2011 World Series of Poker Europe

Event #2: €1,090 No-Limit Hold'em
Day: 2
Event Info

2011 World Series of Poker Europe

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
ak
Prize
€148,030
Event Info
Buy-in
€1,090
Prize Pool
€740,160
Entries
771
Level Info
Level
23
Blinds
10,000 / 20,000
Ante
3,000

Selbst Slips Away

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Vanessa Selbst - out
Vanessa Selbst - out

Word on the street is that Vanessa Selbst was crippled a few moments ago when her pocket queens fell to an opponent with ace-queen in a huge pot. There was an ace on the flop and another one on the river, as the story goes, and Selbst was left with just 4,100 after that beat.

Those chips went all into the next pot when she looked down at {A-} {6-} off-suit, and she ran her small ace into the {7-Clubs} {7-Diamonds} of Ricardo Pereira. A board full of blanks means she's run out of chips, and Selbst has grumpily headed off to the payout desk to collect a little consolation money.

Tags: Vanessa Selbst

Kevin Just Busted, Too

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante
Kevin MacPhee
Kevin MacPhee

Vanessa Selbst and Kevin MacPhee are pretty good buddies, and they've spent the day checking on each other's stacks and bouncing hands off each other. And strangely, MacPhee's elimination came just a moment before Selbst's.

Working his short stack all day, MacPhee finally put his chips in with {A-Diamonds} {Q-Clubs}, only to run smack into Jeffrey Ust and his {K-Clubs} {K-Spades}.

The suited {J-Diamonds} {9-Diamonds} {7-Diamonds} flop was a good sweat, but the turn and river blanked off to leave MacPhee wanting. He's been eliminated with about 32 players left, and someone is looking for him. "Did Kevin just bust, too?!" a frustrated Selbst asked as she glanced around the room for the other most recent victim of this Day 2.

Tags: Kevin MacPheeVanessa Selbst

Chips From Two Tables

We'll snag the other two in a moment.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Gianluca Speranza it
Gianluca Speranza
164,000
2,000
2,000
Profile photo of John Eames gb
John Eames
138,000
8,000
8,000
Profile photo of Julien Varin
Julien Varin
100,000
67,000
67,000
Profile photo of Eric Baudry
Eric Baudry
99,000
78,000
78,000
Profile photo of Ricardo Pereira
Ricardo Pereira
94,000
-4,000
-4,000
Profile photo of Jean-Pierre Grand Moursel
Jean-Pierre Grand Moursel
93,000
83,700
83,700
Profile photo of Andrew Hinrichsen au
Andrew Hinrichsen
93,000
14,000
14,000
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of William Koks
William Koks
81,000
43,600
43,600
Profile photo of James Mitchell gb
James Mitchell
74,000
42,000
42,000
Profile photo of Tarcisio Bruno
Tarcisio Bruno
64,000
-5,000
-5,000
Profile photo of Riccardo Cantafora
Riccardo Cantafora
55,000
19,800
19,800
Profile photo of Jeffrey Ust
Jeffrey Ust
31,000
21,600
21,600
Profile photo of Gregory Lejolivet
Gregory Lejolivet
24,000
-30,000
-30,000
Profile photo of Iain James McDonald
Iain James McDonald
24,000
1,100
1,100
Profile photo of Yannick Autaa fr
Yannick Autaa
21,000
-39,000
-39,000

One for Benoit

Mendel Benoit fired 13,800 on the board of {J-Clubs}{3-Hearts}{2-Hearts}{10-Diamonds}. His opponent was Yann Brossolo and he made the call.

The river completed the board with the {6-Diamonds} and Benoit fired 26,000. Brossolo thought about it and then mucked his hand, giving this one to Benoit.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Mendel Benoit
Mendel Benoit
194,000
73,000
73,000
Profile photo of Yann Brossolo
Yann Brossolo
127,000
-4,000
-4,000

