Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 6 -- A Tale of Two Sevens

That’s a shot looking back at Monaco from the bay, one I'll admit I didn't take but rather grabbed off the EPT Live stream earlier today which I was locked in and watching all day.

Helped cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event today, which meant a day of sitting rather than running up and down stairs and back and forth across the Sporting Club. A nice change for sure, and the final table proved exciting enough with the Frenchman Stephane Dossetto outlasting the entertaining Niall Farrell of Scotland to win.

Interesting bit of uncanniness at the end of the event, as Dossetto won with a final hand of pocket sevens. His name -- as he made a point of telling us the night before -- means “two-seven,” at which time he made a reference to winning a hand with a seven on his way to the final table. So his winning with two sevens was curious, as was the fact that he made a set on the last hand (another word contained within his name).

When the night was done, Nick and I were out in time for me to check in on the Charlotte Hornets-Miami Heat score in their Game 7. Confirming the Hornets had already fallen behind by 30 in the third quarter, we scurried back over to the Mozza restaurant we’d visited and enjoyed a week before, both getting the kobe beef ravioli and that octopus salad I’d had the last time. C'était délicieux.

Probably the most fun of the whole day was walking with Nick through Monaco with only a semi-perfect memory of where the restaurant was, then between the two of us together managing to angle ourselves exactly toward our destination. Wasn’t the most difficult of challenges, mind you, but still felt like a welcome victory.

Got back to the room before midnight, and so am looking forward to a decent night’s worth of sleep after having come up short in the z’s department last night. In the hopes of achieving that goal, I’ll cut things off here.

If you’re curious about how that FPS Monaco final table went, check out the recap. Moving over to the Main Event today, which moves into Day 2 with what looks like a huge field, so check in over at PokerStars blog for that as well tomorrow.

Image: EPT Live.

Travel Report: EPT12 Grand Final, Day 5 -- Cracked

“That should be some sort of art installation.”

So suggested Remko Rinkema, speaking of the cracked window there to the left. One of a few looking out the media room onto the Mediterranean Sea, it has been cracked in this way for as long as anyone can remember, and there are a lot of lengthy memories among those who have been covering EPTs over the last dozen years.

Was a little overcast today, making for a less stunning view through those cracks. More often the sky is a light shade of blue and the water a deeper one, with cruise ships typically passing to and fro to create an animated postcard constantly in motion behind us as we work.

The window takes on a symbolic significance with each passing day, too, as everyone tries to hold it together while the festival unrelentingly marches onward. In truth, aside from a few sore throats and a cough here and there, everyone seems to be managing just fine as we approach the halfway point of this year’s European Poker Tour Grand Final.

Five days are done, and six more are left. Today’s fifth day was a long one for your humble scribbler who again was helping cover the France Poker Series Monaco Main Event. Meanwhile the EPT Main got started, the €100K Super High Roller finished up (won by Ole Schemion with Mustapha Kanit part of the heads-up chop, natch), and a myriad of other side stuff was going on as well to make for another crowded time at the Sporting Club.

Our tournament started with 1,261 runners, 60 of whom returned for Day 3. From that bunch just six are left to play tomorrow, with France’s Stephane Dossetto the leader just ahead of the often entertaining British player Niall Farrell. They’ll be streaming “cards up” coverage of the final table on Sunday, so if you tune in over at EPT Live starting at 2 p.m. Monaco time (that’s 8 a.m. ET), you can watch this one play out to a conclusion.

None of the players seemed to crack up today, at least not in observable ways. A decision made near the end of the night to keep on playing down to six players (rather than stop at eight) was met with approval. It’ll make for a shorter day on Sunday, for certain, which I think also will make things a little easier for these final half-dozen if they wish to jump in the second Day 1 flight of the Main.

Check out yesterday’s coverage of all the big events over on the PokerStars blog, and tune in today for some FPS final table fun as well, as I’m sure James Hartigan, Joe Stapleton, and Matt Broughton of EPT Live will have viewers cracking up.

Travel Report, EPT12 Dublin, Day 8 -- You’ll Know Them By Their Limping

Bookmarks are pretty ephemeral things. For most of us, anyway. I tend not to use actual rectangular-shaped thin cardboard products specifically designed as bookmarks, but rather whatever odd index card or other scrap is lying around for the job.

I have a memory, though, of having had and used repeatedly a laminated bookmark at some point during my college days, one that had an old, familiar Irish blessing written on it in some sort of calligraphy. Or was it a curse? You’ll no doubt recognize it:

“May those who love us, love us; and those who don't love us, may God turn their hearts; and if He doesn't turn their hearts, may he turn their ankles so we'll know them by their limping.”

