Tom Holke: Leads in back-to-back bid

It appeared to be an excessive amount of to pray for, but it surely has just come to pass.

After Jan von Halle bagged the chip lead on the end of Day 1A, it was pretty remarkable when George Danzer did the similar on the end of Day 1B. This isn't a tournament stacked to the gills with household names, but we certainly knew all about those two.

Then today, as 200 players arrived for the third and final opening flight of the €1,000 Eureka Hamburg Main Event, we saw another familiar face race into an early lead.

Tom Holke, who won this tournament last season, was making all of the early headlines. And by the point the klaxon sounded for the close of another 12 levels, Holke had the largest stack within the room.

The man who's sitting beneath probably the most distinctive get-up--a lei and stetson, within the colours of the German flag--also has probably the most distinctive pile of chips. It's worth 333,000, bigger than Danzer and Von Halle, and he goes into Day 2 in pole position within the try to defend his title.

This was an afternoon stuffed with Holke. Early on, he brought into play a tip glass on his table into which any player could put €5 in the event that they desired to see his cards on the end of a hand. The money would visit the dealers.

He went backward and forward with Thang Duc Nguyen over this, but Nguyen was soon knocked out. Holke then dipped below Jonn Forst's stack when he found some turbulence late within the day, but he recovered and ended up with that mighty stack.

By that point, tournament administrators had done their bean counting and established that the winner of this event gets €69,120. There have been 367 entries in total, comprising 327 unique players and 40 re-entries. (ALL OF THE information is at the prizepool page.)

Tournament staff are presently counting up the entire stacks...stop press, here they are:

Name Country Chips

Tom Holke	Germany	333000
Johnny Hansen	Denmark	197100
Edgaras Kancaitis	Lithuania	183200
Erik Scheidt	Germany	171700
Jonn Forst	Austria	171500
Goran Milovanovic	Serbia	168200
Seung Hyun Kang	South Korea	167200
Miomir Saric	Serbia	160000
Usman Siddique	UK	156800
Robin Kazemieh-Aghdam	Germany	152600
Marcel Schauenburg	Germany	137200
Ercan Atmaca	Netherlands	135500
Walid Abdi-Ali	Germany	129800
Damir Vasiljevic	Germany	123000
Tamas Gonczi	Hungary	110100
Rinaldo Radler Aquino	UK	107000
Quang Vu Nguyen	Germany	105100
Benjamin Bussenschutt	Germany	103700
Bartolomiej Grabowski	Poland	102900
Kai Schuster	Germany	102600
Andrey Demidov	Russia	102200
Andreas Bremer	Germany	98600
Georges Yazbeck	Lebanon	92100
Fabian Schaack	Germany	83700
Walter Beckmann	Germany	83100
Sebastian Homann	Germany	80600
Konstantin Karikov	Russia	76300
Frank Debus	Germany	74600
Jürgen Horst Dobrindt	Germany	72900
Michael Jacobs	Germany	72500
Marc Hamening	Germany	70600
Marco Freese	Germany	70300
Johannes Max De Hond	Netherlands	69900
Lauri Laast	Estonia	69000
Hans Schmitz Woyrsch	Germany	64300
Ludvik Jossund Stranden	Norway	57900
Darius Simkus	Lithuania	56500
Jörg Blohm	Germany	54500
Alin Puscas	Germany	51600
Nicholas Schreck	Germany	46500
Jasminko Hasanovic	Bosnia and Herzegovina	45100
Aviad Regev	Israel	42900
Jan Peters	Germany	42000
Dennis Kraus	Germany	41200
Hermann Behrens	Germany	39900
Berend Bos	Netherlands	37900
Gareth Mccord Chantler	Canada	37800
Yun Choi	Germany	36300
Thorsten Walk	Germany	34200
David Lappin	Ireland	31000
Sascha Steffens	Germany	26100
David Urban	Slovakia	21900
Dennis Nitz	Germany	20900
Marc Andrew Hunter	UK	20700
Nikolas Menke	Germany	11200

As you'll see, 55 finished today, meaning we'll have 108 within the room tomorrow. Redraw details could be here soon.

Come back tomorrow when we'll play eight levels and doubtless get into the money. It starts at noon.

10:15pm: News from the Hamburg CupLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

There's been a small change to the schedule for the Hamburg Cup. Everybody who was eliminated on Days 1A, 1B can re-enter on Day 1C. And should you bust during Day 1C in the course of the first six levels, you'll re-enter. It is a €330 buy-in event, so get yourself over to Hamburg for this one.

In the meantime, spin through the entire coverage from the day within the post below:

10:10pm: Holke has us on tenterhooksLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

I'm unlikely to lie, we're on tenterhooks over here. We're approaching the tip of play--they've just paused the clock and said they'll play the last four hands--and we're looking ahead to confirmation that Tom Holke is chip-leader. He has 310,000 on the moment, but along with his loosey-goosey style, and Johnny Hansen to his left with 210,000, it isn't a foregone conclusion that the defending champ may be our day-end leader. But we're hoping, because that might be neat.

