A raise and a call were followed by the three-bet of Ognjen Sekularac in the small blind, who made it 27,000 to go. Rainer Kempe in the big blind gave it some thought and eventually moved all in for 133,500, which forced out the initial raiser and Will Givens on the button. Sekularac made the call and Kempe held the superior pocket pair in showdown.
Rainer Kempe:
Ognjen Sekularac:
The all but locked up the double for the German and things were made official on the turn, the river was insignificant.
"Wow, I had king queen of hearts," Givens said in table chat.
Kristen Bicknell raised to 5,000 in the cutoff and Martin Finger three-bet to 17,200 on the button, which was called by big stack Robert Skopalik in the small blind and initial raiser Bicknell. On the flop, action checked to Finger and he continued for 17,000, this time only Skopalik called.
The turn was checked through and Skopalik also checked the river. Finger bet 75,000 with 22,000 behind and Skopalik moved all in to force a very expensive fold from Finger, Skopalik flashed for a full house.
Two tables over, another Czech was involved in the action and that happened to be Tomas Rous. He moved all in after the turn and Norbert Szecsi snap-called from one seat over. Rous turned over for the nutflushdraw and Szecsi held the for top pair and top kicker. The river was a blank and Rous busted just before the dinner break.
Claas Segebrecht opened to 7,000 from under the gun with and Mikolaj Zawadzki three-bet to 22,000 from the hijack with .
The flop came and Segebrecht checked, Zawadzki bet 13,500 and Segebrecht called.
The turn brought them the , Segebrecht checked again and Zawadzki did they same so they could see the come on the river. Segebrecht checked for the last time, Zawadzki bet 52,000 for Segebrecht to fold.
As mentioned before, the total number of entries was confirmed at 534 creating a total prize pool of €5.073,000. The winner on Friday, November 2, will walk away with €1,122,239 and the coveted gold WSOP bracelet and 81 players will be in the money. A min-cash will be worth €15,074.
Former online grinder and two-time WSOP bracelet winner Kristen Bicknell has become a fixture on the live poker circuit in the last few years and sat down with the PokerNews team for an in promptu interview during a break of the €10,350 WSOPE Main Event.
Just a few days ago, the Canadian took shot at the most expensive live event of her poker career so far, the €100,000 King's Super High Roller.
“It was my first 100k, yeah” the Canadian replied and elaborated further on what she noticed during the event.
“I guess there is a level of prestige in the room about it, and hype around it. But to be honest, maybe I am naive, but that it is very similar to playing 25ks. It is the same event, it is still poker, just a different buy-in and the field is smaller too, which makes it easier to do well potentially. For me, beyond the prestige, I guess the attitude around the event is not a lot different.”
Not only the who-is-who of the international poker scene regularly battles against each other at the highest buy-in levels, but also recreational players enjoy the competition against the best in the world. While the first attempt in a six-figure buy-in tournament hasn't been crowned with success, it is part of the learning experience for the Canadian.
“I am playing with many I have already played with and then a lot of people who I have never played against before, who only play High Rollers, more recreational players. Yeah, it was a really fun event because of that, it is such a cool mix of people.”
Bicknell was among those that took advantage of the extended late registration on Day 1 and the first levels of Day 2, and happened to get seated right next to Alex Foxen. Both talk a lot of poker strategy away from the tables and faced off several times deep in tournaments already.
“Well, to be honest, for one thing, me and him we play different styles, but I don't think anyone wants to be on his table. He really fights for every hand and I would rather be the person fighting for and winning the hands. I'd rather see him on the final table and until then stay out of his way.”
Since Bicknell has become a regular face on the live circuit, her approach towards the game and the daily preparation has shifted to more quality in general in order to stay competitive.
“I have been traveling for over a year now and something I have been trying in the last couple of months to focus more on is making sure that my sleep quality is good, that I can take whatever vitamins and supplements. I think exercising and eating well is really important. Diet is the number one thing that you can control.”
For all those that try to keep an eye on their daily calories, the daily free buffet available to all players at the King's Casino is not necessarily the best place to be. Next to the healthy fruits, one doesn't need to look far to find sugary desserts that please the eye and mind for certain.
“For example, they just had a dessert that looked kinda good at the buffet for my dinner break. I know if I eat that, it hurts my mental game a little bit. It's not good for my body, my brain is not gonna think as well as it would if I didn't. I try to avoid sugar, avoid carbohydrates and I am really interested in nutrition and the link between your brain and mind. Just getting a good night sleep, trying to work out ... I think I really believe in positive visualization and trying to be positive before a tournament, seeing every tournament as one I can possibly win and visualizing that.
All American Dave during the World Series of Poker is a prime example of healthier but expensive nutrition and a lot of professional poker players take advantage of that service so close to the venue. However, this attitude is not as common yet during most other stops of the international poker circuit.
