EPT8 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo Day 1b: Paur Takes Overall Chip Lead
Day 1b of the 2011 PokerStars.it EPT San Remo Main Event concluded on Saturday. The second starting flight attracted 477 players, to grow the total field to 837, and generate a prize pool worth €3,734,694. Right around 200 players hit the rail and after the first eight levels of play, Day 1b was topped by Taylor Paur. He bagged up 188,200 in chips and will take the overall chip lead into Day 2. Brandon Cantu finished with 180,000 and is hot on his heels.
The tournament room was very alive all day long and plenty of notables were in the mix, as always. Team PokerStars Pro was very well represented with likes of Johnny Lodden, Vanessa Selbst, Fatima Moreira de Melo, Salvatore Bonavena, Sandra Naujoks, Matthias De Meulder and Eugene Katchalov. All of those stars have advanced to Day 2 as well their teammate, and former EPT San Remo champion, Liv Boeree.
In April of 2010, Boeree captured this very title and the €1,250,000 first-place prize that went along with it. She's still ticking in the event and will be doing all she can on Sunday to make a second San Remo title become a reality.
Other notable players surviving the day were Bryn Kenney, Melanie Weisner, Michael Benvenuti, Nick Yunis, McLean Karr, Ted Forrest and Anton Wigg. The newly crowned 2011 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion Elio Fox is also moving on.
Weisner scooped one of the largest pots of the day in a big, three-way all-in. First into the pot, Luigi Diana raised to 1,200 in middle position. Two seats over, Weisner three-bet to 3,325, and Gianfranco Picone squeezed all-in for 7,825. Diana quickly called and the action once again went to Weisner, who sat pondering for a bit. Eventually, she made another raise to 13,075. Diana once again called without hesitation. There was 10,500 in the side pot for the live players and Picone was looking to triple up.
The flop came 2♠3♦5♦ and Diana checked. Weisner studied and made a small continuation bet of 4,600. Diana snapped again.
The K♣ landed on the turn. Weisner had 34,500 chips left in her stack and Diana had about 45,000. Weisner sized her bet at 10,350, and slid it out. Acting instantly on every decision, Diana check-raised to 23,000. Weisner shoved in and Diana called.
Diana: A♥K♥
Weisner: A♣A♦
Picone: Q♦Q♥
The king on the turn proved to be the crusher for Diana, allowing him to commit most of his chips drawing nearly dead. The river was the blank 7♣, eliminating Picole and skyrocketing Weisner all the way up to six figures.
Those who are out of the running for this Main Event include Jamie Rosen, Shawn Buchanan, Jake Cody, Martins Adeniya, Eddy Sabat, Matt Waxman, Patrik Antonius and James Mitchell.
In this marvelous event, the top 128 spots will be paid out. Just squeaking into the money will earn a player €7,000, but they're all gunning for the €800,000 top prize that will be handed to the winner. Day 2 will commence at 1400 CET (0500 PDT) on Sunday and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will have all the coverage.
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