WPT Venice live updates – 101 survive day 1A

00.56

The Action Hour

There are a number of factors that are accumulating in flurries of action. People are tired, the blinds are getting bigger and some of the stacks are getting shorter. Yes folks it is that time of the night where people are shoving and making mistakes. Here is a round up of the action.

Jose Barbero and Radu Danut have just banged heads on their table and it is Danut who has been left with the headache. We caught the action with the board already revealed to everyone.

Board:

It was already a considerable pot before Barbero made it 20,000 more to play and Danut made the call. Barbero very confidently flipped over his .

“Wow.”

Is all Danut could say as he showed his solitary before mucking his other card.

Barbero now has 155,000 and Danut is back done to 100,000.

Armando Graziano has just been involved in two all-in pots. One he won and one he lost. In the first hand he doubled up his opponent Francesco Canzonieri when his lost out to on a board of . Canzonieri doubled up to 86,000.

Then Graziano eliminated Yordan Mitrsentsov. Mitrsentsov moved all-in for his last 10,000 chips and Ivan Grindelli called in the cut off before Graziano moved all-in from the big blind. Grindelli went deep into thought mode before folding and then seconds later was wishing he hadn’t! The flop was , turn and river and Graziano had eliminated Mitrentsov much to the frustration of Grindelli.

Party Poker Qualifier Stefano Ricci also found himself in the mad house. Ricci raised for 3,000 on the button when Alessio Isaia three-bet from the small blind making it 8,700 to play before Daniele Mazzia moved all-in from the big blind for 29,000. Ricci had a good long think about it before calling and Asaia got out of the way.

Ricci:
Mazzia:

Board:

Ricci doubled up and now has 112,000

00.07

Approaching The End of Level Nine

There are a few minutes left of level nine. We are then scheduled to take a break for 15-minutes before playing the last level of the evening. In the meantime here are a few hands from the tables.

Over at table two Dimitrov Malinov has come into contention with a stack of 160,000, which makes him our chip leader. We were at his table when Paulo Penna Della raised to 2,500 and Luca Topazio called in the big blind. The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the and Topazio check-called a 2,500 bet by Penna Della. The river was the and Topazio again checked to Penna Della who bet 5,500 to eventually take the pot down.

Party Poker Online Qualifier Stefano Ricci just had his tournament life on the line. We caught the action on a flop of . Ricci had bet 7,200 and Niculina Grasu had raised to 14,400. Ricci thought for a while before moving all in for a total of 37,000 and Grasu now had the decision. Eventually Grasu decided to fold and showed the table for top pair at least. Ricci made her feel better when he showed a pair of aces for the over pair.

Jose Barbero is looking likely for a return on day two. He is sat on a stack in excess of 60,000 and here is the action from his latest exploits on the felt.

The flop and turn had been dealt and Barbero bet 13,000 into the pot. His opponent was Michele Alario and he made the call. The dealer laid the down on the river and Barbero asks Alario how many chips he had behind. Alario spread them out for Barbero to see and Barbero bet 18,000 and Alario called. The spoils were shared when both opponents turned over the same hand.

Barbero:
Alario:

Barbero tapped the felt in acknowledgement of Alario’s play.

23.20

Some More Big Stacks

There are a few more big stacks that have sprung up in the tournament area. The first belongs to Radu Danut who is sitting on a stack of around 130,000 and we caught up with him added a few more chips to his gargantuan pile.

Massimo Nardini made it 3,000 to play from early position and Danut called on the button. Gianni Bonetto was in the big blind and he went deep into the tank before folding. The flop was and Nardini checked to Danut who bet 3,200 to take the pot down.

Another big stack to emerge late on day 1a belongs to Alessio Isaia who is sitting on a stack of 140,000. Isaia is on the same table as Party Poker Qualifier Julian Erhardt who continues to impress

22.50

New Chip Leader

We have a new chip leader and boy do these names just keep getting longer. If you thought Massimiliano Mazzucato was a long name well that has nothing on Hossien Amir Ahmadzadeh who is now leading the pack with 120,000.

