$50,000 Guarantee Results 07/25/2010

Congratulations to IIIIIIIIIIOR for winning Everest Poker's $50,000 Guarantee!

IIIIIIIIIIOR final tabled our largest guarantee of the week with the following players:

IIIIIIIIIIOR 1st $11,500.00
Trefoil200 2nd $7,075.00
00champ00 3rd $4,875.00
Emanrov 4th $3,750.00
DasProfessor 5th $2,650.00
opazdoonatzz 6th $1,450.00
Thexecutor 7th $900.00
JonasFraPuls 8th $750.00
CenturioW 9th $575.00
MADSAM 10th $475.00

We've recently lowered the buy-in to $100 + 9 or a Step 4 token, so make sure to join in on the action next Sunday August 1st at 18:00 GMT!

Javi out in 90th place. Back to Spain with pride and 80k

Our last Everest Poker player standing at the Main Event, Javier Martinez, busted 90th.
He lost several big pots and with his remaining 840,000 pushed all in with a pair of Tens. An opponent called with Queens and the dealer provided no miracle.
He can fly back home to Spain with the pride of being the last spanish player standing at this Main Event.
Good game Javier!

Daan and Luis are out

Daan Slutter and Luis Ubierna busted during level 22.

Daan Slutter
Daan ended with pocket AA against AK suited. He busted is 128th position with $57,102. Daan's winnings go towards the $1 Million Dollar Match! Go Daan!!

Luis Ubierna
Luis started the day with 811,000 chips. He had a very aggressive day and played a lot of hands but was never able to hit the flop. Because of this he was down to 20 big blinds. With the increasing levels, he was down to 250,000 chips. He decided to push in middle position with A8 of clubs. Everybody folds except the big blind with AQ. So, Luis busted today in 130th position with $57,102. Great job Luis!!!!!!

Our only remaining player is a Live the Dream winner. We're excited to see what Javier Martinez has in store for us. He's now in 51st place!

Current Level: 23
Blinds: 12000/24000
Ante: 3000
Players remaining: 125

Day 6

We're starting off Day 6 in level 22:

Blinds: 10,000 / 20,000
Ante: 3,000
Players Left: 196

Here are the chipcounts of the 3 remaining Everest Poker players:

Javi Martinez - 1,494,000

Luis Ubierna - 811,000

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Daan Slutter - 397,000

Final Chipcounts Day 5

We have 3 Everest Poker players that will be continuing to day 6!!

Everest is holding strong with Live the Dream Team member Javier Martinez in 41st place and Everest Poker player Luis Ubierna in 55th!

Now it's time to enjoy a good time in the lounge with all our Everest friends!

Pablo Ubierna Out

Pablo is out finishing 375th place and taking home $36,463.

Pablo lost almost all his chips when he raised 83 from the button and the big blind called. The flop came 837 with two diamonds. He made the continuation bet and his opponent called. The turn was the Ad. His opponent checked and Pablo bet again. His opponent moved all in. Pablo called and his opponent showed T4 of diamonds (flush). The river did not help Pablo so he was down to less than 5 Big Blinds. He finally pushed all in with Q9 and lost against KK.

Martinez vs Chan

Javier Martinez is seated at the same table as Johnny Chan today!

Javi's big chance against Chan:

Javi raises to 18K in the UTG position with AxQs. The bottom calls and Chan at the big blind calls too.
Flop: Ks9s5s
The big blind checks, Javi does a continuation bet at 24K, bottom fold and Chan calls.
Turn: 3h.
The 2 players check. River is a 2c. Chan bets 25K and Javi decides to fold because he has nothing on the river.

Even with this loss we are sure Javi was excited to play such a hand here during Day 5!

Fabrice (FR) is out of the Main Event 2010

Fabrice Soulier just entered our Everest Poker lounge, while it's not an official break..can't be good.

Unfortunately but true: Fabrice, our Team Everest player from France is out of the Main event on day 5.

Last hand situation:

Fabrice shoved all in with 79,000 from the cutoff position and David Emmons reraised from the button, to isolate Fabrice. Successfully cause both blinds folded.

Fabrice is holding: K-10
David is holding: A-K

Flop is: 10-J-6. Fabrice hits his 10. But a Q on the turn made a straight for David.

Fabrice won: $24,079

Au revoir for Fabrice.

We still have 4 Everest Poker players in the Main Event.

Good luck!!

Day 5 in Vegas

Welcome to Day 5. We have 5 Everest Poker players competing here today. This is one of the greatest number of Everest players we have ever had last this long in the tournament!

We begin today at Level 17 with blinds at 3000/6000 and an ante of 1000. There are 574 players remaining.

Final Chipcount of Day 4

Join us here in Vegas from the Everest Poker Lounge tomorrow at 12:00pm for the start of day 5. We will have 5 players starting the day tomorrow. Here are their ending chipcounts from today:

French Player Germain Gillard is Out

Germain Gillard from France is now out of the tournament, putting $24,079 towards the Everest Poker Million Dollar Match. Germain pushed all in preflop with 45K with A J. His opponent has K J and the guy hits on K on the flop. Great job Germain!

We have reached the bubble!

We have finally reached the bubble here at 10:00pm during day 4 in Vegas!

We still have six Everest Poker players remaining. Whatever money Daan Slutter and Germain Gillard win here goes towards the Million Dollar Match. Go guys!

Here are the post-bubble chipcounts for our players:

Chipcounts at Dinner Break

Level: 16
Blinds: 2500/5000
Ante: 500
There are 751 players remaining. Only 4 away from the bubble!

Live the Dream Team member Javier Martinez is in the top 25%!

Updated Chipcount

Here is an updated chipcount for our Everest Poker players. Some of our players stacks have decreased, but we are here cheering them on!

Julien Out of the Tournament

Julien Claudepierre of the Live the Dream team is now out of the tournament. Julien went out in level 15 when he pushed all in preflop with K6s. His opponent had TT and there was no help from the board for Julien.

Day 4 - - Update

We're up to level 14 with blinds of 1,500 / 3,000, 400 Ante and 999 players remaining.

Here's an update on how our Everest Poker players are doing:

Sigurd Eskeland is out

Our Everest Poker bracelet winner and Live the Dream Team member Sigurd Eskeland, is out.

Sigurd went into the hand with KK. His opponent raised to 7K and Sigurd reraised to 18K, his opponent calls.
Flop: 10 7 5
His opponent bets 17K and Sigurd calls.
Turn: 4
Opponent bets 35K on the turn and Sigurd goes all in, opponent calls.
Opponent shows 77.

Great job Sigurd!

Welcome to Day 4 in Vegas!

Welcome to Vegas for the start of Day 4 here with Everest Poker!

There are 1200 players remaining in the tournament and we are only 456 away from ITM.

We have some very exciting news from our Everest players:

Live the Dream Team member Javier Martinez is in 35th place!

Team Everest member Fabrice Soulier is in 68th place!

Everest Poker friend and online qualifier Pablo Ubierna is in 148th place! Go Everest!

Here are the starting chipcounts from our players:

End of Day 3

The players are playing the last level of the day. With 1395 players left, the average chipcount is around 158k. Jochum lost two pots before the dinner break, but he took the chips back with AQ. Now he’s playing 140k again. Daan Slutter had an official warning! He was speaking Dutch with the Dutch champion Stieven and that’s not allowed. You may only speak English at the tables, even if you are not in a hand. Daan lost a bit but is still playing around 150k.

Ismael is out

Ismael who started today with 46K is out of the tournament.
After a couple of hours, Ismael was down to 30K.

Last hand situation:

Ismael is in the big blind. a couple of limpers, SB completes, Ismael checks.
Flop: Qh-3h-9h, Ismael holding Q-3.
Ismael checks, player bets 4,200 other player calls and Ismael goes all in for 32K.
Snap call from a player holding KhKx.
Turn: Hart, end of Ismaels main event at the WSOP 2010.

