EPT Copenhagen: Day 4, Levels 20 and 21 (6,000-12,000 1,000 ante)

5.28pm: Break time
That’s the end of the level. All done for 15 minutes.

5.25pm: Wigg wham
Anton Wigg continues to take pots. On this one Mads Wissing raised to 38,000. It was folded around to Wigg on the big blind, who called. They both checked the 7♣ A♠ 6♥ flop, but on the 5♦ turn Wigg bet 48,000 – call. Both then slowed down again on the 4♦ river – and Wigg turned over A♣ 9♥ . It was good. — SY.

5.20pm: Guldhammer blow
Morten Guldhammer opened for 36,000 on the button. Damien Fouquet was in the big blind and raised to 96,000. Guldhammer called for a flop of 9♥ 9♣ J♦ . Both checked and Fouquet made it 100,000 on the 9♠ turn. Guldhammer called in the flash for a 6♠ river. Fouquet checked, then plonk, Guldhammer dumped 100,000 into the middle.

Fouquet took some time over the decision, but called, mucking his hand when Guldhammer showed [6][6]. — SB.

5.15pm: Italians go nuts as De Vivo stays alive
This is a very good call from Francesco De Vivo, who just extended his tournament perhaps all the way into tomorrow when he might have been out already.

The Italian raised to 38,000 from the small blind and Roberto Romanello called from the big. The two of them saw a flop of A♠ K♠ 5♥ and De Vivo bet 35,000, which Romanello called.

Francesco de Vivo

The turn was J♠ and De Vivo slowed down, check-calling Romanello’s 80,000 bet. The river was 5♥ and De Vivo checked again. Romanello announced that he was all in, very comfortably covering De Vivo’s 300,000-odd stack, and putting the Italian on the brink of elimination.

He took his time but made the call, and Romanello instantly said: “Good call.” De Vivo showed A♥ 10♠ and Romanello mucked. — HS

5.05pm: Déjà vu almost
Andrew Teng was one card away from eliminating Morten Klein in a similar way to how he busted Ricky Fohrenbach. The button raised to 37,000 before Klein moved all-in for 436,000. Teng paused, asked for a count and then moved all-in himself. The button insta-folded to leave it at heads-up showdown:

Klein: A♠ J♥
Teng: J♦ J♠

The board ran 5♠ 3♣ 6♦ 4♦ A♣ . Klein hitting his three-outer on the river to stay alive. –MC

5pm: To the turn
Damien Fouquet just won a modest pot against Jesper Petersen. On a board of 9♠ 8♥ J♣ 5♦ and betting all the way, Petersen checked the turn and folded when Fouquet bet 120,000. Too much.

4.50pm: Final nail in the coffin
After being crippled just before it wasn’t going to be too long before Chris Dombrowski got the rest of his chips in. He moved his last 139,000 into the middle from early position and was looked up by Francesco De Vivo in the small blind.

Chris Dombrowski

De Vivo: K♥ K♠
Dombrowski: A♣ 4♦

The board ran 3♣ J♥ 6♠ 7♥ J♦ to send Dombrowski packing in 15th for 100,000 DKK. –MC

4.45pm: Italian back from the brink
Francesco De Vivo moved all in under-the-gun for 165,000 and Chris Dombrowski moved all in from two spots to his left. Dombrowski had about 350,000. Everyone else got out the way and they were on their backs:

De Vivo: 8♣ 8♥
Dombrowski: A♦ A♣

That was looking bleak for the Italian, but the window card changed it all. It was 8♦ . The next four out  were 9♣ J♠ 7♣ 9♥ and De Vivo made a full house to double up. Dombrowski is now the man under pressure. — HS.

4.45pm: That’s more like it
A better result for Yorane Kerignard after he moved all in with A♦ Q♣ . Morten Guldhammer called with J♦ 9♠ and a board of Q♥ 6♣ 4♦ 5♦ K♦ , taking Kerignard back up to more than 400,000. — SB.

