Here are the final chipcounts from yesterday:

Bernt Grytdahl, Elaineb - 33.700
Kjetil Flatnes, Sparky - 28.300
Anders Indrebø, Indie - 14.125


Bernt Grytdahl made it through day 1 with a nice chipstack

I got some info on one of the hands where Lars Egil lost a big chunk of his stack.
With AK, he bets before the flop, and gets one caller.
The flop is A-x-x, with two hearts, and Lars bets again. The call is made, and a king on the turn appear.
One more time Lars fires out, and one more time he gets the call. 10 on the river, nad when Lars bets he gets a limitraise. He calls just to see that his opponent sucked out with a QJ.

3.400 to the first break is the status on Lars.

And Lars_vegas1, Lars Egil Nielsen, is struggeling after being rivered bad two times.
He is down to 3.300, and has started to work his way back up.

And it looks like Team Eurolinx is sending three more players on to the next day!

Sparky has been moved to another table, and has about 30.000.

Indie also got moved, but managed to get some action before the move. First he was down to 4.500, before getting two double ups, and recovering to 16.000. He also takes down a little pot pre-flop on the new table, so the count should be around 16.500 now.

Elaineb also won a nice pot. A player calls himself all in for the big blind - 400. The button calls, as does Bernt in SB and the BB. The flop is 10-7-3, with one spade and two hearts. Bernt has Q-10 of spades, so he bets out 1200, and the big blind folds. The buttons makes the call, and the turncard is a 6 of spades. Bernt couldn't figure out why the button called, so he checks, and calls the 1500 bet from the button.
The river brings another ten, and Bernt checks again. Now the button bets out 2200, and Bernt makes the call. The button shows J-6 of hearts, and Bernt takes down the pot.
His chipcount is now around 36.000.

Andreas, Tegneseriesamleren, had about 27.000 the last time i counted, and will also make day 2 unless something happens.

Mikkel Haga, The Fox, is still on 57.000, and had the pleasure of showing down a royal flush a few moments ago. Ofcource - he won the pot ;)

Players are now back from the last break of the day. Only two more hours to play, and the blinds will be 200/400 with a 50 ante.

Bernt Grytdahl, Elaineb, finally passed the 20k line again. He's now playing on 23.500, but no really big hands still.

Kjetil Flatnes, Sparky, is the chippie in Team Eurolinx right now, with almost 40.000 in his stack!
He thought he was a bit hasty in a few pots, and should have had more. But with the averagestack on 19.000 it's more than plenty with 40k.

Anders Indrebø, Indie, is still waiting for the right opporunity. His chipcount in the break was 11.675. On his table sits William Thorsson from Sweden, also known as El Capitano. He's the chipleader with 112.000, and has shown that he's willing to move into pots with nothing, so maybe Anders can use this to double up?
El Capitano was the one who knocked out Jean Robert Bellande, when his set of jacks beat Bellande's set of eights. He also knocked out another guy on a runner runner straight when he was caught with both hands in the cookiejar earlier. El Capitano raised 700 from the cut off before the button makes it 1200 and the smallblind re-re raises to 3500. El Capitano then tosses in 7000 more and gets the call from the smallblind. A-2-2 on the board, El Capitano moved in with 5-7 offsuit and got the chekc-call from KK. 4 on the turn and 3 on the river.
Henning Granstad said that the chipleader after day 1 must have played poor, combinated with lots of luck. This hands proves just that point i think :)

Tegneseriesamleren had 24.000 going to the last break.

First, Henning is crippled with QQ against KK. He manages to stay alive, when A-A-10 appeared in the flop and he could fold.
Leaving him with only 3-4000 he found AQ in the cut off and raised it up. The big blind went all in, and Henning called. He met AK, and got no help.

Sparky is again down to a higher count than last time :)
This time the count is 26.000, and he lost some chips on a AK wich didn't hit.

Elaineb had 150 chips more this time, and is still on 19.000

Indie is sitting quite still with 9800, and had to see that Jean Robert Bellande was knocked out with a set by a higher set on his table.

Other players doing good is Tegneseriesamleren - 18.000, and The Fox - 46.000
The Fox had 18.000 to the dinnerbreak, and blew half of it right after the break. I talked to him in this break as well, and he now had 26.000. He said he would try not to toss half of it away this time. Instead he nearly doubled.

Sparky is down to 24.000 again, after being up on 29.000. Still in front with a nice looking chipstack!

Nothing new from Elaineb's table. Still 19.000 there.

Indie climbed up to 15.000 before falling a bit down again to 11.000

Granisimo is still working hard, and has built himself up to 9.000. He's been moved to a new table now.

Everybody got a well earned rest, and are now ready for three more levels, or six hours of poker.

Sparky has the best stack of the four, with his 22.450 chips.
Elaineb is close with 19.000, while Indie finally got above startstack. He's got 13.400 in front of him, and climbing.

