EPT San Remo Live Updates

With the final elimination of the day coming after a long-drawn-out period of nine-handed play, we have our final-table roster. Each day so far has gotten under way at 3 p.m. and tomorrow will be no different. For now we leave you with the chip counts as well as the promise of a wrap-up blog and an interview with final-table force Jason "treysfull21" Mercier, which will both be up soon. Enjoy!

Dario Minieri	$1,832,000
Jason Mercier	$1,591,000
Antony Lellouche	$1,192,000
Gregory Genovese	$694,000
Dag Palovic	$585,000
Eric Koskas	$449,000
William Thorson	$418,000
Marcus Bower	$278,000

Nine-handed play took a while but with one big three-way all-in we have our last elimination of the night and our final table of eight! It started with Johannes Strassman opening from late position for close to half of his stack and the action folding to Marcus Bower in the small blind. He thought for a moment before re-popping and making it $300,000 to go. Gregory Genovese then called all-in from the big blind, and Strassman stuck his remaining chips in as well.

And the hands are tabled.

Strassman: A♠ Q♠

Bower: J♦ J♥

Genovese: A♦ K♦

Bower has both other players covered and Genovese has more chips than Strassman, meaning Bower can knock out both players, Genovese can knock out Strassman and Strassman can triple up, depending on who wins the hand.

The flop rolls out K♣ T♣ 4♥ and the Italian Genovese takes the lead. A cry of celebration goes up from the local audience. The turn is the 7♥ and the river is the 5♦, leaving Gregory's pair of kings as the best hand. Strassman is out in ninth for €76,600 and Bower is knocked down to less than $300,000 in chips.

Jason "treysfull21" Mercier just took down a big pot at the expense of Eric Koskas after turning the nuts and getting paid off as a result. It started with Koskas opening to $100,000 from the button and Mercier calling from the small blind.

The flop rolled out Q♠ T♣ 6♣ and both players checked. The turn was the A♥ and Mercier tossed out $140,000. Koskas called and the river was the 9♦. Mercier paused for a moment and fired $220,000. Koskas made the call and Mercier quickly tabled K-J for the nut straight. The hefty pot is shipped to the American.

Marcus Bower has been sitting on a short stack for the last few levels and seemed bent on making the final table, regardless of how few chips he'd be taking with him. He varied his play a moment ago by actually playing a hand and re-popped Dag Palovic's opening raise, leaving himself just $35,000 behind.

Palovic thought for a moment before putting Bower all-in for the rest of his stack, getting a quick call. Pocket nines for Bower were racing Palovic's Q♥ J♦ and managed to hold through the board of A♥ 8♠ 2♠ 7♥ 6♣. Bower's now on close to $400,000.

William Thorson shoves for $170,000 from late position and Antony Lellouche makes the call. The players reveal their hands:

Thorson: K♥ J♣

Lellouche: A♣ Q♦

Thorson's tournament life is on the line as we head to the flop which comes... J♦ J♠ 6♦! Lellouche is suddenly dominated. The board finishes 5♠ and then 4♣. Thorson does indeed double his stack to around the $400,000 area.

Eric Koskas makes a standard bet and Jason Mercier, who has been exceptionally quiet considering how many chips he has, decides to re-raise to $120,000. Koskas, however, re-raises to make it $240,000 total. Mercier calls and we see a flop of 10♣ 9♠ 7♥. Both players check and the turn comes 5♥. Koskas checks and Mercier shoves all-in. Koskas thinks for a minute or two but eventually lays it down.

How fitting that Dario Minieri should be the chip leader here in Italy as we take these last few steps to the final table of eight. Minieri is enjoying every minute of it, playing to the crowd of locals and continuing to amass chips. A moment ago we saw him take a big pot from William Thorson with an all-in re-re-raise before the flop.

Minieri opened the pot to $55,000 from the button and Thorson re-raised an additional $117,000 from the big blind. Minieri thought for a moment before announcing all-in, effectively setting Thorson all-in. Minieri then stood up from the table and began goading Thorson into the call. "You're one of my heroes; I've dreamed of playing with you," said Minieri.