We still have Louis, Javier and Pablo in the tournament.

Update: WSOP Day 3

Jochum is playing a aggressive game today. Everytime we walk by his table, we see action. Jochum got crippled when he ran into AA with his pocket kings. He was down to 60k and then he flopped a set deuces which were paid off by somebody who was holding KK. So now he’s back at 120k.

Pablo Ubierna, the former Live the Dream player from Spain, is doing fine in the Amazon room. Pablo usually wears his green headset, but today he’s wearing a purple one. Pablo is a proud member of the Spanish poker group ‘From Flop Turn The River’.

http://fromflopturntheriver.blogia.com/upload/20100707130716-4.jpg
Pablo on the left

Update: Level 11

We're up to level 11. Blinds are currently at 800/1600 with 200 ante and there are approximately 1854 players left.

Here are the Everest Poker player chip counts:

Updates from the floor at 4:40 PM

Fabrice Soulier
After his tough morning Fabrice was down to 110K. In his hand he has 67 suited clubs. He calls, someone raises, and Sam Farha calls.
Flop: AKQ, with the KQ as clubs.
There are two checks, and the initial raiser throws a 5K bet. Fabrice calls and Farha folds. Turn: 10C
Now fabrice leads the pot betting 11K and the other guy calls. On the river, he sends a big bet of 24K and the guy calls and mucks his hand. Fabrice now has 170K! Go Fabrice!

Julien Claudepierre
He bets 3.8K from the hijack position and the cutoff 3bets him at 11K and Julien calls with KQ.
Flop: Q25
Julien checks and the guy bets 12K and Julien calls.
Turn: 9
Double check and the river is a Q. Julien shoves and the guy folds. He now has 95K!

Germain Gillard
At the beginning of the hand he has 45K. The under the gun player raises at 3K and Germain calls with QQ.
Flop 3d4dJx
The guy continuation bets at 6K and Germain calls.
Turn: 7
The guy bets 17K. Germain shoves all in for 35K. The guys calls with AJd. The river is a 9h. Germain wins the pot, and now he has a normal stack and can be more aggressive. He is now at 120K.

Daan Slutter
The guy under the gun raises, another guy calls and Daan calls too.
Flop: 873 with 73 as spades
The initial raiser checks, the second player bets, and Daan calls.
Turn: Qs
The intial raiser checks, and Daan bets 18K, the other guy calls. The river is a 7. The intiial raiser waits for a while and then bets 50K. Daan shoves all in and the other insta calls. Daan has four of a kind with 7 and the other guy has full eights by the 7. Go Daan!

Update on our Spanish Players

Here's an update on our 4 Spanish players that made it to Day 3:

Luis Ubierna is now up to 80k. At the beginning of the day he lost a 20k pot with JJ vs K5 when his opponent hit trips on the flop. Luis later got his revenge and busted the guy with Q7 suited on a 745 flop (top pair and flush draw) against T7 taking a pot of 40k.

Luis Ubierna

Pablo Ubierna is at 222K, down from 250K after losing a big pot in the last hand before the break. Pablo tried to steal the pot with a 3bet but had to fold on the 4bet of his opponent. He is very happy with his table and will try to win some small pots using his chiplead on the table.

Pablo Ubierna

Ismael is down to 36k. His table got broken so he moved to the Amazon Room (table 339) and has to deal with new players. He is waiting for some good cards but for the moment he is blinding down…

Ismael Arribas

Javier Martinez from the Live the Dream team is up to 220k.

Javier Martinez

Our Spanish players are proud member From Flop Turn The River. Check out their blog here

Update on NL and ES

Jochum Weenink
Jochum is playing a aggressive game today. Everytime we walk by his table we see action. Jochum got crippled when he ran into AA with his pocket kings. He was down to 60k and then he flopped a set deuces which were paid off by somebody who was holding KK. So now he’s back at 120k.

Koen is out!

Koen from NL is out of the Main Event.

Last hand situation:

Koen raises to 3,000 from the cut off position with Ah- 8d. 2 callers.
Flop comes: 8h-Jh-10h.
Koen bets 5.400, button raises to 12,000. Koen goes all in (approx 32K). Button calls the all in with 10c-9c.
Turn: 10c, River: Kd

We still have Daan Slutter and Jochum Weenink from the Netherlands here at the Main Event.

Chipcount Update

Updates on our Dutch Players

Yesterday the Netherlands lost the World Cup final against Spain, let’s hope today will be a happier day for our Dutch players Jochum Weenink and Koen Reefman!

Koen Reefman
Koen Reefman started the day with 50k and is sitting at one of the feature tables in the Amazon Room.

Jochum Weenick
Jochum started today with more than 100k and is sitting at the table next to Koen. Jochum lost a couple of small pots, on a 5d 6s Js flop he made a continuation bet and his opponent went all in. He had to throw away his hand. One hand later he opens UTQ + 1 and the woman on the hijack makes the call. On a A T Q flop, Jochum checks and the woman bets. Again he has to muck his cards. “Since you are standing there, nothing works for me!”, he complains with a smile.

We started this Main Event with 7319 players and there are now 2300 players left. They are playing 600-1200 with a 200 ante. Average is about 90k.

Updates on our French Players

Everest Poker has four French players that made it to day 3. They are Team Everest's Fabrice Soulier, Live the Dream Team's Julien Claudepierre, and online qualifiers Germain Gillard and Herve Muller.

Fabrice Soulier
Fabrice hasnt started very well today. He had decent starting hands but the flop structure has not helpful for him. He's also been dealing with a lot of opposition on his table. Here are some examples:

-His hand was QQ. The flop was AK7, he folded at the flop because the other guy reraised him after his Cbet.
-Then his hand was JJ, he raised at the bottom, someone from the blinds 3bet at 7K and he calls. The flop was 10 high with 2 diamonds. His opponent bets 9K and Fabrice calls. Then at the turn there is a Qh and the guy goes all in for 47K and Fabrice has to fold. He's now at 100K.

Julien Claudepierre
Julien started the day with 61K and he went down to 40K but hes up again to 61K.

German Gillard
Germain has 56K and started the day with 51K.

Yesterday the Netherlands lost the World Cup final against Spain, let’s hope today will be a happier day for our Dutch players Jochum Weenink, Koen Reefman and Daan Slutter!

Koen Reefman plays 50k and is sitting at one of the feature tables in the Amazon Room. Jochum plays more than 100k and is sitting next to the table of Koen. Jochum lost a couple of small pots, on a 5d 6s Js flop he made a continuation bet and his opponent went all in. He had to throw away his hand. One hand later he opens UTQ + 1 and the woman on the hijack makes the call. On a A T Q flop, Jochum checks and the woman bets. Again he has to muck his cards. “Since you are standing there, nothing works for me!”, he complains with a smile.

We started this Main Event with 7319 players and there are now 2300 players left. They are playing 600-1200 with a 200 ante. Average is about 90k.

Day 3 in Vegas

Welcome to Everest Poker's coverage of day 3 in Vegas. We still have many Everest players left and are excited to see what they have in store for us today!

Post Dinner Break Chipcount

Some highlights: Pablo and Javier are doing great! Go Everest!

Javier Martinez

Pablo Ubierna

Thomas Frozlev is out

Live the Dream Team player Thomas Froslev began his last hand with KJ and his opponent with QQ.

There was a K on the flop.

And then a Q on the river.

Great job Thomas!!

Chipcount Update before Dinner Break

Everest Poker players pre-dinner break chipcounts:

We have not lost anymore Everest Players since the last break!

Sigurd had a big chipcount increase! Here is his description: "Just hit a straight with QQ vs a player allin with I have 129k!!!"

