Saturday 31 March 2012

Down to two tables with 90 minutes to play

Our final 18 is set but despite looking strong not so long ago, Simon Mertlitsch will not be among them after a clash with Maly Viteslav effectively cost him his tournament life.

The pair had tangled in a blind battle, with Vitezslav raising in the small blind and snap-calling when his Austrian rival came over the top all-in.

The Czech showed QQ vs the A4o of his bigger stacked opponent and the dealer flipped 10♠3♣5♦ before the turn made his set to end the contest.

A few hands later it as all over for Simon, who bows out in 19th with the final payout of €1,040.

Also exiting since we last updated you was overnight chip leader Daniel Korczak (21st), who scores a cluster of Fantasy Poker teams some crucial points, along with Andre Bogumil (22nd) and Oswin Zielgelbecker (20th).

Mertlitsch chases the chip leaders

Simon Mertlitsch moved to within striking distance of the biggest stacks in the room after getting the better of Billy Ngo in a big hand.

The board read 5♥10♦4♣-4♥-9♠ when he shipped his stack into the centre and after some thought, Ngo gave up on the big pot and let Simon build his stack to 325,000.

That's still a little way short of the 550,000 wielded by Mario Karman after his earlier double up, while Vincent Gomez is sitting on half a million chips himself after winning his war with Sven Ellrich.

Following Ellrich out the door most recently was Andre Bogumil and we're edging closer to the next payout level. Here's a quick reminder of the prize structure: 

1st €34,510, 2nd €19,520, 3rd €13,020, 4th €10,410, 5th €8,460, 6th €7,160, 7th €5,860, 8th €4,560, 9th €3,250, 10-12th €1,820, 13-15th €1,560, 16-18th €1,300, 19-27th €1,040

Superman stung by Gomez

Ellrich pictured pre Superman t-shirt
The expected avalanche of short stacks might not have ensued but a few bigger players have been feeling the pain instead, including the man donning a Superman t-shirt, Sven Ellrich.

The Austrian player tangled with Vincent Gomez in a sizeable pot and having got as far as the river on a 7♦5♦5♥-7&sapdes;-3♥ board, he led out for 46,000.

Gomez came back over the top all-in and after Ellrich tanked, heaped on the pressure by calling a clock. Sven folded his hand face up in frustration.

Across the room Mario Karman eliminated a similarly stacked rival when he got it all-in with 4s vs AK and saw his small pair hold up. It leaves him with a good size chip stack with 23 players remaining.

Zsolt Adamovics (27th), Dan-Ionut Hila (26th) Eduardo Lacal (25th) and Ioannis Bouzalis (24th) have all made their exits  as we cross the midnight mark in Vienna.

Update - Having hurt Ellrich earlier, Gomez finished completed his role as kryponite just a few moments ago. The pair got into another battle and the German raised all-in with top pair, only to find Vincent with a set on the flop.

That became quads on the turn to seal Sven's fate, which is a 23rd place finish and €1,040 prize.

FP disaster: Daniel Fresneda Jaro is our bubble boy

The bubble has burst here in Vienna and while we can raise a glass to the money, we must lament the loss of Daniel Fresneda Jaro after he was our unfortunate bubble boy.

The Spanish player will be mourned by seven Fantasy Poker teams, each of whom is denied a share of the points a little extra towards that €1300 Greek package.

Jaro met his end in well-established fashion, getting it in with AK vs 10s and finding no help from the board, but it will be little consolation to his supporters.

With nine players all set to be paid the same prize now, we would expect a glut of exits in the coming hands so keep a close eye on the blog for news of your FP favourites.

Also missing out on the money is Rachid Waret, though Pavlos XanthopolousVincent Gomez and Simon Mertlitsch fight on.

Action stations!

The bubble draws ever nearer after a slight lull in the number of exits, another spate of exits including our much blogged about friend Jan-Peter Jachtmann.

The German has been involved in the thick of the action since the very first hour of the tournament, but he will play no further part after running JJ into QQ. With far fewer chips on the back of his earlier duel with Vincent Gomez, the blow proved fatal.

Playing executioner on another table was Simon Mertlitsch, as the Austrian slow-played Aces to deadly effect in the last few minutes.

Calling a raise from middle position in the small blind, Mertlitsch tempted the big blind into coming along too and the flop fell Jack high. All three players checked.

The turn was a Q and after leading out from the small blind, Simon prompted a shove from the pre-flop aggressor. He snap-called of course and was shown KQ before the departing player leaped up and quickly left the cardroom.

Cold deck puts an end to Stefan's hopes

It never quite felt like Stefan Karlsson's day and so it proved, as the cards continued to turn their back on him right 'til the last.