4.40pm: Steve Vollers eliminated in 16th
Steven Vollers is out, after surviving as short stack for some time now. He shoved for 111,000 and was called by Morten Guldhammer who showed 3♠ 3♥ to Vollers’s A♠ K♣ . The board ran 9♥ 4♥ 6♥ 3♦ 5♠ , the turn making the river card irrelevant. He leaves in 16th place. — SB.

4.35pm: The line up with two tables remaining

Outer table:

Seat 1: Francesco De Vivo
Seat 2: Roberto Romanello
Seat 3: Mads Wissing
Seat 4: Chris Dombrowski
Seat 5: Magnus Borg Hansen
Seat 6: Morten Klein
Seat 7: Andrew Teng
Seat 8: Anton Wigg

Feature table:

Seat 1: Morten Guldhammer
Seat 2: Richard Loth
Seat 3: Damien Fouquet
Seat 4: Andrey Vlasenko
Seat 5: Paul Szyszko
Seat 6: Jesper Petersen
Seat 7: Yorane Kerignard
Seat 8: Steven Vollers

4.30pm: Two table time
The surprise departure of PokerStars qualifier Ricky Fohrenbach in 17th place means we’re now down to two tables, the halfway point of the day.

There was a button raise to 37,000 before Fohrenbach moved all-in for 425,000. Andrew Teng was in the big blind and thought for an age before moving all-in too. The button folded to leave it a heads-up showdown:

Fohrenbach: 3♣ 3♥
Teng: A♥ 9♥

The board ran 7♥ 6♠ 7♦ J♠ 6♠ , counterfeiting Fohrenbach’s hand by the river, sending him to the door with 80,000 DKK. — MC

4.25pm: Feature table action
Richard Loth has just taken a nice pot from Andrey Vlasenko on the feature table – small-ish, but he won’t complain.

He raised to 42,000 from the button pre-flop and Vlasenko called from the big blind. The flop was 8♣ 9♥ K♦ and they both checked. The turn was 7♣ and Vlasenko led for 60,000, which Loth called, and the 5♥ rivered.

Vlasenko bet 100,000 an and Loth dwelled a while before calling. Vlasenko showed his A♠ 9♦ but Loth’s K♠ 10♠ was better. — HS

4.15pm: No back down
Part of the reason this is moving at such a pace is that no one is prepared to back down. A hand just played out between Roberto Romanello and Mads Wissing, where the Dane showed that he wasn’t scared of tangling with the big stack.

Wissing made it 42,000 from late position and Romanello called from the big blind. The flop came 7♦ 3♣ 5♦ and after Romanello checked, Wissing bet 74,000. Call. The turn was 7♥ and Romanello bet 76,000 at it. Wissing moved all in for just more than 300,000, and Romanello ruefully folded. — HS.

4.10pm: Klein caught with pants down
Morten Klein just took on Roberto Romanello and came off second best. He raised from late position and was called by Romanello to go to a 8♦ 3♥ 9♦ flop. Romanello check-called a 47,000 bet before both checked through the 8♣ turn. The river came 5♠ and once more Romanello checked and then snap-called his opponent’s 125,000 bet.

Klein could only manage to show A♥ 7♣ . Romanello took the pot with J♠ 9♠ . –MC

4pm: Guldhammer means “Gold Hammer”
Not since Chris Moneymaker has there ever been a more appropriately named player than Morten “Gold Hammer” Guldhammer. He has just sent Thomas Pettersson to the rail – another hammer blow, and more gold for him.

Pettersson moved all in pre-flop for about 150,000 and Guldhammer called. He was well behind, though, tabling K♠ 8♠ to Pettersson’s A♣ K♥ .

However the flop came 9♥ Q♠ 7♠ 10♥ 6♥ , rivering a straight around Guldhammer’s eight. Pettersson is out and Guldhammer is unstoppable. – HS.

3.55pm: Back from the break
Players have returned from their break and retaken their seats. The full counts will be on the chip-count page imminently.

Damien Fouquet is the current leader, with 1,750,000. Roberto Romanello has 1,400,000 and Anton Wigg is third with 1,250,000. — HS

3.47pm: Edging into the break
The two other tables had already gone off on their break, but Anton Wigg and Andrew Teng were still involved in a hand. Teng limped from the small blind and Wigg bumped it up another 21,000 more (in addition to his 12,000 blind).