9:50pm: Dobrint doublesLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Jurgen Dobrint has doubled up, taking the majority of Marc Hunter's stack within the process. Dobrint opened to 6,100 from mid-position and Hunter, one seat to his left, shoved for around 60,000.

Action folded around to Jan Peters within the big blind who had about 30,000 in his stack. He appeared to be pondering a call, but folded and quickly appeared to regret it. Dobrint called off his 38,400 stack with A♦T♦ and was up against Hunter's 7♥7♦. (Peters' reaction gave the impression to suggest he was more healthy against those two hands.)

The board ran A♠8♠5♥2♦3♠ and the ace within the window doubled up Dobrint.

9:40pm: Scything throughLevel 12 - Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

We are all the way down to 67 players now after two more were eliminated early within the last level of the day.

After Seung Hyun Kang opened to 5,100 from early position, Do Chung Tran shoved from the button for his last 12,400. Kang called and Tran immediately got up and put his coat on, even if his 7♥7♣ was favourite against Kang's K♥J♥.

Admittedly, the favouritism didn't last long because the flop came A♦3♠J♦. The 2♦ turn and 4♦ river ended it and he did not have to take his jacket off after that.

Over on Tom Holke's table, the defending champion was certainly one of three players on the flop of 2♥J♥9♦. Holke bet 7,000 and Johnny Hansen, also with a large stack, called. Sonke Jahn moved all-in, for 42,000, and that quickly got Holke out of how. But Hansen called and tabled K♣K♠. Jahn had A♥[J♦ and missed on turn and river, sending him home.

9:30pm: Prize pool infoLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

It's the instant you've all been looking ahead to: the announcement of the prize pool information. There has been €355,990 within the prize pool, with 55 players getting paid and €69,120 for the winner. All of the information of the whole payout schedule is at the payouts page.

9:20pm: Appmann beaten, but not brokenLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

Adrian Appmann was all-in for his last 11,100 and in a race against Yun Ho Choi. Appmann had A♣Q♥ and Choi had 7♥7♣.

I'm undecided once they had arrived, but Appmann had a few friends at the rail at this point too, who gave their buddy all of the support he may be able to hope for--that is, if you happen to consider treating it love it was heads up for the sector Series Main Event title. They ironically gasped when the hands were shown, then moaned again when the flop brought a gutshot straight draw. (It was T♠K♠8♥.) They winced on the 8♦ turn after which they snapped their hands over their faces in anguish when the 3♣ sealed Appmann's fate.

By this point, Appmann was chuckling away on the mock-histrionics they usually therefore seem to have served their purpose of providing a sympathetic cushion. Appmann headed away into warm embrace.

8:55pm: The large SqueezeLevel 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

The squeeze play. They're all at it. Proof:

On Table 8, Sven Reichardt opened to 3,600 from under the gun and Jonas Jorgensen called from one seat to his left. Kai Schuster three-bet to 8,400, the primary squeeze, but he himself was then squeezed further by Bartolomiej Grabowski's cold four bet shove for 34,500. All of them folded.

On Table 5, Alin Puscas opened to 3,200 and Usman Siddique called. Action made its method to Michael Jacobs, who squeezed to 15,000 and got two folds.

On Table 9, it was the same routine. After an open to 3,300 under the gun by Marc Philipp Hamening, Thorsten Walk called at the button. Marcel Schauenburg, within the small blind, raised to 11,400 and the opposite two folded.

8:40pm: It goes as much as 11Level 11 - Blinds 800/1,600 (200 ante)

We've cranked this one up into Level 11, the penultimate level of the night. Seventy-nine players are still involved.

8:40pm: Chantler's vigil continuesLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

It's been a coarse day for Gareth Chantler, who began his day in what almost looked like a satellite office over at the far side of the tournament room, and was on one of the most first tables to wreck. That brought him to sit down to the immediate left of the fast-and-looseRinaldo Aquino, where he have been for the most productive a part of five hours now. Chantler hasn't ever had many chips and was right down to his last 7,500 not goodbye ago. He open-shoved from mid-position and collected blinds and antes, but he'll desire a few more of these to still be here on the end of play.

8:40pm: Chip countsLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Here are probably the most big stacks. We all know all about Tom Holke and Jon Forst, but Marcel Schauenburg may be worth highlighting. He's one in all only three players to fireplace three bullets at this one. If he goes the entire technique to the final, he can say he played each day.

Tom Holke - 188,000Marcel Schauenburg - 164,000John Först - 160,000Georges Yazbeck - 135,000Yun Choi - 132,000Benjamin Büssenschütt - 117,000Edgaras Kancaitis - 112,000Robin Kazemieh - 110,000Fabian Schaack - 96,000Sebastian Homann - 84,000Sven Reichhardt - 60,000Erik Scheidt - 67,000Sönke Jahn - 30,000

8:35pm: No respectLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Absolutely nobody seems to respect Tom Holke's raises, but that's precisely the way he seems to love it. However after losing a up to date pot, having three-bet pre-flop, Holke needed to show a large hand as he folded, simply to be sure people knew he wasn't always sticking his chips in with air.

Sami Jacobs opened to 3,300 from mid-position and Andreas Bremer called from the hijack. Holke, within the cutoff, raised to 8,300 and after the blinds folded, both his opponents called pretty quickly. This was a Holke position raise, after all.

