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7.30pm: Ring of champions
Stephan Fajg and Michael Tureniec were both drawn at table 47 today and both have since been moved to table 24. If it wasn't bad enough for Fajg to have the EPT Copenhagen champion move with him, he now had to contend with three more EPT champions. Sebastian Ruthenberg, Christophe Benzimra and Roberto Romanello are all to his right now.
Fajg and Tureniec might've brought some history with them too as they just tangled over two consecutive hands that saw the elimination of Tureniec.
Firstly Tureniec raised to 600 from second position and the Frenchman defended from the big blind to see a [as][3s][7s] flop. He check-raised Tureniec's c-bet and that was good enough to make him fold.
The next hand Tureniec raised to 600 from under-the-gun and was called in one spot before Fajg three-bet to 1,850 from the small blind. Tureniec thought for two minutes before four-betting all-in for around 7,000. The caller folded before Fajg took another two minutes to call.
Tureniec: [9c][9s]
Fajg: [as][jh]
The board ran [tc][3h][kc][7h][ah]. The river was the killer blow to Turemiec's tournament life. -- MC
7.20pm: Split dinner
Like yesterday there will be a split dinner break today. The first wave is now leaving the tournament room on their way tot he buffet. They will return in one hour when the remainder of the field, having played their level 6, will do the same. -- SB
7.12pm: Big stacks
A quick look at the top of the tree shows that Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser is leading with 131,000. Other big names include Ted Forrest (82,000), Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst (85,000) and last year's Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity (85,000). -- RD
7.05pm: Looking like you know something
With a board reading [6c][2h][tc][2d] and 11,000 in the pot, Nicholas Chouity was considering his options. Next to him was Claudio Cecchi of Italy, his only opponent in the hand who was about to spend the next seven minutes making some people feel uncomfortable. And by "some" I mean "me".
Chouity bet 7,000, all while Cecchi was staring at him. This was not subtle staring, trying to catch a flicker of something on his face without him noticing, this was like a staring contest, a kids game where the first to flinch loses. That he was sitting directly alongside Chouity made it all the more weird. Try it now, turn to the person next to you and lean over to look them directly in the face (better make this a loved one). See how long it takes them to lean back or slap you in the face. Go do it now, I'll wait here...
Cecchi kept up his invasion of personal space, pausing only to call, throwing in the correct number of chips before continuing his campaign of intimacy. Goodness knows what Cecchi was now expecting to see, being as close to Chouity as dentist, or a nit nurse. Others at the table looked to be feeling uncomfortable on Chouity's behalf.
As for Chouity he didn't notice that Cecchi was staring until the [ad] river card was dealt. I imagine the effect on the EPT Grand Final Champ was an unusual one, to suddenly turn around and notice an odd looking man staring at you from a few inches away - kind of like riding the top floor of a London bus, when you realise the drunk guy with the open bottle of Thunderbird has woken up and feels chatty.
Chouity did exactly what you would do in a situation such as that. He pretended he hadn't noticed. Then he bet 14,800.
Cecchi had about 20,000 behind and now tanked for several minutes. Sticking with the whole London bus routine, Cecchi began tapping Chouity's arm, talking to him. Chouity ignored this completely, perhaps reassured by the armed guards on the other side of the rail. When Chouity didn't respond Cecchi reverted to staring again, lowering his head until his ear almost touched the table. It was clear to everyone but Cecchi that the answer he was looking for was most definitely not on Chouity's face, nor up his nose. Chouity called the clock.
Cecchi took the full minute, folding with two seconds remaining. Chouity showed him [6h], moving up to 70,000.
Chouity mentioned the staring; Cecchi replying with chilling frankness, that he would have kept it up for two hours had Chouity not called the clock. I would have called the clock in that case. -- SB
7pm: Giggling schoolboys
James' Keys and Sudworth are sitting next to each other guffawing like a pair of naughty schoolchildren at the back of class. Keys is down to 15,000 while Sudworth has crept up to 45,000. They both look happy enough with their table and given the limping going on maybe that shouldn't come as a surprise.
A middle position limp from Aleksey Churbanov was quickly raised by Sudworth to 1,100 from the cut-off. Sudworth bet 1,200 into the [qd][2h][as] flop and took the pot. Was that pre-flop raise for isolation, value or a bit of both? You decide.
Their current school report would read 'James Sudworth: underperforming, must focus on the job at hand' and 'James Key: must try harder.' -- RD
6.50pm: Carter building up
Former EPT Barcelona winner Carter Phillips is up to 55,000 after sniffing out a bluff from Sebastien Comel.
The turn had already been dealt and Phillips was in the big blind where he check-called a 1,400 bet from Sebastien Comel on the button. The final board read [jh][4d][6s][ac][5s] and Phillips faced a 5,000 bet when he checked again. He called once more and didn't have to show down as Comel mucked his hand. -- MC
6.40pm: Team Pro news in brief
A look around some of Team PokerStars Pro in the right hand half of the tournament room threw up some varying stories of success.
"On a rush", said Lex Veldhuis to Liv Boeree after she successfully three-bet two opponents off a hand to move up to 17,000.
Doing worse or little better that Boeree are Johannes Strassmann (18,000), Johnny Lodden (14,000) and EPT Berlin finalist Joep van den Bijgaart (12,000).
Ivan Demidov is struggling to get out of the blocks with 31,000 but Fatima Moreira de Melo (54,000), Angel Guillen (47,000) and Pierpaolo Fabretti (47,000) are all fairing much better. -- MC
6.25pm: Visser leading the way as play resumes
As we enter the fifth level of the day Team PokerStars Pro Ruben Visser seems to be leading the way with 107,000 chips. He just Tweeted the following:
"Running really well today, just won 85k flip to get to 107k. Made a flush with QQ vs AKo on Axxxxaverage stack is 33k" -- MC
Ruben Visser is atop of the field
PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT San Remo (in order of how likely their football team will get relegated): Stephen Bartley (Tranmere Rovers are just safe), Marc Convey (Crystal Palace are 99% safe) and Rick Dacey (Sunderland have stopped the slide but could still go down).
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