€5,300 Main Event Day 1a | 2014 PokerStars.net EPT Vienna

03-23-2014 17:20 UTC+1

Kovacs Caught

[user252447]

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

PokerStars player Andras Kovacs from Hungary raised before the flop to 650 got two callers in Austrian PokerStars player Thomas Hueber and Barny Boatman. They saw a flop of and Kovacs continued for 600. Hueber made the call, Boatman folded and they saw a turn card . Kovacs continued the aggression, now with a bet of 1,300. Again he was called. The river and Kovacs made a big bet of 6,200. Hueber gave it some thought and made the call. The of Kovacs was beaten by the pocket pair of Hueber.

Tags: Andras Kovacs Barny Boatman

03-23-2014 17:12 UTC+1

An Orbit w/ Defending EPT Vienna Champ Michael Eiler

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Chad Holloway

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Way back in Season 7, a 20-year-old German economics student and Sunday Million winner by the name of Michael “mae9690” Eiler won the EPT Vienna for €700,000. That was the last time the tour was in town, so that makes Eiler, who is in today's field, the defending EPT Vienna champ.

We decided to spend an entire orbit watching Eiler, who was sitting with right around 16,000 in chips.

Hand #1 (Early Position): An under-the-gun player opened for 500 and Eiler folded.

Hand #2 (Under the Gun): Eiler folded.

Hand #3 (Big Blind): The player in the cutoff opened for 550, the button called, and so did the small blind. Despite the kind odds, Eiler folded his hand.

Hand #4 (Small Blind): Action folded to the button, who raised, and Eiler folded.

Hand #5 (Button): Vitaly Lunkin opened for 500 from early position and Eiler decided to push back with a three-bet to 1,500 from the button. The blinds folded, Lunkin called, and the flop came down . Lunkin check-called a bet of 2,200 and then both players checked the turn.

When the completed the board on the river, Lunkin led out for 4,000 and Eiler thought a long time before making the call. Lunkin tabled the for two pair, and it was good as Eiler mucked his cards and dropped down to 8,300 in the process.

Hand #6 (Cutoff): Eiler opened the action with a raise to 600 only to have Romania's Dan Murariu three-bet to 1,400 from the button. After the blinds both folded, Eiler moved all in and Murariu folded his hand.

Hand #7 (Hijack): A player in middle position opened for 500 and Eiler folded.

Hand #8 (Middle Position): Action folded to Eiler and he did the same.

Eiler didn't mix it up much, and when he did he lost a good portion of his stack. He ended the orbit with about 9,400 in chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Michael Eiler	9,400 -5,450	-5,450

Tags: Michael Eiler

03-23-2014 17:08 UTC+1

Set Over Set

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Webjoker

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Robert Schulz opened under the gun and got a caller before action was on Ruben Visser. The Dutch PokerStars EPT London winner over called and got three more interested players. Six way to the flop: .

All the players checked to Visser who bet out 1,600. Mario Adinolfi right next to him made the call and someone in the blinds called as well before action was back on Schulz. The German player announced all in and action was on Ruben after someone else folded. The Dutch pro thought about it for a little bit before announcing all in as well. Adinolfi quickly folded and so did the player in the blinds.

"You have tens?" Schulz asked Visser. Visser had even better than that with and left Schulz with one out as he tabled . The stayed in the deck as the hit the turn and the river.

With the ace of spades on the river Adinolfi looked a bit in pain. That card had clearly helped him would he have stayed in the pot, but that wasn't the case. Ruben Visser is up to wel over 40,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ruben Visser	42,000 21,000	21,000

Robert Schulz	Busted

Tags: Ruben Visser

03-23-2014 17:03 UTC+1

Two Pair No Good for Lunkin

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Chad Holloway

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

With around 5,000 in the pot and a board reading , Vitaly Lunkin, who won the PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller for €771,300 last September, bet 2,600 from the small blind and Atanas Malinov called from the button.

When the completed the board on the river, Lunkin slowed down with a check and Malinov did the same. Lunkin tabled the for two pair, but it was no good as Malinov rolled over the for a bigger two pair.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vitaly Lunkin	29,500 -2,500	-2,500

Tags: Vitaly Lunkin Atanas Malinov

03-23-2014 16:58 UTC+1

They Gone...

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Chad Holloway

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Sadi Sanlav	Busted
Florence Allera	Busted
Thomas Swensen	Busted
Koray Aldemir	Busted
Michael Csango	Busted
Sergey Pakhomov	Busted
Lars Romundstad	Busted
Kyril Radzivonau	Busted
Thomas Wieland	Busted

03-23-2014 16:56 UTC+1

Eureka Gets The Party Started

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Chad Holloway

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Eureka final table (l-r): Andreas Freund, Robert Malinowski, Markus Stöger, Stavros Kalfas, Bryan Paris, Erik Scheidt, Blazej Przygorzewski and Zoltan Gal. Photo courtesy of PokerStars Blog.

The hordes have descended for EPT Vienna, but we're really all just gatecrashers to the Eureka Poker Tour party. It's been a blast all week, as PokerStars Blog finds out here.