Reduced to a short stack, the Swede raised pre-flop with 77, was called by the small blind and three-bet by the big blind.

With a large pot finally within his grasp, Karlsson made the call hoping to find himself in a heads-up race with AK - but instead found KK blocking his path.

There was no help on board for Stefan, leaving him some 17 place shy of the money and crucially for our Fantasy Poker entrants, the points as well!

Jan-Peter roller coaster continues

Vincent Gomez
It's not exactly been a quiet couple of days for poker publisher Jan-Peter Jachtmann, but at least the German  will have plenty of stories to tell after he was involved in another huge hand.

He had raised from late position and been called by Vincent Gomez in the blinds when the flop fell 7♦6♥Q♠. Jan-Peter led out and was check-raised by his opponent, but made the call anyway.

The turn was 6♣ and the unknown rival shipped his remaining 105,000 into the centre and after some thought, Jachtmann made the hero call with Q♥9♥.

It proved to be a good decision as his rival tabled A♣7♣ - but a river 7 was greeted by whoops and cheers from Gomez, as 150,000 chips were pushed his way.

Elsewhere Rachid Waret chipped up when he turned a set of sixes and took down a chunky pot. He is now up to around 110,000, which roughly equates to the average stack.

Card dead Karlsson

One of the weekend's most popular Fantasy Poker picks, Stefan Karlsson, is still alive in the Main Event but as the blinds increase another notch after a short break, the Swede is feeling the pressure.

Karlsson was named by 17 entrants to the free competition and though there are just 28 players between him and the cash places, a comeback will be required if he is to make the FP points.

A brief chat with the PP blog revealed his Day 2 had been devoid of any hands of note, with his 68,000 stack reduced to around 40,000 without so much as a big pot to report.

"It's really not going well at the moment," lamented Stefan at the interval, "I haven't had any hands today and the blinds and antes are really starting to hurt my stack."

Enjoying better fortunes is Pavlos Xanthopolous, as the Greek player attempts to climb out of his brother's shadow. Twin Christos won the London event back in 2010 and the brothers have been regulars on the tour ever since.

Pavlos, who had 160,000 chips to work with, insisted he had manoeuvred his way into a strong position when we caught up with him: "I haven't had many big hands but I've been stealing, re-stealing and winning a lot of small pots so I'm happy."

Trash talk and late arrivals

The flow of exits continues at a reasonably steady rate but as we close on the cash, a few rivalries are developing around the room.

Jan-Peter Jachtmann still has a sizeable stack but one confrontation with a player we believe to be Billy Ngo, the German was in fired up mood.

"That's it, you're my number one target now. I'm coming after you!" said the usually laid back Jachtmann after a little speech play from his rival flared his temper.

Ngo had checked the turn to his opponent on a Jack high board and when Jan-Peter fired out a bet, he asked whether he would show if he folded. "You ask a question that you know I won't answer," was the German's response.

Billy committed the chips and checked-called a value bet on the river too, before flipping Aces to almost everyone's surprise - and Jan-Peter's disgust.

Elsewhere we came across Rachid Waret on table 35 and after the PP blog watched him take down a small pot, he revealed his 79,200 stack had been eroded by a late arrival!

Waret had got the restart time confused with the €300+30 side event which is currently in action, so missed two hours of play to kick-off Day 2. He remains in contention on around 50,000 chips, however.

UPDATE - Further confrontation between Jachtmann and Ngo has been avoided after the UK-based player was move to another table!

60 remain but familiar faces dwindle

Fresneda Pina is nowhere to be found
The money is emerging on the horizon and as we get our hands on the confirmed payout structure, the familar faces in the room are starting to decrease.

Having been packed with online qualifiers as we entered Day 2, the Concord Card Casino now appears to be missing the likes of Daniel Fresneda Pina, Martin Svub and Peter Horvath.

Also missing since earlier have been Alejandro 'Jandrulo' Rodrigo, meaning many a Fantasy Poker team has been shorn of some key players.

Only players that cash score points in our free blog game and we will need to lose a further 33 players before the bubble bursts, as 27 runners will be taking cash home.

Here's the prize structure in full...

Position - Prize
1 - 34,510
2 - 19,520
3 - 13,020
4 - 10,410
5 - 8,460
6 - 7,160
7 - 5,860
8 - 4,560
9 - 3,250
10-12 - 1,820
13-15 - 1,560
16-18 - 1,300
19-27 - 1,040

Fresneda Jaro doubles up as Milan misfires

Pictured on Day 1: Fresneda Jaro is in 7 Fantasy Poker teams
Daniel Fresneda Jaro propelled his stack past the 200,000 mark just a few minutes ago as the Spaniard doubled through with pocket Kings.

