2012 World Series of Poker Europe Day 4: Esfandiari Near Top in Event #2; Event #3 PLO Kicks Off
Day 4 at the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe wrapped up on Monday with no new bracelet winners, but plenty of storylines to keep fans engaged. In Day 2 in Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em, 98 players played down to the final 15. Antonio Esfandiari second in chips in that event, and is intent on following up his massive Big One for One Drop win with another bracelet. In other news, Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit kicked off with Day 1 action with players like Jason Mercier and Joe Hachem taking their first shot at a 2012 WSOP Europe title.
Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em Day 2
The 2012 WSOP Europe continued on Monday with Day 2 of Event #2: €1,100 No-Limit Hold'em as the remaining 98 players of a 626-player field returned to battle down to the final 15. Leading the way is Antonin Teisseire, who bagged up 269,500, but the winner of the biggest buy-in poker tournament in history, Antonio Esfandiari, is just 5,500 in chips behind Teisseire.
The big story at the start of the day was who would make the top 63 and earn a piece of the €600,960 prize pool. Among the 35 players who came up short were Greg Merson, [Removed:163], Konstantin Puchkov, David Benyamine and John Tabatabai; however, the man who went the furthest with nothing to show was Jean Marie Morvan.
On the money bubble, action folded around to Dominik Nitsche in the small blind and he put in a raise. Morvan had 800 of his 1,300 stack in the big blind, and opted to call off the remaining 500.
Showdown
Nitsche: K♣3♠
Morvan: Q♣3♣
Morvan was dominated and seemed a bit dejected as the board ran out 5♦J♥6♥A♦K♦. Morvan finished as the bubble boy while those players still in the room applauded to celebrate making the money.
A little while later, a big hand developed when Tristan Wade moved all in from early position for 11,300 with 8x8x and received a call from start-of-the-day chip leader Marvin Rettenmaier, who held AxKx offsuit in the cutoff. Antonin Teisseire then moved all-in over the top from the big blind with AxAx, and Rettenmaier opted to call off for over 30,000.
Both Wade and Rettenmaier were at risk, but the former was spared as the board ran out Kx4x8x4x10x and he tripled with a full house; meanwhile, Teisseire took down a sizable side pot and Rettenmaier was eliminated from the tournament in 47th place for €2,133. Wade joined Rettenmaier a short time later in 43rd place, and Teisseire went on to capture the chip lead.
Other in-the-money finishers included Renaud Blangiardi (56th - €1,965), Roger Hairabedian (39th - €2,344), Daniel Weinman (35th - €2,608), Dominik Nitsche (34th - €2,608), Erik Cajelais (27th - €3,846), Gil George (25th - €3,846) and John Monnette (23rd - €4,489) and Andrey Gulyy (16th - €6,340).
Many players fell, some survived, and others even thrived. Among those returning for Day 3 are Day 1a chip leader Ashly Butler, Joe Kuether, Salvatore Bonavena, W.J. Vincent, McLean Karr and Casey Kastle.
Here’s a look at Tuesday’s lineup with chip counts:
Table 1
| Seat | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean Karr | 61,000 |
| 2 | -empty- | N/A |
| 3 | Valentin Detoc | 174,000 |
| 4 | Salvatore Bonavena | 86,000 |
| 5 | Casey Kastle | 54,500 |
| 6 | Ashly Butler | 179,500 |
| 7 | Remi Bollengier | 136,000 |
| 8 | Antonin Teisseire | 269,500 |
| 9 | -empty- | N/A |
Table 2
| Seat | Player | Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Amaury Detoc | 82,500 |
| 2 | Jamel Haddad | 85,000 |
| 3 | Igor Kalinicenko | 41,000 |
| 4 | Antonio Esfandiari | 264,000 |
| 5 | -empty- | N/A |
| 6 | Joe Kuether | 160,500 |
| 7 | W.J. Vincent | 74,000 |
| 8 | Florian Ciuro | 124,000 |
| 9 | Anthony Pons | 86,000 |
The remaining 15 players will return on Tuesday at 1300 CET (0900 EDT) to play down to a winner.
Event #3 €5,300 Pot-Limit Day 1
Event #3: €5,300 Pot-Limit Omaha attracted 97 players. After eight levels of play, only 25 remained and Erich Kollmann holds the lead. Kollmann amassed 127,500 in chips and holds a big lead over Bruno Fitoussi, who is in second place with 108,600.
The day began just like you would expect a pot-limit Omaha tournament to start. The action was fast paced and a number of players quickly fell to the rail including David "ODB" Baker, Greg Merson and Brandon Adams. Michael Mizrachi built a castle of chips in the early levels, and it took the two-time $50,000 Players Championship winner just three levels to have six starting stacks in front of him. Mizrachi kept winning pots left and right, and his only challenger ended up being Ran Azor. In the following levels Mizrachi and Azor kept battling with big swings. Both players ended up surviving the day, but their stacks weren't nearly as impressive as during the dinner break. Mizrachi bagged up 47,100 and Azor advanced with 40,500.
The most successful Omaha player of this year's WSOP also managed to survive. Jan-Peter Jachtmann did not have it easy, but he will return on Tuesday with 42,200. Other notable pros who will try to make a run are Jason Mercier (25,800), Vanessa Selbst (42,400), Sam Chartier (59,100) and Roger Hairabedian (59,800).
Play will resume Tuesday at 1400 CET (1000 EDT) and will play down to a final table of nine.
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