Granisimo worked his way back up to 18.000 before the break, but again he lost big pots where he's favourite. He could easily lost everything in one pot, where he raised it up with a pair of jacks. The guy behind re-raised, and a thight danish player called. Henning found that his jacks weren't that good anymore and mucked them. A bit to early it might seem, when the board came with J-10-9. The other two ended up with all their chips in the middle, and showed a pair of tens versus a pair of queens.
But a king on the turn made the queens a straight, so good fold from Henning!
But leaving him with only 6.600, he wants to acumulate some chips fast.

But fights his way back up!
Battle of the blinds isn't easy, especially not when both have good hands. Henning had AQ suited, and the other blind had AK. The flop brought another ace, and Henning picked up a nut flushdraw on turn. But, blank river and Henning lost 11.000 chips.
At one point he was down to 3.500, but managed to fight his way back up to almost 10.000.
He doubled up with QQ vs AK, and took down several nice pots. It's workingtime for Henning :)

Sparky continues to add to his big stack of chips, and is up to 25.000, wich brings him right into the top of todays chipcounts, according to cardplayer.com

Elaineb lurks around with 15.000, and Indie is back on 10.000 after being up on 11.500.

There will be a dinnerbreak in 15 minutes, so for the next two hours there will be no updates.
After the dinnerbreak they will play three more levels. The blinds are now 100/200, and will start on 100/200 with a 25 ante after the break.

Elaineb had 13.500 in chips after second level. Average should be around 10.500, so still a nice stack.

Indie was down to 7.500, but got up to 8.500 when this happened. Four limpers, before Indie also limps from the button. Smallblind calls, and BB checks. Flop is 5-8-10 with two hearts. Three first players check, before the fourth player bets 150. Two more calls before Indie raises to 800 total. Everybody folds, and Indie wins another thousand, bringing his stack up to 9.500.

Henning Granstad was still on around 14.500, when everybody folded to him in the smallblind. He limped as well, knowing that the player in the big blind always raises when someone limps to him. Same thing here, 300 more from seat one, and Henning calls.
On the queen high flop Henning checks, the other player bets 400, and Henning raises 1000 more. He gets the fold, and shows the bluff - 5-7 offsuit.
The very next hand Henning wins about 1000 more, and has about 16.500.

Sparky built his stack to almost 18.000 before the break, but shortly after he took down another pot, bringing him up to 19.700!

Henning Granstad is up to 14.700 on his table. He's having a good time at the table, smiling and talking with everybody.

Sparky lost a big pot with pocket queens, and is down to 17.000. The flop had three spades, and Sparky didn't have the queen og spades, so he had to fold to the raise.

Elaineb was down to 7.500, but won a big pot with his two queens. He raised to 1300 after one other player opened the pot with a 400 bet, and got the call. The flop was K-K-Q, and Elaineb check-raised and won the pot.
He lost a lot earlier when he hit top pair with his AK, and another player made a set.

Indie is down to 7.500. He had a good ace against A5, but runner runner straight sent the 3k pot the wrong way.

Sorry for the delay.
A 20 minute break in the tournament followed by a computer havoc made me sweat a bit.
But the problems are solved, and the updates continue.

New chipcounts will be out soon. Henning had 13.000 to the break, the rest same as last count.

After nearly two hours of play on day 1c, the chipstacks have increased for all four Team Eurolinx players!

Best of the four are Kjetil Flatnes (Sparky). He's up to 19.000 already! Aces twice helped him along the way ofcource, but to almost double up on the first level is a very good performance!
In the last hand the CO raised to 350, and Sparky made it 1200 to go from the blinds. Call from CO, and 5-5-10 rainbow in the flop. 2700 from Sparky, and raise with 3700 more from CO. Sparky took some minutes before pushing all his chips in. The other player folded.

Henning Granstad (Granisimo) has about 11.000, and takes in some small pots here and there.
He told me he was building a thight image, and raised the pot with 5-3 suited :)

Bernt Grytdahl (elaineb) worked himself up to 11.500. He won't take any risks in the early stages of the tournament, and folds most of the time, waiting for some good cards.

Anders Indrebø (Indie) hasen't had much cards. So he's still on startstack.

Shortstacked with 14.450 in chips, Aleksander Strandli survives day 1, and will countinue play on tuesday.

He was all in with about 20 minutes left. At least he thought he was, but the 25-chip he used as cardprotector was left behind. The player who announced call was about to show his cards when the dealer pointed out that Klinsmann was not all in yet. Lot's of fuzz for nothing, the floor was called and everybody had something to say. Aleksander just told he would bet 25 in the dark before the river, and the problem was solved.
Both players had AJ, and split the pot.

That's it for today. See you again in 9 hours when the next day begins. Elaineb, Sparky, Indie and Granisimo will all be playing tomorrow.