There are two Party Poker qualifiers on his table in the shape of Stefano Ricci and Julian Erhardt. Ricci has 35,525 and Erhardt has 53,600. Here is a hand featuring the chip leader

Ahmadzadeh limped under the gun and Niculina Grasu called in the small blind as did Remy Clement Thumy in the big blind. The flop was and everyone checked. The turn was the and Thumy bet 5,150 and it was enough to take the pot down.

22.36

Changing Tables

Table 20 has been broken so Fabrice Soulier has been split from his partner Claire Renault (much to his relief).

He has found himself on a tough table joining the likes of Max Pescatori and Sam El Sayed.

21.30

Partners

Claire Renault and her partner Fabrice Soulier are both seated together on table 20. Renault burst out laughing as she counted chips for a raise.

“He said I would steal his blinds.” Laughed Renault

She was referring to her partner Soulier who was sat in the big blind. Salvatore Arena had called while Renault was still coughing through laughter.

The flop was and Renault put her shades on and checked to her opponent who also checked. The turn was the and Renault bet 2,200 and Arena folded. Renault showed her partner a pair of queens just to show him she wasn’t stealing his blinds!

21.15

Fabian Holling and Russell Bladen

Both Fabian Holling and Russell Bladen qualified through Party Poker and they are sat directly opposite each other over at table 20.

Holling had a disastrous start earlier today when he went as low as 2,500 chips but now has a healthier stack of 24,000. Holling has been treading water – stealing the blinds and antes in the past few hands. He is very quiet, with his headphones on constantly, and each move he makes is very slow and deliberate.

Bladen is sat on a much healthier 43,000. He has a black pair of shades on and is chewing gum. He is very chirpy and in fact just howled like a wolf much to the amazement of the table.

“The wolves are coming.” Said Salvatore Arena.

“If you get lucky against me again, like last time, I will send them over to you to chew you up!” replied the fidgety Bladen.

20.45

Jose Barbero Doubles Up

Jose Barbero finished 15th at WPT Bucharest in March 2010, and he has just doubled up as he attempts to go a few steps further in Venice this week. This is how it happened.

The flop was showing and Barbero had made a bet of 13,000 and he was facing a raise from the very active Mustapha Kanit. The bet was substantial enough for Barbero’s next decision to be for his tournament life. Barbero decided to move all-in for 38,225 in total and Kanit called.

Barbero held for the flush draw and inside straight draw and Kanit held for two pair. Barbero started shaking his head when he saw the hand that Kanit was holding. The turn was the and it looked like Barbero was in a world of trouble until the saved him on the river.

Barbero now has ~ 76,500

20.32

Mazzucato and Mitrentsov Clash Again

It seems that every time we pass table one, Massimiliano Mazzucato and Yordan Mitrentsov, are playing a pot together. In this latest pot Mazzucato raised to 2,025 from late position and Mitrentsov called in the big blind.

The dealer gave us a flop and Mitrentsov check-called a 4,075 bet by Mazzucato. The turn was the and again Mitrentsov checked and again Mazzucato bet – this time 12,075. Mitrentsov visibly shook his head giving us a clear indication that, (a) he didn’t like it and (b) he was going to fold. He did fold and our chip leader won the pot.

19.50

Party Poker Qualifiers

Half of the field have just disappeared for a one hour lunch break while the other half of the group have started to play level seven. Then in one hours time the roles will be reversed.

We currently have 11 players left in the tournament who qualified through Party Poker. They are Roberto Pettinari, Stefano Ricci, Francesco de Martini, Giancarlo Americo, Vito Planeta, Julian Erhardt, Zsolt Vasvenszki, John Bladon, Artem Khudaverdiev, Christoph Swane and Fabian Holling.

19.10

Giovanni Deriu Sit’s On Top

The very smartly dressed Giovanni Deriu has made his way to the top of the chip counts and we have just been watching him in the following hand.
Michal Polchlopek opened with a raise to 1,050 and received calls from Mustapha Kanit, Deriu and David Sonelin. The flop was and everyone checked around to the big stack Deriu who made a bet of 2,575. Action was back on Sonelin who check-raised to 6,700 and everyone, including Deriu, folded.