Follow Sigurd and our other Everest Poker players via twitter at:

http://search.twitter.com/search?q=evpvegas

Tristan Giard is Eliminated

Tristan has been card dead throughout Day 2B. The guy at the cutoff was being very aggressive, so he decided to shove his last 14 blinds with KJ and the cutoff insta calls with AK and there is no miracle for Tristan. He is elimated. Great job Tristan!

Chipcount Update

Update Daan Slutter

Dan Slutter

Daan was holding 66.

Flop: T 6 5

Daan bets 2200 on this flop and gets a call. The turn is a A and his opponent makes the call for 5500. Also on the river (Q) Daan gets paid off. Daan is now playing over 100k!!

Antoine Saout has Busted

Our November Nine is Out

During the 1st level of Day 2B, Antoine started with 40K. He played many pots but lost 10K, leaving him with only 30K.

In the first hand of the second level of the day, he discovered QQ and raised to 1.5K. The button reraised to 5.5K, and Antoine pushed all in. The guy calls with KK and there is no Q on the board to save our November Nine.

We still have many Everest Poker players remaining in Day 2B. Go Everest!!

Day 2B Update

Koen Reefman

Koen Reefman wasn’t involved in any big pots the first hour of the tournament. His table is ok and he’s still playing around 60k.

Koen Reefman is living in Enschede, the Netherlands and he studied Psychology but he didn’t finish it. His father and brother sell cheese on local markets, typical Dutch! Koen is a real Everest Poker fan and he will be playing the SPT Castellon, he already played the SPT Ibiza and he loved it. His favorite Dutch poker player is Bobak Zahmat. Koen just celebrated his 22th birthday.

Chipcounts

Day 2B in Vegas

Welcome to Day 2B!

Here are the starting chipcounts for our Everest Poker players that are competing today:

We will keep you updated as the day progresses. Go Everest!

Chipcounts from the end of Day 2A

Here are the chipcounts from our Everest Poker players at the end of Day 2A.

Catch us here on Saturday for the start of Day 2B!

Steven is out!

Steven almost survived day 2, but in the last hour he busted.
From SB with A-10 (short stacked) pushed all in. BB called with KK.

Steven's Main event adventure ended today.

Voitto out!

Voitto just busted out of the Main Event with pocket J versus AJ.
But we still have Team Everest players in the Main event like:
Steven van Zadelhoff, Kim Wooka and Fabrice Soulier. Go Go Everest!

Chipcounts and Updates

David Colin Elimination

Before this game David had 25K, he raised under the gun, he is called 2 times by the big blind and another player.

Flop: 4 6 J

The Big Blind checks, David bets 5K the 3rd fold and the big blind calls.

Turn: 5

The big blind checks and David goes all in. The big blind calls. David shows KK, and the big blind shows a 4 and 5. David is eliminated.

Yori Epskamp

We pick up the action when the board shows AhAcKh. Two players check and Yori bets 3200. The first player decides to fold and the second one makes the call. De turn is a 6s. Yori’s opponent checks and Yori bets 5700 and gets a call. The river is a 3h and after a check, Yori bets 9600. After a while, his opponent makes the call with KJ, Yori shows Q4…

Yori Epskamp is playing 12.5k now.

Chipcounts

ChipCount Update

Update: Chipcounts

Day 2A Updates

Update: 5:42 PM

Nicky van de Biggelaar (NL) is out with A4 vs AJ.

Update: 5:47 PM

Steven van Zadelhoff got a reseat. He’s now in the Amazon room and he isn’t that happy because he is sitting next to the famous Sammy Farha who’s playing more than 100k. Steven is down to 30k. “Two days of work for nothing…”, he wrote on his Twitter!

Jochum Weenink is trying to get a spot against the chip leader at his table. He isn’t a good player according our Jochum from Gouda. While waiting for that spot, he’s eating some M&M’s.

A well known Dutch player on Everest Poker, Jasper Wetemans, also busted.

Chipcount Update Day 2A

Here is a chipcount update for some of our Everest Poker players:

Day 2A Second Break

Julien Claudepierre

Julien began the day with 39K, quickly lost two pots and he’s down to 31k. Later, he’s in the bottom position and all the players pass before him. He discovers AA and he raises to 1.1K. The small blind pass the big blind 3bet at 3.9K and Julien just called.

Flop: 8H 10H 3C

The big blind bets at 3.9K. Julien decides to shove and the other other guy calls with JJ.
We won the pot and he is now at 256K.

Valentin Messina

After having lost his first big pot with Francesco, Valentin was suffering from very bad timing: When he had big hands he was not paid, etc. In the last hand he was down to 15K and he had 77. One player limps at 500 (250-500). Val raises at 1.7K, the small blind calls. The limper reraise at 4.5K. Valentin was not worried and decided to push with 77. The guy shows AA, and there were no cards to save Val.

Julien Claudepierre

Julien was at 39K, the blinds were 250 and 500. Julien decides to raise with A9 in the middle position. Just one guys calls.

The flop: AAQ

Julien bets half pot and his opponent reraise to 4.5K and Julien calls. The turn is an A and the two players check. The river is a Q. Julien bets 2.5 in a 12K pot. His opponent 3bet at 9K. Julien 4bet at 20K. His opponent folds. After this pot he is at 62K.

Update: Julien is up to 95K!!

Fabrice Soulier

When Fabrice started the day he was at 16.5K. A very bad player bets 2.5K (blinds were 200-400) preflop. Fabrice, with 99, decides to pay from the big blind.

Flop: 4 5 7

Fabrice checks and his opponent bets again 2.5K, Fabrice calls. The turn is a 9. Fabrice checks again, his opponent bets again 2.5K, Fabrice does a lot of acting and then he pushes all in. The guy folds, so now Fabrice is up to 34K.

Update: Fabrice Soulier involved in a big pot!

We pick up the action when the flop is dealt; 3c 8s Ts

One player is all in and Fabrice is facing a bet from a third player. He stands up and thinks a while before he makes the fold. He shows QQ. There is a showdown and the all in player shows AK, the other one is showing KK. So Fabrice made a good fold there although he lost a bit. Turn and river: 8c and Tc.

David Colin

At the beginning of the day David started with 52K and he lost a very big pot with set over set.

Jesper Hoog

Jesper is out!

Jesper raises with AsQs
SB reraises with 5K, Jesper calls

Flop: 10s-Kc-8c
SB bets 5.7K, Jesper calls
Turn: 5s
SB checks, Jesper goes all in with 35K
SB calls with 10d-Kd

River no help.

Kenny Hallaert

Kenny from Belgium is out.
Right after the break he went all in with pocket 6
Call from pocket J

No help for our Belgium player.

Yori Epskamp

Aggressive Yori!

Yori Epskamp was down to 25k but is now back to 40k. “I’m driving him crazy!”, he said while pointing to the guy at seat 5. “I 3bet him all the time and he keeps on folding. The last hand I finally had a really good hand, KK and I 3bet him again. He was pissed and he almost made the call. Unfortunately he didn’t but soon he will start to pay me off!”

Update for the First Break

Francesco de Vivo is out of the tournament

Live the Dream Team member Francesco de Vivo started the day with 5850 chips. The blinds were at 200-400.

Here is the story on his last hand:
Someone at his table raised to 1,100. Francesco moved all in with A 10. Valentin Messina, also seated at the table with A-K, raised to 30K to put the initial raiser all in. The initial raiser had QQ and there was no help neither for Francesco or Valentin. Valentin is down to about 35K.

However despite his loss, Francesco has decided not to change his flight so he can stay in Vegas until the 14th. You can find him playing in cash games at the Bellagio and Caesar's Palace at the 5/10 tables.

Maria Maceiras

Team Everest's Maria Maceiras is also out.

She started the day with 21,125 chips. After raising for the 4th hand in a row, as her table was not very tough, Maria with KK 3 bets a guy holding AA and finally pushed all in on the 4 bet. With no help from the board Maria is now out of the tournament.