In the last hand before the last break, Aleksander makes it 1200 UTG, on the blinds 150/300 with a 25 ante.
UTG+2 calls, as does UTG+5. The flop is 9h-10s-5s, and Aleksander fires out 2700, but then things started to happen. UTG+2 moves all in for 7225 more, and UTG+5 also puts all his chips in, covering both players. Aleksander is disgusted and folds his aces.
But it was a monster laydown! UTG+2 flips over the last two aces in the deck, and UTG+5 made a set of fives on the flop, so Aleksander was drawing dead.

After the break he wins the first pot and moves back up to 17.000
1050 players left, and two more hours to play today.

After his double up, Aleksander has continued to build up his chipstack.
He's now around 20.000. His new table looks good, and they all exchanged names, so they're having a good time it appears.

Aleksander is one of 5 norwegians sitting in the same corner of the room now, and everyone is building up their stacks. Thor Hansen, who walks around and encourages the others in between his own hands are now on 17.000. Gunn Tove Vist won a nice pot and is around 17-18.000.

Eirik Bjørklund (Artic Fox) was involved in an interesting pot a few moments ago. He bets out from the cut off, and gets the call from both blinds. The flop is As-2d-Kc. The big blind check-called 1500 on the flop, and when 4c appeared on turn he suddenly bets out 3000. Eirik thinks for a while, and calls. 6s on the river, and the other guy bets 5500. Eirik takes a moment, and asks the other player if he has A-4 for two pair. After some more thinking the clock is called. Seconds before the 60 seconds have passed he calls. "One pair" the big blind annonces, and turns over pocket fives. A nice call, and a nice pot for Eirik!

A few tables away Gunnar Østerbø wins a nice pot against two-time bracelet winner Humberto Brenes. Gunman opens the pot with 7-3, and bets on every street. On the river he makes his guthshotdraw and wins the pot.

1360 players left in the field. They will play down to about 900 today.
The average stack is around 16.000, so Klinsmann is doing good with his 17.000

With the board showing J-10-7 Klinsmann checks. His opponemt puts in a bet of 1500, Klinsmann calls.
The turn is a six, and Klinsmann tosses in 2500, half of his stack. After a long time of thinking the other player moves all in, and get's the call from Klinsmann, who flips over 99, eliminating two of his opponents outs - he's on a draw with KQ.

The board pair tens on the river, and Aleksander Strandli eliminates the other player and stacks up his 17.000 chips!

A couple of new players on Klinsmann's table. Barry Schulman the only well known.
Barry has a nice stack, and is known to play a bit more than just AA, so it will be interesting to follow.

Another new guy sits down, and sets the pace when he bluffs and shows in his very first hand.
I'm sure Aleksander won't fall for that old trick.
Playing on 9.000 now, Aleksander has a complete card-dry period, and is dreaming on a hand with both cards higher than four. He knows he's in no hurry, but round after round without anything to play is frustrating.

In the other end of the room Doyle Brunson was just knocked out, and the whole room applauded the patriarch of poker when he exited the WSOP Main Event 2oo6.

We just had 90 minutes dinnerbreak here, and the cards are in the air again.
Aleksander Strandli won a 2.000 pot right away, and is now up to 8.000.
He lost two big 50/50 pots right before the break. One time with AK vs QQ, and next time it was the other way around when Klinsmann had QQ and lost to AK.

Thor Hansen enjoys his table, but hasen't got the cards to play. He's on 13.000 after the break.

Gunn Tove Vist lost a couple of pots before the break, and is on 15.000 now.

Another happy guy during the break was Åge Spets. He doubled up in the last hand before dinner with A9, on the flop AA9. He was up against AK. 24.000 is the count on Åge now.

Aleksander Standli has benn at work, and is up to 11.050. Nothing big happend, just grinding out some pot's.

His brother Kenneth is struggling a bit more, and was down to a thousand. But after some hard work he is back up to 5.500, and climbing.

Others doing good is Thor Hansen, with 18.000, sitting in Ragde's old seat. He likes the table, and is hoping to stay for a while after being moved two times already.

The norwegian girls are doing good. Gunn Tove Vist, the European Ladies Champion, has about 16.000, and Katja Spillum over 20.000.

Klinsmann lost a few chips, but built back up to 9.000. So nothing new for Aleksander in this level.
The other norwegians aren't doing very well either. Almost everybody is below startingchips, and most of them lost it late in the hand, getting money on in front.

Kenneth Strandli, Aleksander's brother, was down to around 5.000, but won a few pots and is back up to 7.600 now.

Players are now on first break.
Aleksander Strandli has about 9.000 in chips.
He likes his table, but the only guy who stands up to Aleks' raises is on his left, so it is a bit difficult for him. But he told me he had control, just have to wait for some lock cards.

