EPT Dortmund Live Updates Day 1B

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01:20: Day 1a and Day 1b are now complete. Day 1b has 83 survivors to show for itself giving us a total of 153 players starting Day 2 tomorrow at 14:00 GMT / 15:00 CET. Join us here for some daily EPT love.

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01:13

A little randomness from today....

Location: Press Room, German Casino

Mad's Question: Any German's in this room?

Room Of 20's Answer: *silence*

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01:04

Samir Hamudic is not a happy bunny after his push on an flop ran into . He exits the tournament in the last level openly gutted that he didn't get to Day 2.

Annette_15's stack looks like the Leaning Tower of Pisa.

'How are you doing Annette?' calls the Pisa twin Negreanu.

'Good, good, 60k.'

'Well I've got 54 so we have the same' replies Daniel, in rather unusual and non-literal logic.

EXCLUSIVE Annette_15 and Ben Grundy interviews coming tomorrow! Check back to the Poker Verdict homepage tomorrow evening for an excellent treat or two...

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00:44

Embarassment for Drobyna Denys. Paul Testud limps into an unopened pot from the small blind. A fast 7,500 all-in raise from Denys is announced, but before he could even put his chips on the felt Testud was turning over and catch a red-faced Drobyna with a fingers in the till steal. Oh dear.

On the next table, Annette is bossing processings. 8k all-in with from Sharham Rastegari; she drops fifteen 1k bombs from atop her mighty stack to price out the table before coolly flipping . And an

on the flop seals the deal. Well it's easy when your dealt bullets isn't it, Annette.

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00:21: It's the final countdown... *taps foot*

Level 8
	300/600 (75)
	94
	22,659

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00:13: Daniel Negreanu's prevails over a short stack's when he puts him all in on this board: .

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00:10: Spotted: Sulking Elky.

Elky was storming out of the casino being followed hurridly by a flustered looking bloke. Turns out pushing with actually looked good for him against when the first two flop cards peeled were an and a . However the pre-flop caller was pleased to see a secure his win and the elimination of Elky.

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23:55

Vikke Toumaala raises to 3,500 pre-flop, which UTG limper Michael Keiner calls.

Toumaala moves in for his last 8k on the flop of . Keiner, tournament on the line, eventually reluctantly calls with and sure enough, his opponent flips over and the German is on his way to the ever-increasing cash tables.

Negreanu is stacking higher and higher; checking flop and turn with Daniel Bolton he bets 4,200 on the river with the board looking . Bolton makes a speculative call with , and the Candian flips over to take down another pot, to the delight of his roadies who have been surrounding his table constantly for the last seven hours. He's good guys but come on I'm sure he can manage without you for a few hands.

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23:25

The official Day 1b Starting List is in:

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23:21

Level 7
	200/300 (50)
	117
	18,205

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22:58

So the question is: Where IS Boris?

He did not turn up for play yesterday or today. Why not? Did his poker lessons go wrong? Did he fail his end of term exam? The casino is draped in Boris magazines so, even though as we discovered yesterday, I do not speak German, I am pretty sure the fans aren't pleased at his absence. I really wanted to see Boris play personally, out of natural interest.

Boris Spotting

Boris Mags In Press Room: 1

Boris Mags In Card Room: 1 (with a wine glass on his nose)

Boris Mags In Casino: 1 (being used as a beer mat)

Uh oh - the numbers are down on yesterday by the hundreds. This is sort of like the disappointment that would be rife come Tim Henman not turning up to Wimbledon during his career (though to be fair in this analagy not being 100% accurate, Tim not turning up would probably have made everyone happier in the long run).

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22:41

Ram Vaswani seems to be building chips every time we check on him. But he was pegged back in a 13k pot when, on a board of , his opponent bets 6k with . Ram calls but quielty mucks his cards and looks peeved.

Marcel Luske's stack of 1000's is starting to resemble a mini sky-scraper - not suprising after his outrageous double-up.

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22:26

Marcel Lusche doubles up. formed a two pair on the board and re-raising 17k all in over Elky's 2000 bet, he was overjoyed to be called by Elky's . Marcel, you may be interested to know, keeps throwing us little smiles. Cool chap - we think he likes the Poker Verdict red!