18.51

Sam El Sayed Put’s It All On The Line

WPT Amneville winner Sam El Sayed, has just moved his stack across the line on a board. The action was three-handed with 15,000 in the pot before El Sayed moved in for around 40,000. Pietro De Rossi was the man who had the decision, and for a moment the table thought he had called, until he told the table otherwise. In the end De Rossi folded and the opponent behind him also quickly mucked.

El Sayed now has around 55,000.

18.33

Francesco Totti Interview

Party Poker Pro and Italian soccer legend just took on three of pokers top players in Dragan Galic, Giovanni Rizzo and Max Pescatori in heads up action for charity.

Totti beat Gallic but lost in his matches to Rizzo and Pescatori. Here he is talking to Tatjana Pasalic with translation coming from Giovanni Rizzo.

18.14

The Chip Leaders Table Report

Massimiliano Mazzucato has a big name and an equally big stack to go with it. The Italian is our current chip leader with ~100,000 chips. We have been watching his table for signs as to how he amassed such a huge stack but it has been the short stack, Franco Franchi, who has just won three pots in succession.

Franchi made it 1,300 to play and only Yordan Mitrentsov called in the big blind. The flop was and Mitrentsov checked to Franchi who bet 1,100. Mitrentsov then check-raised to 3,000 and it was a signal to Franchi that he was playing for stacks. Franchi understood this and moved all-in and Mitrentsov
called with a face like he had bitten into a lemon.

Franchi:
Mitrentsov:

The turn was the and the river was the and Franchi doubled up.

In the second hand our chip leader Mazzucato opened to 1,175 in middle position and Franchi called to his immediate left. The flop was and Mazzucato bet 2,250 and Franchi moved all-in for the second time. This time he didn’t receive a caller as Mazzucato folded.

Then in the final hand Guido Zambano opened to 800 from early position and Franchi called. The flop was and Zambano checked to Franchi who bet 1,800 and it was enough to take his third pot down.

17.56

Level 4 Chip Count Update

Late registration has now ended and we have a confirmed 218 runners today.

Here are the top ten positions after the end of level four.

1. MAZZUCATO MASSIMILIANO 100,000
2. DI GAETANO SERGIO 90,000
3. KHUDAVERDIEV ARTEM 86,000
4. KHADHRAOUI OMAR 82,000
5. PESCATORI MAX 80,000
6. ERHARDT JULIAN MAXIMILIAN RAPAHAE 73,000
7. MALINOV RADOSLAV DIMITROV 68,000
8. CIONNA ROBERTINO 62,000
9. MITRENTSOV YORDAN 61,900
10. PAOLINO RENATO 61,000

17.40

Break Time

The players are back and refreshed after a 15 minute break

17.20

Fabian Fighting on Fumes

Party Poker Qualifier Fabian Holling is playing with a very short stack after losing this hand to Fabrice Soulier.

Soulier raised under the gun making it 675 to play and the action folded around to Holling in the big blind who made the call.

The flop was and Holling checked to Soulier who bet 675 and the German called. The turn was the and Holling checked for a second time and Soulier fired a second barrel amounting to 1,800 and Holling called. The river was the and Holling checked for the third time and Soulier fired his third barrel. The amount of the third barrel was significant because it was 5,500 meaning Holling would only have a meagre 2,500 behind if he called. Holling went deep into the tank and when he finally came up for air he made the call and folded his cards, unseen, after Soulier turned over for a flopped two pair.

16.56

Hot, hot, hot

It is extremely warm in the tournament area and especially in the side room where Giovanni Safina is playing.

We just caught a hand from that table involving Armando Graziano and the table’s most active player Luciano Incani.

Incani raised to 600 and Graziano three-bet to 1,800. Incani paused for thought before four-betting to 4,100 and Graziano called. The flop was and both players checked. They also checked the turn. By the time we had gotten to the river we thought the action was all over, especially when Incani checked again, but then Graziano bet 5,000 and Incani called.