On a happier note for Everest, Maria is going to stay in Vegas until July 15th. She is a bit sick of tournaments so she will enjoy some shows with her boyfriend and might play the 1K event on Sunday at Caesar's Palace.

Jochum Weenink

Jochum Weenick is a 22 year old online qualifier from the Netherlands. He is playing in his second World Series tournament here in Las Vegas.

This year he has already played in 5 side events with one cash and is really anxious to cash big in the Main Event.

Jochum is staying with his friend Koen de Bracelet (formally known as Koen de Bakker), at Caesar's Palace.

Jochum is a well known face at the Spanish Poker Tour, playing since season 1 starting in 2008.

Besides poker, Jochum plays Korfball and likes to hang out with friends. Ladies, Jochum is still single :)

Jochum

Jesper Hoog

Jesper is from Sweden he's just 25 years old and playing in his third WSOP. In both prior years he has busted on the 2nd day of the Main Event, so it’s important to him to reach day 3 this year. Jesper is ‘up’ now to 20K, he started today at 18K. He is happy with his table, not too aggressive!

Besides playing here in Vegas, Jesper also enjoys playing cash games on www.everestpoker.com
. He got his driver’s license when he was 21, but never drove alone. So first thing he will do (after a good cash here) is practice his driving and then buy a car. No favorite, just a cool ride!

Jesper

Voitto Rintala

This will be Voitto's fifth time playing here in Vegas. He has yet to have made a cash at main event, but hopes it will happen soon! He is staying almost a month in the Rio to play side events and the main event.

For all our ladies reading this: Voitto is single. Voitto plays the base guitar in a famous Finish rock band. Voitto’s favorite food is italian cuisine, he likes to work out, read and his bad habit is collecting insignificant stuff like comic books (Larson, dilbert). You can recognize Voitto from his freaky contact lenses.

He started today with 37500 but is now up to 47500 (after the first hour of day 2A).

Voitto

Marco Bilsing

Marcoc Bilsing is Everest Poker's only online qualifier who is also a professional boxer! He trains two times a day (even in Vegas). He is here with his brother who also tried to qualify online, but had to settle for supporting his brother throughout the event.

At the moment he has 19000 chips. He just won a small pot with QQ.

He started playing poker 6 years ago and plays a bit on TV. His first live poker experience was with friends and he won. On his first online tournament he finished second. He was very pleased so played the next day and won the tournament! This is his first time in Vegas, go Marco!

Marco

Yori Epskamp

Yori is living in Hilversum, Netherlands. He’s 27 years old and has a degree in Sport Marketing. He qualified through Everest Poker for Event #54 and now he’s also playing the Main Event. He has been dreaming about playing the Main Event for years!

Although he is a cash game player, he really likes this tournament as the structure is very slow. For example: they started the first day with 30k and now in the second level of day 2, the blinds are only 250-500 with an ante of 50. Yori is a bit down because he floated one time but missed the turn and he got reraised while he was isolating the initial raiser on the cut off position. But with a 45k stack he is still in a good shape!

Yori Epskamp

Kenny Hallaert

Kenny is one of Everest Poker's biggest players in Belgium. Kenny is living in Hansbeke, a small village in the northern part of the country. Besides playing poker himself, he runs the site pokerinfo.be and he organizes a lot of tournaments in the Namur casino.

Kenny started the day with 24950 chips but lost a bit in the first level; he’s now playing 17k. Kenny said to us in the break that he’s hitting good when he’s not playing! He had to fold 44 pre flop because of the action and the flop showed….a 4! The same with pocket sevens, the flop showed two sevens!

Here in Vegas he’s sharing a villa with his good friends Steven van Zadelhoff and Marc Naalden.

Kenny

Starting Chips and Seats for Day 2A

Hi Everyone and welcome to Day 2A in Vegas! We have many Everest Poker players that have made it through Day 1A and 1C and are continuing on today. Here are their starting chipcounts:

In this year's tournament there have been 7,319 entrants, the second largest number of participants ever in the history of the game. This year also features the 3rd ever largest prize pool. Let's hope we see our players winning some of the prize! Go Everest!

An update on Daan Slutter

The prize pool was announced over the loud speaker in the poker room, but Daan Slutter wasn’t paying attention.

Via PokerNews:

He found A-Ko. Another player opened the action to 825 and somebody made it 1500. Daan Slutter made it 4300 and the reraiser made the call. 235 was the flop with two diamonds. The man checked and Slutter made it 6000.

The turn brought a 8d and the opponent checked again. Slutter made it 13k because he was thinking that he wasn’t facing a set and his opponent could only call with aces, kings or queens with a queen of diamonds. His read was good while the other player folded after a couple of minutes. Daan Slutter is now playing more than 60k.

Antoine Saout Chipping Up

Antoine raised his stack from 36k to 66krecently with the following hands:

The cutoff raised to 700, Antoine three-bets with K-9s to 2,000, the Big Blind and the initial raiser called.

Flop: K-K-9, all players checked. Turn: 9, BB checks, cut off bets 3,100, Antoine called, BB folded.

River: 3, the cutoff bets 6,500, Antoine put the guy all-in for additional 11,000, the guy folded.

Next hand:

Antoine limped with Q-Q in early position, after two more limpers, the Button raised to 1,300 and Antoine and the other limpers called.

Flop: 3-6-7. Antoine bets 3,000, two players called.

Turn: 8, all players checked.

River: 7, a guy bets 6k, Antoine called. The other guy had J-T for Jack High.

Next hand:

Antoine raised under the gun with Q-J to 525, Button called.

Flop: J-T-6. Antoine bets out 800 and his opponent called.

Turn: 8. Antoine checked, his opponent bets 2,200 and Antoine called.

River: A. Antoine checked, his opponent bets 4,400 and Antoine called. His opponent showed K9 for king high and Antoine takes this pot as well.

Current Pre-Dinner Break Chip Counts

Here is a look at the Everest Player stacks from around the room:

Tobias Wagner 26k

Koen Reefman 30k

Froslev Now On Fire

Thomas wins 8K

Not long after Froslev won his first 5k pot Froslev began picking up some great hands and the two hands below helped massively increase his stack here during WSOP Main Event Day 1D:

A female player from the middle position limps, seat 10 (a very active player) raises to 600, Thomas calls in BB and the girl calls.

Flop: 6-7-9 rainbow (Thomas Exclaims: "Yes, please!!"). Everyone checks around to seat 10 who bets 700 and both Thomas and the female player calls.

Turn: J. Check around to seat 10 who bets 2100, but Thomas have had enough and raises 5500.

After some hesitation from the active player, both players end up folding.

New stack: 38.000!

A few hands later:

Thomas wins 28K

Thomas has KK:

Seat 10 limps, Thomas bets 1000, MP bets 3000 and seat 10 folds, Thomas calls.

Flop: J-10-2.

The other player bets 5.000 and Thomas is considering folding his over pair, but decides to call since the other player’s bet seemed a bit strange.

Turn: K. The other player goes all-in instantly and Thomas makes a quick call.

The river is a 4 and Thomas takes the 28K pot, and is now in 66K while the other guy is out.

Froslev Finds a hand

Thomas is in small blind and the guy in late position opens with 300. Player on the button calls and Thomas follows.

Flop shows, K-3-7 (two clubs)

Thomas checks, and the player who opened checks, but the other players bets 700. Thomas calls, the other player folds.

The pot is at 2,400.

Turn is a 2x

Thomas checks, the button bets 1400 and Thomas calls.

River is a club, and Thomas wins the pot with KQ.

Thomas is up to 33,000.

Thomas Froslev

Maal Out

Not long after our last Sijbrand Maal Update, he ran into a bad beat of sorts.

Sijbrand Maal is out. He was holding Ad-Ax when the flop was showing Kd-Jd-8d.

Maal raised the bet of his opponent and his opponent called.