The flop brought the 7♥7♦J♦ and Jacobs led at it, putting 13,000 into the center. Bremer folded and then, after some deliberation, Holke opted to fold his A♠Q♥ face up. A SOUND squeezing hand, looked to be the message.

8:20pm: Forst on Holke's tailLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

Just after Tom Holke wat the pot against David Wiese, Jonn Forst won one on the neighbouring table to attract himself within about 10,000 again. Dennis Nitz opened to 2,500 from UTG+1 and Lauri Laast called from the hijack. Forst, within the cutoff, three-bet to 6,300 and maybe acknowledging how wide the chip leader may well be squeezing, both players called.

The three of all of them checked the flop of 3♦9♠]K♥ but then after Nitz and Laast checked the A♠ turn, Forst bet 4,000. Only Laast called.

The river was the J♣ and both checked. Laast had good reason to think his A♥T♥ generally is a winner, however it wasn't. Forst had A♦Q♠ and now has about 160,000 in his stack.

8:10pm: Easy gameLevel 10 - Blinds 600/1,200 (200 ante)

It's a very easy game for Tom Holke, who's bossing his table around with the type of abandon that just a big stack with an impossibly loose image can manage. He acts quickly, almost as though without thought, and the tactic is operating wonders.

Case in point: Action folded to Holke at the button and he raised to 3,000. David Wiese called from the large blind and both players then checked the 2♣9♥9♣ flop. The 6♣ came at the turn and Wiese checked again. Holke doesn't usually need even two invitations, so he bet 4,000. Wiese called.

The 2♠ came at the river and Wiese checked again. Holke bet 7,000 and Wiese's curiosity could only be sated a technique. He called but mucked when Holke showed A♠7♠.

Holke now has about 170,000 again.

7:50pm: Break timeLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

That's the top of Level 9 and the remainder 92 players have gone on a 15-minute break.

7:45pm: Scratch that, Forst back in leadLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

No sooner had the ink dried on that last update, metaphorically speaking, than Jonn Forst sprung back into action and put himself back into the lead. Forst checked a board of 7♥8♦4♦9♠K♥ however then shoved after Norbert Seefeldt bet 6,400, with 36,000 behind.

Forst covered Seefeldt, but the latter made a crying call with A♥K♦. Forst had 9♣9♥ and that felted Seefeldt.

Norbert Seefeldt

That coup coincided with Tom Holke losing two pots without showdown at the neigbouring table and slipping to about 150,000. Forst has 170,000.

7:40pm: Big stack for HolkeLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

At the tip of Day 1A, arguably the best-known player within the field, Jan von Halle, was the chip-leader. On the end of Day 1B, arguably the best-known player within the field, George Danzer, was the chip-leader. If things continue as they've been going over the last couple of hours, Tom Holke, the defending champion, could finally end up chip-leader on the end of Day 1C. On a contemporary sweep of the room, Holke had about 190,000. No person else is close.

7:20pm: Last woman standingLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

This was a very good tournament in all ways but one. From a field of 327 players here in Hamburg, only three were women. That's a desperately low number for a game that tries to be inclusive. There have been no women on Day 1A, one yesterday and only two today, considered one of whom have been knocked out.

That implies that Brynn Kvinlaug was the last woman standing by the start of Level 9 on Day 1. But here's better news: she has just tripled up.

A triple for Brynn Kvinlaug

Yun Choi opened the button, making it 2,200 to play. Then Torsten Pook called from the small blind. Kvinlaug squeezed all-in from the large blind for 11,075. Choi then re-shoved for 36,275 but, if he was seeking to isolate, it didn't work. Pook called after a couple of minutes of head shaking, lip squeezing and visual "math-doing" in his head.

So the 3 hands went on their backs:

Kvinlaug: A♠K♠Choi: A♥T♣Pook: A♦Q♠

The dealer didn't over-dramatise. She burned in the course of the following five cards: K♦8♦8♥3♠T♦ and while that left Kvinlaug delighted, it was cruel on Pook who had made a fair call but had finished third, losing both main and side pot. He now has fumes, while Choi moved up beyond 50,000.

7:10pm: Getting busyLevel 9 - Blinds 500/1,000 (100 ante)

We've entered that slightly mad period on a Friday night where the crowds arrive to play slot machines, roulette and cash games and players with short stacks within the poker tournament wonder whether they may be at an advantage joining them.

Marco Ditmann had only six big blinds when he saw a raise from Grabowski Bartolomiej at the button, to his direct right. He looked down at T♠9♠ and moved all in. (It was 6,500 total.) The large blind folded but Bartolomiej called with A♣J♥.

The flop came K♥J♦K♦ and Ditmann asked for a queen. ("Dame," to make use of the native lingo.) Neither a queen nor a Dame appeared on turn or river, though, and he was knocked out.

The Eureka player's party gets started in an hour or so, so he can drown his sorrows over at Lustis.

