EPT Prague Main Event | 2009 PokerStars.com EPT Prague

12-06-2009 13:04 UTC+1

Hold the Clock

[user66118]

We've played through the first partial level, and we need to color up and race off the red T1,000 chips. Back in five minutes.

12-06-2009 12:59 UTC+1

Sven Eichelbaum Eliminated in 8th Place (€55,500)

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[user66118]

Under the gun plus one, Sven Eichelbaum opened the pot with a raise to 90,000. Action passed all the way around to Larry Ryan's big blind, and he slid out a healthy reraise to 365,000. Eichelbaum sunk deep into the tank, contemplating a decision for what was essentially the rest of his chips. After a long four or five minutes of pondering, he seemed to be resigned to his fate and pushed his stacks in with a shrug. Ryan took care of the few-thousand-chip remainder and the cards were on their backs:

Eichelbaum: {A-Diamonds}

Ryan:

The flop was all blanks for the at-risk Eichelbaum as it came out {6-Diamonds}

. The

on the turn opened the door a bit as he was drawing live to his diamond flush. The river, though, was a black {5-Clubs}

, and Eichelbaum has been dismissed. After running into pocket aces, he's out in 8th place, good for a payday of more than €50,000.

Tags: Larry Ryan Sven Eichelbaum

12-06-2009 12:46 UTC+1

Roux Perks Up

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[user46392]

Eyal Avitan raised to 90,000 - but Anthony Roux, quiet until now, suddenly woke up sufficiently to make it 260,000. Everyone folded, including Avitan, and Roux took the pot.

Tags: Anthony Roux Eyal Avitan

12-06-2009 12:43 UTC+1

Ekerot Gets Busy

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[user46392]

Gustav Ekerot moved in for 490,000 under the gun. Folds all round the table to big blind Larry Ryan, who asked for a count and gave it some thought - but eventually he folded too, and Ekerot picked up the blinds and antes.

The next hand, Stefan Mattsson raised his button, but Ekerot shoved from the big blind and again, picked up the pot.

Tags: Gustav Ekerot

12-06-2009 12:40 UTC+1

Avitan Takes First Hand

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[user46392]

First hand, Stefan Mattsson raised to 90,000 under the gun - and Eyal Avitan made it 235,000 from the cutoff. Mattsson made the call, and the press closed in on the table, expecting fireworks.

They proceeded to cagily check down the {5-Clubs}

board, though, and Avitan turned over {Q-Spades}

, which was enough to make Mattsson muck.

Tags: Eyal Avitan Stefan Mattsson

12-06-2009 12:23 UTC+1

Play Ball!

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[user66118]

With just less than 40 minutes left in Level 25, the dealer has been given the command, and the cards are being shuffled up and dealt.

Level: 25

Blinds: 20,000/40,000

Ante: 4,000

12-06-2009 12:10 UTC+1

Now Entering the Ring

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[user66118]

The players are being introduced to the growing crowd of spectators as we speak. We're just about set to roll.

12-06-2009 11:41 UTC+1

Seat 8: Luca Pagano (Treviso, Italy) - 2,119,000

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[user66118]

Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano has broken his own records yet again here at EPT Prague by making his sixth EPT final table and his 13th EPT cash. The 31-year-old former computer programming student from Treviso, Italy, kicked off his poker career using play money on PokerStars but soon progressed to real money and turned a modest deposit into a monster online bankroll. He is also hugely successful in live events putting together a small fortune in winnings. He has played dozens of EPTs since the tour started in 2004 and is currently in second place on the EPT all-time Tournament Leader Board. Luca was nominated EPT Player of the Year in September 2007. As well as tournaments, he has also won huge amounts at the high stakes cash tables and has had several WSOP side event cashes. His best result to date was 6th place at the Season 4 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo for € 337,000.

(Bio courtesy of PokerStars)

12-06-2009 11:39 UTC+1

Seat 7: Eyal Avitan (Ashkelon, Israel) - 2,627,000

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[user66118]

Avitan, 34, is almost certainly the only player at this season's final table who has already cashed in a side event. After finishing Day 1b on just 34,000, Avitan slipped across the room to enter a $300 turbo side event - and finished second for $13,500. Avitan took up poker six years ago on a Caribbean cruise and, although he only played three live tournaments so far, he has already had reasonable results. In June, he finished seventh in a WPT Barcelona side event for € 4,300 and he also came sixth in a $500 WPT Cyprus side event in September.

The Israeli realtor came to Prague with his friend Ran Azor who was runner-up at the WPT Championship in April for nearly $1.5 million. Azor has now gone home and Avitan's wife Karen is back in Israel caring for the couple's 11-month-old twins Noam and Shani. The lack of supporters on the rail has clearly had little negative effect on Avitan's game however and he described reaching the final as a "dream come true".

(Bio courtesy of PokerStars)