He also told me about a pot where he might have doubled up. With a pair of fours he saw the flop with two other players. J-T-3 on the board, and a 400 bet from the initial raiser, and a call before Klinsmann folded. He though about calling, because he knew the first guy had aces, or at least kings. And ofcource a four on the turn. But, can't win 'em all they say :)

Klinsmann is just waiting for the blinds to go up a bit, so he can steal some blinds and involve himself a bit more. He's sitting comfy with a magazine and taking it easy so far.

And already we might be glad that Klinsmann is still in the game.
He thought about making a move with As3s from the button. If he had, he would flopped the nut flush when the flop came QsJs8s. But when the bigblind won the pot with 9s10s, a straight flush, Aleksander can be glad he mucked his cards preflop.

(info on this hand from www.poker.no)

Just before the last level of the day ended, Axabaxa found AK in his holecards.
He and one more player saw the flop, wich came A-x-x with two clubs. The other player bet out, and Axa raised all in for 12.450 more.
The other guy said "well, I was hoping to make it past day one, but I can't lay this one down" and made the call with AQ in clubs. A king on the turn and blank river send the pot Axa's way!
The tournament clock showed 90 seconds left of the 12 hours of play...

So, after the final chipcount was made Axabaxa landed on 34.100 chips, and could go to bed knowing he will start day two with a chipstack above average.

With only 20 minutes left of day one, Axabaxa is looking to survive the day.
Shortstacked with only 13.500 in chips, he has made a little recovery after the break.

Axa was telling me about the complete lack of cards the last two and a half hour before the break, but early in the last period he got AK two times and aces once. The aces didn't make him much good, but one of the AK's at least made him around 1500.

Unless something big happens in the last minutes, this will be the last report from Rio today.
Please follow the updates tomorrow, when Aleksander Strandli (Klinsmann) hopefully will be among the chipleaders at the end of the day.

After one limper, LK moves all in to steal the pot. But - when the limper calls and turns over his aces it's all over for the manager of Team Eurolinx. He picks up a gutshot draw on the board, but no help in the end.

Meanwhile, the last standing memer of the team, Axabaxa has been working hard. He has doubled up, but haven't moved all in yet, just taking down lot's of pots.




LK not to happy with the guy who limped with the aces.
(picture from the $2,000 event earlier)

Axa re-raises a guy all in with the board showing 9c-6c-2s with a pair of eights.
The other guy calls with Ac-Qc for the nut flush draw, and hits his club on the turn.
Axa crippled with only 8000 after this pot. He has also lost one more pot, leaving him with only 6.500 to the fourth break.

LK lost a 28.000 pot with flush to better flush when both hit on turn, leaving him with only 4.700 to the break.

The blinds start at 150/300 with a 25 ante. There are about 1150 players left.

Pocket kings was the hand Thomas was waiting for, but when he ran into pocket aces it was all over.
No help to Thomas in the board, and he has to see the rest of the main event from the wrong side of the barriers.

To players left, LK and Axabaxa. Both got above average stacks.

Thomas Middelthon lost another big hand just before the break, and is now down to 6200 in chips.
He just got moved to another table, and is hoping to double up there.

At the next table LK hasn't played a single hand since the break. 19.000 is his chipcount.
Axabaxa still got around 18.000.

Back after the dinnerbreak, Marc was hoping to get some hands to play with.
He saw a flop with a pair of tens. And a good flop as well! 5-10-J, and Marc checked from the blinds. The other player, in early position, bet out 750, and Marc called. Ace of hearts on the turn and Marc checks again.
When the other player moves all in Marc calls. He is disgusted when the opponent flips over JJ for higher set. A 5 on the river give both players a full house, but Marc is knocked out.

First Marc lost the big pot vs. KK, and short after Thomas Middelthon looses a monsterpot. He calls a raise with 2-5 of clubs, and the flop is 3-4-x with two clubs. Open ender with a flushdraw, and they end up all in. The opponent's queens held up, so Thomas is now down to 13.000.

LK is still on 20k, and Axabaxa around 18.000. Marc struggles a bit, but hangs in with 5.800.

There will be a dinnerbreak soon, so no more updates for the next two hours.

Everybode felt fine, and had nice stacks going into the break.
After the break things started to happen.

Thomas Middelthon was up to almost 29.000, but lost a bit when he doubled up a shortstack. The flop came with Ks-Qd-Jd, Thomas in the BB checked and the shortstack fired out 1000, almost twice the pot.
Thomas, with K-4, reraised him all in. After some thinking he got the call from Q-J and two pair.
After that pot Thomas has about 25.000, but is still the massive chipleader on his table.

Axabaxa hasn't had a lot of action, and is still around 17.000, waiting for the right moment.
LK flop'ed a set of fours, and won a nice one. Just got a textmessage from LK now, and he's up to 20.000 after winning a showdown with Q2 offsuit.