The pot was around 10,000 at that time. On the turn his opponent shoved all in for 13,000 and Sijbrand made the call.

Although he had outs for the nut-flush, he was eliminated.

Sijbrand Maal Update

Quick Update:

Sijbrand Maal is relaxed and lost a bit during the first level.He’s taken only a slight hit though and is still sitting on over 26,000 and is not in a hurry because of the great structure here today.

We will keep our eye on him as the day progresses.

Hand Review with Daan Slutter

Daan Slutter Just Won A Big Pot

Here is a hand review with Daan Slutter. Slutter was a member of the first Everest Live the Dream team and now he qualified for the Main Event.

We pick up the action when the flop is dealt; 6d-5c-Td.

The player on the hijack makes it 2,500 and Daan Slutter raises to 7500. His opponent calls the raise.

The turn shows a 3h.

Daan bets 11k and his opponent asks for a count. Slutter announces he is playing 11k behind and wins the pot without a showdown.

Daan Slutter was a member of the first Everest Live the Dream team and now he qualified for the Main Event.

Everest Players Around the Room

Daan Slutter

Sijbrand Maal

Antoine Saout

Thomas Froslev

Tobias Wagner

Everest French Player Update

After the first two levels, here you have a chipcount of the French players:

Léonard Truche: 30k (Team LTD)

Valentin Messina: 26k (Team France)

Julien Claudepierre: 12k (Team LTD)

Fabrice Soulier: 29,5k. (Team Pro EVP)

Fabien Perrot: 31k (Team LTD)

Léo Truche has won a lot of small pots and lost one big pot with Q-Q Vs K-K.

His opponent raises, Léo three-bet and his opponent calls.

The flop 4h-5h-Tx arrives and his opponent check calls the Léo bet.

At the turn, we have a second T and his opponent decides to call.

Finally, at the river, his opponents bets again and Léo just call. With this hand, Léo has lost a 5k pot but he’s only knocked back to his original stack of 30,000.

Léo Truche

Wooka Needs a Win

Everest Poker's Kim Wooka has caught a bad run of cards so far today.

Wooka's first run with trouble came when she lost with A-K vs. T-T.

Pre-flop someone raised, she three-bet, he four-bet, she decided to move it all-in. No help came to improve her A-K and she suffered a 10k loss in chips.

Then She lost with J-J vs. A-T.

The flop came Ten high, her opponent bets, she raises, he calls.

Turn goes check/check.

River comes an Ace. Opp. bets, she calls, and suffers a 6k loss.

She lost with A-Q vs. A-8. She raises pre-flop, guy calls,

Flop comes Q-8-3, he checks, she bets, he calls.

Turn is a 7. He checks, she bets, he calls.

River comes an 8. He bets, she calls, and loses another 8k.

Kim is now down to 7,800 in chips.

Smallball Not Working For Hallaert

Kenny lost half of his stack, "I am missing every combo draw and have been outdrawn twice", says Kenny.

He has become very frustrated with the way the cards have fallen, "but that is the way poker is", according to Kenny.

While the blinds are only 150-300, he has decided to play tight from now on instead of playing ‘smallball’ poker.

Zadelhoff Picks On The Elderly

Steven van Zadelhoff, the Dutch Team Everest Poker player three bets a ‘grandpa’ (his own words) with 8-7 both spades.

On a A-x-x flop Steven bets out and the older opponent mucks his K-K.

After this hand Steven called a raise with T-9s and he hits his double-belly-buster straight draw.

Good game Steven!

Blanco's bust out

Unfortunately Everest Poker's Cristiano Blanco lost his 30k chip stack in three hands and ten minutes…here's how:

First he had a set over set situation that costs 16k.

Second he had top two pair vs a set, that cost him 9.5k

Third he had top pair vs an overpair for the remainder of his 4.5k chip stack.

He is extremely disappointed in his performance, this is not his first early exit from the main event.

Main Event Second Break Chip Counts

Here are a few chip updates through the second break:

Steven Van Zadelhoff 25k

Fabien Perrot 35k

Yori Epskamp 28k

Voitto Rintala 22.5k

Jasper Wetemans 40k

Valentin Messina 32k

Kenny Hallaert 25k

Koen de Bakker 30k

Cristiano Blanco Busted

Johan Rensink Busted

Koen de Bakker Update

Koen has a seating issue


Everest Poker Live the Dream's Koen de Bakker caught up with us on the first break and let us know his thoughts of why he has a bad seat draw in today's heat of the Main Event.

"Behind me there’s a big screen where they broadcast the Spain vs Germany World Cup game and I'm a big soccer fan."

We can see how this could put him on lack-of-good-tv tilt today, so we hope he holds strong and overcomes the fact that his view of the screen could be better.

In related news, Koen wants to say hi to his girlfriend back home...“I miss you and I love you!”

Good poker player, soccer fan, and a truly decent guy...we are sorry that he's taken ladies :)

Rintala Playing Like A Rockstar!

Friend of Everest Poker and Finnish rockstar Voitto Rintala aka RandomEyes always wears his unique contact lenses but today they don’t fit right. "I might have to go without them today" he proclaimed.

He’s already up to 33,000 (from the starting stack of 30k) only two levels into the tournament.

Player Update: Kenny Halleart

Everest Poker Belgium Qualifier Kenny Hallaert gave his thoughts on his first break today of his table and his thoughts on how the tournament will progress. He even has a BOLD prediction on the Main Event outcome.

Kenny: I’ll save the big hands for the day after tomorrow.(Day 2 of the Main Event)

Everest: How tough is your table?

Kenny: I wanna make a side-bet that nobody from my table will win the tournament.

Everest: Wait...so you are saying that you’ll not win the tournament?

Kenny: I’ll settle for the third place!

We get the gist that Kenny is happy with his table and so far has just played a couple of small pots. He knows the WSOP Main Event is a marathon, not a sprint!

End of Level One Chip Stacks

Here is a look at both our Everest Qualifiers and Pros in the field through the end of level 1:

Koen de Bakker 33k

Steven van Zadelhoff 26k

Main Event Dinner Break Stacks

Here is what we look like going into the last Level of the night:

Sigurd $56,000

Javier $80,000

Also, friend of Everest Poker, Tournament Director of the SPT, EPEC and 3LT Baden, Thomas Kresmer is sitting on $27,000

An Everest double team

Joachim Hein is an experienced player from Germany. While studying computer science he got more and more involved in playing poker and then he finally decided on making his passion his profession.

It is not the first time he's played the WSOP, but this tournament is still something special. He is sitting at the same table as Everest Poker’s Live the Dream player Javier Martinez saying that even if he knew some of his opponents, he wouldn't let this affect his game. During the first levels his table was rather tight with everyone feeling everyone out. He also mentions that as time goes by the table is getting noticeably more and more aggressive.”

After the second break Joachim was holding $30,000, very close to Javi who had approx $31,000.

We will keep everyone posted on what is going on.

Qualifier Pics from Around the Room pt. 2

Sebastian Hoyez:

Herve Muller:


Joachim Hein:

Hand review with Sigurd Eskeland

Here is a quick hand review taken from Sigurd a short while ago:

Sigurd's opponent raises the pot to $500, with Sigurd calling.

The flop comes J-9-7. Sigurd makes it $700, his opponent raises to $2,100. After a brief moment Sigurd calls.

The turn comes a 9. Sigurd bets out $2,500 with his opponent calling his bet.

The river is a 5. Sigurd makes it $6,500. His opponent calls showing Q-Q. Sigurd turns over 8-10 of diamonds for the Jack high straight.

This brings his chip stack up to $38,000.