That one suddenly came back to me today amid another long one of racing around the tournament floor, and realizing it was an eighth straight day of doing so and I’m more or less starting to limp to finish. I speak figuratively, of course, referring to a kind of slowness of thought and creativity that tends to creep up toward the end of one these jaunts, especially the longer ones.

That’s not to say I don’t feel like I can think or be creative, it just takes a little longer. Just as walking with a limp doesn’t keep you from your destination, it just makes it a little more arduous getting there.

Gonna go ahead and put a bookmark right here for now in this ongoing story of my Ireland adventure. Got one more fun excursion planned for tomorrow, another venture with my friend Gareth who carried me to Dalkey earlier in the trip. We did a ton of hiking that day, and I imagine we might do a little more tomorrow. We’ll see.

We’ll also see how well I manage to limp to the finish of the High Roller tomorrow. Check the PokerStars blog for updates and reports on the conclusions of both the €10K High Roller and the Main at EPT Dublin.

You can watch the live stream of the Main final table on EPT Live, too. Look in the background as you do and you might see some of the reporters, whom of course you’ll know by their limping.

Image: Old Gaelic blessing.

Ensan is the Man

Enjoyed once again following the many days’ worth of coverage of the European Poker Tour Prague Main Event over on EPT Live this week, in particular yesterday’s final table and the lengthy heads-up match between Hossein Ensan and Gleb Tremzin, eventually won by Ensan.

I knew of Ensan before, though not specifically because the 51-year-old German (orginally from Iran) had previously made two EPT Main Event final tables, finishing third at EPT11 Barcelona and sixth at EPT11 Malta. I remembered him more for having won two silver spades in prelims at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo back in May where I was helping cover side events.

He’s up over $2 million now in live tournament earnings, all won since 2013, with several wins and final tables. All that helps suggest his skills as a player, although I think anyone watching the live stream yesterday also would appreciate his creativity, too, with a number of interesting, unexpected decisions made in hands that obviously put his opponents on the defensive.

Heads-up in particular included a number of intriguing hands to follow, with Tremzin also providing some worthy opposition in terms of making plays and taking risks. What stood out, though, was the good sportsmanship displayed by both, evidenced in particular both in the deal the pair struck and in one particular hand that came afterwards.

There had been some deal discussion at four-handed, though nothing was agreed upon then. Then after Ilkin Amirov was knocked out in third, the remaining two discussed a deal with Ensan ahead in chips with about 17.5 million to Tremzin’s 13.8 million. Despite his lead, Ensan was fine with an even split of most of the remaining prize money, with each player getting €724,510 and €30,000 left for which to play.

I’ve written here before about the EPT not just allowing deals (unlike the WSOP), but also letting spectators and viewers at home follow along with those discussions, and once again the deal talks were interesting to watch. It was also nice to see how agreeable the pair were in the discussions, with Ensan being so amenable and not being too bothered to push for more thanks to his chip lead. Perhaps all of his cashes over the last couple of years made it easier for him to make that choice, but for those of us on the virtual rail it perhaps inspired a slight rooting interest going forward.

Heads-up was kind of wild, with the lead changing several times and as I already mentioned a lot of interesting postflop play. The two players ended up playing 122 hands, and it was on the 84th one of heads-up another moment arose that resulted in Ensan showing himself to be an especially likable character.

Tremzin had a small lead to begin the hand which started as a limped pot followed by a checked flop, then the turn brought a check-call from Ensan. The river then saw Ensan lead with a bet, then after a short pause Tremzin made a hefty raise.

Watching on a delay, we could see that the board had run out and that Ensan was betting with a lowly pair of fives as he held . The reader had only picked up one of Tremzin’s cards -- the -- which had made it curious to see him put in a big raise (what could he have?).

Ensan then only took about 20 seconds before making a big reraise back -- also interesting to see, and a good example of his boldness -- doing so wordlessly by pushing the needed chips forward. Tremzin immediately said “good call” and began to show his hand. Meanwhile Ensan could be heard saying “You call? You win,” having decided that if he were called there, his fives couldn’t possibly be good.

The miscommunication became apparent when we saw Tremzin had complete air with . He’d said “good call” -- not “I call” (as Ensan thought) -- having missed the fact that Ensan wasn’t just calling his raise but was actually reraising.