6:50pm: Cash game CharlieLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

"Are there cash games?" Charlie Carrel said as he stepped clear of Table 12 having fired his second bullet within the Eureka Main Event and missing the objective by a rustic mile. He didn't do lots of wrong in his elimination hand, and will not lose much sleep about it, one suspects. But he has drawn a blank from his trip to Hamburg so far.

The back of Charlie Carrel, what we have now just seen

This one began when Robert Saffran opened the cutoff, making it 1,800 to play. Carrel, at the button, called after which swigged down a large mouthful of coffee, asking, "How long does it take for the caffeine to kick in?"

He got no educated respond to that, but both the blinds folded and it was just Saffran and Carrel to peer a flop of Q♠4♥8♠.

Saffran bet 2,000 and Carrel called, which meant they saw the A♠ at the turn. Saffran pushed 15,000 chips over the line, which he knew covered Carrel's 9,000-ish. Carrel called all-in.

Saffran had J♠J♦ and was, at this stage, an underdog to Carrel's Q♦9♦. However the 3♠ at the river completed Saffran's flush and that sent Carrel on the lookout for alternative entertainment.

6:40pm: Shah lives to fight another dayLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Alem Shah was all-in and drawing, but spiked his card at the river to stick afloat, taking a dent out of Dragan Simeunovic as he did so. Shah just called from the hijack pre-flop and Erik Scheidt made up the small blind, allowing Simeunovic to test his option.

The flop was queen high and all clubs. It came 9♣5♣Q♣. Scheidt checked but Simeunovic bet 1,300. Shah instantly moved all-in for 12,175. Scheidt folded but Simeunovic tank-called, showing Q♠T♣. Shah had A♣6♠ and looked forlorn after the J♠ turn. But the 7♣ at the river earned a yelp of delight.

6:30pm: Forst the bullyLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

Jonn Forst has the chips to permit him to play as he pleases and he just showed some strong-arm to push Lauri Laast out of a pot. Well, in truth, I DO NOT know if that is the result he was in search of. Perhaps he wanted a choice. But he managed so as to add another 20,000 to his stack regardless.

Jonn Forst

I picked up the action at the turn, wherein point the J♥7♣3♥8♣ were exposed and there has been about 15,000 within the middle. Laast checked, Forst bet 10,000 and Laast called.

The 4♥ came at the river and after another check from Laast, Forst announced that he was all-in, knowing full well that Laast's 27,000 was the effective stack. Laast folded and Forst built his stack to greater than 130,000.

6:20pm: Number crunchingLevel 8 - Blinds 400/800 (100 ante)

The complete list of players for this event has now been confirmed. There have been 327 unique players, plus 40 re-entries. Three players (Andrew John Pierz, Enis Hodaj and Marcel Schauenburg) played every day.

Not surprisingly, the majority of players were German with the second-most represented country, Denmark, proving only 10. Here's the way it breaks down:

Click to expand

The payout information can be with us soon.

6:15pm: More for Forst, more for HolkeLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

In the QUARTER-HOUR since those two last came to our attention, Jonn Forst and Tom Holke have both won about 30,000 chips apiece. Forst now has 120,000 and Holke about 115,000.

6pm: Forst to be reckoned withLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Jonn Forst is becoming, ahem, a force to be reckoned with, sitting with 80,000 after picking up a large pot against Christian Golze. This didn't appear to be it had much potential when it began, nevertheless it grew and grew.

Golze made all of the running. He opened to 1,400 from UTG+1 and Forst called within the cutoff. Benjamin Bussenschutt (who I'm assuming was born an old German man and gets younger as time goes by) called too, at the button.

The flop came 2♣A♠J♠ and Golze rifled 2,300 at it. Only Forst called. Then the 4♣ came at the turn and Golze bet 4,200. Forst called. Then the 6♠ came at the river and this time Golze bet 11,000. Forst called again, and Golze was reluctant to show.

The reticence prompted Forst to show over his A♣T♠ and that allowed Golze to muck his hand and spare some blushes.

5:55pm: Nguyen beats Holke at his own gameLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Thang Duc Nguyen and Tom Holke are mixing it up always on Table 2 with Nguyen having the most efficient of it within the most up-to-date two pots. Holke can handle it, though. Even after doubling up Nguyen, then losing another pot to the EPT Baden champion, Holke still has about 75,000.

On the primary of these two hands, they got it in pre-flop with Holke's A♦Q♦ more healthy against Nguyen's K♦J♥. But there has been a jack at the flop and another at the river and Nguyen doubled his 13,200 to just a little greater than the starting stack.

They tangled again at the next hand, however, when Holke opened from early position, Nguyen three-bet to 5,000 from the cutoff and Holke called. The flop came A♣2♠5♣ and Holke led 8,000 at it. Nguyen instantly slammed his two fistfuls of chips over the line, indicating quite clearly that he was all-in, and Holke suddenly didn't look so chipper.

The defending champion took a short time but then made a reluctant fold. Nguyen then stole Holke's thunder and said he would show his cards to anyone prepared to place €5 within the tips jar (see 1:25pm update).

Holke himself couldn't get his hand in his wallet quickly enough. He fished out a fiver, shoved it within the jar, and got the moment gratification of knowing he had made a fair fold. Nguyen turned over 4♦3♦ for the flopped nuts.