Teng dragged his limp back into his stack and replaced it with a tower of yellows worth 100,000. Wigg laughed and folded and Teng showed him Q♦ 6♠ .

That’s the end of the level and there’s a 15 minute break before we return with 18 left.

Full chip counts are coming. — HS

3.46pm: Stig Rossen eliminated in 19th place
It isn’t over until the fat lady sings, or in musical theatre star Stig Rossen’s case, you move all-in with pocket sevens and get called by Damien Fouquet.

Stig Rossen

Rossen opened for 27,000 from under the gun which Fouquet called from the small blind. Both checked the A♦ 9♥ 4♥ flop for a 10♣ turn. Now Fouquet made it 40,000 which was called for an A♥ on the river. Fouquet checked to Rossen who moved in for 300,000. Fouquet waited a long time before calling, showing [a][6] to eliminate Rossen. — SB

3.44pm: Junker downed horribly
Denmark, shed a tear for Henrik Junker. He just got busted by Roberto Romanello in the most cruel way.

Romanello started it with a raise to 26,000 and Junker re-raised to 68,000. Call. The flop was 7♠ Q♠ 9♣ and Junker slowly counted out his chips, before pushing 104,000 of them over the line. Romanello had the Dane covered, and announced: “All-in.” Junker called in an instant for his remaining 450,000.

Junker: K♣ K♥
Romanello: A♦ Q♣

“You’ve got me,” said Romenallo. “I’m having a bad day.” But it was about to get a whole lot better. The turn was 10♥ , but the river was Q♦ , making trips for the Brit and sending the unfortunate Junker to the rail. That pot moved Romanello up to over a million once more. — SY

3.43pm: Teng takes
Ricky Fohrenbach must’ve looked at today’s table draw with a sense of fear as he has the two big stacks at his table to his left and they also happen to be fearless and aggressive. Andrew Teng is directly to his left and he’s just handed a load of chips that way.

Andrew Teng

Fohrenbach raised pre-flop, bet the flop and the turn before checking the river. Teng called all the way and checked behind on the river too. The final board read 4♦ A♠ 3♥ Q♠ 4♣ and Fohrenbach’s K♣ 10♣ couldn’t beat Teng’s 5♣ 5♠ . –MC

3.42pm: Double-up for Wissing
Mads Wissing has just doubled-up through Roberto Romanello. It all went in pre-flop with Wissing’s pocket queens holding against the Brits pocket eights. Pot worth around 400,000 — MC

3.39pm: Guld-Hammer time
Morten Guldhammer has taken down another sizable pot and this time they came from Roberto Romanello. Romanello raised from early position and was called by Guldhammer before a 3♣ 9♠ 4♣ flop came down. Guldhammer then led for 45,000 and called Romanello’s raise to 101,000. After the turn came J♥ Guldhammer moved all in for around 700,000! Romanello folded and started to chuckle when his opponent revealed K♣ J♣ . –MC

3.35pm: Vollers all-in
Steven Vollers moved all-in from the small blind with just Richard Loth to call. Loth tanked for a while, at first nodding then tapping the tops of his hands for a bit. Eventually he called, ahead, showing K♣ 9♥ to Vollers’s 9♣ 8♦ . The board ran out Q♣ 7♠ A♥ 7♥ Q♥ splitting the pot between them. Vollers survives. – SB.

3.25pm: Another (Guld-)hammer blow
Janne Nevalainen has just become the latest victim of Morten Guldhammer, who continues the heater of his life. It bears repeating: Guldhammer qualified for this tournament in a $1 tournament organised by a local newspaper in conjunction with PokerStars. Now he is in the last 20.

This hand was pretty typical of the way Guldhammer has been playing. He raised to 26,000 pre-flop from early position and Nevalainen moved all in for 220,000. Guldhammer called with a typical flourish, tabling Q♣ J♥ .