Discussion followed, with Tremzin explaining what had happened and adding “of course I’m not calling” with the hand he held. It took a little while for everything to become clear to all, with the TDs also listening and appearing as though they were on the verge of making a decision in the matter.

The problem, of course, was that Tremzin had used one of those “action” words -- i.e., “call” -- which when used in spots where one’s intention is different than the action the word indicates can lead to problems. Robert Woolley wrote a good article for PokerNews about this issue a while back titled “You Can Say These Words at the Table, But Be Careful When You Do.”

“Okay gentleman... it’s okay,” said Ensan, interrupting the discussion while making a thumbs-up gesture. “I don’t want more,” he added, echoing the position he’d taken during the deal-making.

The TDs actually still had to rule on the matter, but they went along with Ensan and decided to rule Tremzin didn’t have to call the reraise, as he obviously didn’t intend to with the hand he held. The players retook their seats and continued to talk about the hand as the dealer readied for the next hand.

“Next time, don’t bluff,” Ensan cracked. Tremzin grinned as he responded, “But you bluffed also.”

“I had five... I was good!” replied Ensan, getting a big laugh from both Tremzin and the rail. Tremzin clapped his hands as well in acknowledgment of the inspired quip.

It was a fun moment to watch, and again made it easy to root for Ensan going forward. Tremzin, too, was understanding and easy-going in a spot that it was easy to imagine could have been a lot less amiable, say, with different players involved or in a different tournament. The combination of good sportsmanship and skillful play made it an especially enjoyable match to watch.

Dialing Up Some Poker Podcasts

Was writing a little last week about the Thinking Poker Podcast, which got me thinking once again about poker and podcasts (natch) and which ones have moved up to the front of the queue for me of late.

To be honest I no longer listen to any single one regularly, although the Thinking Poker Podcast is one I tend to catch fairly frequently. It’s a good mix of strategy discussion and “lifestyle”-type discussions prompted by the guests Andrew Brokos and Nate Meyvis have on the show.

While the strategy sessions can be kind of intense (with a single hand occasionally being enough to encourage a half-hour’s worth of discussion or more), I very much like the way the show allows guests to stray over a wide range of topics, with poker being kind of a jumping off point for all sorts of interesting discussions.

The European Poker Tour Prague stop is nearing its conclusion and I’ve been tuning in again to EPT Live as the Main Event is now down to just three tables. That puts me in mind of the EPT Not Live podcast, which comes around about once a week in between EPT events (and during them, too, I think).

I’m a huge fan of James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton and the shows feature them being their usually humorous selves along with an array of guests. This “Best of” episode from near the end of the summer might be a good place to start with the show, if you haven’t heard it before.

Another podcast I find myself listening to almost every week is Todd Witteles’s Poker Fraud Alert. Sometimes I’ll listen live if up late on the night he’s doing a show, while other times I’ll find shows in the arCHives (to which the above link goes). Those of you who’ve listened know how Witteles’s shows are usually made up of lengthy segments in which he responds to various poker and gambling news of the week, as well as other topics of interest to him. He has co-hosts occasionally, although often is on his own for what can become marathon episodes lasting five or more hours.

Witteles is a thoughtful guy and nearly always adopts reasonable positions on various issues of the day. His show also provides something kind of unique in poker as far as its editorial freedom goes. He provides show notes for each episode, so you can skip ahead and find topics of particular interest if you like rather than listening the whole way.

Also on my list of regular listens is the Remko Report over on PokerNews where my friend Remko Rinkema similarly takes his time interviewing guests from the poker world with each show usually taking an hour or so. It has been a few weeks since I’ve listened, but some relatively recent ones I’ve enjoyed have included his interviews with Talal Shakerchi, Martin Jacobson, and Joe McKeehen (a couple of weeks before his victory).

I’ve written here before about Remko’s enthusiasm for poker and how infectious it can be if you spend any time at all around him, something listeners of the show surely pick up on as well, I imagine, via his often inspired questions. You can find the Remko Report among other PokerNews podcasts by clicking here -- I also often enjoy the regular “PN Pod” and this fall have dutifully listened to (and enjoyed) the BookieSmash SuperContest shows as well.

Finally I’ve only lately started tuning into to Joey Ingram’s Poker Life shows, which like Remko’s often are focused around lengthy interviews with a single guest. He does his live over on YouTube, so there’s a video component with the shows, although you can get to ’em via iTunes as well. Most recently he had on both Daniel Negreanu and Dani Stern to discuss the PokerStars VIP changes, one of a few instances of late of the show jumping on a hot and trending poker-related topic to provide something interesting for those following the stories.