Thang Duc Nguyen shows his flopped nuts

5:45pm: We will be able to never knowLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Philipp Lutkemeyer made an effective case that he had a minimum of an entire house in a contemporary pot, and doubtless even quads, but Nikola Brankovic wasn't prepared to pay the fee to allow us to all discover. It was, after all, for all his chips if you want to forgive him.

Brankovic started things going with a raise to 1,300 from UTG+1 and Lutkemeyer, one seat to his left, was the one caller. After the T♠2♠T♣ fell at the flop, Brankovic bet 1,500 but was faced with a raise to 3,100 from Lutkemeyer. He called.

The T♥ came at the turn and Brankovic now checked. Lutkemeyer bet 4,000 and Brankovic called again.

The J♠ appeared at the river and Brankovic checked again. Seizing his opportunity, Lutkemeyer moved all-in for 10,675, which was almost exactly what Brankovic had behind. Brankovic spent about two minutes pondering his decision, but folded. Lutkemeyer quickly pushed his cards face all the way down to the dealer.

5:35pm: The shutters come downLevel 7 - Blinds 300/600 (75 ante)

Registration has just slammed shut at the Eureka6 Main Event. At time of writing, the tournament board shows 200 players within the field for the day, however it will take some jiggery pokery (in which I mean adding up and casting off) before we all know for certain what number of have entered.

Remember, there have been 69 on Day 1A, then 98 on Day 1B, which puts our total field at around 367. But that may be to be confirmed, as is the payout schedule.

4:45pm: Dinner timeLevel 6 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

There's the bell for 4.45pm and that may only mean something. Dinner! We'll be back in 45 minutes.

4:35pm: Yazbeck loses oneLevel 5 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

Georges Yazbeck, who has four EPT side-event titles to his name, has built a stack with regards to 70,000 already today. He just lost a small pot to Johannes De Hond, however it won't put an excessive amount of of a dent within the Lebanese dentist's pile.

Georges Yazbeck

Yazbeck opened from the hijack, making it 1,200 to play and both blinds -- Arman Zonobi and De Hond -- called. All of them checked the flop of Q♦Q♠4♣ after which Zonobi checked the 3♥ turn too. De Hond bet 3,500 and Yazbeck was the one man to call.

The T♠ came at the river and De Hond bet another 3,500. Yazbeck called again, but mucked after Zonobi turned over Q♥J♠.

4:20pm: Homann misses draw, pays OlsenLevel 6 - Blinds 200/400 (50 ante)

"That escalated quickly," David Lappin said as, in a flash, Jan Olsen and Sebastian Homann got all their chips within the middle on a board of Q♥5♠3♥. Olsen had Q♦K♠ for high pair, while Homann had K♥J♥ for the flush draw.

The turn and river came 4♣ and A♣ and the pair stayed best, meaning Homann needed to count out 14,525 from his stack and pass them over.

4pm: Volume turned up as Theilemann among two to bustLevel 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Only a question of minutes after giving his stack a lift within the hand described at length below, Joshua Theilemann is now out, getting sent to the rail in a three-way sickener. Virgo Laanso was also knocked out.

Theilemann had aces. Virgo Laanso had jack-queen and an excessively short stack. And Robin Kazemieh-Aghdam had A♣K♣. They got all of it in pre-flop and the primary three community cards were all clubs.

That blockbuster raised the quantity at the already excitable Table 4.

4pm: Silent Theilemann takes some from AquinoLevel 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Rinaldo Aquino has the largest stack within the room--at least he did, before this latest encounter. But even if he's still the chip-leader, he's certainly among those making probably the most noise. The chirping chips adage is in full effect on his table, and he's enjoying his time yukking it up with Miri Hamza.

Rinaldo Aquino

The dealer actually needed to step in in the course of the following pot, simply to ensure that their conversation didn't overstep the mark. The explanation was that a third player, Joshua Theilemann, was also excited by the hand, but not within the conversation, and the dealer needed to make sure that the opposite two remembered and revered that they weren't alone.

Action folded pre-flop to Hamza at the button and Aquino, from the massive blind, said, "Come on. Do not be shy." This drew the primary friendly rebuke from the dealer, who indicated that Aquino could be influencing action when Theilemann, within the small blind, still had cards.

Hamza opted simply to call, but then Theilemann silently raised to 1,200. "How much do you may have"? Aquino asked Hamza, drawing a second interjection from the dealer, who pointed to Theilemann's raise. Aquino said that he had seen it, and just called. So did Hamza.

All three players then checked the 9♦Q♥J♠ flop, after which the 5♦ came at the turn. Theilemann checked. Aquina bet 2,200 and said, "I DO NOT bluff!" when Hamza was pondering his decision. The dealer again reminded Aquino of Theilemann's presence.

"I'm just chatting with myself," Aquino said."I will do it for you," Hamza said, as he called. Theilemann also called.

The 5♣ came at the river and Theilemann checked again. Aquino then said, "Come on, I can help you bluff the river", indicating that he was checking too. The dealer had almost about given up her attempts to maintain it in order.