Marc won a few chips, and was up to around 16.000, but lost a really big pot a few minutes ago.
He called a raise from a player who just lost two big pots, and probably was steaming. Marc checkraised on the turn, and fired out a 4.000 bet on the river. The board was 4-5-6-9-Q, and Marc put the other guy on overcards. He was right, but the overcards matched, and he got the call from KK and lost about 10.000 in that pot. Marc now has around 6.000.



LK is enjoying his table

Marc hasen't played a hand since last time, and is somewhere between 11 and 12 thousand.
LK lost a few chips when he had to fold a big pair on the turn. His opponent actually called the clock on him, but LK folded before the floorman arrived.

Thomas Middelthon is around 18.000, and Axabaxa 20.000

The tournament hall is now open for spectators, so it's a bit difficult to move around and get the news on what is happening. All four players in the team are seated in separete corners, of cource :)

Unfortunately, Galen Cranston is out of the tournament. I don't know what happened exactly, but heard it was set vs overset on the river.

Axabaxa likes his table, and has about 19.000 in chips. That is about the same as Thomas Middelthon is playing on.
Thomas called a raise with J-9, and the flop came J-8-x. Both players checked, and another jack on the turn.
Thomas calls the bet, and finds the last jack on the river! The other player bets out 400, Thomas raises to 3500 and gets the call. The quads hold up of course, but if the last jack hadn't appeared Thomas might have lost some chips, since the other player shows 88 for a flopped set.

Marc was at 15.000, but is down to about twelve after the break.
LK, who started one hour later than the other players, are up to 15.000. The pot that won him the chips was as follows:
UTG makes it 150, UTG+1 calls, LK in midposition calls with KQ clubs and another player calls behind. The flop is 10-8-8 with two clubs. UTG checks, UTG+1 makes it 250, LK calls. The last player and UTG both fold.
Six of clubs on the turn. UTG+1 checks, LK bets 600 and gets a raise to 1600 wich he calls. A blank on the river, and another check-raise from UTG+1. This time LK bets 1000 and gets 3000 total back. With 5000 left LK makes the call, and takes down the big pot when the other player turns over J-3 of clubs.

Thomas Middelthon is around 14.000. After winning the big pot with the aces he lost almost 4.000 again, before winning a nice pot with Q9. The table was 6-7-Q-10-5 and Thomas just called down. The other player had A8 and was on a big bluff.

Marc Karam has about 13.000, and just made what he called the best call of his life!
The button raised to 175 (blinds 25-50) and both Marc in the small blind and the big blind called.
Marc had 33, so the flop A-5-2 wasn't that bad for him. Both blinds checked, and the button made it 250. Marc called, but the big blind folded. Another 5 on the turn, check from Marc again, and a bet of 800 from the button. A 9 on the river, and Marc checked one last time. Now the button fired out with a bet of 2500. Marc called and showed his pair of threes. The other player mucked his cards.

Axabaxa has about 12.000 in chips, LK and Galen is around the 10k they started with.

I didn't see it myself, but got reports that Thomas Middelthon just won a big pot with AA versus AK.
Thomas now has 14.000 in chips.

All the players in the team got a good start of the 2006 WSOP Main Event.
Thomas Middelthon and Marc Karam is only 25 up, but still above startingchips.

Galen Cranston is around the same amount he started with. But after running into aces that isn't bad at all. It was a funny hand, as the player with the aces thought he had A-4 offsuit, and checked it out, before nearly getting an heartattack when he flipped over his cards.

Aleksander Cooper has got the best start of the players in the team. He limped in from early position, and called a small raise from late position. Flop came 7-7-K, and Axabaxa check-called a bet from the initial raiser. On the turn he bet out 500 and got the call, before betting 1500 on the river. The initial better called and turned over his aces. Not good, and Axabaxa's 7-10 of diamonds won the pot. He's up to 12-13.000 already.

LK finally got a seat, and has just started play.

Day one of the WSOP Main Event has just started.
The tournament is full, and some players are on the waiting list. Among them are the manager of Team Eurolinx, LK.

Marc Karam (Myst), Aleksander Cooper (Axabaxa), Thomas Middelthon and Galen Cranston is also playing for Team Eurolinx today. I will update on their results until the end of the day.

After playing on a short stack for some time, Henning first takes down a nice pot.
In third position Henning makes it 250 to go (blinds 50-100) and gets a call from fifth position.
The flop comes Kc-10h-10c, Henning checks, fifth position bets out 300, and Henning moves all in for 1000 total. After a couple of minutes of thinking, his opponent folds.

After folding a couple of rounds and the blinds increasing to 100-200, it's time to make a move again. When a swede who had raised Hennings big blind three times in a row does that again, Henning moves in for 1700 total. The swede calls immediately with QQ. Henning's 7-4 of spades hit a seven on the flop, but no more help and Henning is out.


This was the last hold'em event, so now it's pratice and rest for all the players before the main event.
I'll be playing the media/celebrity tournament on thursday, and then I'll be back for the main event the day after. See you then!

