€25,500 High Roller Dia 1 | 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 11 Malta

2015-03-19 02:47 UTC+2

Day 1 Attracts 86 Entrants; Khoroshenin Leads After 10 Levels of Play

[user153638]

Nível 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

The 2015 PokerStars.com Season 11 EPT Malta kicked off in a big way on Wednesday with the start of the €25,000 High Roller, a "special" tournament that was a late addition to the schedule. Day 1 attracted 86 entries (67 unique, 19 reentries), though that number is sure to go up as registration is open until the start of Day 2.

After 10 one-hour levels of play, Ukraine's Oleksii Khoroshenin lead the surviving 40 players with 277,600 in chips. Others who bagged big stacks were Nick Petrangelo (239,000), Piotr Franczak (205,600), Dan Smith (200,300), Philipp Gruissem (188,500), and Martin Finger (178,200).

Khoroshenin, the winner of the 2014 EPT Vienna Main Event for €578,392, got many of his chips in the last level of the night after he got almost full value out of a full house in a hand versus Ihar Soika.

It happened when Soika raised to 2,700 from under the gun and called Khoroshenin's three-bet to 7,200 from the cutoff. The flop fanned and Soika check-called a 9,000 continuation-bet. He did the same when Khoroshenin bet 17,000 on the turn, and then faced a big 53,000 bet on the river when he checked again. Soika made the call but mucked after Khoroshenin opened for queens full.

Of course not everyone was so lucky. Jorryt van Hoof, Jean-Noel Thorel, and Igor Kurganov were a few of the players to fire two bullets, so their EPT Malta High Roller experience has officially come to an end. Meanwhile, other Day 1 casualties who still have the option to reenter before the start of Day 2 are Aussie Millions champ Ami Barer; reigning World Series of Poker winner Martin Jacobson; World Poker Tour champion Paul Klann; and Team PokerStars Pros Eugene Katchalov, Vanessa Selbst, Jonathan Duhamel, and Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier.

As for Selbst, the only lady in the tournament, she fell after action folded to Stephen Chidwick in the hijack and he raised to 2,500. Selbst then three-bet all in for 22,300 from the cutoff, the button and blinds all folded, and Chidwick gave it some thought before dropping in a call.

Chidwick:
Selbst:

Chidwick was ahead, but Selbst was drawing to two live cards. When the flop failed to deliver, Selbst began to stand. The turn gave her pause, but alas it wasn't the paint card she needed. The dealer burned one last time and put out the . The Team PokerStars Pro rapped the tabled and then made her way to the exit.

While many fell, plenty of notables made it through to Day 2 including Jeff Rossiter (149,900), Fabian Quoss (110,300), Pratyush Buddiga (106,200), Davidi Kitai (100,300), Dani Stern (86,200), Sorel Mizzi (73,200), Simon Ravnsbaek (63,000), and Ole Schemion (57,900)

Day 2 will commence at 12:30 p.m. local time. The plan is to player either 10 levels or down to eight players, whichever comes first. Join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team then for all the EPT Malta €25,000 action you can handle.

While you wait, check out Sarah Herring's guided tour of Malta:

Tags: Oleksii Khoroshenin

2015-03-19 02:00 UTC+2

Kurganov Culled in Last Level of the Night

[user153638]

Nível 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Igor Kurganov recently busted his second bullet, which means his EPT Malta €25,000 High Roller has officially come to an end.

His final hand came when he got the last of his chips all in on a flop against fellow German Andreas Eiler.

Eiler:
Kurganov:

Kurganov went with his gutshot straight draw, which he needed to hit to overcome Eiler's queens. The turn paired Kurganov, but it wasn't quite enough. The river was of no consequences, and Kurganov failed to make it to Day 2.

"Enjoy everyone," Kurganov offered before heading to the exit.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Andreas Eiler	125,000
Igor Kurganov	Eliminado

Tags: Igor Kurganov Andreas Eiler

2015-03-19 01:38 UTC+2

Khoroshenin Surges Clear

Nível 10 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Oleksii Khoroshenin has surged clear at the top of the counts after he got almost full value out of a full house in a hand versus Ihar Soika.

The latter raised to 2,700 from under the gun and called after the EPT Vienna champion three-bet to 7,200 from the cutoff. The flop fanned and Soika check-called a 9,000 c-bet. He did the same when Khoroshenin bet 17,000 on the turn and then faced a big 53,000 bet on the river when he checked again.

