London has served as a useful muse to countless musicians over the years, each seeking, in three and a half minutes, to say something of the city's spirit and bestow this wisdom, musically, on the public for about 99p. It's amazing what you can say with a guitar and a backing track, to people prepared to listen.
So when the track played it was to set the scene for the day, a song about London and how great it was, with a jaunty beat and no trace of anything salubrious. But who was it exactly? The PokerStars Blog reports:
We arrived in time to find 9,000 already in the middle with Sadman Shefan and Sam Greenwood engaged in the hand. The board read and Shefan checked over to Greenwood who bet what sounded like 4,800. Shefan replied by check-raising all in for 11,050 total, sending Greenwood into the tank.
After just over a minute, Greenwood dropped out a call, prompting Shefan to tap the table. Shefan tabled {d} for a busted gutshot draw and jack-high, allowing Greenwood to score the elimination with .
With this victory, Greenwood's stack is now up to 65,000.
The black baseball cap and scruffy beard will lead most people to believe that the player at their table is just another online poker player. Norwegian pro Felix Stephensen however is much more than that, as he's part of the 2014 World Series of Poker November Nine.
Stephensen is the third November Niner we've spotted this week after Andoni Larrabe and Jorryt van Hoof both played on Day 1a. The former advanced with 40,100 chips to Day 2 while Van Hoof was knocked out in the second level of play.
Stephensen comes into November second in chips behind van Hoof while Larrabe sits in fourth place, right behind Mark Newhouse.
There are only a few weeks left for the finalists of the WSOP Main Event to get some extra practice in, and Stephensen seems to be making the most of it.
Team PokerStars Pro and, let it not be forgotten, two-times EPT Champion, Victoria Coren Mitchell is not having much luck since Ole Schemion sat down at her table. It’s not the German Wunderkind who is giving her problems though. From the big blind Coren Mitchell check-called all the way down to the river of a board reading and mucked when her opponent showed her .
Coren Mitchell then resumed eating her healthy snack of fresh peas in the pod from a local sushi place, served in a plastic cup and addressed Schemion saying, “I don’t think I’ve won a hand since you’ve come to the table.” It wasn’t too long though before Coren Mitchell was involved in another hand calling an open in late position.
The flop was and when her opponent bet 825 Coren Mitchell raised to 3,500 and then faced a four-bet to 7,800. Munching another pea contemplatively she decided to call and saw the turn card come the . A bet of 8,000 saw Cornen Mitchell call, finish her snack and then brush her hands as she awaited the river card and the final action.
The river was the and Coren Mitchell’s opponent moved all in for 16,000. “Ok, I’m officially puzzled. “ She said before deciding, “If you haven’t got the best hand you deserve to win anyway. “ and mucking her hand to see a big dent put in her stack.
Chris Moorman fired a bet of 1,100 on a board of after against Rainer Kempe had checked. The German player called to see the on the river before checking once more.
Moorman now bet 3,500 and Kempe tanked for about two minutes before deciding to fold.
Four players including Darren Hill and Ole Schemion saw a flop of . There were three checks around to Schemion and he fired into the middle for 1,050. Hill called and the other two players released their cards.
The turn was the and Hill led into the aggressor, betting 1,800. Schemion would not be swayed, however, as he raised the action to 3,800. Hill quickly called and the dropped down on the river. The action went check-check, prompting Hill to roll over for two pair of kings and jacks. Schemion threw his hand into the muck and Hill was awarded the pot.