Henning Granstad is sitting at table 331 (alternate table 32) and was dealt his first hand 1 hour and 20 minutes after the tournament began.
He's at a very strong table, and know half of the other players. I'll come back with some names on those.
Daniel Smith from Denmark is at least one of them. He's sitting to positions to Henning's left.

After only three or four hands the first person is knocked out from the table. Daniel Smith and another player limps in from mid position. The big blind raises 75 more (blinds 25-50) and both limpers call.
The flop is 8-K-8, all black. Big blind check raises from 200 to 600, and Daniel Smith folds. The other limper calls. Turncard is a red Q, and the big blind move all in, and gets a quick call from the limper with KJ offsuit. Big blind show AA, and another queen on the river sends the limper out of this tournament.


Henning tells me that Q7 offsuit is the best hand so far, and he hasen't been involved in any pots yet.

Alternates are entering the tournament countinously, and we are now 345 tables, with 11 players on each table. The number of players might go as high as 4000, making this the second biggest tournament in history, only beaten by last years main event.

Todays laugh came when the tournament director told everybody to tighten up, beacause the staff couldn't keep up the pace in putting new players in when someone was knocked out :)

Today is the $1,500 No Limit event, the last Hold'em event before the Main Event.
Henning Granstad (Granisimo) will play, and I will post the updates right here.

The rumors say that there are over 400 alternates, witch means that it will be almost 2500 players in this tournament.



Henning Granstad in action. From the $2,000 No Limit event

Marc Karam in the $2,000 No Limit event

Marc Karam finished in 45th place, after being knocked out on the following hand:
The cut off raised to 15.000, Marc in the small blind sensed weakness and went all in with a little over 60.000 total. CO called with his pair of fours. Marc had Q5 of spades.
Flop was J-T-6 with one spade. The turncard was good for Marc, giving him 15 outs before the river - the eight of spades. But unfortunately another eight appeared on the river, and Marc got knocked out.

It is a mystery why the CO called the bet. He called for almost all his chips (would have had 8000 left if he lost) and a pair of fours is at best a 50/50 race.
The same player folded KQ suited against a re raise from Marc earlier (Ace King) but chose to go with his fours.

So that would be it for today. A great performance by Marc Karam, finishing 45th out of 2050 players in his first WSOP-event!

Got some info on the hand where Thomas Middelthon was knocked out.
He was in the BB with K4, and checked after two limpers. Flop was king high, and he moved all in and lost to KJ.

60 players left in Marc's tournament. Marc has about 43.000 in chips, a little under average.
He's hoping for a hand where he can double up, and has a crazy player to his left, so the possibillities are good for a little trapping there :)

While i was in the mediacenter and updating, Thomas Middelthon and Andreas Hagen was knocked out of the $5,000 PL event.

Marc is still in the $2,000 No Limit event. 60 players left now. 55th is the next bubble, before everybody gets over $10k

Thomas Middlethon is still in the $5,000 Pot Limit event, but struggeling.
He managed to steal some blinds and doubled up with AJ vs A5 before getting another nasty hit.
One guy raises, and Thomas re raises with JJ and gets the call. Flop is J-T-4, and Thomas looses to KQ when he hit's a straight.


Andreas Hagen is also in the same tournament, but lost almost all his chips in a pot with David "Devilfish" Ulliot. The board showed J-Q-6, and Devilfish had a bet out. Hagen thinking long before moving all in. Immediate call from Devilfish'es trip sixes. Hagen's AQ got no help and lost.

This happend on one of the thoughest tables in the tournament. Besides Andreas Hagen and Devilfish we find Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, 10-time WSOP Bracelet-winner Johnny Chan and Cindy Violette.

Meanwhile, Marc Karam builds up his stack in the $2,000 No Limit event.
The button raises, and Marc in the big blind moves all in with 10-3 offsuit. The Button folds A-5 of diamonds after some thinking.
Marc has a little more than 40k now.

Left with around 15k after the last hand and some folded rounds, Marc finally takes down a nice pot again.
UTG+1 goes all in, and Marc quickly puts all his chips in behind him. Both blinds think a bit before folding, but it will only be two players in this pot.

UTG+1 turns over AJ, and Marc dominates him with the AK. Board comes 9-2-2-Q-5, with no help to any player. Marc wins the pot and knockes out the other player.

The small blind completes, and Marc check.
The flop is 4s-9d-8d. Check from SB, bet from Marc. (think it was about 3000) - call from SB.
Turn is a Jh, both players check. River is 10s, and the smallblind bets 7000. Marc shakes his head and finally folds 10-8 and two pair.
Smallblind says he folded QJ, wich would be a straight.

Marc lost half his stack when he made it 6000 from the button on blinds 1200-2400. The small blind called. Flop 9-9-J, both players check. Turncard is a king, and again both players check. River is a blank 3, and now the small blind bets out 15.000. Marc checked it to the river beacause he sensed some evil, and therefore he just called the riverbet. Good desition, sice the small blind turned over J-9 for a full house.