Entering the day sitting on a 122,000 stack, Jaro can once again claim to be among the chip leaders after a huge hand unfolded against a local player.

The PP blog arrived with the Spanish shark all-in on a 4♦5♦J♠-9♥ board and after a spell in the tank, his rival made the call.

Jaro flipped K♥K♠ and the villain sheepishly showed Q♦J♣ and the river brought the latter no help. The pot crippled his rival and left Daniel wielding around 210,000 chips.

Meanwhile, Milan Zaric was fuming on the other side of the cardroom after making a call for around one third of his chips on the river.

Runner-up on our last visit to Vienna back in October, the highly-rated Austrian had raised to little over twice the big blind in early position and only the big blind had called.

The flop came 2♦10♣3♦ and the villain check-called a c-bet from Zaric. The 4♠ on the turn was checked by both players and the river A♠ looked like a scare card for Milan.

After much thought, he called a 12,000 bet from his opponent and was upset to see him turn over A5 for the wheel straight.

Jachtmann rolls on

Day 1 turned on a re-entry for Jan-Peter Jachtmann and the German continues to accumulate chips after re-investing in his tournament life.

A further €550 was required to change his luck yesterday, but the journalist sailed into Day 2 among the top stacks in the room following a sequence of big hands - and his momentum has continued today.

Jachtmann had called a pre-flop raise from a middle position aggressor with J♠9♠ and having gone to the flop three-handed, promptly picked up the nuts on the 7-8-10 rainbow board.

Julien Luy was the other caller and he led out into his two opponents, earning a call from both Jan-Peter and the pre-flop raiser before the dealer flipped a King on the turn.

Undeterred, Luy bet a further 5,400 and after one rival folded the hero of our tale raised to 18,000. Julien made the call and when the river came a blank 2, he quickly fired 25,000 into the centre.

That was swiftly followed a shove from Jan-Peter and his opponent was forced to muck.

Not such good news for Lutz Hoffman's loyal followers, however, as he made his exit just a short time ago when he ran 99 into Aces.

Fantasy Poker update

Day 1 proved a roaring success for our online qualifiers and in turn benefitted many a Fantasy Poker entrant, as no less than 23 teams saw all three players make the Day 2 cut.

The five teams featuring Daniel Korczak will particularly pleased, with both Andrzej Team and stamae boasting his 181,500 monster stack in their armoury alongside two other players.

Jan-Peter Jachtmann was picked by three teams, but only Ihr Team Name combined his 124,800 with two other stacks, as both Martin Svub (22800) and Lutz Hoffmann (57800) fight on.

With a further 37 of the 191 entrants still following two players, there is plenty of competition in Fantasy Poker Vienna yet! Here’s a snapshot of our 23 teams with all three players still in the game:

Click to enlarge

Chip count arrives at last

We did promise you a Day 2 chip count so it's much relief that we can post the standings as they were when play began, with online qualifier Daniel Korczak leading the way.

He is followed by familiar names, including Daniel Jaro Fresneda and Pavlos Xanthopolous (brother of London 2010 winner Christos).

At the other end of the scale, German Roy Decker returned with the shortest stack so it is perhaps unsurprisingly that he has exited early, with six other players also hitting the rail in the first 30 minutes play.