I’ll still dial up the Two Plus Two Pokercast now and then, usually depending on whether or not there’s a guest I’m interested in hearing. I mentioned House of Cards here not long ago, too, as one to which I sometimes listen. There are others, too, I’ll happen upon now and then. If you are curious to see what all is out there, PokerFuse keeps track of many poker podcasts as they appear on this page.

You still listen to any poker podcasts? If so, which ones do you like?

EPT12 Barcelona, Day 13: The Stand-In

A few quick thoughts about the final day yesterday at the European Poker Tour Barcelona festival where John Juanda ended up winning the Main Event, Mustapha Kanit won the High Roller (after an unusual deal was made), and five other side events wrapped up.

The media room was full of apprehension both Saturday night and early Sunday about how long things would go on the last day. Most felt the Main Event would end at a decent hour, with tourney staff also predicting a pre-midnight finish. But the High Roller was a wild card, with 30 players returning and a potential to go much longer.

As it happened, the €10K High Roller finished up first thanks both to the fact that things moved more quickly than anticipated and to an unique finish. With three left, Kanit, Kuljinder Sidhu, and Nick Petrangelo decided on a deal to chop the remaining prize money and end things right then and there, with chip leader Kanit getting the trophy and designation as winner.

Have to say Kanit is becoming kind of a favorite to watch for me, having seen him win a couple of huge ones -- this and the €50K One-Day Super High Roller in Monaco in May -- as well as take down the SCOOP High Main Event where the Italian plays as “lasagnaaammm” (a way-better-than-average screen name).

Kanit is fun to watch, both for his play and the entertainment he provides. In Monaco, Nick Wright wrote a piece highlighting Kanit’s jovial demeanor at the tables. In Barcelona, Kanit’s multi-colored sport jacket was a highlight of a piece by Howard Swains about some of the fashion on display.

Kanit also had a perfect comeback versus Phil Hellmuth during the summer after the pair tangled in a hand in the One Drop High Roller at the WSOP.

After losing a pot to Kanit, Hellmuth trotted out his customary petulance. “Why do we try and bluff the amateurs?” said Hellmuth after the hand (from the WSOP update), betraying his ignorance about who he was playing against. “They are going to give you 500K with a king and no kicker.”

Kanit’s response -- not even hinting at the fact that he is anything but an amateur -- was golden: “I traveled a long way to play the tournament,” he said. “I just want to enjoy myself and play some hands.”

How can you not pull for a guy whose instinct versus Hellmuth’s applesauce is to respond like that?

Juanda winning the Main was kind of remarkable to watch play out, in part because about a week before he’d tweeted that he hadn’t played any live poker at all since the last EPT Barcelona festival a year ago. He made a couple of fortunate hands as a short stack on the final day, and apparently was super short earlier in the event, too. Quite something to see him there at the finish. (There was also a deal in that one, although they left some on the table to play for.)

Finally, I got a huge laugh out of seeing the “Challenge Stapes” segment during the stream yesterday in which I took part. The segment featured Joe Stapleton recreating a hand between Dan Shak and Kamal Choraria from last year’s EPT Barcelona, with Stapes playing both roles and me serving as a silent stand-in for both.

That just above is a photo taken during the shoot (click to embiggen). Here’s the whole segment:

By the way, you can see the original hand from last year’s EPT Barcelona here (which lasts a couple of minutes), and then the table talk afterwards starts here.

Working that 13th-straight day and reporting on the last side events, I kind of felt like a silent stand-in there, too, a sore throat keeping me from talking much and other symptoms reducing me to a kind of dummy version of my usual self. Still, it was great being there and seeing it through to the finish, especially while working alongside so many friends and great colleagues.

Talk to you again soon from the other side of the Atlantic.

EPT12 Barcelona, Day 12: A New Challenge

The last day of the EPT Barcelona festival -- originally 71 events, but with an added pot-limit razz (no shinola) up to 72 -- is today, with the Main Event just about to get started and the High Roller beginning shortly thereafter. Everyone is settling in for a long one, especially with regard to the High Roller in which 30 players are returning.

My focus (as usual) will be on the many side events yet to play out, with a number of turbos on the schedule today. However, I will be watching the EPT Live stream today and keeping an eye out for the Challenge Stapes segment, in which your humble scribbler may possibly make an appearance.