"I know you're crazy but are you stupid?" questioned Thorson, clearly unhappy with the situation. After a long time in the tank he opted to fold and concede the pot. The Italian crowd goes crazy and Minieri extends his lead.

Mark "RandALLin" Flowers has just been eliminated. The online pro was severely short-stacked from his clash with Dario Minieri and forced to shove with 3-3. As it turned out, Dag Palovic had pocket kings. There were no surprises on the board and Flowers was sent to the rail.

Flowers will receive €46,300 for his efforts in Italy.

The pride of Italy, Darino Minieri, just won a massive hand against Mark Flowers. We don't know the complete details of the hand but we do know that Minieri had pocket jacks and Flowers held A-K. The jacks were good and Minieri is back up to nearly $1 million.

Isaac Baron, aka WestmenloAA, has been eliminated after getting crippled by Dag Palovic and subsequently busted by Dario Minieri.

The crippler came when Dag opened a pot and Baron set him all-in. Palovic snap-called with pocket kings and saw he was in a great spot to double with pocket kings. The flop hit Baron hard, coming 7-2-2, but the turn changed things once again when it brought a king. The river changed nothing and Baron was left critically low on chips.

Not long after that, Baron shipped with A-8 and got a quick call from Dario Minieri, who had him dominated with A-Q. He was unable to suck out and was forced to surrender his chips and his seat. He'll take €28,750.

 

On one of the first hands back from dinner we have our first elimination and it's Jonas Klausen headed out the door in 12th place. Isaac Baron opened the pot from the cut-off and Klausen moved in from the small blind. The big blind got out of the way and Baron, priced into the hand, made the call.

J♠ 8♠ for Baron would need to improve against Klausen's 6♣ 6♦, and picked up a ton more outs with the flop of 9♣ 4♠ 2♠. Baron nailed his flush on the turn when the Q♠ hit the felt and after the meaningless 2♣ landed on the river, it was all over. Jonas Klausen receives €28,750.

Here's a look at the players' stacks as we head into Level 23. Of particular note are Eric Koskas, Antony Lellouch, Mark Flowers and Jason Mercier who all have near $1 million chips.

Isaac Baron	$339,000
Jason Mercier	$896,000
Dag Palovic	$341,000
William Thorson	$492,000
Eric Koskas	$1,109,000
Gregory Genovese	$329,000
Jonas Klausen	$197,000
Mark Flowers	$945,000
Jason Strassman	$538,000
Markus Bower	$276,000
Antony Lellouche	$1,067,000
Dario Minieri	$560,000

 

Markus Bower, Antony Lellouche and Felipe Ramos see a flop of Q♣ 8♥ 3♥ and Lellouche bets $45,000. Bower gets out of the way and Ramos calls. The dealer peels off the 5♠ for the turn and betting machine Lellouche bets $100,000. Ramos calls and the river comes 3♠.

Here's where things get confusing. According to the live feed in the media room Ramos shoved all-in and Lellouche insta-called having him easily covered.

Lellouche flipped over Q♠ 8♦ for two-pair while Ramos had Q-7. Strangely Ramos wasn't eliminated, however, and he counted out a certain amount of chips and paid off Lellouche.

We're not sure what the deals but we'll let you know when we find out.

Henrik Brockmann, a PokerStars qualifier from Germany, has been eliminated in 14th place. He was short and shoved from under the gun holding A♣ Q♦. It was folded to Mark Flowers and he snap-called with pocket kings. Things went from bad to worse when a king hit the flop. Unable to pull out any miracles Brockmann is sent home with €22,400.

Antony Lellouche shows absolutely no sign of slowing down. The Frenchman has been firing for this entire tournament and with six players to go until the final table he's not stopping.

William Thorson raised from early position to $40,000 and Eric Koskas and Markus Bower call but Antony Lellouche shoves.

Everyone gets out of the way and Lellouche benefits from his relentless aggression.

Isaac Baron just won a big pot off Dag Palovic in an unusual hand. Palovic bet $130,000 on a 9♥ 3♦ 3♣ board with $147,000 already committed to the pot.

Baron thought for awhile but eventually made the call. The 9♦ peeled off the turn and both players checked. The river came 4♣ and Palovic bet $100,000. Baron insta-called and Palovic showed Q-J for queen-high while Baron flipped over T-T for the winning hand. The online superstar is moving up.