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22:20

Ben Grundy calls Sigfried Stockinger's push. Ben has and Sigfried . Sigfried shakes his head as two pair forms on the board splitting the pot.

Ben doesn't seem bothered either way; this may have something to do with the fact that he told us earlier he would be playing super aggressive tonight as he wants to move house tomorrow. Nice.

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22:09

Level 6
	150/300 (25)
	136
	15,661

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22:06

Ben Grundy told me in the break he was going to move up a gear or two and he wasn't lying.

Jonas Soerensen bets 3,000 into a board of . The milky bar kid raises to 8,000 before an almost instant all-in from the Dane. Priced in, the Englishman calls with , to Jonas' . A river doesn't fill his open-ender though the dealer started to move the pot to Ben before admitting he hadn't actually won the hand. He's still in a handy position though.

Negreanu update: Paul Testud pushes with for his last 1,275. Daniel runs into but his hooks are undone by an unkind flop of . He's still in good shape, though, ominously for the rest of the field.

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21:01

Markus Golser is having a good day. Firstly, on a board showing , Piotr Jopp pushes and Markus decides he is ahead. He is proved right with his holding against . Jopp is a gonner.

Not so long after this, he calls a short stack's push with . Short stack flips and walks away from the table as if expecting to be eliminated. Sure enough, the queens are beaten by an turn and river and he looks to me as if to ask me the result. I do not wish to be the target of his anger so direct him to the board. He leaves quietly...

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20:55

is the board as Jens Lübbe makes it 2,250. Negreanu says hi to Yuki, the massage girl, who comes and begins her routine on him. 'Will you show me?' asks Daniel. 'I will show' replies Jens, and in an instant Daniel throws all of his chips in. He thinks he is onto something and as Jens calls with we are all impressed at the read on just three words as Daniel shows , sees an river and doubles up leaving Jens very short and very quiet (you can't blame him with the media hounding the table). 'I'm glad this isn't going to be just a 5 minute massage Yuki' says Daniel with his classic grin.

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20:30

The action is slowing down as half the players go for some tea and the media circus turns to Luske's table. So much so that he asks them to move away. Spoilsport.

Meanwhile Ben Grundy's chip situation has improved dramatically as he heads off for a Bratwurst; come on the Brits.

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19:13

The winner for sickest outdraw of the tournament goes to the iripressive Marcel Luske. Eric Larcheveque, with puts him all-in for his last 6k on a board of . Luske calls and turns over . I don't need to tell you what happens next. Out pops the . "Who needs 20 outs when you can do it in one?" Luske shouts as Larcheveque slumps in his chair looking sick as a parrot.

Meanwhile Negreanu just can't fine anyone to play a showdown with him. On a board of Rolf Weisshaupt bets 4k with which Daniel calls. A river of and the Canadian comes out with 4k. He puts his opponent on Queens before the German eventually makes the disciplined lay-down.

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19:12

Level 4
	100/200
	181
	11,767

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18:43

Mixed fortunes for the Brits. Ram Vaswani is going well and has just under 20k, but there's no sign of Roland de Wolfe who we fear may have been eliminated. No chips at his seat and has been spotted walking around with a masseuse in tow. Will keep you posted on that one.

And what of Boris? All the hype, all the anticipation...and he hasn't shown. Rumours in the press box that he was 'sick' yesterday. Maybe the private poker lessons weren't working out for him.

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18:30

Queens just aint working today.

1) Markus Gisdol calls Ulrich Trautenberg's push on a flop. Gisdol has little hope when his is matched against and is left short whilst Trautenberg doubles up.

2) Gunnar Rabe calls Manfred Baß's push on an flop. Just like Gisdol, his does not have much hope against Manfred's . He bangs the table in anger and a nervous tournament director tries to calm him down as he sees half his stick pulled away to Manfred.

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18:05

Ben Grundy has just over 6,000 left after his two pair was taken down by a set in a big pot but seems in good spirits. Let's hope he survives to the dinner break so we can grab a word.

Negreanu on the other hand is starting to gather momentum. Jens Lubbe bet out 1,000 on a board of which was flat called. A river and Daniel leads out for 1,100, which forces an annoyed Lubbe to muck. Come on Table 2, someone stand up to this bully.