They came around the night before looking for volunteers, and when no one else came forward I decided to step up.

I came in early yesterday to help with the shooting of the segment, which like going on EPT Live the day before was interesting to witness, if only to marvel at how things are pulled together behind the scenes.

Not providing any spoilers here as yet regarding what the segment is about or where I fit into it. I was just an extra (natch) and am mostly on the periphery for Joe Stapleton's hijinks. Thankfully (because of my continued sore throat) I was not called upon to deliver any lines.

Check over at the PokerStars blog today for reports on everything, and check out the EPT Live show today as well for that Challenge Stapes segment.

EPT12 Barcelona, Day 11: On the Air

Gonna deliver a short post today while I have a few moments. Afraid I’ve been struck down by the “blergy,” just a couple of days from the end of my long stint here in Barcelona. Sore throat, fever, sinus stuff -- it’s taken over.

Was starting to feel it coming on while playing the media event deep into the night on Thursday, then woke up yesterday knowing I wasn’t in great shape. Have secured some meds now and they’re helping a bit, but I’ll be glad to get out from under this soon.

Dinner last night began magnificently with a satifying goat cheese salad then limped to the finish with a crayfish platter which I hadn’t even ordered, but ended up picking through anyway. Smoke all around from neighboring tables didn’t help the throat situation, either.

I described it afterwards as being like getting pocket aces early on, then going frustratingly card dead for the remainder of the meal.

Shortly after getting back to the media room, I was invited to come on the EPT Live stream for a stint. Wasn’t exactly the ideal circumstances for my debut on the stream, as my voice was about an octave lower than normal and my pounding head creating a lot of static when it came to trying to think and talk at the same time.

Had a blast doing it, though, and was marveling the whole time at how the entire EPT Live operation is run. Such a complicated thing, all flowing along incredibly smoothly with a team of folks behind James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton (who were at the mics when I came on). Both of the pics come from Neil Stoddart of the PokerStars blog, shot earlier in the week.

They are down to penultimate days of both the Main Event and €10K High Roller, both of which have drawn enormous, record-setting fields. Check the PokerStars blog today for updates on it all, and watch EPT Live, too, to follow the Main Event as it plays down to a final table today.

Regional Finals, Final Tables, and the Coming Final Four

Not unexpectedly, both my Heels and my NCAA bracket crumbled, and now I semi-dread the inevitable happening a week from today, namely a Kentucky-Duke final. (Others feel similarly?) Some exciting games, though, particularly in the regional finals.

Meanwhile I watched some poker on the computer this weekend, too. On Saturday I frequently dipped in and out of the EPT Live stream of the final table over at EPT Malta, including some of the seven-hour long heads-up battle between the two Frenchmen, Valentin Messina and Jean Montury that Montury ultimately won.

They ended up playing 148 hands total against one another, with the lead swinging back and forth in what turned out to be a hard-fought duel. What stood out the most, however, was the emotion Messina showed during his all-ins in the latter stages (such as pictured above in a screenshot from the stream).

Was hard not to be affected just a little watching him, something mentioned both in the commentary and in the PokerStars blog recap of the final table. The latter includes a nice picture of Montury consoling Messina after the final hand, as well as a good description of the scene by Howard Swains -- check it out.

Then on Sunday I followed a random tweet alerting me to the fact that Barry Greenstein had found his way over onto Twitch, and once on his channel I discovered him playing what turned out to be the priciest play money tournament ever on PokerStars, a 1 billion-play chip tournament that attracted 31 players.

Interestingly, Greenstein’s fellow Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker also took part, and the two of them ended up making it all of the way to heads-up against one another. Decidedly less emotion was on display for that heads-up match, although it was clear both were battling just as earnestly until Greenstein ultimately emerged the victor, winning 13.95 billion play-chip first prize while Moneymaker picked up 9.3 billion.

Obviously the kitty there was not as significant as what Montury and Messina were playing for (Montury won €687,400 while Messina took away €615,000 following a heads-up deal). Even so, from the rail both were interesting finishes to follow. And I guess the parallels help point up how poker can be meaningful at a wide variety of stakes, high to low.

I guess in both cases I wasn’t necessarily rooting for either player to win, but rather just to see a well-competed contest, which turned out to be so in both cases. Meanwhile we’ll see if that NCAA tournament comes down to the predictable heads-up next Monday, too, where (if does turn out to be the Wildcats and Blue Devils) I guess I’ll also lack any specific rooting interest.

Go Michigan State! Go Wisconsin!