Tags: Mendel BenoitYann Brossolo

The Other Two Tables

Here's the counts from the other two tables.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Carlo Savinelli it
Carlo Savinelli
195,000
Profile photo of Mendel Benoit
Mendel Benoit
194,000
Profile photo of Yann Brossolo
Yann Brossolo
127,000
Profile photo of Roberto Romanello gb
Roberto Romanello
100,000
-33,000
-33,000
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Christopher Sly
Christopher Sly
87,000
6,000
6,000
Profile photo of Gianluca Cedolia ca
Gianluca Cedolia
79,000
42,900
42,900
Profile photo of Erik Cajelais ca
Erik Cajelais
66,500
17,500
17,500
WSOP 1X Winner
Profile photo of Boban Stevanovic
Boban Stevanovic
66,000
66,000
66,000
Profile photo of Salman Behbehani us
Salman Behbehani
54,000
-9,000
-9,000
Profile photo of Ricky Hale
Ricky Hale
39,500
35,000
35,000
Profile photo of Norbert Levigne fr
Norbert Levigne
39,200
9,200
9,200
Profile photo of Bernard Guigon fr
Bernard Guigon
38,000
3,800
3,800
Profile photo of Richard Haile
Richard Haile
23,000
-3,800
-3,800
Profile photo of Nicolas Cabot
Nicolas Cabot
22,000
-2,500
-2,500
Profile photo of Gaetan Deneuve
Gaetan Deneuve
20,500
-4,000
-4,000

Redraw!

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

We're down to 27 players, and the field is in the middle of the penultimate redraw of the event. Just three tables remain, and we'll play on for another five levels or 18 eliminations, whichever comes first. It's a coin flip right now, but we'll give a little action on 18 eliminations if anyone wants to book it.

Level: 15

Blinds: 1,200/2,400

Ante: 400

Levigne Eliminated by Benoit

Norbert Levigne's tournament has come to an end. He fell at the hands of Mendel Benoit who was able to get three streets of value from a flopped Broadway straight.

The flop was {A-Clubs}{K-Diamonds}{Q-Spades} and Levigne check-called a bet of 4,800 from Benoit before the dealer placed the {8-Hearts} on the turn. Levigne checked again. This time, Benoit upped his bet to 8,700. Levigne called.

The river was the {6-Diamonds} and Levigne checked once more, with only 20,000 chips behind. Benoit fired 25,000, enough to put Levigne all in. Levigne took a minute and then made the call.

Benoit tabled the {J-Diamonds}{10-Clubs} for the straight. Levigne mucked his hand and headed for the door.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Mendel Benoit
Mendel Benoit
215,000
21,000
21,000
Profile photo of Norbert Levigne fr
Norbert Levigne
Busted

Tags: Mendel BenoitNorbert Levigne

Finding Nedjai

Level 14 : 1,000/2,000, 300 ante

We owe the family and friends of Nabil Nedjai an apology. We mistakenly busted him from the chip counts, but we've just found him, and he's doing rather well with 94,000 chips in front of him.

Tags: Nabil Nedjai

Big Double for Romanello as He Chases WSOP Gold and Triple Crown

Roberto Romanello
Roberto Romanello

On this hand, there was some confusion as to who was the big blind and Julien Varin, who was actually the big blind, folded and his 2,400 was forfeited before Roberto Romanello could act under the gun. Romanello then raised to 5,200 to start things off. Action then folded to Mendel Benoit in the small blind and he reraised to 11,500. Romanello reraised all in for 79,700 and Benoit called.

Romanello: {8-Hearts}{8-Diamonds}
Benoit: {A-Spades}{K-Diamonds}

The flop came down {10-Clubs}{9-Diamonds}{5-Spades} and so far everything was in order for Romanello to double up. The turn brought the {8-Spades} to give him an unbeatable set and then the river completed the board with the {J-Spades}. Benoit shipped over the chips and Romanello doubled up.

Romanello has been a well-known face on the poker scene for several years now. At the end of 2010, Romanello earned the largest win of his career after taking down the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event for €640,000. He scored his third and fourth largest scores earlier this year in March and September, respectively. In March, he won the World Poker Tour Bratislava Main Event for €140,685. Then in September, he won the €5,000 Six-Max Turbo side event at EPT Barcelona for €110,250. In total, Romanello has $2,225,742 in live tournament earnings.

Even with all his tournament accolades, Romanello has never won a World Series of Poker gold bracelet. The closest he has ever come was in 2009 at the WSOP Europe where he finished seventh in the £5,000 Pot-Limit Omaha bracelet event. That's his only WSOP final table, but he's looking to make this one his second and get that coveted gold bracelet.

If Romanello can win this event, he'll complete poker's Triple Crown achievement; a WSOP gold bracelet, an EPT Main Event title and a WPT Main Event title. What will be unique about Romanello's is that it'll be the first Triple Crown won all on European soil.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Roberto Romanello gb
Roberto Romanello
164,600
64,600
64,600
WSOP 1X Winner
WPT 1X Winner
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Mendel Benoit
Mendel Benoit
142,000
-73,000
-73,000

Tags: Mendel BenoitRoberto Romanello