Marc really lost the minimum in that hand, and can play on with about 25k in chips.

Soon after the pot where Marc knocked out a player with tens vs. AK he lost almost half his stack.
I'm not allowed to walk between the tables anymore, so i didn't see the hand.
But when i checked in on Marc just now, he had 50.000 in front of him, so something big happend for sure.

In the $5,000 Pot Limit event Thomas Middelthon is playing, as one of four remaining norwegians. He is very short with just 2500 in chips, and hoping for a double up.
He split a big pot early, against one out. A woman two positions earlier than Thomas bet out 150 on 25-50 blinds, and Thomas called with AA. With trip nines on the flop she bet out 200, Thomas re raised to 600, and she went all in followed by a call from Thomas. She flipped over AJ, and was dead but to running jacks.
Ace on the turn, 9 on the river. Both players split the pot with quad nines and ace kicker.
Shortly after Thomas lost against the aces, so the cards aren't nice to him today.

Other norwegians still in are Andreas Hagen, Tore Lagerbord and Åge Spets. Spets was the chipleader early in the tourament with 20k, but lost a big pot and is now down to 5000.
Lagerborg, who arrived in Vegas yesterday and is struggeling with jetlag, has 7k, about the same as Hagen.

Got some info on the hand Gaffel was knocked out on. He was very short, so he pushed all in a few hands before the blinds reached him with K4. Everybody folded until the big blind, who called with the aces.

And Marc has nearly doubled his stack already!
He knocked out a player not long after the day startet. The opponent went all in for 14000 in third position, and Marc in the big blind picked up a pair of tens and called. No help for AK, and Marc took down a nice pot.

The last norwegian, Vegard Nygård (Gaffel) is unfortunately out.

Average is now 30.000, and there are 135 players left according to the tournament director-screen.

After some long rounds of stalling the bubble finally burst and the remaining players will get paid for their efforts.
Marc had over 40k, but seems to have lost a pot while I was away, and are now playing with an average chipstack, around 25k.

He also doubled up the hardest staller on the table. After folding every hand in every position for several rounds, he picked up aces in the big blind when Marc made a stealing move at the pot.
Fortunately, the staller didn't have enough for two whole bigblinds, so it wasn't a big loss. But still, it's a bit typical for how the cards are treating the Eurolinxplayers in this tournament.
Shortly after Marc doubled up another shortstacked staller, when he limped in from the smallblind, hit an ace but lost to the flop'ed queen high flush of the opponent.

Vegard Nygård is also in the money, but very short. He will try to double up before tomorrows play.

Unless something big happens, this is the last from Rio today.

Marc get's a ten minute penalty after exposing a card after going all in.
He asked the dealer what would happen if he did, and the dealer told him that it would be a warning the first time followed by a penalty the second time. But no warning, and Marc has to sit out for ten minutes.

The other players at the table objected to this as well, and actually stalled the game so Marc only missed three hands!

But most important - Marc won a big pot before getting the penalty. He went all in on the turn, and exposed the 10d with the board showing Q-K-K-J. The opponent folded, and Marc collected over 40.000 from the pot.

It's getting closer to the money now, with only 215 players left. (198 money finishes)

In the 20k pot that Marc lost, the situation was a bit different.
The flop was K-J-10 with 2 clubs. Marc flop'ed a set of jacks, and the opponent had Q6 of clubs for both draws. He bet out 1000 on the flop, Marc called. Red 3 on the turn. 2500 bet from the guy on the draws, call from Marc. 9 of spades on the river, and all in for 4825. Marc thinks a bit before calling.

Now that things are corrected, let's bring some good news:

Marc is back up on 12.000, after some hard work. Slowly he gained more chips, and are now on average.
There are 340 players left of the starting 2050.
Right now the blinds are 300-600 with 75 ante.

198th place is the first to get paid ($2790)

A 20k pot just went the wrong way.
Marc floped a set, but one guy followed to the river, where he went all in.
The board read 9-3-K-J-10, and when Marc called after some thinking his opponent flipped over Q6 of clubs - a straight.
Marc read him on a busted flushdraw, and was right. But unfortunately that flushdraw included the queen of clubs for the straight.
So - instead of 26.000 Marc is now down to 6.000.

Vegard Nygård also lost a pot while i was passing by. He had 9.000, but lost about 2.500 in the pot, and is down to 6.500.

Bjørn Erik Glenne is still around 20.000. He was moved to a new table a few minutes ago.

Some chipcounts i picked up: (not accurate, just by eyemeasure)

Jennifer Tilly: 10.000
Jeff Schulman: 16.000
David Williams: 6.500
Mike Caro: 16.000
David "Devilfish" Ulliot: 5 - 6.000
Dan Harrington: 15.000

These are all the famous players i could recognize that are still in.

