 972 and two spades, his opponent had 5s 3s for a live flush draw, but Zhang's kings held up.
---
Bill Edler* - Michael Thuretz (0h29)
Paul Jackson* - Maurice O'Connor (1h35)
... Paul Jackson has just won a massive pot. Against a board QJT rainbow, he called a very large bet by Maurice with JT for top pair. And he had caught his opponent with his pants down: Maurice had a six-high for nothing more than a runner-runner flush draw. Paul now had 8,800, making the rest of the match not much more than just a formality.
---
Lothar Landauer - Mattias Backstrom +
... Lothar was steadily chipping away at Matthias. After winning a 1,300 pot uncontested (on the turn Qs Ac 5h 4h his opponent was unable to call his 600 bet), he was holding 70% of the total chips in play, and things seemed to go very smoothly for him. But then suddenly the tide changed. Matthias came back from behind, and holding a 2-to-1 chip lead over the experienced German, the following pot developed. With 2,000 in the middle already, Mattias bet 500 on the turn against the board Kd Jh 3d Qd - a bet that seemed to imply weakness probably more than anything. Lothar raised him all-in to 2,000 with KQ, and when his opponent had to think for a very long time, the German probably assumed his top two pair was good. But when in the end he got called, his opponent turned over an unexpected holding: ace-ten of clubs not for the diamond flush that Lothar may have feared, but rather for a straight - and that held up.
---
Simon Nowab* - Khayam Ezzat (0h49)
... Simon was in total control right from the get-go. Within 30 minutes, he had his opponent down about 3-to-1, and when on a flop 875 his top pair held up against his opponent's bottom pair, he had booked an extremely smooth win.
---
Mark Foster* - Kate Szeremeta (5h33)
... A match that lasted until midnight - literally. Both players came close to winning on several occasions. In the end, Kate went all-in with nines before the flop, but Mark's pocket kings held up.
---
Rory Liffey* - Andrew Kinsman (1h14)
... The experienced Rory was in command with (after 30 minutes) about 7,300 in chips against Andrew Kinsman, writer of an excellent book on Internet poker. Andrew could not come back, and Rory was through.


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WHU Update No. 4

Day 1 is over! 16 tables, 32 players total. We had quite a few upsets, and a whole lot of excitement - as noted before, in a sold-out venue.
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WHU Update No. 3

Below, I have listed the updates on the 16 matches that have started at 3:30 p.m. local time, and the 16 matches that have followed immediately after that. A few important things: The winner of a match is identified with * , the indication that a match has started is + , and the matches that get played on the televised table, will have a TT mark. Each player has 5,000 in chips. Blinds start at 50-100, then move up to 75-150 after one hour, then to 100-200 and the maximum blinds are 150-300.

Bracket 1:

Angel Blanco Puras* - Jonathan Sullivan TT (1h26)
... After one hour of play, the reigning champion is in good shape, holding a 3-to-1 chip lead. And without getting into real trouble, he managed to finish things off.
Ivo Donev* - Carlos Lopez (SSQ) (0h25)
... Ivo took an early lead, and with 7,600-2,400 he got his opponent all-in, holding 66 against 33. The best hand held up, and the chess master is through.
---
Pascal Perrault* - Rumit Somaiya (0h36)
... Pascal took an almost 2-to-1 chip lead after just 18 minutes of play. And with Rumit down to 1,500, he raised all-in against Pascal's 300 small blind / button (SBB) raise with a QJ. But the Bandit's A5 of hearts held up; in fact, the Frenchman won by making a straight.