Hamza opted to test in addition and that resulted in Aquino finally turning to Thielemann and saying, "Come on, show your ace king." Theilemann, delighted maybe to have his presence acknowledged, turned over A♦Q♠ and got two mucks. "Oh, queens," Aquino said. "I hit the flop. I had a pair."

Aquino still has with reference to 75,000 so there's plenty more chit-chat certain to come.

3:45pm: Gami comes unstuckLevel 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Sonke Jahn, who's firing his second bullet, opened to 700 from the cutoff but Milad Gami three bet to 2,000 from the small blind. Jahn called.

Those two saw a flop of Q♦6♠3♦ and Gami bet 1,550. Jahn called. The 9♦ came at the turn and, after Gami slowed down, Jahn shoved for 6,500 and Gami folded.

3:40pm: Big stacksLevel 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

The biggest stacks within the room look to be in front of the next players:

Marc Hamening - 80,000Rinaldo Aquino - 80,000Ricky Christensen - 75,000Thorsten Guerra - 72,000

Charlie Carrel is now within the field again too.

3:30pm: Big callLevel 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

As the regular reader(s) of PokerStars Blog will know, it isn't always possible for us to get the entire details of each hand that plays out. Sometimes it is a case of piecing together incomplete information or, more often, simply admitting that we saw almost nothing.

That is definitely the case on this next pot, but we got a large clue as to what had happened when Vedran Mandic, who wasn't within the hand, said "Nice call." He was congratulating Blazej Przygorzewski, who was busy scooping up no less than 35,000 chips and watching his opponent, Moussa Khanafer, head out of the door.

Khanafer's beaten hand was still in front of him. It was 6♦7♦. Przygorzewski's hand was there too. It was A♥T♦. The board read 4♠3♥T♥7♥2♦ and it seemed, given Mandic's comment, that Khanafer had had a large old stab at it together with his pair of sevens.

Przygorzewski had called for what would has been his tournament life too with top pair. (THE 2 of them had very similar stacks.) But because it was, he have been right and Khanafer was knocked out.

3:20pm: Into Level 5Level 5 - Blinds 150/300 (25 ante)

Onwards.

3:15pm: Ace-high bluffLevel 4 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

If you will bluff, you have to bluff big. And Yun Choi just demonstrated that he was prepared to bluff for all of it.

I arrived once they were already on the turn with about 9,000 within the pot and 3 players involved: Choi (SB), Rudy Raveyts (mid-position) and Erik Scheidt (cutoff). The four exposed cards were Q♠2♥3♥T♥. Choi bet 4,400 and Raveyts thought hard and long before he folded. Scheidt thought for a rather shorter period of time before calling.

The river brought the 7♠ and Choi moved all-in for his last 10,550. Scheidt now went into the tank. He counted out calling chips, then counted how much he can be left with if he was wrong (about 7,000). He opted to fold and glared at Choi.

Choi frowned a bit of and shook his head as he peeked again at his cards. Scheidt encouraged him to show them over. Choi obliged, revealing the A♥K♣, for ace high. It was, on this instance, good.

3pm: The King of SchenefeldLevel 4 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Thang Duc Nguyen, the one man from Schleswig-Holstein with an EPT title, is back in action within the Eureka Poker Tour event today. He fired his first bullet yesterday, and lost, but returns for a second crack of the whip. They love him around here. He lives with reference to this casino and is a standard. He's greeted with handshakes wherever he goes.

Nguyen is sitting on Tom Holke's table. Other relatively recent arrivals include David Lappin and Rasmus Agerskov.

David Lappin and Phil Huxley

2:45pm: Holke barrels into troubleLevel 4 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Say what you favor about Tom Holke's big-pot approach, however it will also be very tricky to play against. Firstly of the next hand, he had built his stack with reference to 50,000--double what he started with--but he ended up losing a bit to the unflappable Jevgeni Libovych.

There were four players on the flop of 7♥J♣K♣ but after Hans Peter Jacobi, Libovych and Van Thinh Pham all checked, Holke bet 2,000. Only Jacobi and Libovych called which meant they were three-handed to the 6♦ turn.

There were two checks after which Holke bet 5,200, which removed Jacobi. But Libovych stuck around to look the 4♣ river. Libovych took over the betting lead and fired 7,000 at it.

Holke tanked for slightly and asked to look Libovych's stack, learning that he had only 7,000 behind. Holke folded.

2:45pm: Big pair, bigger pairLevel 4 - Blinds 100/200 (25 ante)

Leonardo Ebeling opened to 400 from under the gun but faced resistance from Aviad Regev, who three-bet to 1,000 at the button. Imad Fakhro called from the small blind and so did Ebeling.

Those three saw the flop fall 8♠8♣6♦ and both Fakhro and Ebeling checked. Regev bet 1,300 and although Fakhro folded, Ebeling desired to play for more. He raised to 2,600. Regev called.

The turn brought the A♥ and Ebeling bet 2,500. Regev called. They then both checked the J♦ river and Ebeling was asked to turn first. He tabled T♥T♣, but they were became the muck when Regev showed his Q♣Q♠.