# Name Chipcount
1 DANIEL KORCZAK 181,500
2 DAN-IONUT HILA 148,700
3 ALEXANDER STAENGLE 140,700
4 PIOTR TUCZYNSKI 137,900
5 HEINZ H. 134,500
6 JULIEN LUY 131,000
7 MARIO KARMAN 130,700
8 SIMON MERTLITSCH 129,300
9 AKIN KAAN 126,900
10 JAN-PETER JACHTMANN 124,000
11 DANIEL JARO FRESNEDA 122,700
12 JAKUB GAGO 116,800
13 VINCENT GOMEZ 116,400
14 ISTVAN MIKULAS 109,400
15 PETER FALLY 108,300
16 JAKOB MÖSSLACHER 105,600
17 JOZEF BARTALOS 103,300
18 KOSTAS SOKRATOUS 94,500
19 BERNHARD HAIDER 90,900
20 LUDOVIT FISCHER 90,100
21 PAVLOS XANTHOPOULOS 88,200
22 PAWEL ZOLADKIEWICZ 87,600
23 MALY VITEZSLAV 86,000
24 DIETER PREINERSDORFER 81,300
25 RACHID WARET 79,200
26 OSWIN ZIEGELBECKER 77,600
27 SVEN ELLRICH 77,500
28 HENRIK LUNDSFRYD 75,200
29 NIKOLAOS SKIADAS 73,100
30 STEFAN KARLSSON 68,700
31 ISTVAN UJVARI 65,800
32 MARCIN DOLINA 63,200
33 TOMAS BILY 61,400
34 PETER HORVATH 60,200
35 MIRCEA OLARU 59,300
36 BILLY NGO 58,600
37 PAWEL JASKOLSKI 58,300
38 LUTZ HOFFMANN 57,800
39 ZOLTAN SZABO 56,000
40 TAMAS LOSONCZI 55,100
41 KAMIL JAMROZ 54,900
42 LUKASZ GRUSZIEVICZ 53,900
43 CARLO SCHINDLAUER 53,700
44 MIRCEA ZARIC 53,600
45 SANDOR BARSCSA 53,200
46 IOANNIS BOUZALIS 52,700
47 GARCIA FERMIN 52,200
48 MATTHIAS JAN BEN 49,900
49 PHILIP JUNGHUBER 47,400
50 GRZEGORZ WYRAZ 46,700
51 SIEGFRIED RATH 43,000
52 BARTL. SWIEBODA 42,600
53 ATTILA KOUCZ 39,800
54 PAVEL CHALUPKA 37,600
55 PIOTR SOWINSKI 37,400
56 CHRISTIAN STALLINGER 36,600
57 TAMAS DARANYI 36,300
58 TONI HAKAN ENGLUND 35,700
59 MARCUS HEIN 35,200
60 LUKA LESIC 35,100
61 TIBOR HOFFMANN 34,800
62 MIKLOS CSABA 34,700
63 DEMIR BUNYAMIN 34,400
64 BYULENT MUSTAFA 33,500
65 MARCELLO GNANI 32,300
66 YANN PAUCHON 31,500
67 MARCUS WYSKOVSKY 31,300
68 AVGERINOS CHALATIS 30,500
69 EDUARDO LACAL 30,200
70 DAVID CEPEDA 29,900
71 THOMAS TAUBENSCHUSS 29,900
72 DANIEL FRESNEDA PINA 28,700
73 GERALD SOCHOR 25,700
74 TOMAS VILLAVERDE 24,000
75 RENE KEDL 23,800
76 ZSOLT ADAMOVICS 23,600
77 MARTIN SVUB 22,800
78 LUIS MARTINEZ 22,500
79 MIROSLAV SPACIL 21,500
80 ANDRE BOGUMIL 20,900
81 GREIG MILLER 20,900
82 WOLFGANG FOGLAR 20,900
83 DUBRANKO BAGIC 20,700
84 ANDREAS POURNARAS 20,700
85 MICHAEL HUBER 19,600
86 ATH. ZAPANTIOTIS 18,500
87 GABOR STIKL 18,500
88 ATTILA POLLNER 18,400
89 RAFAL LUBCZYNSKI 18,000
90 STEFANO ROSSOMONDO 14,400
91 ALEJANDRO RODRIGO 13,800
92 GRZEGORZ SAWCZAK 13,300
93 MARIO ZELSKO 12,500
94 CANALS PEDREGOSA 12,000
95 ROY DECKER 11,300

Day 2 cards in the air

After the final few hands produced the inevitable eliminations last night, 95 players have returned to the Concord Card Casino this afternoon with the aim to reach the final table by the end of play.

Among the tail end victims last night was popular Dane Ronnie Espensen, who got tired of the grind and made his move with KQs only to run into AK.

Day 2 will go a maximum 10 levels as our players battle for that prestigious final table finish and with party night to follow, there's plenty of action expected this Saturday evening.

We'll have a full chip count for you very shortly as well as its Fantasy Poker implications, so stick with the blog and cross your fingers our internet connection behaves today!

Less than 100 remain at the close

Day 1 is at a close and less than 100 players will return for the latest Main Event sequel at the Concord Card Casino.

Among them will be Fantasy Poker favourites Jandrulo, Ronnie Espensen and Lutz Hoffman though only the latter is close to the average tower. Jandrulo had been down to just 1000 chips before fighting his way back.

Also in the mix is Piotr Sowinkski, who featured on Prague's final table this season, along with the still stacked Jan Peter Jachtman.

Sadly for 13 Fantasy Poker teams, Heiko Wendt departed after a brave fight with his super short stack. Eventually he succumbed, however, and left the casino with a look of frustration still engraved on his features.

Below is our selected chip count, with the full count set to be posted before play restarts tomorrow at 3pm local time (2pm BST).

Selected Chip Count
Jan Peter Jachtmann - 126,000
Lutz Hoffmann - 55,000
Piotr Sowinski - 38,000
Jandrulo - 14,000
Ronnie Espensen - 12,000

Day 1 pics updated

We've added some more Day 1 images to the slideshow we posted earlier, so take a look and get a feel for the Concord Card Casino as we edge towards the end of play.