“A lot of people for sure lack appreciation for nutrition, lifestyle and the number of people that drink too much in my eyes … If people would cut out alcohol, it might actually improve not necessarily their poker game but their ability to play more often and frequently. The struggle for me is traveling stop to stop to stop and not be burned out, trying to limit that burnout as much as possible. To be honest, the biggest challenge for me is packing my suitcase and having clean clothes, it used to be difficult.”
Bicknell has been regularly working with poker mind coaches Jared Tendler and Elliot Roe in the last one and a half years and studies nutrition herself. She has a strong interest in nutrition as well, and if poker ever gets boring or if she had not been finding her way into the poker world, that would have been a very likely work field for the Canadian.
“It is kind of a hobby of mine to study nutrition, I am always reading what I can and try to apply it on my own life. I think I would probably be a nutritionist, or a personal trainer. Something to do with health and fitness. If I had enough money I would open a gym or something like that. I love the health and fitness industry and I like business in general, I would probably try to combine the two.”
Of all the (poker) places Bicknell traveled to, some clear favorites have already emerged and a trip to Melbourne for the Aussie Millions early next year seems to be set in stone.
“As far as poker trips are concerned, my favorite has been Australia. For one thing, going there after Christmas and leaving wintery Canada to be in the summer in Australia is nice and it is a good atmosphere. The Crown Casino does a really good job hosting the event and that is definitely one of my favorite. Aside from that, before this trip, we went to Positano in Italy and just got an Airbnb for a few days and that was probably one of my favorite spots. It was really pretty and relaxing.”
Especially Switzerland and the Northern European countries are also very high up on the “to-do list” of Bicknell. “I want to see the Northern Lights, that's definitely something I want to see.”
As Bicknell prepared to get back to her seat after the dinner break on Day 2 of the 2018 WSOPE Main Event, fellow partypoker pro Anatoly Filatov walked by.
“How did you do last night?” Bicknell asked, referring to the big online schedule on Sundays.
“Two first places, including the one where I busted you with five four,” Filatov replied with a grin. You can find out about the two victories of Filatov right here. While the Russian got the better of Bicknell at the online tables the previous day, it is the Canadian that had been doing much better just before the dinner break. Filatov was up to almost half a million in chips, but lost several big pots to return with a mere 70,000, while Bicknell had amassed very healthy 410,000.
Follow along with the live updates right here on PokerNews to find out just how far Bicknell will go in this event.
Laszlo Bujtas opened with a raise to 9,000 and Jason Wheeler called one seat over. Oleg Netaliev was next to act and three-bet to 36,000. Bujtas called, as did Wheeler, to create a pot of over 100,000 already before the flop was dealt.
The flop got checked to Netaliev, who continued for 45,000. Bujtas stuck around while Wheeler gave it up.
On the turn, Netaliev pondered for over a minute before coming up with a bet of 95,000. Bujtas once again called the bet.
The river completed the board and Bujtas checked a third time. Netaliev thought briefly before moving in for 208,000 total. Bujtas double-checked his hole cards to be sure, then put his stack in with a loud thump.
Oleg Netaliev:
Laszlo Bujtas:
Netaliev had nothing to show for except a daring attempt with king-high, but had run into Butjas' stone-cold nuts to be left with mere dust.
After doubling his crumbs, Netaliev shoved once more for 20,500 from under the gun and got called by Andrei Boghean in the cutoff and Timo Kamphues on the button. Bujtas wanted to finish what he had begun and reshoved from the small blind to get the others out of the way. Netaliev held but couldn't beat Bujtas' and was eliminated.
In the penultimate hand of the night, Dario Sammartino sent Hans Thumann to the rail when he won a flip with against as he spiked a full house on the board .
One table over, Bulcsu Lukacs raised to 9,000 and Romain Lewis three-bet in the hijack to 30,000. Jakob Miegel shoved for around 190,000 in the cutoff and Lukacs moved all in, Lewis called for 160,000 total.
Romain Lewis:
Jakob Miegel:
Bulcsu Lukacs:
The flop gave the Romanian top set, and the turn and river sent two players to the rail in the last hand of the night.
Day 2 of the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe €10,350 Main Event is in the books. The action kicked off at noon local time in Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Casino in Rozvadov with 221 players out of 341 entries remaining and the registration and single re-entry period remained open for the first four of six 90-minute levels. Once the registration closed at the end of level 11, the screens showed 534 entries to ensure that the guaranteed prize pool of €5,000,000 was surpassed.
Only the top 81 spots will take home a portion of the €5,073,000 prize pool and the money bubble is expected to burst late on Day 3, so half of the remaining field will walk away empty-handed with the minimum payout set at €15,074. A massive payday of €1,122,239 and the coveted gold bracelet await the champion.