In sick hand that saw Dag Palovic double through Dario Minieri we were treated to some excitement from the board. It started with an opening raise from Palovic and a re-raise from Minieri. Palovic then moved all-in and got a relatively quick call from the Italian.

When the hands were turned over we saw it was a race between Dag's A♦ K♣ and Minieri's J♠ J♦. The dealer turned over the flop and we immediately saw an ace in the door. The second cards revealed was also an ace but the third card was a jack.

The room let out a cry as Minieri flopped a full house. The excitement had barely died down when the dealer turned fourth street, the K♠! Dag had taken the lead again and only a jack could save Minieri on the river. It was the 9♦ though and Palovic is good for the double. We should have updated chip counts for you soon.

Jonas Klausen pushed all-in and Isaac Baron, AKA WestmenloAA, made the call. As soon as the cards were flipped over Baron looked disgusted and rightfully so.

Baron: 6♥ 6♣

Klausen: 9♦ 9♠

The board came 8♠ 6♦ 5♣ J♦ 3♣ and Baron spiked a six to best Klausen's pocket nines. Baron doubles up and suddenly Klausen is one step closer to the rail. 

Bart Wetsteijn has been eliminated at the outer table, a casualty of the Maniac Frenchman Eric Koskas. Wetsteijn opened the pot and Koskas made the call from the big blind and the flop came down 6♦ 4♠ 3♠. Wetsteijn moved all-in.

Koskas moved all-in and turned over just the kind of hand we've seen him play all tournament, 3♥ 5♠. Wetsteijn was behind with A♣ 9♠ and after the board finished out J♥ 6♠ it was all over. Wetsteijn's out in 15th for €17,600.

Short-stack Jonas Klausen just got a breath of fresh air. Klausen shoved for $151,000 with Q♣ J♣ and Jason Mercier called with A♥ K♦.

The board came Q♦ 9♥ 4♥ 5♥ 5♦ and Klausen is good. He'll be able to hang around for at least a few more orbits.

At this final table there's some serious online talent making their presence known. Dario Minieri, who plays under his own name on PokerStars and was the first player to cash in their FPP'd in exchange for a Porsche, and is one of the highest volume players around.

Isaac Baron is thought to be one, if not the best online player in the world and plays under the screen-names "WestmenloAA" and "mjorgenson13". Mark Flowers, known online as "RandALLin", is also among the most respected players working today.

Dario Minieri just showed he has no fear of mixing it up with the bigger stacks. Minieri made a standard $31,000 and Jason Mercier re-raised $106,000. Minieri did not let his foot off the gas pedal and fired back with a $260,000 raise

Mercier was suddenly forced to make a tough decision that could make him pot-committed. Eventually it was a call he couldn't make and the U.S. player laid his hand down. Minieri wins another giant pot.

Jan Heitmann got unlucky to get crippled, losing that massive pot against Dario Minieri, and was just eliminated by Dag Palovic. He doubled up once but, still short, shipped it in holding K♦ 4♥ from late position. Palovic made the call with Q♥ J♥ and was slightly behind going to the flop.

The board ran 9♠ 7♣ 5♣ Q♦ 6♠ and Dag spikes a queen on the turn which is enough to earn him the pot and the elimination. Heitmann takes down €17,600 for his 16th place finish.

Short-stack Jan Heitmann just had a much needed double-up. Heitmann opened shoved for approximately $100,000 and Henrik Brockmann.

Heitmann was not in good shape with Q♦ 8♣ versus A♠ J♠ and the flop certainly didn't help when it came A♣ 9♣ 5♠. When the turn came 3♣ Heitmann improved slightly by getting a backdoor flush draw. The 2♣ peeled off on the river and Heitmann survived a scary hand. He's not out of the woods yet but he has a few more chips to work with. 

Dario Minieri and Jan Heitmann got into a big hand earlier when Heitmann was all-in with A-8 against Dario's pocket queens and managed to spike an ace to stay alive. The two clashed again a moment ago and Minieri was able to come out on top and take down the biggest pot of the tournament so far.