2:15pm: Break timeLevel 3 - Blinds 75/150

That's the tip of the primary three levels of the day and players are taking a 15-minute break. Registration is open for an additional three levels, plus the 45-minute dinner break.

2:05pm: Alawy busts to SeefeldtLevel 3 - Blinds 75/150

It's quite difficult to figure out exactly what happened on this hand, however the headline news is that Seyed Alawy becomes our third player eliminated today. He checked at the turn, with 5♣6♥7♣K♦ exposed, and Norbert Seefeldt shoved. Alawy called all-in with a stack of about 15,000, and his A♠K♣ was drawing dead against Seefeldt's 8♣4♣.

It seems after later investigation that there have been three players on the flop, the third of whom bet-folded after Seefeld check-raised. But even that sounds a little bit fishy. Anyway, Seefeldt won a large pot there with that mighty suited eight and Alawy could make other plans for fri. night.

1:45pm: Yag v YazLevel 3 - Blinds 75/150

Play on Day 1A here seemed often to be quite passive. There has been a large number of pre-flop limping and we'd frequently get to a river without anything a lot more than the bare minimum being invested. Day 1B was somewhat more aggressive, and today has ratcheted it up a notch once more.

Just recently, I saw two hands. One was short: Joshua Theilemann opened to 300 from the cutoff, Rinaldo Aquino three-bet to 800 from the button and Theilemann responded with a four-bet to 2,500, which took it down.

The second hand was just a little longer, but no less aggressive. In this one, Georges Yazbeck opened to 425 from under the gun and got three callers: Andreas Wright, within the hijack, Gokhan Yagmur, at the button, and Hael Al-Labani, within the big blind. They saw the type of flop that did not seem more likely to help anyone. It came 3♦8♥2♠.

After Al-Labani checked, Yazbeck bet 1,400 and Wright folded. Yagmur raised to 3,300 and Al-Labani got out of how. "How much you may have"? Yazbeck said, now they were heads up. Yagmur indicated that he had 13,200. "All-in," Yazbeck said, covering his opponent.

Yagmur passed.

1:35pm: Level 3Level 3 - Blinds 75/150

We're into Level 3 now, with 166 players seated. One player, Hans-Peter Jaeger, has gone bust towards the top of the last level.

1:25pm: You need to see? It's important to payLevel 2 - Blinds 50/100

Players on Table 2 this afternoon have the pleasure of playing alongside Tom Holke. As we have now already established, his chips are readily on offer as he plays almost about every hand. Those players now even have the risk to peer exactly what two cards Holke is playing--provided they're happy to pay a €5 fee, a tax that Holke is collecting for the dealers.

Paying the €5 tax

It's true. If anyone gets to showdown in a hand with Holke and he gets them off the pot, they may be able to put €5 in a pitcher at the table and notice his hand anyway. He'll then put everything he collects into the dealer tokes.

There's €10 in there so far, but Holke still has chips in order that could swell significantly by the point the day is done.

Tom Holke angling for a sponsorship deal

1:25pm: Classic raceLevel 2 - Blinds 50/100

The tournament board shows that we're coming to the tip of Level 2 and that every one 156 of the players who've registered to this point are still seated. That would not was true had a large flip on Table 9 gone the opposite way, but because it was Marc Hamening survived and doubled up.

When I got to the table, Hamening, within the cutoff, had 5,100 in front of him and Tobias Rohe, within the small blind, had 1,800. That was clear evidence of an open from late position from Hamening, then a three-bet from Rohe, then a four-bet from Hamening.

And now the five-bet. Rohe moved all in, for his stack of about 35,000. Hamening, who had only 17,425 of that, made the call.

Rohe: A♣K♦Hamening: Q♥Q♦

Neither can have been entirely happy in regards to the coup, but both will even have probably thought it is usually worse. But there can only be one winner, and it was Hamening when the board ran 9♥5♠T♦6♦3♦.

Rohe still had about 17,000 left, while Hamening has slightly greater than double that.

1:10pm: Any two will doLevel 2 - Blinds 50/100

Jurgen Dobrint opened to 225 from the cutoff but Marco Leopizzi did not want to give up the benefit of position on the table. He three-bet to 650 from the button. The blinds folded, but Dobrint refused to give up. He called, deciding to buy a flop of 4♠6♥2♣. Dobrint checked.

Leopizzi continued together with his story. He bet 1,050. Dobrint had a handy guide a rough double-check of his cards, but elected to call, and that took them to the 8♠ at the turn.

Dobrint checked again and Leopizzi bet again. He made it 1,800 to play. Dobrint called once more.

After the 4♥ came at the river, Dobrint checked again. Leopizzi clearly desired to bet again, but eventually thought best of it. He checked and Dobrint turned over K♠2♠ for a couple of twos. It was good, however, as a miffed Leopizzi mucked.

1pm: Another on three bulletsLevel 2 - Blinds 50/100

Marcel Schauenburg has taken his seat for the third time on this tournament. I BELIEVE there are more, but that's no less than two players on three bullets.

12:50pm: Big call breaks knucklesLevel 2 - Blinds 50/100

This pot brought two firsts of the day: the primary deployment of a yellow 5,000-denomination chip and, following it, the primary deployment of the celebratory punch of the table.