On your mobile? Check out our ParadisePoker Tour Vienna pictures via this link.

Kings can't keep Jensen alive

To our knowledge, there was no last longer bet but Ronnie Espensen has bettered his father in the ParadisePoker Tour Main Event after his Kings were cracked with just an hour of Day 1 remaining.

Tommy Jensen will have to be make do with his side event cash from last night, having taken €480 for a 7th-place finish in the €100 warm-up, but he can feel aggrieved at failing to survive the final stretch.

He had raised to 6x the big blind with KK only to be three-bet all in by 77 and having made the call to put himself in great shape to double up, the villain made a straight to end his Main Event.

Ronnie took no pleasure at his father's exit and has had little joy himself so far, with just 18,000 chips to work with after nigh on nine hours of grinding.

Kremser comes unstuck

We like to think the ParadisePoker Tour attracts many a famous face, from James Akenhead's London visit to Ricardo Sa Pinto, but we can add another to the list after Thomas Kremser anted up today.

The Austrian tournament director, known for his time adjudicating the EPT, WPT and Late Night Poker among others, hit the rail just a short time ago in something of a cooler.

Again the PP blog was a little late to the action, but the river was where the majority of it happened anyway!

Kremser fired out the first bet on the 86A-A-10 board and his rival raised after some thought, before both players exchanged further raises to eventually get their chips into the middle.

It was the more famous face that fell with disappointment despite showing 66 got a full boat, as the villain showed the bigger house with A8.

We're on the final straight now with around 90 minutes left of action in Day 1.

Friday 30 March 2012

Missing Bank raises Fantasy fears

Gabor Bank has formed the crux of 27 Fantasy Poker teams but on our last sweep around the Day 1 field, the Hungarian was nowhere to be seen.

Moved to his earlier table was another PP regular, Joao Brito, and the Portuguese suggested Bank's Main Event was done as we close on the final level of play.

Taking a hit but still alive was our runner-up from the October visit to Vienna, Milan Zaric. The local player stormed out of the non-smoking half of the Concord Card Casino to cool off after the hand.

The PP blog only caught the tail end of the action, but it soon became apparent that the villain had caught a gut shot on a 10♥8♠9♥-2♦-J♠ board.

Meanwhile, another man in the top 10 most picked Fantasy Poker players was on the verge of departing unless he can mount a chip and a chair style comeback. Heiko Wendt has just 3,000 chips, which will equate to 5 big blinds when we return from our final break.

Here's the latest chip count from Vienna...

Jan Peter Jachtmann - 115,000
Lutz Hoffmann - 70,000
Piotr Sowinski - 50,000
Bartlomiej Swieboda - 47,000
Joao Brito - 42,000
Jandrulo - 26,000
Luis Machado - 18,000
Ronnie Espensen - 10,000
Tommy Jensen - 10,000
Heiko Wendt - 3,000

Jandrulo pleases Fantasy Poker following

We've just checked up on some familiar faces and while collecting the first rough chip count of the day, we saw Jandrulo pump up his stack to 35,000 chips.

That will please his Fantasy Poker following, who earned a triumphant point for his cash in Prague.

The blog swung by as the flop fell 6♦10♦Q♠ and both players checked. The turn came 8♣ and the villain in the small blind fired out 1600 into our Spanish hero, who was sat in late position.

The ParadisePoker pro made a small raise and after his rival called, the river came a scare card 9♦. Jandrulo called a 2700 bet nonetheless with his J♠9♠ and took it down as he bettered a top pair Q.

His rival for most popular Fantasy Poker pick, Gabor Bank, has not been doing quite so well as his stack stands at just 8,500, while Ronnie Espensen has a similar count.

Selected Chip Count

Lutz Hoffman - 35,000
Jandrulo - 35,000
Fernando Martin - 25,000
Heiko Wendt - 21,000
Gabor Bank - 8,500
Ronnie Espensen - 8,000
Christos Xanthopoulos - 8,000

Jachtmann back in favour

Jan Peter has a smile on his face now!
Jan Peter Jachtmann was cursing his misfortune earlier but courtesy of the re-entries introduced for the first time in Vienna, he has built a tower standing 125,000 chips high.

The German poker journalist is writing quite the story having exited the Main Event in cruel fashion earlier, when his top two pair was beaten by runner runner outs for the villain in his tale.

Having opted to return for €550, Jan soon found Lady Luck's treatment had changed along with his seat, as two quick fire hands made him almost certainly the largest stack in the room.