Graziano took down the pot with and Incani didn’t because he was holding

16.28

Safina Suffers But Still Has a Sizeable Stack

Giovanni Safina seems to have been hoovering up chips for fun over at table 19. We found him trying to add a few more to his stack in this hand.
Luciano Incana, limped in early position and Safina called in the small blind and the big blind checked. The flop was and both blinds checked to Incana who bet 200. The action then fell to Safina who check-raised to 600 forcing the big blind out of the pot but not Incana who made the call.

The turn was the and Safina bet 1,200 and Incana called. The river was and Safina checked to Incana who bet 1,200 and Safina folded.

Safina still has a healthy 85,000

Party Poker Qualifier Alfredo Cioccoloni is Eliminated

Alfredo Cioccoloni had all of his chips in the middle holding versus the of his opponent Antonio Mario Albanese. It was a horrible situation for Cioccoloni and the board of was no help to the Italian and he was eliminated.

16.03

Five Bet Action

We have just had some five-betting action over on table 21.

Michael Schurpf started the whole thing with a raise to 525 from late position and Sergio Castelluccio three-bet to 1,500 from the cut off. The button folded but Claudio Burlon called in the small blind. The big blind folded and Schurpf had a decision to make and he took his time. Eventually after a few minutes pause Schurpf four-bet to 4,500. Castelluccio started to feel like the meat in the sandwich. He was looking at Schurpf and back over at Burlon and then eventually he made the five-bet to 15,000. Burlon folded and then Schurpf also folded.

15.50

Bruce Atkinson Has Been Eliminated

We reported some hands earlier that involved former WPT London 3rd place finisher Bruce Atkinson. Atkinson has been eliminated at the start of level three. Unfortunately, we do not know the details of his exit but we can confirm that he has ben eliminated.

15.37

Aces and Jacks for Everyone

Welcome back to Level 3.

We have just been watching one of early chip leaders in action over at table one. Yordan Mitentsov started the level with 64,000 chips and he has just added a few more to them after this hand.

Mitentsov opened the action making it 525 to play and three people decided to take a shot at him. The flop was and all the players checked. The turn was the and this kick-started some action. The action checked around to Corrado Fabrizi who bet 1,000 and everyone folded around to Mitentsov who made the raise to 3,750. The small blind called as did Fabrizi. The river was the and the small blind checked and Mitentsov bet 6,800. Fabrizi insta-called and the small blind insta-folded.

Mitentsov:
Fabrizi:

Both players split the pot.

15.10

It’s Break Time

We have reached the end of Level Two so it is time for a 15-minute break.

Here are the top ten chip counts for you but it very early!

1. Mustapha Kanit 77,000
2. Yordan Mitrentsov 64,000
3. Massimiliano Mazzucato 56,000
4. Michal Polchlopek 55,000
5. Mauro Lazzaretto 46,000
6. Giovanni Deriu 45,000
7. Max Pescatori 45,000
8. David Cardyn 43,000
9. Yury Gulyy 43,000
10. Omer Durmazgil 41,000

14.56

Approaching Our First Break

As we are approaching our first break we have a few hands to report involving David Sonelin and Claudio Rinaldi who are seated next to each other at table 24.

In the first we hand we caught up with the action on the turn. The board was showing us and there were three players in the pot including David Sonelin. Marco Ruggeri bet 650 and there was a call behind him before Sonelin made the squeeze from the button making it 2,500 to play and both players folded.

Then in the next hand two players limped in early position and Rinaldi raised to 750. Sonelin called behind and it started a chain reaction of calls from the blinds and one of the limpers. There were four players in total who saw a flop of and the action was checked to Rinaldi who made it 1,625 to play. Sonelin called before the small blind three-bet to 3,500. The action folded around to Rinaldi who four-bet to 10,125. Sonelin decided he was beat as did the original raiser and Rinaldi took down a decent sized pot.

14.45

The Totti Goes Wild as Totti Arrives!