Three players were on the flop, which read: 6♥T♥8♥. Hans Woyrsch, who would was within the small blind, bet 1,400 and Jens Tehrani, one seat to his left, called. Matthias Haenel, who would was the cutoff, folded.

The A♥ came at the turn and Woyrsch bet again, this time 2,200. Tehrani called again.

After the K♣ completed the board, Woyrsch now checked. Tehrani fished to the ground of his stack to search out a 5K chip, married it with a couple of others, and threw out a big gamble of 5,325. Woyrsch considered this one for quite a while, but then called. Tehrani instantly mucked and Woyrsch punched the table with some force as he turned over his J♦J♥ in a mix of enjoyment and relief.

12:35pm: The lesser-seen 60X pre-flop raiseLevel 1 - Blinds 25/50

Erik Scheidt only in the near past sat down at Table 3 and he was still filling out his waiver form when he received his first two cards, under the gun. Scheidt took a handy guide a rough peek at them, but was clearly not properly engaged when he dipped into his stack and located three black chips, tossing them forward for a raise.

Erik Scheidt

All of his table-mates sat up quickly of their seats and started chuckling. The black chips listed here are worth 1,000 each and Scheidt had just made a 60X pre-flop raise of the 25/50 Level 1 blinds. Quickly noticing the mistake of his ways, Scheidt sheepishly apologised and said that at the EPT, the black chips are worth 100 and he hadn't noticed.

Action folded in no time to Michal Mrakes, within the small blind, but he was busy taking a photograph of the 60K raise, presumably heading to Facebook or Twitter quite soon. Although Enrico Bonke was still to behave within the big blind, Mrakes was happy to think about this a virtual mis-deal and showed that he was mucking K♣Q♣. "YOU WANT TO call!" Bonke said, but additionally mucked his hand allowing Scheidt to pick out up the blinds, learning a lesson within the process.

12:25pm: Three bulletsLevel 1 - Blinds 25/50

This is the last of 3 flights to this €1,000 event, and players could, in the event that they wanted, play all three. That might require them to bust on Days 1A and 1B, of course, which itself would might make a player ponder whether this was really their week.

However, there may be no less than one man who's on his third bullet. Andrew Pierz is in action again, having also spent his Wednesday and Thursday at Casino Schenefeld. He's likely to not be alone, but his passing resemblance to the British politician Jeremy Corbyn means he sticks out of the crowd, no less than to the British contingent here. He'll be hoping for better from his last chance.

12:20pm: Holke again againLevel 1 - Blinds 25/50

It's proving quite difficult to really get into the principle tournament area today, largely as a result of Tom Holke. The defending champion is sitting within two yards of the click area. He's the primary person you notice whilst you wander over to the tables. What's more, he's in every pot and it is often worth seeing the way it plays out.

In the latest, he was within the big blind and was at a turn with two players: Thomas Merten (his previous adversary) and Oliver Rinc.

Holke bet 500 with the 3♥8♦9♣2♠ exposed and only Rinc called. Then the 4♦ came at the river. Holke bet 2,050 and Rinc called. "Vier," Holke said, showing the 4♥. "Set," Rinc replied, revealing the 3♦3♠ and taking the pot.

12:10pm: Holke againLevel 1 - Blinds 25/50

Tom Holke is back again, firing a second bullet in his try to defend the title he won here last season. It doesn't take long to understand that Holke is an action player (he's in precisely about every hand) however it doesn't always go in line with plan.

In a contemporary pot, Holke was involved with Thomas Merten they usually were on the turn. The four exposed cards were 7♥2♦J♦6♥ and there has been about 1,200 within the middle. Merten, who would has been within the big blind, checked at midnight before the 6♥ appeared and that prompted a raffle of 1,100 from Holke.

Merten now snapped into action. He check-raised to 2,550 and Holke, after a bit of one-sided chit chat (ie, he asked an issue and Merten didn't answer), folded.

12pm: Greater than 100Level 1 - Blinds 25/50

Cards are within the air and that is already bigger than yesterday. There are 104 players already seated and the number continues to tick upward.

Remember, it's 12 45-minute levels today. Starting stack is 25,000. Registration closes prior to the beginning of Level 7, that's also the top of the 45-minute dinner break.

11.30am: Back once again

It's Friday in Hamburg and that suggests Eureka Poker Day. It's Day 1C of this €1,000 buy-in Eureka Poker Tour Main Event and it represents the last chance for poker players of this region (and beyond) to enroll in the party. Greater than that, anyone who has already been eliminated can re-enter, like a drunken reveller booted out of a bar stealthily finding a fireplace door down a facet alleyway and sneaking back in.

We expect a far larger crowd than even the 98 who showed up yesterday, and the rumour is that we would need to go 10 handed. That may be unconfirmed and can be number dependent, however the capacity is 250 and that can be strained.

Dealers are facing their early preparations and cards might be within the air in HALF-HOUR. Within the meantime, read how George Danzer took the chip lead yesterday, and the way Jan von Halle did the similar all of the long ago on Wednesday.

Packed to the gills in Hamburg

Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: Eureka Poker Tour]