World Series of Poker Euro Update: Day 38Former Main Event Champion Does Well On Day 1D |
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Day 1 officially came to an end today with the close of day 1D. More than 2,000 people registered and just under 1,400 survived the day. The biggest news was the announcement of the top prize for this year’s main event, $9,119,517. The total amount of players was also announced at 6,844, a little over 500 more players than last year. An apt amount of 666 players will make the money.
During the early stages of the day, many players were paying as much attention to the Wimbledon final as they were to their table, with the exclusion of Dane Gus Hansen. He set up a chair next to the television and spent more time there than at his seat at the table. Apparently being 15 feet away was too far and he needed to see the exciting match up-close.
The current record holder for most cashes in a single World Series of Poker, Russian Nikolay Evdakov started his main event today striving for his 11th. In one hand, Evdakov raised to 300 total from early position, which brought the camera crews over to record the action. His lone caller was his opponent in the big blind, who checked a flop of 6
55
. Evdakov bet again, this time 500, and his opponent folded.
Richie Smith shunned the timid, wait-and-see attitude that many players take on in the first level and instead opted for a hyper-aggressive style that nearly resulted in his elimination. On a flop of 1055
, Smith, in a pot against Frenchman Patrick Bruel, moved all-in with pocket jacks. Bruel nearly broke his wrist trying to get his chips into the pot with his pocket tens, but not all is fair in love and poker, and a jack came on the turn, crippling Bruel. Smith apologised for the bad beat, but emboldened by his growing chipstack, he defended his aggression and said, “I’m relentless.”
Two Europeans worth keeping an eye on were Italy’s Dario Minieri and Carlos Mortensen from Spain.
At level 2, Minieri on the button, limped into a pot to join four other players. The board came KJ
2. After three checks which included both blinds and the player in the cut-off, Minieri bet 625. The big blind and the cut-off called. The turn brought the K, pairing the board and bringing a flush into play. After two checks, Minieri bet 2200. The big blind folded and the cut-off called. The river brought the 10, putting a four-card flush on board. The cut-off checked and Minieri bet 3900. The cut-off simply called, worried about a full house, and showed the nut flush, holding A10. Minieri mucked his hand and suffered a strong blow to his stack. Shortly afterwards however, the Italian made back a few of his lost chips through aggressive positional play.
Later on, the scarf-lover was in a hand where his opponent bet 1,500 on the flop of AQ7. Minieri raised to 3,600 and his opponent called. The J fell on the turn and Minieri moved all in. A camera crew swarmed the table as Minieri's opponent thought over his decision. The player eventually mucked and Minieri showed 25 for a huge bluff. After the hand Minieri sat with 19,000 in chips.
The Italian didn’t quite make it to the end of the day however, when a couple of ladies became his downfall. Minieri raised against one middle position limper to 1,600 from the small blind. The limper called, and also called Dario's bet of 2,300 on the flop of 722. The turn was the 10, and Minieri shoved for his remaining 7,500. His opponent called once again, and was in bad shape holding A10 against Minieri's QQ. But the river brought an unfortunate 10, sending the bracelet winner to the rail early in the last level of the night.
Spanish Champion, Carlos Mortensen faired a good bit better throughout the day, despite stumbling to below 10,000 in chips early session. He broke an opponent, after a flop came down KJ10. The player in the big blind bet 3000, one-third of his stack, into a 2250 pot. Mortensen, on the button, then raised enough to put the player all-in. The big blind called and showed QQ for second pair and open-ended draw. Mortensen held J10 for two pair. The turn brought the 6 and the river the 3, sending the other player's remaining 6100 in chips across the table to the former main event winner.
During the late stages of play, on a board of Q10545, Mortensen made a 4,000 bet on the river and the player in seat 3 looked him up. Mortensen rolled his eyes and threw his hand into the muck. Seat 3 raked the pot, but failed to make a significant dent in Mortensen's growing stack. After the hand, he still had well over 120,000 in chips.
Day 1D was by far the largest of the day 1 fights, with 2,461 players waiting until the final day to make their entrance in the tournament. Phil Ivey was one of the biggest names in poker to fall of the radar; the odds-on favourite was out before dinner break. Notable players near the top at the end of the day included 2001 world champion Carlos Mortensen (109,000), and Gus Hansen (105,000). German George Danzer was eliminated late session.
One big hope for Europe currently lies with Norwegian player Henning Granstad. He finished day 1C as chip leader with 249,950 in chips, and now after day 1D, is still the main event chip leader. But can he stay that way? Only time will tell. Day 2A begins tomorrow evening, so join CardPlayer.com on Wednesday for the next round of updates. In the meantime, the $500 casino employee hold’em no-limit tournament will kick off at 8pm tonight.