Updates through the second break

Here are some quick chip counts going into the third level:

Luis Ubierna $47,000

Javier Martinez Gil $31,000

Qualifier Pics from Around the Room

Bo Sehlstedt


Tristan Giard

Chip Count Updates through Level 2

Here are some chip counts as we approach the end of the 2nd level of play:

Javier Martinez 32,000
Luis Ubierna 34,500
Juan Rodriquez 31,000
Sebastien Hoyez 27,500
Herve Muller 33,000

Juan Rodriquez

The Brothers Ubierna

The Ubierna's are hoping that there is some brotherly luck in the air of the Rio Casino today as both brothers Pablo and Luis are doing well in the early onslaught.

They are and always have been competitive with each other, but are obviously rooting for one another today too, which is good, since Pablo seems to have a bit of an edge right now.

Pablo held three sets in the very first level of play today, and has increased his stack early from the 30,000 starting stack to a robust 65,000.

Luis Ubierna is at 32,000 and says, "I am playing tight and playing small pots."

Pablo Ubierna

Newly crowned bracelet winner and 2010 Everest's Live the Dream Team Member Sigurd Eskeland was smooth sailing here on Day 1B of the Main Event before running into a bit of a cooler.

On a flop of J-T-K, Sigurd was holding J-T and thought to have his first fish on the hook as he was getting called on the flop. After calling a small raise on later streets of action however, he found out his opponent had been the one holding the hand to beat; a set of Tens.

Sigurd is now down to 25,000, but still has tons of play left to get into the green zone.

Chip Tracking our Everest Players

With less than one hour to go on Day 1A of the Main Event, here is a look at how our Everest Qualifiers and Players stacked up through the first four levels of this poker marathon session:

21000 Marco Bilsing

Jorrit van Wijk out

Armijn Meijer Out

Despite Armijn's well thought out plan to play today against all those suffering from late night parties that took place in the poker world last night, it seems that it was not meant to be this year for him.

Armijn Meijer has busted. He called the 5-bet of his opponent with K-K on a 2-7-T flop. His opponent then moved all in. Armijn made the call and had 2 outs, because he was facing A-A.

Don't feel too sorry for Armijn though. Playing in the WSOP Main Event was a dream for Armijn that qualifying on Everest Poker enabled him to accomplish this year. He let us know he plans to be back next year fighting hard to increase his record in the prestigious event.

Marco Bilsing Profile:

Marco Bilsing, from Germany, is sitting at table 344 today.

If Marco looks like he could intimidate opponents into folding, that is because intimidation is part of his full-time job. Standing over 6'4 tall, Marco is a 33 year old professional boxer back home. Weighing in at 110 kg, Marco competes in the heavy-weight category.

As for knocking out players at the table today, he hasn't put anyone down for the count quite yet, but he has chipped up. He won the last hand right before the dinner break and is now playing 37,000.

Bilsing Represents!

Marco Bilsing is doing okay, he’s wearing the special EVP football shirt. All qualified players got one. Marco found K-K early in the tournament and is a bit up.

Weenink lost a bit of ground

“My opponent made a 4-bet and I shoved all in with AA, the other guy was thinking for a while and then he showed KK. I thought he made the call so I proudly showed AA but he open mucked his KK….”

He is now at Jochum Weenink $20,000

Armijn Miejer Update

Armijn Meijer really loves his table, the players aren’t that good and he feels that he’s one of the best players at his table.

The first hand Armijn found AKo, he wasn’t that happy because he was a bit nervous. He made a raise to 900 and the initial raiser and another guy called. Armijn was happy he missed the flop, now he easily check-folded his hand! A couple of hands later he found 44 and flopped a set. There was a straight and a flushdraw on the board but those draws missed so Armijn won his first pot in the Main Event!

Armijn has an interested reason he played Day 1A today: "I figured since there were some poker parties that went until the early morning last night, I figured I might catch some people on hangovers, therefore making me have an advantage over today's field. I think it might have proven true so far."

Armijn has chipped up early to around $35,000 in chips.

Jorrit van Wijk's Up's Down's and Outs

Jorrit lost two big pots, he had to fold a straight on the river and he had KK while his opponent was holding AA, he was a bit on tilt but he’s ready to win it back after the first short break of the tournament.

Unfortunately, just after the first break, Jorrit busted. Earlier he lost a huge part of his stack, the last hand was 77 vs AQ, ace on the river.

Quick Update with Qualifier Jochum Weenink

Everest Netherlands Qualifier Jochum Weenink is relaxed. He had a good time during the Everest Poker party yesterday at Pure Nightclub inside Caesars Palace. Everest usually hosts a party there with a beautiful backdrop of the 4th of July firework display. Jochum really enjoyed the fireworks and the party, perhaps a bit to much. He says he feels a little ill today. He couldn’t change his ticket so with some coffee and food he has to get the job done a bit under the weather. "So far, so good" he said!

Jochum at the table

Post-1st break Chip Counts

The first break has passed. After two full levels of play here on Day 1A of the WSOP Main Event, here is a look at how a few of our players are stacking up:

Chipcounts:

Jochum Weenink NL 30000

Armijn Meijer NL 36000

The Main Event is Underway!

We are underway here in the heart of Las Vegas as our Everest Pros and Qualifiers attempt to put their stamp on the American soil tournament that is infamous amongst all poker players, the WSOP.

The players hope to improve upon Antoine Saout's performance for the team last year, so keep your eyes locked here and at EVPVegas.com for all the updates today.

Pics from the $1000 NL Part 2:

Claude Narcisse


Stevens Dodo

Nicolas Poloniato


Emil Vesterberg

$1000 NL On Dinner Break

Here is the rundown of the important facts and figures at this point in the $1000 NL of Event 54:

Level Info:

Level: 12

Blinds: 600 / 1,200

Ante: 100

Players Info:

Players Left: 273

Entries: 3844

First Prize: $570,960

Average Chip Stack: 42241.76

Total Chips: 11532000

Pics from the $1000 NL

Dennis Boekel

Cedric Mougey


Benoit Rossignon


Matthias Manhurtz

Koen de Bakker Celebrates his "birthday"

Koen de Bakker just played a hand for an interesting reason..."that hand is actually my birthday."

Koen is referring to playing 3-10 offsuit strictly because he said his birthday is the 10th of March (the third month of the year for the Calendorically-challenged).

Koen didn't seem to concerned about playing random hands like this at thisstage in the tournament, "I'm playing $27,000, but I still have time while the blinds are $400-$800."

Fabrice Soulier out of the PLO

Team Everest Pro just couldn't seem to get anything going here today in the $10,000 PLO Championship.

Here is how the elimination hand went down via PokerNews:

Fabrice Soulier raised the button to 19,000 before Ville Mattila three-bet to 61,000 from the big blind. Soulier made the call and they took a flop of {A-Diamonds}{3-Diamonds}{7-Clubs}.

Mattila led out with a small bet of 45,000 before Soulier moved all in over the top, but Mattila made the call.

Matilla: {K-Spades}{K-Clubs}{J-Hearts}{5-Spades}
Soulier: {J-Clubs}{J-Diamonds}{6-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}

The kings of Matilla held on the {A-Hearts} turn and {10-Spades} river to eliminate Soulier in 32nd place. Matilla is up to 540,000.

Fabrice will take home $19,839 for his efforts here today.

Tobi Wagners brush with Hollywood

Live the Dream Everest player from Germany is living a unique kind of dream today as he is seated at the Ante Up For Africa Charity tournament table with none other than 'the Jason Bourne' mega celebrity Matt Damon.

Tobi's story is even better when you here the background.

Tobi's good friend is Markus Antonius Rogan. Rogan is an Austrian swimmer, who won two silver medals at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece and a gold medal for 200 m backstroke at the 2008 World Championships in Manchester. He also is the world record holder in 200 metres backstroke (short course). Recognizing Tobi's immense talent for poker, decided to put Tobi in this event, with the stipulation that, if he won anything from the prizepool, he would donate it half to Ante Up For Africa, and the rest to Markus' charity. Tobi seems to be having fun and enjoying his time in the tournament, as the Everest staffers and reporters continue to root for him on the rail.