Soika made the call and then stared at the board for 30 seconds after Khoroshenin opened . Eventually he released his hand and paid off the clear chip leader.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Oleksii Khoroshenin	260,000	140,450
Ihar Soika	49,000	-5,000

Tags: Ihar Soika Oleksii Khoroshenin

2015-03-18 22:31 UTC+2

PokerStars' Neil Johnson Talks High Rollers and the "Special" One Taking Place Today

Nível 7 : 400/800, 100 ante

There are a few subtle differences at IPT and EPT Malta compared to other stops on the tour. The destination is a brand new one for the EPT, the GPI’s Global Poker Masters will be taking place before the Main Event kicks off, and a whopping 68 events are scheduled over 12 days. Another change has seen a "special" €25,000 High Roller event added that’s running alongside the IPT Main Event. The 25Ks are normally reserved for the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and EPT Grand Final in Monaco, so what’s the thinking behind this new, special addition?

PokerNews caught up with the man responsible for scheduling the EPT stops, PokerStars’ Neil Johnson. He was asked to explain the logic and thinking behind holding this special event and his thoughts on the tour’s high roller tournaments in general.

"We believe we have enough super high roller events," Johnson started. "We really like the flow of an EPT Season, opening with the €50K in Barcelona; then what used to be the £50,000 in London, now the €50,000 in Prague; then the $100K at the PCA and the €100K at the Grand Final. We don’t want to saturate with super high roller events, so there was never a thought of putting in a €50K or a €100K, but in previous instances where we didn’t have a 50K, we ran a 5K [pot-limit Omaha], which was fairly successful. It was very good in Prague, but then didn’t go as well in Deauville or Sanremo."

Johnson continued, "When we sat down to do the [Malta] schedule, we had the 5K PLO in where a super high roller would normally go. But then Toby [Stone], Thomas [Lamatsch], and I decided that there was no real reason we couldn’t run a 25K. The 10K and 25Ks have done really well and we know those players will be around, and we know it’ll achieve a better number than a 5K PLO. We talked to a few people at the end of last year, and it seemed to be really well received so we dropped this special high roller in."

After the original schedule was announced, the €25,000 High Roller had to be moved, and Johnson gave some insight into that decision.

"It then had to be moved from its original slot due to the Global Poker Masters," he said. "If that event didn’t exist, then it would’ve started Friday (two days before the EPT Main Event). It’s going all right as well today. It’s not the number we expect for Monaco and won’t get near the PCA number (269 entries in 2015), but for a starting event — especially before all the package winners arrive — we’re relatively happy."

Johnson warned, "We also didn’t want to spoil the 10K (scheduled for next week), as that event has become a really important part of the EPT. This is just a special event that we’re happy to include where there’s no 50 or 100K, besides the Grand Final and PCA. It fits that time slot well and if it draws 100 players and the €10K draws in 300, then we can say it fit in really nicely. It’s important to note that this is a special event though, not the EPT Malta High Roller. The €10K is the official Malta High Roller and we have SLYDE watches sponsoring that event, where the winner gets a watch."

There's always the danger that a poker tour operator can get carried away when a tournament has been a real success, like the super high roller events have been. As Johnson indicated though, saturation is a bad thing, so it’s safe to say that the future of the EPT is in very good hands. The EPT has always been innovative and never afraid to change and adapt when necessary, but also resists temptation to jump on moneymaking bandwagons, like excessive reentry events.

Tags: Neil Johnson

2015-03-18 22:31 UTC+2

Former PCA Champ Picks the Wrong Spot to Shove

[user153638]

Nível 7 : 400/800, 100 ante

After the player on the button raised to 2,000, 2013 PCA champ Dimitar Danchev three-bet to 6,000 from the small blind and Mikita Badziakouski four-bet to 11,500 from the big. The original raiser folded, and Danchev thought for about 45 seconds before moving all in for 39,000. Badziakouski, who didn't have much more than that, snap-called.

Badziakouski:
Danchev:

Danchev had some kicker issues, and things only got worse on the flop as Badziakouski paired up and had a flush redraw. The turn was of no consequence, and neither was the river. With that, Danchev hit the rail and Badziakouski essentially doubled up.

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Mikita Badziakouski	80,000	40,000
Dimitar Danchev	Eliminado

Tags: Dimitar Danchev Mikita Badziakouski

2015-03-18 17:35 UTC+2

I Want to Pump [Clap & Point] You Up: Preparing for a €25,000 High Roller

[user153638]

Nível 4 : 150/300, 25 ante

Timothy Adams, Pratyush Buddiga & Jeff Rossiter

There's no denying a health movement has occurred in the poker world. Players like Marvin Rettenmaier and Chris Moorman have lost a ton of weight, while others, like the man-beast that is Jason Koon, have gained credit for their fitness lifestyle; in fact, Koon was just named No. 2 on Sarah Herring's Top 5 Biceps in Poker (to see who topped the list, you'll have to watch the video).