And in one of the last hands before the break Marc Karam made a move with Q7 against the chipleader of the table. It worked out perfectly, and he now has 16.875 in chips!

The dinnerbreak will start soon, and after a quick look around in the pokerhall, i only found two norwegians left.
Bjørn Erik Glenne (Hikkespett) had a nice stack with 10k, average close to 7000.
But then he decided to call all in from a player almost as big as him with two tens. The other player had AK suited, and hit a king. But that king filled Glenne's straight, so he doubled up to around 20.000!

At the table next to Glenne I found another familiar face. Vegard Nygård (Gaffel) had around 11.000, and got there by winning a few pots where he was underdog. But it didn't work when he called a shortstack all in with KJ, and met AK. It almost did when a jack appeared on the flop, but running aces for the shortstack took a little chunk of Gaffel's stack. I think he won a pot or two right after, beacause it looked like ha had around 10k when i left.

Marc Karam (Myst) isn't getting the cards, and has a little over 9000 chips.
Again, average is about 7000, so no hurry.

More updates after the dinnerbreak.

And is now strong with way above average.
Just got the message on the phone here, so haven't got any details.

But I will go and get them right away :)

The cards sren't nice to our guys today.

Indie looses when his jacks run into a pair of aces, and is out of the tournament.
But it had to take aces to knock him out though :)

Myst doubles up a couple of shortstacks, when his eights meets nines, and shortly after his KJ doesen't his against 88. Down to 1425 chips, and struggeling a bit.

LK builded his stack a little at the time, and was closing in on 4000 when he re-raised the player before him, who though for a bit before going all in. LK called with pocket queens, and was up against AK suited.
The board fell with A-2-9-2-10, and a pair of aces beats a pair of queens.
After a chipcount it's clear that LK isn't out yet! He still got a little green 25-chip.
With J5 of clubs he puts it in, and makes a flush! But, unfortunately his opponent makes running tens for full house.

Meanwhile, Myst managed to double up with J6 vs AK, with the chips coming in on the flop A-J-6. 9 on the turn and another J on the river bring our Canadian hope up to 3300 chips.

Unfortunately, two guys out.

Granisimo was the first to leave the tournament. He lost most of his stack against the big fish on the table, who raised to 500 in early position. One more player called before Granisimo called with AJ.
The flop came 3-4-J, and the initial raiser moves all in with about 1600 in front. One man folded, before Granisimo confident annonces "this is the easiest call i've made all day" and shows his AJ.
When he's up against 66 he feels confident, but two outs hold up when a six appears on the river.

Shortly after Granisimo moves all in with A10 on the flop 9-J-Q. But then three more guys moves all in behind him! They turn over KQ, AQ and a flushdraw. AQ holds up, and Granisimo is out in the last hand before the break.

After the break it didn't take long before Sparky had to move in with his last 450 chips. When he finally pushed in he got only one caller who showed AK. But they were no good against Sparkys 6-2 of hearts :)
Shortly after Sparky moved all in again with AQ. Again he got a call from AK, this time suited.
AK held up, but Sparky had him covered and was back in the mud with 500 chips.
After a round or two he was all in with 77 vs AQ. Three low cards on flop, but hit on turn and Sparky had to leave the table.
Sparky was the only one from Team Eurolinx who had a known pro at the table. On his right sat Kathy Liebert, who doubled up shortly before Sparky left.

Indie is still in, but struggling a bit with something around 1200 in chips. No cards all day, so not easy for him.

Myst and LK are still on the same table, and pretty much still on the same stacks. LK has moved all in three times, and is up to 2300 after going to brake with 2075.
Myst had 2375 when the brake started, and is around there still.

Among the other Norwegians I have seen Thor Hansen, who got a nice stack. But when he lost a 11000 pot with AK vs AJ he had to leave the tournament shortly after, being left with 50 chips.

Kenneth Strandli, brother of Team Eurolinx' Klinsmann, is a happy man after going to break with 8500.
Thorstein Iversen of the Norsemen sat on the same table as Kenneth early in the tournament, and had to take a few beats. Left with 100 chips he got moved to another table. There he managed to quadruple his stack up to 400. After that he folded for an hour before the break.

Bjørn Erik Glenne is also playing. Haven't seen him for some time, so i don't know if he's still in. He was above startchips last time, but got moved to another table.

We're near the first break in the $2,000 No Limit event, and Team Eurolinx is looking good!

LK and Myst are both on the same table. Myst took early lead here, and got himself up to 2600 quickly, and is still there. LK has been all in once, but survived and knocked out a shorter stack with AQ, and is back to startingchips 2000.

Sparky has a bit more problems and are down to under 800. After having a good start he got kings wich didn't hold up, and has been struggling a bit since.

Indie is around start, and has been there from the beginning with nothing big happening.

Granisimo got himself up to 2800 early, and is back there now after being up to 3500 for a short while.

More will follow, and pictures will come shortly!