Tags: PokerStars Blog

03-23-2014 16:51 UTC+1

A Look at the History of the EPT Vienna

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Chad Holloway

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

What stop on the first season of the EPT attracted the most players? You might be surprised to learn that it was the EPT Vienna with 297 players (the next closest was the EPT French Open with 243 players).

That first stop, which ran from March 10-11, 2005, resulted in an international final table that included two Americans, two Englishmen, a Swede, Finn, and an Austrian; however, it was Frenchman Pascal Perrault that defeated Andreas Harnemo in heads-up play to capture the €184,000 first-place prize. It was a successful penultimate stop for Season 1, but little did everyone know that the city wouldn’t play host to an EPT again for half a decade.

The EPT returned to Vienna for its seventh season from October 26-31, 2010. The return to the Austrian capital was well received by the players, 587 of who turned out to create a prize pool of €2,935,000. By then the EPT had grown in both size and prestige, so it was no surprise to see some famous faces in the field.

Among those to earn cashes were Nacho Barbero (76th - €8,000), Luke Schwartz (65th - €8,000), Jason Wheeler (54th - €9,500), Angel Guillen (52nd - €9,500), Surinder Sunar (18th - €16,000), and Kirill Zapletin (9th - €44,000).

That season’s final table featured three Germans, a Frenchman, Italian, and Greek, but two players overshadowed them all – the Czech Republic’s Martin Hruby and Canadian Daniel Negreanu. The latter actually flew out Amanda Leatherman and Joe Stapleton to sweat him at the final table, which marked “Stapes’” first EPT experience. Unfortunately they didn’t get to see their man win as Negreanu ultimately finished in fourth place for €175,000.

Hruby did a bit better, but had to settle for runner-up and €470,000 after he fell to one of the aforementioned Germans, 20-year-old economics student and Sunday Million winner Michael “mae9690” Eiler, in heads-up play. In the final hand of that tournament, Eiler, who had a significant chip lead, moved all in for the third hand in a row holding. Hruby called off with the , which was racing against the of Eiler. The flop delivered Eiler a flush, and the turn left Hruby drawing dead. The river made it official, and Eiler took home the €700,000 first-place prize.

The EPT hasn’t been back to Vienna since Season 7, but now it's back. We're currently at the stunning Hofburg Palace, which is playing host to a 40-event tournament schedule that will include more innovative and fun game variants than any other festival up to date.

“The EPT is all about fun, celebrating the excitement of the game and gathering players together for a good time, and we really wanted to make a splash on our return to Vienna," said Neil Johnson, Head of Live Poker Operations for the EPT. "The EPT is known for game innovation, variety and we pride ourselves on providing game types in tournament format that you simply don’t find at other live events.”

The EPT Vienna Festival is in partnership with the Concord Card Casino Group, which operates 13 poker rooms in Austria and has more than 20 years of experience.

03-23-2014 16:48 UTC+1

Chip Count Update

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Happy_Freaked

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Player	Chips	Progress
Adrian Mateos	58,000 24,000	24,000

Tobias Peters	58,000 14,000	14,000
Goran Mandic	50,000
Marc-Andre Ladouceur	47,000 1,000	1,000

Michael Piper	45,000 -9,000	-9,000
Steve Watts	42,000 12,000	12,000
Max Silver	41,000 1,000	1,000
Dominik Nitsche	34,000 7,000	7,000
Dan Murariu	33,000 3,000	3,000

Vitaly Lunkin	32,000 2,000	2,000
George Danzer	32,000 -8,000	-8,000

Fabrice Soulier	32,000 2,000	2,000
Nikolaus Teichert	32,000
Dario Sammartino	32,000
Steve O'Dwyer	31,000 5,500	5,500

Marcel Luske	29,000 -11,000	-11,000

Age Spets	27,000
Olivier Busquet	24,000 -6,000	-6,000
Noah Boeken	22,000

Henrique Pinho	22,000 10,400	10,400

Ruben Visser	21,000 -9,000	-9,000

Yann Dion	21,000 -14,000	-14,000

03-23-2014 16:47 UTC+1

Ladouceur Puts His Opponent All In

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Webjoker

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante

Pflanzl Hannes in middle position opened the pot with a raise to 500 and Marc-Andre Ladouceur in the cutoff came along for the ride. The small blind and Olof Haglund in the big blind tossed in a purple 500 chip as well and the dealer got underway dealing a flop.

Both blinds checked to Hannes who made a 1,100 continuation bet. Ladouceur called, the small blind folded and Haglund wanted to see at least one more card and called as well.

It would be just one card as the hit and Haglund check folded to Hannes' 2,100 bet. Ladouceur wasn't so easy to shake off though, the Canadian PokerStars Team Online Pro made the call.

The was everything but a blank. With three hearts, four to a straight, and a bunch of broadway cards out there Hannes checked. Ladouceur shoved a big pile of 5,000 chips forward, putting Hannes all in for his last 7,000 chips.