Master Classics of Poker Tournament Report
By Card Player Columist and Poker School Online teacher, Rolf "Ace" Slotboom
November 2, 2002 No-limit Hold’em Freeroll
Day # 1: The cards are in the air
This year’s Master Classics of Poker tournament in Amsterdam, The Netherlands is expected to be the biggest and the most exciting ever. Without a doubt, it is the best value in the world, as Holland Casinos have decided to add a whopping 81,000 Euros to the prize pool. Today's EUR 21,000 freeroll attracted not only quite a few hometown players, but also a bunch of European top pros who decided to come over for the entire week, rather than just for a couple of days. Entries for Wednesday's Big One (the EUR 3,000 no-limit hold'em freeze-out) were given away to the final seven players, out of the 178 that entered.
Lots of familiar faces still in action.
With about 25 players left, quite a few big gunners were still in the race. For instance, we had Alex Kravchenko from Russia, Peter Karall from Austria, Joe Beevers, Ross Boatman and Simon Trumper from England, Marcel Lüske from the Netherlands and Chip Winton from the U.S. Because the blinds and antes had become rather high (blinds 500-1500, ante 300) compared to the average stack size (everyone started with 1,000 in chips, for a total of 178,000 in play), the smaller stacks couldn't afford to wait. After Marcel had been busted out unlucky, it was the highly aggressive and dangerous Austrian Peter Karall who suffered a tough beat. When hometown player Noah Boeken raised with AQ from the small blind, Peter had an easy call with AK, being the favorite by a wide margin. It looked even better for him when the flop came K93 rainbow, but things turned dramatically when red queens came on the turn and river. He was not the only one to get really unlucky. One of the most dangerous players on the circuit, Joe Beevers from England, holding king-jack, came over the top of Cees Loffeld's all-in raise, only to see that the Dutchman's 63 of hearts and the Q63 flop matched perfectly. Joe was also a big favorite in his next confrontation, holding AQ against Alex Kravchecko's all-in raise with QJ. But once again the board favored the underdog: AT985, giving the talented Russian the nut straight. Cees then lost his entire stack with wired nines against young Noah's ace-ten suited, and we were down to ten players, who had to draw seats for the final table.
The final table: only three more to go- and who said ace-ten is not a good hand?
The already shortstacked Hans van der Zijden was unlucky having to start in the big blind, and he got raised by Ross Boatman's KJ. Local player Dani Tanner called with AT, and his hand stood up. With Ross out, most remaining players tried to avoid confrontations and were playing survival, as only two more players needed to bust out for the tournament to end. It was big guy Marty S. from the U.S. who did just that (busting out), when big blind Alex called his all-in raise with ace-ten against Marty's wired kings, only to see an ace flop. With now eight players left, it was a question of waiting and maneuvering, and it took about 45 minutes for the final player to depart. Things looked all over for Hans, who was dead and buried all-in with AT against Peter Dekker's AQ, but when a miracle ten came on the river the ace-ten proved successful once again, and it was still eight players remaining. Then it was Alex, who had not played a single hand since his win over Marty and therefore had seen his stack shrink to about 5,500, who made an all-in move against Patrick Morgan's 3,000 blind. Both Morgan and small blind Peter Dekker, a good and highly aggressive player from Holland, called his raise, and they checked down their hands to the river. It was Peter who found a six for trip sixes, to bust out the Russian and to end today's tournament. Seven lucky players were thrilled to get a free entry for Wednesday's Big One, and to receive it from the tournament's beautiful and capable tournament director, Adèle Bruijn.
Final results- Qualifiers for the EUR 3,000 no-limit hold'em freeze-out:
Noah Boeken, The Netherlands
Peter Dekker, The Netherlands
Craig Grant, UK
Patrick Morgan, UK
Dani Tanner, Aruba
Simon Trumper, UK
Hans van der Zijden, The Netherlands
Some final words.
Tomorrow's event will be the EUR 200 limit hold'em with one optional rebuy, an event that is already sold out with 220 players maximum. I will keep you guys posted. Take care, and good luck,
Rolf.
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