We are sure that Tobi's brush with Hollywood won't go to his head, as he would like to stick to playing poker.

Day 2 Starting Chip Counts $1000 NL Holdem

After the first two starting days we have 12 Everest players moving on to the second day of play.

Here are the remaining players and there starting stacks:

Dennis Boekel $24,975
Stevens Dodo $32,350
Leandro Gaone $30,650
Mikael Johansson $58,875
Matthias Manhertz $20,325
Osada Masahiro $21,875
Clement Montaron $12,075
Cedric Mougey $5,750
Claude Narcisse $14,500
Nicolas Poloniato $55,750
Benoit Rossignon $9,425
Emil Vesterberg $18,475

Maal Finishes7th in $1500 Limit Shootout

Sijbrand Maal had another strong finish for Everest finishing 7th in the $1500 Limit Holdem Shootout at the conclusion of this hand reported on by PokerNews:

Brian Tate four-bet preflop and Sijbrand Maal made the call. The flop came {8-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{A-Hearts} and Tate bet. Maal raised and a series of raises occurred until action was capped at 75,000.

When the {Q-Spades} hit the turn, Tate bet and Maal raised all in for 54,000 total. Tate called and showed {A-Clubs}{Q-Clubs} for top two pair while Maal showed {Q-Diamonds}{J-Diamonds} for a pair of queens with a flush draw.

The river was a blank and no help to Maal. He was eliminated from the tournament in seventh place and will take home $17,215.

Everest Player Profile: Markus Van der Voor

A lovable but annoying cat is no match for Everest Netherlands Qualifier Markus Van der Voor. Markus ,28, has a cat, Tommie, that loves to put Markus on tilt whenever he is playing, by jumping on his new touch screen computer. Doing this shuts the screen off causing him the loss of his hand. Tommie is no match for Markus, he picks up right where he left off and continues to pounce on the online field while honing his poker skill on the Everest Poker client.

The Everest community is what keeps Van de Voor coming back to the site every day. He knows many of the players he is up against when playing live tournaments, which he believes, gives him the edge.

He gives a great deal of credit to U_R_myGimp and Tobestar, because they have worked their way up from the lower stakes to the higher stakes. They have worked very hard and have become very notable players as he too, feels he has become.

After the Break Chip Counts

After the dinner break this is how some of the chip counts are looking

$1000 NL
Antoine Saout – $12,000
Osada Masahiro - $14,000
Francesco Raffo - $10,000

$2,500 No-Limit Holdem
Johna Rensink – Busted
Tobe Wagner – Busted
Valentin Messina - $4,000
Maria Maceiras - $8,000
Steven Van Zadelhoff - $8,000

Catarina Santos Eliminated

Catarina has a short and not so sweet story of her string of hands that recently sent her to the rail:

Her Q-Q lost.

Her K-K won.

Her A-A went up against Q-T on an unfortunate flop of T-T-x. This proved to be to much and ultimately led to her elimination.

Catarina, who is also a lawyer in Portugal, will have to try her case in the next WSOP event she plays.

Otto Out!

Our wild-animal-dressed Otto Fabius might have done too good a job of acting like hunted prey, as he was just ousted from the $1000 NL with the following hand:

Facing a raisebefore him to $300 with blinds $75-150, Otto moves all-in for $2150 total holding A-J.

His opponent went into the tank for some time before finally calling the bet with the lowly 8-9 of spades.

The flop came down J-T-x, giving Otto top-top pair but giving his opponent a big straight draw.

The turn gave his opponent a pair when an 8 hit, and sadly the river Q put a straight into the hands of Otto's opponent, and a gorilla is released from the cage of the $1k as Otto is no longer with us.

Hands from Various Tables in the $1k

Marco Schardt from Germany:

After Level 2 Marco Schardt from Germany is down to $1,000 chips after taking what most would describe as a bad beat. He had pocket aces and his opponent called off a bunch of chips with K-Q, drawing towards a flush. Unfortunately, his opponent completed a straight flush on the river and Marco lost the pot.

Marco is surprised about the hands appearing at his table: ”We had one Royal Flush and two Straight Flushes in the first 2 levels on our table. I’ve never experienced anything like this in a tournament before.”

Mirko Kratochvila from Switzerland:

Our new Team Everest Poker Switzerland member started today. After the first 2 levels he let us know that he’s at a tight table, but with one player who is collecting pot over pot by getting very lucky. In level 2, Mirko was down to $2,700 chips, so the plan was to make an early move after the break and do some re-steals. He thought his chances to get away with this strategy were quite good as he now has a tight image at the table.

After level 4 however, he lost almost all of his chips with J-J against a player holding T-T hitting another Ten on the board.

After being left with some change – 150 chips – he got QQ in his hands thought this might be the first of many double ups; sadly, his opponent paired his King on the board an this was it for Mirko.

Everest Chip Counts ($1000 NL)

Here are some chip counts from around the room after break 1:

Ismael Arribas Munoz, Spanish friend of Everest Poker, $10,000
Yori Epskamp, Netherlands Qualifier, Busted
Antoine Saout, Team Everest Pro, France, $5,500
Otto Fabius, Netherlands Qualifier, $3,500
Catarina Santos, Sponsored from Portugal, $3,000
Csaba Toth, Hungary Qualifier, Busted
Mark Van Der Voorden, Netherlands Qualifier, $675
Marine Gessat Recchia, France Qualifier, $4,200
Osada Masahiro, Japan Qualifier, $7,500

Marine Gessat Recchia

Osada Masahiro

Ismael Arribas Munoz

Catarina Santos Induces a Bluff!

Everest Portugal Sponsored player Catarina Santos had an interesting hand come down where she was able to induce one of her opponents to make a bluff!

Here's the details:

Blinds $25-50;

Catarina raises the stakes holding the A-Q of spades in early position, and is met with 3 callers preflop.

The flop comes down K-8s-5s giving her the nut flush draw. Catarina bets out $150, and the button calls.

The turn is gin for Catarina; the 3s, completing her flush! Catarina slyly checks, and the button decides on a bet of $400. Catarina calls.

The river comes a blank. Catarina checks, the button bets out a large $1500, and Catarina moves all in begging for a call. Her opponent sadly folded.

When our staff showed up to report on the hand, the opponent she beat was still complaining about it, proclaiming, "she made me do it, she forced me to bet...I can't believe she made me do it!" as Catarina flashed a smile.

Everest Qualifier: Yori Epskamp

Everest Qualifier Yori Epskamp, whom we profiled on the blog here yesterday, has unfortunately hit the rail earlier than anticipated today.

Here's how it went down:

With blinds at $25-25;

Under the gun player limps. The button calls, and Yori check in the big blind.

Flop comes down Q-9-4 rainbow. Yori checks, Under the gun player bets out $50, and the Button folds. Yori Raises to $150 and the under the gun player calls.

Turn is a black 5. Yori bets out $275, Under the gun makes it $550, Yori Re-raises all-in, and the Under the gun player snap-called with pocket 5's for a turned set.

The river came a King and Yori will have to wait until next time to be in the hunt for WSOP gold.

Moving on to Day 2!

A few Everest players are moving on to Day 2 of the $1000 NL event, and before we start the Day 1b reporting, we thought we'd point out some notable chip stacks from yesterday:

Belgium player Leandro Gaone will be representing Everest on Day 2 finishing yesterday with $30,650.

Swedish card shark Mikael Johansson will cruiseinto Day 2 after finishing in 7th place yesterday with $58,875.

Nicolas Poloniato from France will also carry over his chips to day two after finishing an impressive 10th on the day with $55,750.

As we kick off today's coverage, be sure and follow all the interactive activities taking place at EVPVegas.com

Sijbrand Maal Standing Tall as our 3rd Final Tablist!!!!

