Home / Poker News May 2009 / EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final – Day 1b report
EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final – Day 1b report
Posted by: James Carter. - Fri, 2009-05-01 14:32
Day 1B of the EPT Monte Carlo Grand Final attracted a field of 539 players, which took the overall number of participants to 935, exceeding last year’s record by nearly 100.
As star studded as Day 1a was, Day 1b surpassed it through the sheer amount of poker talent and celebrities it brought to the tables. Gus Hansen, Phil Laak, Gavin Griffin, Victoria Coren, Peter Eastgate, Dave Ulliott, Barny Boatman and Joe Hachem were only a few of the big names present at Day 1b’s tables.
Non –poker celebrities like rapper Nelly and former tennis champion Boris Becker were also there. Nelly became one of the early casualties of the day when he hit a top pair on a flop of A,4c,2c. He had Ad, 10h which did indeed look like the best hand on the flop. He led out and Andrew Feldman called him with A,K. All the money went in on the turn. The river bricked out and Nelly’s day was over.
Dave Ulliott was also eliminated on Day 2b, and so was Evelyn Ng and defending Grand Final Champion, Canadian Glen Chorny.
Another notorious name to join those already on the rail was Gus Hansen. The Dane flopped a set of As on a board of A,A,6 with his Ah, 3h. His opponent moved all-in on the turn which fell a 4 and Hansen made the call. To his dismay, his opponent then proceeded to table 6,6 for the flopped boat and as he failed to improve on the river, the Great Dane’s tournament life was over.
Max Pescatori, Jeff Madsen and Ylon Schwartz also failed to make it to Day 2.
The battle for the day’s chip lead was between Slovakia’s Dag Palovic though and Canada’s Amicha Barer. Eventually, it was Ami Barer who clinched the provisional chip lead, though Palovic finished near the top of the provisional chip leader board as well. Lee Nelson still holds the combined chip lead, with Amicha Barer in second place. Palovic is currently 5th, followed by Luca Pagano in 6th.
Yevgeniy Timoshenko, Sandra Naujoks and Nenad Medic managed to move on to Day 2 too.
