The 2 hour benchmark…
October 29th, 2008With the first break now over and the blinds now up to 75/100, no prisoners have been taken and no mercy has been given out, with 15 players having been eliminated already from Day 1B.
“The force is strong” within the Ongame Network players, all making it safely through the first 2 levels of blinds. Petr Slavik of bwin on table 5, leads the Ongame charge with around 15k in chips. Red Kings player Toni Ojala, down at table 2 seat 8 (remember this information, you’ll need it in a second), has about a 10,5k stack. In seat 7 next to Toni, sits Norwegian star Johnny Lodden. Will there indeed be a case of “David” taking down “Goliath”? Toni gives a me a cheeky smile as he tells me about betting in last position with his pocket K♠ K♥ dominating the flop, forcing Johnny Lodden and a 3rd player to fold. Keep it up Toni! Just behind him is fellow Red kings player Csaba László Tóth on table 3. The man from just outside Budapest has also improved on his starting stack and currently has 10,2k. Csaba tells me he’s had “Pocket Rockets” twice and both times the “bullets” have held up. Even though he lost a pot with his trips against a back-door straight, he’s about average stacked and isn’t complaining as he mentions his table is comfortable, with no lunatics present. The third and final Red Kings player, Sweden’s Jesper Höög, has managed to get his stack back up to around starting amount. At one point, his stack had dipped down to about 6k but he has now regained control of his chips and is back in a position that anyone playing the Day 1B of the EPT would prefer…having a bigger stack! Narrowly missing out on the money in the last 2 EPT events, will Jesper be able to go one better?
There are however 6 tempestuous levels left to make it through before getting their invite back to Day 2 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Budapest. With people now beginning to get eliminated and the blinds slowly beginning to increase, the mood will change and emotions will start to come through. With the evening approaching and the Ongame Network players holding their own ground, Day 1B appears to have the potential to be a good day…except for those 15 souls knocked out before the break. Luckily, the bar is open for business…
October 29th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I do keep refreshing this page!
Fun read
October 29th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
Me too. Partly because I’m eagerly awaiting some photos of The Blogger posing with various poker celebrities…
October 29th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Looks on the photo like Lodden wasn’t so happy after that round with Tony. Small chip stack and his arms crossed.