Sijbrand Maal just advanced in the Event #53 $1500 Limit Holdem Shootout moments ago. He defeated Brian Aleksa heads up and moves on to compete at the final table for the WSOP Bracelet tomorrow at 3pm PST (23:00 GMT).

This will be Everest Poker's 3rd final table of the WSOP and 2nd in less than 24 hours!

Here are the hands that led up to his victory:

Hand 1 (via PokerNews):
From the button, Brian Aleksa raised it up. Sijbrand Maal made the call.

The flop rolled out . Maal slid out a bet only to have Aleksa put in a raise. Mall reraised and Aleksa made the call. The turn brought the . Maal bet and Aleksa called.

On the river Maal check-called Aleksa's bet. Maal turned over to take the pot.

Hand 2 (via PokerNews):
Brian Aleksa went all-in pre-flop with vs. Sijbrand Maal's . Aleksa was the player at risk.

The flop came down . Aleksa was still ahead with his pair and now had a straight draw, but Maal was also looking at a straight draw. The hit the turn, however, pairing Maal's queen and the that fell on the river was no help to Aleksa, and his hopes for a gold bracelet in Event #53 were dashed.

Fabrice Soulier has it his way in PLO

Fabrice Soulier has been quietly building his chip stack in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha Championship today.

Starting with $30,000 in chips, he is sitting comfortably on around $65,000 as we write this post.

He had Aces earlier on, and got a bunch of chips in the middle. In PLO, we know Aces alone is not always going to make it to showdown as a winner, so when the cards were about to be turned over, Fabrice prepared to muck...to his shock however, the aces were good and his opponent instantly mucked his hand.

Hand Review with Jeremy Dosseul

With blinds at $75-$150:

Jeremy Dosseul started hand with the big blind raising to $450. Jeremy calls the big blinds raise.

The flop comes Q-T-A. Dosseul checks the flop, while big blind bets 1/3rd of the pot. Dosseul calls the bet.

Turn comes a 4. Both Players check.

River comes a K. Both players check the river.

Dosseul turns over A-K while his opponent turns over Aces, thus losing to his opponents set of Aces.

Pics from Around the Rio

Vincent Hamlin

Maria Maceiras

A Hand Review with Nicolas Poloniato

Here is a hand Nicolas played today:

Blinds $100-$200

Nicolas started the hand under the gun raising to $500. The cut off three bets to make it $1,200. Poloniato calls.

Flop comes K-7-5 with two hearts showing. Both players check.

Turn comes the 4 of hearts. Nicolas checks with the opponent betting $3,600. Nicolas calls the opponents bet.

River comes a black 2. Nicolas checks, his opponent shoves for $8,000 and Nicolas snap calls.

His opponent shows 7 - 4 off-suit giving the pot to Nicolas with an Ace-high heart flush

Christiano Played Power Poker Today

An amusing twitter that came through the stream today on EVPVegas.com:

Be sure to follow all his tournament updates and views of the world via Twitter.com/CristianoBlanco

Living Dreams and Qualifying

Our Live the Dream players and Everest Qualifiers are enjoying their time at the tables today, here are a few quotes our reporting staff picked up throughout the room today:

Armjim Meijer, Everest Dutch Qualifier (On his chips stack of $5500 in the $1000 NL):"Level 4, haha, I've never made it that far!"

Jochum Weenink, Everest Dutch Qualifier (On the quality of play at his table):"8 fishies at my table!"

Sigurd Eskeland, Everest Live the Dream player and newly crowned bracelet winner from Norway (On players strategy against him prior to his bustout earlier today):"I got a lot of respect at my table today because of the bracelet I won, that is FUNNY!"

Leo Truche, Everest Live the Dream Player from France (On why he is wearing a bathrobe at the table today, as seen below):"I will become a 'slave' to my friend I made the bet with if I dare take it off"

So as you can see, our players are having fun across the board. Follow all the action here and on our sister site covering everything from streaming live feeds to interview videos at EVPVegas.com

Everest Qualifier Profile: Yori Epskamp

We caught up with Everest Poker Dutch Qualifier Yori Epskamp to find out a bit more about him:

Everest: How was your trip to Vegas?

Yori: I had a one day delay because the plane in Detroit broke down...but now I'm here!

Everest: Where do you like to go when in Vegas?

Yori: Planet Hollywood because I really like the atmosphere.

Everest: When did you start playing poker?

Yori: I was 21 years old. Before that, I was into playing the Magic: The Gathering card game...that's what ultimately got me into poker. Many famous poker pros got their start in this game as well, including Everest Live the Dream player Sigurd Eskeland.

We will be sure to get more with Yori who plays Day 1B of Event 54 tomorrow starting at noon.

Koen de Bakker becomes 2nd Everest Final Tablist

Koen de Bakker has become the second Everest player to make a big splash at this WSOP, as he reached the final table of Event #51, the $3000 Triple chance tournament. After coming in short, he doubled early on with Aces, and it looked like we might have a real shot of crowning our 2nd WSOP Bracelet winner of the event. It was not to be however, as stated via the man himself on our EVPVegas.com Live Stream

Via Pokernews:
"...Koen de Bakker open-shoved for 282,000. He was called by Tommy Vedes before Ryan Welch re-shoved for 875,000 total. Vedes, the "monkey in the middle" between de Bakker and Welch, seemed genuinely stuck regarding what he should do. He tanked for several minutes, said, "I don't know what the f*** I'm doing," and finally folded. That left Welch and de Bakker heads-up.

De Bakker: {8-Clubs}{8-Diamonds}
Welch: {j-Diamonds}{j-Clubs}

Welch immediately flopped a set of jacks, {q-Hearts}{j-Hearts}{4-Clubs}, to put a hammer lock on the hand. De Bakker was drawing dead after the {5-Spades} turn and was off to the cage with the {10-Diamonds} river. He'll received $33,026 for 10th place."

Koen ultimately finished in 10th earning a not too shabby $33,026 for his efforts. A good start to his WSOP exploits that we will be following over the next couple weeks.

Everest Player Sightings in Event 54

Mikkael Johansson

Fabrice Alaphilippe

Nicolas Poloniato

Anthony Petiteau

Everest Updates from Around the Room

Everest Players Making Plays Across Multiple Tournament Fields

In addition to our $1000 Event 54 runners, we have a couple players making some noise in other tournaments around the room.

Event #51: $3,000 Triple Chance No-Limit Hold’em

Koen de Bakker, Everest Live The Dream player has just begun his first quest for a bracelet on Day 3 of the $3000 Triple Chance No Limit event. With 12 players left standing Koen has an uphill battle sitting in 11th place with $259,000, or 16 big blinds.

Koen knows what he has to do to increase his chances in this tournament as he told one of our tournament reporters, "We will start 6-handed, so I have to make a move soon!"

We will let you know how Koen is doing as the tournament progresses.

Event #53: $1,500 Limit Hold’em Shootout

Everest Player Sijbrand Maal is playing in Day 2 of the Limit Holdem shootout. Yesterday he won the first round be defeating last years event bracelet winner heads up. "I killed them all" he proclaimed proudly with a smile. Sijbrand is the 2008 Belgium Poker Champion,looking to inch closer to his second major title here today.

As we keep track of our Event 54 players we will be sure and keep our reporting hats on when following these players as well.

WSOP Event 54 is Underway!

After a strong showing by Everest Poker’s Live the Dream Team player Sigurd Eskeland in WSOP Event #48, the Team Everest pros and qualifiers are out in full force for the $1000 No Limit Holdem Event taking place in the Pavilion room, right in the heart of the Rio Casino here today!

Through one level our tournament reporting team is hot on our players heels so stay tuned to this blog for updates on all the chip counts, hand reviews and story lines making our players one to watch!

In addition to this blog, be sure and stay in touch and updated on the action at EVPVegas.com!