That was dominating Nevalainen’s J♠ 10♠ and the flop brought possibilities for all of them. It came 4♣ Q♠ 8♠ – top pair for Gulhammer but a flush draw for Nevalainen. It didn’t hit, and in fact Guldhammer wound up with a full house as the turn and river came 8♣ 8♦ . — HS

3.20pm: Here Wigg go
Anton Wigg is looking for another scalp as he increases the pressure on his outer table. Sitting on the left of Andrew Teng, the two of them just got in a tangle, with Wigg finally brushing the Brit aside.

First Teng raised to 29,000 from the cut-off, but Wigg, sitting on the button, bumped it up to 92,000. Teng was not done yet, counting out the 62,000 extra, then adding a little more than 100,000 more for good measure.

Wigg then made Teng’s hair stand on end. “I’m all in,” he said, so quietly that the dealer repeated it. Teng wasted no time in tossing his cards into the muck.

A little earlier, Wigg had raised to 29,000 under the gun, and got a call from Morten Klein (who had got no action with his aces the hand before). They saw a 10♣ 4♦ 8♣ flop, and Wigg it 42,000 – getting a quick fold. — SY

3.15pm: Vlasenko wins one from Fouquet
Andrey Vlasenko just took a couple of hundred thousand from Damien Fouquet. The Frenchman opened on the button for 28,000 and was called in the small blind for a flop of J♥ J♦ 7♥ . Both checked for a turn card 9♣ . Vlasenko checked and Fouquet bet out 45,000 which was called. The river came 2♣ . Both checked, Vlasenko’s J♠ 9♠ beating Fouquet’s K♠ 7♠ . — SB

3.12pm: Peter Eastgate eliminated in 22nd place
Peter Eastgate is out, becoming our 22nd place finisher after being on the losing end of a hand against Jesper Petersen.

Peter Eastgate

Eastgate had opened for 27,000, called by Petersen on the big blind for a flop of J♣ 6♥ Q♣ . Petersen checked, Eastgate made it 31,000 which Petersen called for a turn card A♦ . Petersen checked again before Eastgate bet 69,000. Petersen raised and Eastgate moved all-in, showing J♥ J♦ but was trailing Petersen’s 10♥ K♥ straight. The 7♣ on the river changed nothing. — SB.

3.08pm: Cooler for 23rd
On the very next hand Magnus Borg Hansen raised from first position before calling the all-in shove of Kristijonas Andrulis in the small blind. It was a coller as Hansen tabled A♣ A♦ to his opponent’s K♦ K♣ and the board ran 9♣ 7♦ 10♠ 9♠ 9♦ , Andrulis takes home 80,000 DKK as well. –MC

3.06pm: First elimination of the day
Anton Wigg opened with a raise to 28,000 in the cut-off before Nicolo Calia re-raised all-in from the small blind. Wigg called with A♠ 5♣ and the Italian opened 7♠ 8♠ before the board ran Q♠ K♠ J♣ 9♦ A♣ . That seals the first elimination of the day. Calia wins 80,000 DKK for his 24th place finish. — MC

3.05pm: Calm before the storm
It certainly was the calm before the storm on table one where there have now been two eliminations in as many hands. First it was the Italian Nicolo Calia to bite the dust and he was quickly followed by Kristijonas Andrulis. Details of both hands coming right up. — MC

3pm: Junker
Henrik Junker and Mads Wissing are playing out one of those personal scraps within a larger battle that sometimes develop at about this stage. Junker raised to 32,000 from the cut off and Wissing raised to 66,000 from the small blind. Junker showed the A♦ but folded.

On the next hand, Junker again raised to 27,000 from mid-position and again Wissing, this time with the button, made it 66,000. Junker dwelled a little while but soon announced he was all in, which persuaded Wissing out of it. Junker took back the chips he lost on the last pot.