First he picked up Aces and having limped, a player in late position went all-in for 12,000. Jachtmann made the call, only for another limper to shove over the top and when the cards were flipped, his rivals showed AK and QQ respectively. With no drama on board, Jan found himself on over 60,000 chips.

Two hands later and he was in the thick of the action again, raising with 88 and despite seeing three and four bets before the flop, trusted his read vs two aggressive players.

The dealer turned 10-2-4 rainbow and after calling a c-bet from the pre-flop four bettor, his dream turn was the 8♠, making for an easy call when his opponent shoved for a further 20,000. The villain sheepishly showed 66 and propelled our hero into six figures.

Fantasy favourites

Kapitany (headphones) was picked 23 times
Fantasy Poker entries closed a little while ago now and we'll soon be skimming round the room checking up on your picks' chip stacks, but first let's check which players proved the most popular!

After making the final table in Prague, Gabor Bank is the most-picked on our list with 27 teams hoping he makes the cash again, followed by ParadisePoker pro 'Jandrulo' who has been named 25 times.

Peter Horvath and Zoltan Kapitany will be familiar names to ParadisePoker Tour regulars and both men have proved favourites, with 23 selections each, with the top 10 rounded off by German regular Heiko Wendt.

Top 10 picked players

Gabor Bank - 27
Alejandro Rodrigo Gutierrez - 25
Horvath Peter - 23
Zoltan Kapitany - 23
Ronnie Espensen - 18
Stefan Karlsson - 17
Fernando Martin - 16
Lutz Hoffmann - 16
Luis Machado - 14
Heiko Wendt - 13

Quads cooler comes with consolation

Stunned: Andoni hit the rail after getting quads cracked
Our second ParadisePoker Tour Greece promo didn't last too long either, as Andoni Albella Fuente became the first player to make quads - and still managed to exit the tournament in the same hand!

Understandably, the Spaniard struck a dumbfounded figure when the PP blog came across him but having been told about his €1300 consolation, his mood was on the up.

Fuente had raised pre-flop with pocket 10s and was delighted with the 10-6-7♥ rainbow flop, but perhaps lamented the fact only one opponent came with him to the turn.

The 9♥ may have looked a little dangerous but when the 10♥ arrived on the river, Andoni was only concerned about how best to ship his chips into the centre.

When the inevitable happened, the villain of the tale flipped 6♥8♥ for an incredible hand that saw players staring in disbelief before snapping pictures on their smartphones.

We did promise you drama!

Like father, like son...

Happy birthday dad! Ronnie bought his father into the ME
Regular blog readers will of course know ParadisePoker Tour Season 2 League champion Ronnie Espensen for his poker skills – but you not be quite so familiar with the Dane’s softer side!

Ronnie gave his father a great gift, in the PP blog’s humble opinion, for his 50th birthday by bringing him out to ParadisePoker Tour Vienna and entering him into the Main Event.

The pair both played the €100+15 warm-up event too and it dad Tommy Jensen who made the greater impression, finishing 7th from the 100-odd player field to claim a €480 prize. Not too shabby for daddy!

Having bagged his entry into all Season 3 events plus €10,000 for winning his league title last year, Espensen seems to have passed on a few of his skills to the man he taught to play, but insists they remain very different players.

“He is so patient, it’s unbelievable,” Ronnie told the PP blog, “He can sit there for hours waiting for the right hand and the right spots, so maybe I can learn something from him there.

“He might outlast me in the Main Event too, but we’ll see how we both get on.”

No luck for German duo

While the internet continues to prove a nightmare for the PP blog, some familiar players are having just as much trouble with Lady Luck as we approach the end of re-entry period.

Players will be on their break any time now and still mulling over whether to stump up another €550 are tour regulars Christian Schulz and Jan Peter Jachtman.

Both suffered bad beats to end their first tournament lives and after enduring some horrendous luck at the cash tables last night, Schulz has the greater axe to grind with the aforementioned lady.

Having survived a set over set cooler with 77 vs 88 on the very first hand of the Main Event, Schulz picked up QQ after rebuilding his stack and was delighted to see the dealer flip AQx on the flop.

The money magnetised to the middle, only for the villain to show AA for a bigger set and send Christian to the rail fuming at his misfortune.

It continued a theme from Thursday night, when Schulz had his nut flush cracked by a one-outer to the straight flush, losing an €1800 pot in the process. The PP blog feels his pain!

Jachtman meanwhile had flopped top two pair with AJ on a A♥5♥J flop and after some confusion on the turn, eventually got the chips in after a King was delivered.

The cards were flipped and the poker publisher found himself up against K♥J♥ - and the killer flush arrived on the river.  

Back online for pics and Fantasy Poker

A few internet issues here in the Concord Card Casino have prevented us from bringing you the promised pictures sooner, but we're back online just in time to close our Fantasy Poker entries.