The girls in the room have gone crazy as Italian soccer legend and Party Poker Team pro Francesco Totti has just arrived to play in the Party Poker Charity Heads Up Event. If he can play cards like he can play soccer then the other Party Poker Professionals are in serious trouble.

14.36

Atkinson Wins One and Jacobson Loses One

In the second side room we have around five tables. Bruce Atkinson, Giovanni Safina and Martin Jacobson are amongst the many notable players.
Here is some of the action from that room.

A player raises to 425 from early position and Atkinson calls behind. The flop is and the initial raiser makes the continuation bet for 425 and Atkinson makes the call. The turn is the and the initial raiser now checks. Atkinson bets 825 and the initial raiser folds.

Atkinson has ~36,000

Swedish Pro Martin Jacobson has just finished 2nd at EPT Deauville a few days ago and he is also in the action today. We caught him on the turn on a board of firing out a bet for 1,375. His opponent made the raise to 5,000 and Jacobson had to fold.

Jacobson has ~24,000

14.10

Side Room Action

I know we have said it before but we will make no apologies for saying it again the tournament rooms are magnificent. They have extremely high ceilings each with a fabulous chandelier hanging from the centre. The sides of the walls are adorned with huge paintings and portraits. Even the dealer button looks like a work of art!

In the side room containing tables 20 through to 24 we have Fabrice Soulier, Fabian Holling and Claire Renaut sharing a table. Swedish players David Sonelin and recent 2010 EPT Barcelona winner Kent Lundmark are also in this little side room.

We caught up with Lundmark as he was adding some chips to his stack in this following hand. We caught the action on the turn with around 2,000 in the pot and a board of . The two players in the hand were Max Rosa and Lundmark. Rosa bet 2,000 on the turn and Lundmark raised to 4,500 and Rosa made the call. The river was the and again Rosa checked and this time Lundmark bet 9,000. Rosa tanked for a long time before eventually folding.

13.47

Table 19

Table 19 looks like a daunting place to ply your trade. You have Giovanni Safina, Bruce Atkinson and Steven van Zadelhoff all seated on the same table. We picked up van Zadelhoff in the thick of the action.

A player in early position opened the action to 225 and van Zadelhoff three-bet making it 650 from late position. The action folded back around to the original raiser who made the call. The flop was and the original raiser bet 925 and van Zadelhoff made the call. The turn was and again the original raiser fired a barrel, this time it was 1,425 and again van Zadelhoff called. The river brought us the and this time the original raiser slowed down and checked. Van Zadelhoff made a bet of 2,500 and it was called by his opponent.

Van Zadelhoff:
Original Raiser: Mucked unseen

13.40

The Action Kicks Off!

The action has kicked of at the WPT in Venice. The setting is magnificent and the tables are divided between various different rooms. It’s sets off the impression that we are playing poker in a very big house! It is very hot in here and let’s hope the action will be the same.

So who is here?

Fabrice Soulier, Fabian Holling, Bruce Atkinson, Steven Van Zadelhoff and Giovanni Safina are all at at the tables with many more ploughing through the doors. Late registration is available until after the end of level three so we should have an accurate count of Day 1a players after then.

13.05

It’s Party Time!

Party Poker lived up to it’s name last night when it threw a lavish party for it’s online qualifiers and other important poker luminaries.

Here is a snapshot of the action, check it out!

12.56

Welcome to WPT Venice day 1A! The event is scheduled to begin at 13:00 local time but we have a feeling it may be kicking off a little later than that.

The schedule for today is to play ten levels. Each level on day 1 will consist of 60-minutes with a break every second level. At the end of level six there will be a 60-minute dinner break.

Level 1 – 50/100

Level 2 – 75/150

Level 3 – 100/200

Level 4 – 150/300

Level 5 – 150/300 Ante 25

Level 6 – 200/400 Ante 50

Level 7 – 300/600 Ante 50

Level 8 – 400/800 Ante 75

Level 9 – 500/1000 Ante 100

Level 10 – 600/1200 Ante 100