While most of the United States was succumbing to the NCAA’s March Madness, European poker fans were much more concerned with the activities of the European Poker Tour event in Madrid, Spain, which completed its third day on Thursday.
The 112 players remaining from the 477 player starting field were ready for action in the Casino Gran Madrid yesterday afternoon and the field was replete with some of the top players in the world. Canada’s Mike McDonald, in the hunt for a second EPT Main Event championship (the EPT has never had a two-time winner in its eight year history), led the way with a host of players from the Team PokerStars Pro stable in pursuit. Alex Kravchenko and Johnny Lodden were two of those pros, along with other top names such as David Benyamine, Melanie Weisner and two other men looking for a second EPT championship, Rupert Elder and Kevin MacPhee.
While the players were glad to make it to Day Three, there were still some tense faces among the throng that remained. With only 72 players earning the minimum €7500 cash, there would be thirty people that would walk away with nothing on Thursday. It would take just a couple of hours for the field to be chopped down to that magic bubble number and, when the bubble burst, it was another recognizable name that was on the short end of the stick.
After a late position raise from Javier Etayo, McLean Karr decided to make a stand for his remaining 112K in chips. Etayo decided to look up Karr, who admitted, “I’m in bad shape,” as he tabled his pocket fives. Indeed he was, as Etayo showed pocket tens to hold a dominating lead. A 3-2-3 flop kept Etayo in the lead, but a four on the turn opened up some other options for Karr. Those options disappeared, however, when a Queen hit the river and eliminated McLean Karr on the bubble for the event.
After Karr had departed the Casino Gran Madrid, the players quickly went about working their way down to the final 24 players. Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman, Lodden and Toby Lewis all took home the minimum payday, while MacPhee, Kravchenko and Olivier Busquet earned a bit more (€11000) by finishing in 36th through 34th places, respectively.
Weisner, making another deep run in a major poker tournament in 2012, was the final woman left in the EPT Madrid. Her run at her first major championship, however, was derailed by Ivan Kuziv in a classic Big Slick versus middle pair (sevens) race. Weisner could not catch either her Ace or King on the J-6-Q-9-4 board and was eliminated in 28th place; Kuziv couldn’t use Weisner’s chips well, bowing out soon after eliminating Weisner.
Play on Thursday concluded with a huge hand that put a new name atop the leaderboard. After an opening bet from Andries Swart, Konstantinos Nanos thought for a moment before committing the remainder of his chips to the center of the table. That didn’t deter Joao Paulo Simao, however, as he moved all in over the top from the big blind. Swart, covered by Simao, decided to make a stand and called off his remaining chips, showing pocket Queens against Nanos’ pocket sevens and Simao’s Big Slick.
Everything was running swimmingly for Swart, as the flop brought a 10-9-4 to keep him in the lead. The deuce on the turn eliminated straight possibilities for his opponents and left him in good shape (avoiding six outs between his opponents) for a monstrous triple up. The thunderbolt struck on the river as a King came, shipping the entirety of the 1.5 million chip pot to Simao and establishing him as the leader for play on Friday.
1. Joao Paulo Simao, 1.973 million
2. Ilan Boujenah, 1.153 million
3. Bruno Lopes, 1.103 million
4. Jason Duval, 946,000
5. Mike McDonald, 883,000
6. Siyu Sha, 848,000
7. Clayton Mozdzen, 783,000
8. Taylor Paur, 734,000
9. Fraser Macintyre, 717,000
10. Ricardo Ibanez, 635,000
The 24 men left in the hunt for this latest EPT championship are already in action in Madrid, working their way down to the eight handed EPT final table. The championship of the EPT Madrid will be determined tomorrow, with the eventual champion walking off with a €545,000 payday.