The bell has tolled 19.00 CEST here and that means our 191 entrants will have no more competition for the €1300 package to Greece this summer. Good luck to all of those you beat the deadline.

Our photographer has had no such connectivity mountains to climb and he's snapped some great shots from around the room, so without further ado, here they are!



On your mobile? Check out our ParadisePoker Tour Vienna pictures via this link.

Straight to Greece

Konstantinos won our straight flush promo
Well that didn't take long! Charging our players with showing down a straight flush with both cards to win a package to ParadisePoker Greece, we thought we might make them sweat a little while but it wasn't to be.

Within half an hour of the tournament start and Konstantinos Kyriakakis was shipped a sizeable pot and his €1300 bonus prize!

In case the name didn't give it away, he won't have too far to travel when the final Season 3 Main Event comes around as Konstantinos is Greek. Looks like he'll have a little extra cash to play with in Thessaloniki.

The Athens-based player won the trip after picking 6♣9♣ in the cut-off and squeezing two limpers pre-flop. One called and the pair went to a J♥8♣7♣ flop.

The villain of this particular tale called a c-bet and another on the turn, which came K♣ to make Kyriakakis his flush. It was the river that brought the dream 5♣ and to everyone's amazement, the first of our two promotional packages was won.

Not a bad start!

Let's get it on!

The familiar ripple of chips is filling the Concord Card Casino and that means the €125,000 Guaranteed Main Event is under way here in Vienna.

You have until the first break at 19.00 CEST (18.00 BST) to get your Fantasy Poker entries in, so make sure you pick the luckiest trio from our list!

We'll be wandering round the room soon with our camera to bring you pictures, while stopping off to chat with some of the familiar faces here.

Good luck to all our Main Event players!

Warm-up act gets us fired up for Main Event

Playing host - the Concord Card Casino in Vienna
Day 1 of the ParadisePoker Tour Main Event is just a few hours away but the action has long since started in Vienna, not least thanks to the cash tables at Concord Card Casino.

Last night's €100+15 event attracted around 100 players but eyes across the card room were being drawn to a high stakes heads-up duel between a local Russian player and his lesser known foe.

The duo were playing €200/€400 Pot Limit Omaha and a number of pots reach gargantuan proportions, including a reported €150,000 score for the challenger! Shades of Johnny Moss and Nick the Greek...

We can't quite compete with those figures, but the €125,000 Guaranteed Main Event has still got many a player buzzing in the Austrian capital and as ever we're expecting a good size field for the €550 buy-in today. 

The race is also on for a number of €1,300 packages to ParadisePoker Tour Greece, with the first straight flush and first quads of the big tournament rewarded with an extended trip to Thessaloniki from May 30th-June 4th. Not too shabby.

And then of course there's Fantasy Poker. If you're reading this and still haven't entered for the chance to win an identical package to our Greek poker holiday, we have to ask why! 

Entries are on web only but if you're on your mobile and ask us nicely in the comments or via @paradisepoker on Twitter, we might just take your entry the old fashioned way. You need only a ParadisePoker or Sportingbet account to enter. 

Talking of Twitter, we're also playing a game of Who Am I? at 16.00 CEST as we count down to the Main Event. The aim of the game is to unravel our picture clues and tell us which poker star we're describing, with ParadisePoker goodies to be won. Come and join the fun!

Thursday 22 March 2012

Fantasy Poker hands out €1300 trip to Greece

It's back! The game that makes ParadisePoker Tour dreams a reality by giving blog readers the chance to win a package to Greece. We know you love it.

It doesn't cost a penny to enter and you might even have a little fun tracking your team along the way, as we gear up for another round of Fantasy Poker in Vienna from March 30th-April 1st.

As always, the aim is to pick three players you think will cash in the €125,000 Guaranteed Main Event. Reach the money and your players will score you points - with the highest scoring team earning their owner the €1300 prize. Here's how to play:

Fantasy Poker - How to Play

1. Log-in to your ParadisePoker account above (web only)
2. Click the My Team tab and pick 3 players by 17.00 CET on Friday, March 30th
3. Players that cash in the Main Event score Fantasy Poker points
4. And the highest scoring fantasy team wins a ParadisePokerTour prize package to Greece!

In a change from previous games of Fantasy Poker, we will only be offering online qualifiers on the list of players to choose from. You may, however, request any other player in the Main Event to be added to the list via the comment section or on Twitter.

Remember you can change your team as many times as you wish before the final deadline, so it's worth picking a team even while you await an addition to the list. You have until Friday, March 30th at 17.00 CET to make any such requests!

Good luck!