Correlation may not imply causation, but it's hard to deny that healthy living influences poker success. Just look at the aforementioned players. Moorman, already online poker's most decorated tournament player, notched his first major live win ($1,015,460 for taking down the 2014 World Poker Tour LAPC) after dropping a few stone, while Rettenmaier won back-to-back WPTs. As for Koon, well he's always been a physical specimen, one with $3,140,385 in career earnings.

None of those players are here in Malta, but threes others – Jeff Rossiter, Pratyush Buddiga, and Timothy Adams – are here looking for success in the €25,000 High Roller. All three of them, who are in admirable shape, were actually spotted in the Hilton Malta gym this morning. This begged the question – what do players do to prepare for a high roller event?

"Pretty much everyday before I play, I try to do something active because I always hope for a long day at the tables," says Adams. "I kind of prepare for it. I do things like cardio, stretching, lift weights. It totally depends on how I feel and my routine. I definitely try to keep active before playing."

Likewise, Buddiga stated that he does his best to work out five times a week, but admits that "sometimes on poker trips it's hard to do that." As for Rossiter, he exercises regularly no matter where he is.

"I used to be a little lazier about it when I was traveling, but it's become more of a priority," Rossiter admits. "I make sure I go to bed earlier so I have time in the morning to eat some food and go to the gym rather than scrambling to get to the table."

Of course there are challenges that make living healthy and exercising regularly difficult on the road. For instance, not every hotel has a worthwhile gym.

"In an interview one time I was asked what stop I like the most," says Buddiga, who is often seen working out with both Mike McDonald and Connor Drinan. "I said London just because I liked the gym and Nando's [restaurant], which is probably not what most people think of when they name their favorite stop [laughs]. When you go somewhere where the food is terrible and the gym isn't great, you just feel more down on yourself if you're losing."

As Buddiga points out, partaking in the local cuisine, or at least Nando's, is one of the best parts about traveling to an EPT, but would one relish a feast before a big tournament, like a €25,000 High Roller?

"I kind of made a lifestyle change five or six years ago when it comes to eating," says Adams. "I just try to eat things that fit well in my stomach. I don't eat too heavy, but I eat often and light. I just eat my normal kind of meals. I definitely wouldn't have a cheat meal or something before a long day."

Adams went on to explain how he prepared for today's tournament: "I went to the gym really briefly to go on the treadmill and just walk. Because I haven't been in the sun in awhile, I went on my balcony. I brought a yoga mat. I just laid on the yoga mat and stretched. I did some core stuff. I have some apparatuses to help me stretch – foam rollers, stuff like that. Bringing it sets a good tone, kind of forces you to do that stuff."

As for Rossiter, he was busy hitting the weights.

"I slack on doing cardio, but I'm looking to play some squash in the future and do some other activities like rock climbing," he says.

Whether or not working out this morning will help this trio succeed in the short term remains to be seen, but regardless, Buddiga sums up the fitness craze in poker nicely: "It's just nice to get in a good routine where you eat healthy, workout, and not actually spew in a poker tournament like so many people do."

Tags: PokerNews Live Blog Feature

2015-03-18 13:18 UTC+2

Welcome to the PokerStars.com EPT Malta Poker Festival

The PokerStars.com European Poker Tour has never been afraid of change. The powers that be are constantly trying to offer players a fresh and rewarding poker experience based in wonderful locations around the continent.

Ever since Malta was announced last November there has been a huge amount of anticipation about visiting this beautiful Mediterranean island for the first time. Being the first time the EPT has stopped here though means there should be level of caution when drawing up the schedule, right? Wrong!

The 12-day festival at the Portomaso Casino will feature a staggering 68 events, the most ever put on at a live event by PokerStars. Day 1A of the €1,100 IPT Malta Main Event has already started but our live coverage will kick off with the special €25,000 buy in High Roller event.

Cards will be in the air at 1 p.m. and ten 60-minute levels (with a 75-minute dinner break after six) are scheduled, meaning a finish of past 1 a.m.

A huge live satellite took place last night where seven players won seats. They included Team PokerStars Pro Jonathan Duhamel; Argentine online star Ivan “Negriin” Luca; Fabian Quoss, Sorel Mizzi and Bryn Kenney. They’ll be plenty more players joining them, so we urge you to come back from 1 p.m. to find out.