Heitmann opened from middle position and it was folded to the Italian in the small blind who re-popped to $100,000. The big blind got out of the way and, after some thought, Heitmann just called. The flop rolled out and Minieri fired $160,000.

Heitmann went way into the tank and eventually announced all-in. With about half his stack already in the middle Minieri made the call and turned over J♦ 3♠, just the kind of hand Minieri likes to re-raise with before the flop. Heitmann saw he had been outflopped with pocket fives and was looking for a miracle.

The board finished out T♦ J♦ and Minieri is good for the double. He's now on over $1 million and Heitmann is crippled to just over $50,000.

Peter Roche has been eliminated by the always-unpredictable Eric Koskas who looks to be the chip leader and the first player to break the $1 million mark. The two players saw a flop of Q♠ 6♦ 4♠ and the money went in with Koskas tabling 8♠ 6♠ which was near evenly matched against Roche's K♠ J♠. Roche had a ton of outs but missed them all when the board finished 3♣ 7♣. Roche is out and his chips now belong to Eric Koskas.

In a big three-way all-in a few moments ago we watched as Dag Palovic knocked out both Markus Golser and Andreas Larsson. The money went in before the flop with Larsson tabling pocket sevens, Golser showing A♦ Q♥ and Palovic showing A♠ K♦. An ace hit the flop and after all the cards were out Palovic's pair of aces with a king kicker was good for the pot and the double elimination.

Swedish sensation William Thorson has jumped into the lead and is now sitting on right around $900,000. Dario Minieri is still running strong with almost $800,000 and Eric Koskas has slipped to about $650,000.

Todd Brunson was a darkhorse to win this tournament but has just been eliminated by a vicious river card.

Brunson got all-in on a A♠ 5♥ 5♦ board with 6♠ 5♣ for trip fives against Gregory Genovese's A♦ Q♥.

The turn came 8♦ but the river finished with a stunning A♣. Brunson finished 24th for €16,000.

Here's a look at the respective chip counts of the players seated at the feature table. It's all about Dario Minieri!

Henrik Brockmann	$177,000
Johannes Strassman	$195,000
Jan Heitmann	$246,000
Antony Lellouche	$187,000
Mike Sowers	$200,000
Stefan Raffay	$186,000
Dario Minieri	$817,000
Bart Wetsteijn	$98,000

 

Antony Lellouche is known as one of the most relentlessly aggressive of the growing contingent of French young guns making their presence known on the EPT. Already this season we've had two French champions in Arnaud Mattern and Bertrand Grospellier. Lellouche has been opening a ton of pots and although he's been re-raised three consecutive times he's continuing to push the action. He managed to get one raise through but it was followed up by two players shoving over the top, forcing the Frenchman to release once again.

Mads Wissing Anderson, who we interviewed yesterday, has the unfortunate distinction of being one of the first eliminations of the day. Anderson ran his pocket sevens head-on into pocket kings. You all know what happens when those hands usually meet and that's exactly what did happen in this case.

At least Anderson will get over 10,000 euros to soothe the soul.

There may be no stopping Italian Dario Minieri. In one of the first hands of the day Paul Alterman came in for a raise and Minieri made a large re-raise. Alterman shoved and Minieri insta-called. Their hands?

Alterman: QQ

Minieri: KK

The board goes 7♣ 6♥ 2♣ 9♥ 3♠ and the Italian crowd goes wild. After busting Alterman and winning the $188,000 pot Minieri has attached himself firmly to the chip lead.

Look out! Minieri is taking no prisoners.

It's time to get the cards in the air here at the Casino San Remo on the beautiful Italian Riviera. Blinds are starting out at $4,000/$8,000 with a $1,000 ante as we get the ball rolling on this Day 3.

PokerListings.com is coming to you live for yet another day in beautiful (and consistently sunny) San Remo.

Today is Day 3 of the first major poker tournament held in Italy. We're talking about the PokerStars.com EPT San Remo of course and with 31 players left it's still anybody's game although we have to give a slight edge to chip leader Jason Mercier and fellow chip titans Dario Minieri and Eric Koskas. Todd Brunson is still in this thing too so don't count him out.

Play should begin in about 30 minutes so check back to witness the excitement.