EPT Prague: Day 1a, level one and two updates

Updates from levels one and two of EPT Prague, brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc "The Conv" Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Blinds: 75-150

2.15pm: Two down, six to go
That would be two levels down. There will now be a 15-minute break before we start level 3.

2.14pm: Horecki chips up
Team PokerStars Pro: Poland Marcin Horecki raked in a nice pot against Zoltan Varga, sitting immediately to his left. I picked up the action on a flop of [3c][kd][ks] and Varga, in the small blind checked, as did Horecki on the button. On the [7d] turn Varga bet 2,125 but Horecki made it 6,500. Call. The river was [7s] and Varga checked to Horecki who now made it 10,000. After a bit of a dwell Varga let it go.

As he piled up the loot, Horecki - now on 40,000 - asked: "Did you have aces?" No reply from Varga suggested he may well have done.

2.10pm: No name, no chips
Francesco Cirianni doubled up after a pre-flop ding-dong with The Man With No Name. Of course, The Man With No Name (TMWNN) does have a name, but he point-blank refused to give it to us.

Anyway, here's what happened: Cirianni made it 1,725, TMWNN made it 5,600. There was another 10,000 on top from Cirianni - called by TMWNN.

The flop came [6d][kh][3s] and Cirianni dwelled a little before checking. That prompted TMWNN to move all in - insta call:

TMWNN: [qh][qs]
Cirianni: [kc][kd]

The Italian was a mile ahead and the [9s] turn and [8c] river changed nothing. He's up to 58,000 whileTMWNN slumped to 2,400.

One more try: "Can I have your name, please?"
"No, I don't want to."
"Thanks for your help."

2.05pm:Tough lay down
Stuart Rutter just informed me how he had to make a tough lay down on the river. Three players were involved but only Rutter and the initial aggressor remained by the time the river came. It brought the club Rutter was looking for to make his second nut flush but it also paired the board. Rutter led out for 2,000 but had to fold to a raise to 8,000 by his opponent.

1.55pm: Spotted
Marcel Luske raking in a nice pot on the river holding [5s][6s] and the board reading [5d][8d][6c][7c][3s].

1.50pm: Schmeyer and Bevand
Christophe Schmeyer found himself in the small blind with only Manuel Bevand in the big left to go. So he raised it, 450 which Bevand re-raised to 1,250. In it for the long haul Schmeyer called for a flop of [7s][7h][6s]. Schmeyer checked before Bevand made it 1,700. Schmeyer called for a [9d] on the turn. Now Schmeyer bet 2,800. Bevand called for a [th] river
but didn't like it. Schmeyer now made it 7,000, a good crowd now watching the hand. But Bevand was unhappy. "It's the worst card in the deck on the river," he said. "Argh..." Fold.

1.45pm: Deeb downed
PokerStars Passport winner Shaun Deeb has failed to make it through the first level. Martial Blangenwitsch raised it to 525 from the button and Deeb called to see a [5h][qc][5d] flop where they both checked it through. The fireworks started after the [kd] turn was dealt. Deeb led for 675 only to face a raise to 1,675. He added another 2,625 to the raise before moving all in after Blangenwitsch had raised by another 4,000.
Blangenwitsch snap called with [as][5c] and he was in good shape as Deeb could only muster a drawing [jd][ts]. The river came [jh] and Deeb hastily made his exit.

1.35pm: Because he Kang
Team PokerStars Pro Ben Kang limped in from under-the-gun and fellow Pro Sandra Naujoks completed from the small blind before the big blind bumped it up by another 400. Only Kang called to see the [ks][6s][3c] flop where he called a 1,200 bet. The big blind continued with the aggressive line after the [qc] was dealt with a 3,000 bet and once again Kang cold called. The river came [jh] prompting the big blind to slow down to check. Kang took up the initiative and bet 5,000 and took the pot down as the big blind folded. A big smile came across the big German's face as he showed [4s][4d]!

1.25pm: Tricky table Deeb
As usual the random seat draw has thrown up some tough and interesting tables. The PokerStars qualifier Melanie Weisner, who was delighted to be introduced to Shaun Deeb at the welcome party last night, today finds herself at his table in the main event. Sharing the same felt are Team PokerStars Pros JP Kelly and Joep Van Den Bijgaart - and also a former EPT champion in Julian Thew. That's a tough start for Weisner, but we'll follow her play today to see how she gets on.

1.20pm: Marcel takes one
Team PokerStars Pro Marcel Luske picked up some early chips in this hand. Kazoulin Dimitri made it 350 from the button, and Luske called from the small blind. The flop came [10h][jc][2c] and Luske check-called Dimitri's 500 bet. Both checked the [5h] turn and the [8d] river and went to showdown:

Dimitri: [ac][9h]
Luske: [as][qh]

The queen kicker played for the Dutchman, and he moved slowly above his 30,000 starting stack.

1.15pm: Level up
That was quick - we're already done with level one. Guess what? It's now level two.

1.05pm: Passive pre-flop, aggressive post flop
Five players limped into Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser's big blind and he checked his option. After the flop came down [6c][td][5c] the first limper bet 250 and was called in two spots before the young Dutchman raised it up to 1,200. It wasn't long before all three players folded.

12.50pm: Aggressive table pays
PokerStars qualifier Kevin MacPhee has just been telling me how his table is "Sickly aggressive" and when you look over and see Shaun Deeb sat at the same table you can easily believe that.

MacPhee has managed to take advantage of this and is up to 50,000 already. He won the surplus chips in two pots where he flopped a set of fours and then flopped the nut flush and got paid some both times.

12.30pm: Tonight's going to be a good good night'
Another Frenchman not shy about putting his chips in early is Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern. He three-bet an opponent only to be four-bet right back. Mattern's answer was to five-bet forcing the fold from his opponent and then show him a four!

Not only that as he starting singing "Tonight's going to be a good good night" to rub it in a little more.

Edit:Arnuad Mattern actually six-bet his opponent. That had been an initial raise from a third player involved in the hand. Makes the move even more daring.

12.20pm: Doesn't take long to be all in
The river was out giving us a [qd][2s][5s][qs][jd] board and there was already around 30,000 in the pot. Anthony Roux was heads-up with Boris Zeleny and when the latter checked from the under-the-gun position the former moved all in for his last 15,000 or so. Zeleny looked a little pained and after dwelling for a while he slowly slid his cards to the dealer. Nice start for the Frenchman.