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18:01

The confirmed combined starting field from Day 1a and Day 1b is 411, meaning a prize total of €3,288,000. Prizepool breakdown is yet to come from the EPT team.

Level 3
	75/150
	191
	11,151

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17:46

On a board of Negreanu checks, letting Christoph Geier bet out 125. The Canadian check-raises to 1,000 and Geier folds. After interrogation from Daniel he reveals he folded an 8 but he's only scooping small pots at the moment.

Across the hall, Mats Iremark is raking serious chips in on the cash tables. Not that he needs any more after ending Day 1A on 47k.

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17:35

Damnik makes it 2250 to go on a flop and is unimpressed to see both Gerin and Lehmann pushing after him. All three have similar stacks. Damnik folds and cheers as Gerin shows the flush. We presume this must have been a pretty big fold, maybe aces, kings or even a flopped set. Lehmann wishes he had done the same, showing and finding no miracles to save him. Lehmann leaves, Gerin close to doubles up, and Damnik sighs relief...

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17:29

Luske raises to 600 from his cut off and UTG limper Paez Corral calls. They check the flop. Paez Corral bets 400 on the turn and Luske, as if expecting this, puts in 1400. Paez Corral riffles for a while until an impatient Elky calls the clock. He folds and acknowledges a nice hand, whilst a hard as nails Luske makes little movement other than a slight of the hand to collect his chips.

We glimpsed the button being passed to Annette_15 and naturally took our place behind her to watch during this red alert period for action. Cut off, Kristoffer Myhre, raises to 300, three times the blind, and Annette_15 flat calls. The flop is checked: . Kristoffer checks the turn, and Annette_15 bets 550 to check where she's at. KristoffeR rmakes it 1400 and Annette_15 calls. Kristoffer bets aggressively on the river, making it 2600. Annette_15 thinks, gives Kristoffer an analytical look, and calls. He bangs the table to acknowledge Annette is ahead as he shows for the missed straight and king high and Annette_15 is passed the chips for her two pair.

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17:07

Always fun when Marcel Luske reels out the banter. Micha Hoedemaker
and he check a flop of and a turn of . The river is a to which Marcel quips: "He's thinking how do I get out of this?" to the surrounding media. "If you don't bet, I bet." True to his word, a check is instantly followed by 1,650. The Dutchman calls, showing , topping Luske's . "Why did you give him another nine?" he complains to the dealer. Still, he's got enough chips to cope.

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17:05

Level 2
	50/100
	213
	10,000

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16:40

50 minutes in and KidPoker arrives. His excuse? "I was in bed." He folds one hand and proceeds to go and talk to Annette. Looks like he's fully focused for this one.

De Wolfe is up and down early on. He bets 175 into a board of which is flat called by Nazim Kicik. River of and the Wolfe leads out for 300, and promptly raised to 700. He gives one of his odd smirks before laying down his apparent monster.

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16:08

All the twos today; a total of 222 players have bought in for €2.22million.

Some interesting early tables, with Marcel Luske and Michael Keiner deep in conversation with the cameras swarming.

Brits Roland de Wolfe and Ross Boatman are next to each other too, but 20 minutes in and Negreanu has yet to arrive. Confidence or over-sleeping?

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15:23

Boris Becker has of course turned up, after some intense private poker lessons, and is also expecting rather a lot of attention.

Other equally notable top players include Thor Hansen, Pascal Perrault, Luca Pagano, Antony Lellouce, Nicolas Levi, Stu Rutter, Elky, Ram Vaswani, Marc Friedman, and Dan Carter.

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15:10

Another late start but no complaints from the players who are all happily mingling. Except for one KidPoker but apparently Mr. Negreanu is shunning media interest and will walk in when the cards are dealt. Lucky for him or we might have done a Wayne's World style 'we are not worthy' at his feet.

Annette Obrestad aka 'Annette15' and the milky bar kid himself Ben Grundy have promised us interviews in the dinner break - let's hope they are still in.

Oh and Michael Keiner is playing again - apparantly yesterday's interview was 'lost in translation'; he has a seat for today as well was what he was trying to say. It's a hard life.

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