Leading the field after Day 2 is Dario Sammartino, who soared to the top of the leaderboard in the final stages of the day and bagged up an impressive 1,480,000. The Italian started the day with just 94,000 and things really kicked off after he had chipped up and was moved to the table of Vladimir Geshkenbein. In a key hand, Sammartino doubled through Geshkenbein in a three-bet pot.
"I opened the button with ten-six of hearts and he three-bet me out of the big blind, I called," Sammartino recounted. "The flop was ten-six-two. He bet, I raised, he re-raised and I called. We got it in after an eight on the turn and I held up against kings. Lucky day and not a tough table."
In the final stages, Sammartino sent several players to the rail including Jason Wheeler and Hans Thumann to bag and tag almost five times the average chip count.
"Of course it is really good, but the tournament is very long. You need to stay focused and we have another three, four days to play. It is a good start, but nothing really special yet. Special is when you win, not now," Sammartino said after bagging for the day.
Winning a bracelet and seven-figure payday in one of the most prestigious events of the year would see Sammartino edge closer to Mustapha Kanit at the top of the Italian all-time money list. Kanit himself made it through to Day 3 with an above-average stack of 626,000. Sammartino already had a close call this past summer in Las Vegas when he finished third in Event #23: $10,000 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw Championship and added a tenth and 15th-place finish in Sin City, but the elusive bracelet has escaped him thus far.
"It is important for me," admitted Sammartino. "Two, three years ago it was the dream [to win a bracelet], you know. Now it is important, but not like when I was 24 years old."
The only two other chip millionaires are Marco Slacanac (1,128,500) and UK's Jack Salter. In the penultimate level of the registration period, Salter was involved in a five-bet pot and won a flip with ace-king against the pocket jacks of Hani Bahna. From there on, the Brit kept building his stack further and claimed 1,051,000 for Day 3.
Further big stacks and notables include Rainer Kempe (818,000), Michael Sklenicka (722,000), Laszlo Bujtas (713,500), 2013 WSOP Main Event fourth place finisher Sylvain Loosli (638,000), Timothy Adams (629,500), David Urban (546,000), Alex Foxen (516,000), 2018 EPT Barcelona champion Piotr Nurzynski (496,000) and Ben Heath (475,000).
Several WSOP bracelet winners also made it through including Triple Crown champion Niall Farrell (625,000), Norbert Szecsi (560,500), Will Givens (539,000), 2013 WSOP Main Event champion Ryan Riess (382,000), Chris Ferguson (326,000), David Peters (295,500), Johannes Becker (287,500), Kristen Bicknell (248,500) and Day 1b chip leader Adrian Mateos (245,000) to name just a few.
Among the big names to fall on Day 2 were Romain Lewis, Jason Wheeler, Anthony Zinno, Gal Yifrach, Tom Middleton, Dominik Nitsche, Jan-Peter Jachtmann, Michael Addamo, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Davidi Kitai, as well as local bracelet winners Artur Rudziankov and Martin Kabrhel.
Action of the Day
All those poker enthusiasts from near and far that had not entered yet or had already busted once had a chance to take another shot at the €10,350 Main Event and almost 200 new entries emerged on Day 2. Among the early casualties were Ludovic Geilich, Kabrhel and Gianluca Speranza.
Geilich bricked off with a flopped flush draw against the pocket aces of Gudmundur Sigurjonsson and had to re-enter in order to bag up 198,500. Speranza, who had finished runner-up to 888poker qualifier Marti Roca de Torres one year ago here in Rozvadov, busted on his first bullet with ace-king against the ace-queen of Anatoly Filatov. Speranza also successfully re-entered and finished Day 2 with 184,500, while Sigurjonsson and Filatov were both eliminated later on.
The first player to move up to one million in chips was Robert Skopalik, a recreational player from the Czech Republic. Skopalik was on the fortunate end of an aces versus kings setup against Wai Leong Chan early on and also claimed most of the chips of Martin Finger. Towards the end of the day, Skopalik took several blows and finished Day 2 with a still healthy 602,000.
Farrell and Salter were among those to build their stack along with Sammartino, who went through his table like a wrecking ball in the final level of the night. The biggest pot of the tournament so far played out in the final level of the night when Oleg Netaliev tried to push Laszlo Bujtas off in a three-way three-bet pot. However, Bujtas didn't go anywhere with turned trips and the top full house on the river, and claimed the remainder of Netaliev's chips soon after with nines versus eights after hitting yet another full house.
The excellent WSOP year of Romain Lewis with four top-three finishes in Las Vegas and Rozvadov came to a premature end in the final hand of the night. In a three-way all in with Lukacs and Jakob Miegel. Lewis had the best of it preflop with pocket kings versus pocket queens and ace-king respectively, but Lukacs spiked one of the two remaining queens on the flop to score the double elimination.
After six levels of 90 minutes each, only 165 players out of the 534-entry strong field bagged up chips and will return to the tables at noon local time on Tuesday, October 30. The action will recommence with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a big blind ante of 5,000. Make sure to return then, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action.