It’s been a good morning for Junker, especially in PokerStars Blog land. We (and by “we”, I mean “I”) reported that he was out in the last hand of last night. But in fact that was Jens Sundberg – it was a case of mistaken identity – and Junker is still in. Apologies to all the friends and family of Junker. Reports of his death had been greatly exaggerated. — HS

2.55pm: And here’s a video
This is the video team’s take on the start of the day…

2.50pm: More from the outer tables
Paul Szyszko raised from second position and only picked up Henrik Junker on the button to go to a 9♣ 6♠ 3♥ flop. Szyszko continued his aggression with a 30,000 c-bet. Call. The turn came 4♣ where Szyszko’s aggression deserted him as he check-folded to a 55,000 bet from Junker. — MC

2.40pm: Stranger danger
The chips were going in long before the board read 2♠ Q♠ 5♦ 2♥ . Peter Eastgate, brow furrowed more than usual, and Damien Fouquet playing with the abandon of a man with nothing to prove, had each put hundreds into the middle.

Fouquet checked the turn and Eastgate bet 77,000. Fouquet raised this to 154,000 which Eastgate then called for a river card 4♦ , making this pot worth 448,000. Now Fouquet bet big, 220,000. Eastgate called almost immediately, although we never got to see his cards. Fouquet showed 5♠ 5♣ , taking the pot.

Eastgate may be no stranger to feature tables, deep into main events, but Fouquet certainly is. This is his first live event anywhere. Anders Beckman, famous in Sweden as the actor in the Yellow Pages commercial, who sat with him on day one, pointed out Fouquet’s amazing story, noting how on that first day Fouquet had been making the basic mistakes common among rookies. “Now he’s the chip leader,” said Beckman. “It’s amazing. — SB.

2.35pm: A view from the outside
Some early skirmishes from the outer tables.

On table Romanello, Morten Guldhammer has been the most active player, and has had the audacity to take on the chip leader. The confidence of qualifying for $1 can do that to you.

There was at least 100,000 in the pot and four cards exposed: 8♥ 3♠ J♣ 10♦ . Guldhammer bet 40,000 and Romanello called. The river was 5♦ and Guldhammer moved all in, for about 450,000.

Romanello asked for the count but when he was told, he mucked. “Good laydown,” Guldhammer said. “I had queen high.” He then tabled Q♠ 2♣ to general gasps.

This earned him a few chips back after he lost some earlier on when Henrik Junker had moved all in, forcing a fold.

On table Teng, it’s Ricky Fohrenbach calling the early shots, but with mixed fortunes. He raised to 29,000 pre-flop and was called by Anton Wigg. The flop came K♣ 3♥ 3♠ and both players checked. The turn was Q♥ and it looked like some chips went in – but it was right at the time Guldhammer was pulling off his bluff on the other table, and I was distracted. Sue me*.

Anyhow, they both went to a river of 6♦ , where Fohrenbach bet 99,000. Wigg called and they showed their hands: Fohrenbach had K♠ 5♠ and Wigg had K♦ J♦ . That made the most important card that Q♥ . It meant they chopped the pot. — HS

*Don’t sue me.

2.26pm: Level up
Play moves into level 20 proper now.

2.25pm: Early action
First blood on the feature table goes to Jesper Petersen with an innocent looking raise on a flop of 3♥ Q♣ 3♠ . He followed up that modest pot with a nice meaty one against Richard Loth, who opened for 27,000 pre-flop which Petersen called. On the flop of 5♥ J♥ A♦ Loth bet another 40,000 which Petersen called for a 3♥ on the turn.

Now Loth checked and Petersen maintained the pace, betting 50,000 which Loth eventually called. On the 8♣ river Loth checked again as Petersen threw out 85,000. Loth looked down at his cards again. “Eight-five?” he asked, and pushed the call over the line showing pocket kings. Petersen held ace-jack to take his second pot of the day. — SB.

2.20pm: We’re off
All the official announcements were made over the PA system before Thomas Kremser announced “Shuffle up and deal.”

1.50pm: A little administration
While we’re at it with the links, don’t forget you can keep track of all today’s chip counts on the cleverly named chip count page and do the same with the eliminations. Guess what we called the prizewinners page? — SB.

1.30pm: Welcome back
A good half hour until the start. When things do get under way we’ll play three minutes of level 19 at blinds of 5,000-10,000, 1,000 ante before things turn up a notch to 6,000-12,000, 1,000 ante. No sign of the players yet so twiddle your thumbs while reading today’s introduction, which you can find here. — SB.

Peter Eastgate

PokerStars Blog reporting team: Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.