Roy Brindley* - Luke Smith (0h23)
...After just 15 minutes of play, Roy won a massive pot with top pair, QJ, on a flop Q93 against Luke Smith's AK. Total pot: 9,100 - Luke now had only 900 left, and he could not recover.
---
Carlos Massana* - Xuyen Pham (0h47)
... Bad Girl is out against one of the hometown favorites. Pham check-raised all-in to about 2,000 with 87 for top pair + open-ended straight (flop 765 with two spades), but Carlos had As 4s for a monster draw, and a three on the turn gave him a straight - and the winner.
Dave Ulliott* - Alex Leviev + TT (2h00)
... Dave won a massive pot with Q6, with both a queen and a six on the board, to give him a 3-to-1 chip lead against the dangerous Leviev. Now that reigning champion Angel Blanco had won his match, the Devil got to play in front of the cameras. And that always brings out the best in him: Within no time, he was able to clinch the match.
---
Patrice Boudet - Stephen Pearce* (0h22)
Carlo Citrone - Daniel Larsson* (0h51)
... After 15 minutes of play, Daniel already had an 8,000-2,000 lead over the man who has just made his comeback on the circuit. And well within the hour, the talented Swede was able to finish things off. With just 1,200 left, Citrone was all-in with JT versus K8, but a king flopped to end this match.
---
Luca Pagano - Albert Alshamn* (0h43)
... One of the most colorful players on the circuit is out, in the first round already! Luca suffered an upset loss against the (to me) unknown Albert, who is through to round 2. Down to about 1,400, Luca called his oponent's all-in raise while dominating him (KJ vs. K9), but a nine flopped to send home the Italian charmer.
Charles Mailhot - Simon Trumper* (2h26)
...Simon was in early trouble against the man who had played so well at last year's Master Classics. Even though Aces managed to win a pot by betting 400 on the river 97T43, he was still trailing 2,800-7,200. But after winning another pot on a board KKJT where Simon raised Mailhot's 400 bet, he is now trailing by just 2-to-1. And in fact, as I am writing this, Simon has levelled things. On a board A77T, Charles bet 275, Simon raised to 550, Charles reraised to 1,000 and when Simon then went all-in for 2,400, it was too much for the Canadian. His fold was correct though: Simon had a seven. Once he had gotten the lead, Simon had more power, and in the end it was enough for him to clinch the match.
---
Martin Cedercrantz* - Jan-Pieter Postmus (1h28)
... The Dutchman had his opponent down to 2,500 at one time, but after one hour of play it was Martin who had gained a slight chip lead, and from there went on to win the match.
Ross Boatman* - Ram Vaswani (2h20)
... A very tight match. The two Mobsters don't want to give anything away, and no player has accumulated more than 60% of the chips during the first 90 minutes. Then it was Ross who gained the lead. He finally moved in preflop with nines and Ram had about 2,900 in chips left. He called with AQ, but a nine flopped to send home the Crazy Horse.
---
Peter Gunnardon* - Frank Blumlein (2h06)
... A good win for Peter. He was down to 3,200 after he could not call an all-in bet from Frank against a board AKQ7, but from there was able to recover and win the martch.
Paul Hersleth* - Tom Brady (1h54)
... Paul has doubled through to 3,400, his A8 suited holding up against Tom's king-four suited, all-in before the flop. Coming down from a short stack, he did a great job in turning things around. Once he had accumulated a large stack, his opponent's top pair held up against Paul's small flush draw to stay alive one time, but in the end it was Paul whose stack had simply grown too large. Having raised to 400 on the SBB, Tom reraised all-in to 1,625 with an ace-four, and after long deliberation Paul called with QT. A ten flopped, and the Scandinavian is through.
---
John Kabbaj* - Marco Monica (1h35)
... After one hour of play, John has built his stack up to about 7,600. And in the end, he got his shortstacked opponent all-in with AJ versus K9, and won by making top pair / good kicker.
Mickey Wernick* - Michael Hewitt (2h24)
... Mickey, who has such a good history in the World Heads up (for instance, two years ago he beat a bunch of top players including Marcel Luske, only to lose in an unfortunate manner against the eventual winner John Cernuto), gave nothing away in this match. He had a 6-to-4 lead basically all the time, and picked the right moment to go through.
---

Bracket 2:

Mark Banin - Dave Colclough* (0h14)

... Two massive hands in the early stages. After some action, Mark had moved in with AK, and Dave called him with TT. (He later said: "I thought you had sevens or eights." In this case, he would of course have been a much bigger favorite than he was now.) The tens held up, giving Dave a massive 9,800-200 chip lead, and the next hand it was over for Mark.