PLEASE NOTE: Gurgen Mkhitaryan and David Pishvafar appear on the Fantasy Poker list but have pulled out of the Main Event at short notice. Please do not pick either player, as they will score 0 points for Fantasy Poker in Vienna. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Monster hands win more than the pot in Vienna

We're spicing up our return to Vienna next week with two free packages to be won to ParadisePoker Tour Greece, as we reward the first players to show off a monster hand.

As soon as the Main Event shuffles up and deals, the race will be on to win the €1300 extended trip to Thessaloniki from May 30th-June 3rd, with one package for the first quads and another for the first straight flush of the €125,000 Guaranteed tournament.

Both hole cards must be used in the hand and the dealer, tournament director and ParadisePoker representative must be shown the hand to confirm, so if you're dealt the big hand - shout it from the rooftops whether it goes to showdown or not!

Here's the obligatory T&Cs:

- One prize package will be awarded to the first player to show four-of-a-kind
- One prize package will be awarded to the first player to show a straight flush
- Both hole cards must be used
- The hand DOES NOT have to go to a showdown but the player must notify the dealer of the winning hand
- The hand does not qualify if the hand is mucked.
- The hand must be verified by the tournament director and a ParadisePoker representative before the prize package can be awarded
- Prize packages are not transferable and there is no cash alternative
- All regular rules surrounding prize package wins are attributable to this promotion and can be found on www.ParadisePoker.com

Thursday 8 March 2012

Thessaloniki the destination for Season 3 finale

The ParadisePoker Tour will round off its third season with a fantastic Greek poker holiday in Thessaloniki, after we sealed a deal to host our Season 3 finale from May 30th-June 3rd.

A brand new stop for us, we're taking the usual mix of €125,000 Guaranteed Main Event, a host of side events and the ParadisePoker Tour Players’ Party, then throwing in two nights extra stay in the sun-scorched holiday destination!

Packages will now be worth €1,300 so winners can enjoy an extended stay in Greece’s second city, renowned for its festivals, events and vibrant cultural life, while combining their trip with some top drawer poker.

€550 entry to the Main Event, five nights stay at the luxurious Hyatt Regency Hotel for up to two people, €250 spending money and a free pass to the Players’ Party on the Saturday night are all included in our upgraded packages.

Held at the Regency Casino, the Main Event will feature a Day 1A and Day 1B on Thursday 31st and Friday, June 1st before the fields are combined on Saturday and the final ParadisePoker Tour Season 3 champion crowned 24 hours later.

Don't forget there are packages to be won at our next event in Vienna, too, so you start planning your holiday in Paradise this summer!

Viewing on a smartphone? Click to view our sneak preview pics of ParadisePoker Tour Thessaloniki.

Wednesday 7 March 2012

ParadisePoker Tour League... updated at last!

League Standings -  Click to Enlarge 
The ParadisePoker Tour League has finally been updated following our trip to Prague and Andreas Zauner retains pole position in the Season 3 standings.

The Austrian made an appearance in the Czech capital and could well ante up again as we return to his homeland later this month, but thus far his first victory in Vienna has proven sufficient to keep him in first place.

Prague winner Nat Jarmonthavat is the new entry in third spot and a second final table appearance for the likes of Milan Simko, Ertan Aldikacti or Heiko Kenning could yet see them snatch the table summit.

The top 5 players will share a minimum prize pool of €20,000 at the end of Season 3, so there's all to play for with two events still to play. 

All side events also count towards the final totals, so the trip to Vienna could yet prove decisive in just who claims the biggest share.


ParadisePoker Tour Prague: League Points Breakdown

Main Event - Click to Enlarge 

Side Events - Click to Enlarge



Monday 5 March 2012

Twitter League plots free route to ParadisePoker Tour

Twitter League freerolls: Tuesdays 19.00 GMT
Fancy joining us for a long weekend of poker and partying? Well now you can qualify for the ParadisePoker Tour completely free care of the Twitter League.

The weekly freeroll, which is exclusively for followers of @ParadisePoker, hands two monthly winners a free ticket to a €55 ParadisePoker Tour Qualifier of their choice.

Make sure you're following us on the social network site on a Tuesday afternoon to pick up the required password, then check back on Wednesday to see the updated standings.

The top 100 players in the tournament score points according to their position (1st - 100 points, 2nd - 99 points... 100th- 1 point) and accumulate their tally over the course of the month. Our most consistent performers then claim the monthly prize!

Three runners-up will have a choice of ParadisePoker goodies, so make sure you join us every Tuesday at 19.00 GMT for the freeroll that could start your journey to ParadisePoker Tour glory.

Any questions? We're always available to chat via @ParadisePoker on Twitter. Twitter League T&Cs.

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