Paul Zimbler - Noah Boeken* TT (1h39)
... After just a few minutes of play, these two young guns were moved to the televised table, now that the Devilfish had won his match easily. Noah had gotten himself into early trouble, but when his queens held up against Paul's ace-king of clubs, he managed to stay alive in decent shape, both players having equal stacks.
From there, Noah took a slight lead, and in the end could not believe his luck when, holding aces, his opponent moved in on him. Noah had raised, and then Paul put all his chips into the pot with A5. Noah said something along the lines of "Well, I guess I call", and his bullets held up. The winner of the EPT Copenhagen is through.
---
Josep M. Talens* - Bruce Atkinson (1h45)
... No more Elvis songs probably, because the colorful Bruce Atkinson is out. Hometown player Josep who -if my memory is correct- was pretty strong last year as well, came out on top.
Juan Sastre* - Makus Lehman (0h46)
... Juan had his opponent in deep trouble right from the start. He had a 9-to-1 chip lead and then could afford to take the worst of it, holding A6 offsuit against his opponent's jacks, but when sixes came on both the turn and the river, he was through.
---
Raul Paez Corral* - Ben Battle (0h19)
... In a huge pot, Raul flopped top two pair, jacks and sixes, but his opponent had a king-high flush draw. The flush didn't come, and the hometown player is through.
Alexander Kravchenko* (1h50) - Vladimir Troyanovsky
... In an all-Russian affair, Alexander seemed in total control. After one hour of play, he had about 7,000 in chips. But then, he somehow got all his moneyin preflop with a mere 65 of diamonds, and gave Vladimir (who was holding nines) the chance to double through to 7,700. Despite this important loss, Alex had the strength to come back once more.
---
Willie Tann - Jon Huckle* (1h38)
... Willie Tann had doubled through to 7,000, his tens holding up against his opponent's nines. But shortly after, Jon doubled through Willie again, holding a set of fives against Willie's unimproved ace-ten. Wille was now down to 2,500, and could not recover.
Phil Shaw - Barny Boatman* (0h39)
... And the second Boatman is through as well! When Phil flopped top two pair (JT on a JT6 flop) he went for the trap-check. But in the end he got trapped himself! An eight on the turn gave Barny (holding a nine-seven) a straight. Phil then bet 375, Barny raised to 975, and Phil moved all-in for about 2,400, with Barny calling. No help on the river for Phil, and the Mobster is through.
---
Woody Deck* - Sargon Ruya (1h29)

Mark Bartlog - Richard Gryko* (1h06)
Mark who was wearing the exact same cape that Bruce Willis wore in "Unbreakable", albeit with a slightly different color, ran into trouble against the excellent Gryko rather quickly. On the final hand, his opponent had outdrawn his queens with a 43 suited, flopping three of a kind. Mark had 1,600 left at that stage and of course there was no way back for him. When the board double-paired on the turn, he gained some extra outs, but a blank fell on the river. Richard is through to round 2.
---
Jim Britton (SSQ)* - Pouya Pouya Majd (3h06)
... Jim had been trailing for quite a while, when he got lucky in a monster pot. He went all-in preflop with treys and was up against a much bigger pair (queens) - but flopped a three. This pot, that gave Jim 5,600 in chips, broke Pouya Pouya, who had been in charge all along.


Colin Gerrard - Jamie Sharrat* (2h52)
---
Nicu Simcelescu - Manuel Silva* (1h33)
... Nicu gained an 8,500-1,500 chip lead, when he had two pair on the turn against top pair (KT vs. A8 on a board AK6T), and a blank fell on the river. But Manuel shoed great strength by fighting back, and in the end he was rewarded for this by winning the match.

Dan Simcelescu* - Dave Gardner (2h11)
... First, Dave stayed alive when his pocket tens outdrew his opponents top two pair (76 on a 763 flop, turn 3). He won a 6,500 pot there, but lost this lead when a few pots later, he semi-bluffed on the turn with a flush draw - and his opponent turned out to have the nut straight! Dave's stack is now down to 3,000 again.
---
Mathias Wilkens* - Henry Bull (3h43)
Andreas Hagan* - Peter Troejborg (2h55)
---

Bracket 3:

Rob Hollink - Derek Baxter
David Slowik - Daniel Steine
---
David Leigh - Benedetto Passantino
Rino Mathis (SSQ) - Jeff Kimbler
---
Paul King - Hans Eskilsson
Gary Collins - Ben Grundy
---
Chris Sokrati - Michael Keiner
Sean MacMahon - Jac Arama
---
Christian Engblom - Peter Eichhardt
Isabelle Mercier - Steve Vladar
---
Brian Benedon - Frej Rutenskold
Howard Plant - Bengt Sonnert
---
Santiago Terrazas - Chen Guosem
Padraig Parkinson - Joe Beevers
---
John Falconer - Kevin O'Connell
Antony Lellouche - Romain Feriolo
---

Bracket 4:

Bruno Fitoussi - Santiago Planas
Jin Cai Lin - Erik Forsberg
---
Cui Guogun - John Cunningham
Gary Chatterton - Ali Osman
---
Peter Abela - Rosa Massimiliano
Julian Thew - Per-Werner Svenson
---
Jatinder Singh - Paul Gamhart
Roberto Binelli - David Mahmood
---
Jim Goodwin - Mark MacMahon
Lu Zhe Zhang - Chris Evans
---
Bill Edler - Michael Thuretz
Paul Jackson - Maurice O'Connor
---
Lothar Landauer - Mattias Backstrom
Simon Nowab - Khayam Ezzat
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Mark Foster - Kate Szeremeta
Rory Liffey - Andrew Kinsman