Day 1a at Dortmund: EPT Descends on Germany

Day 1a at Dortmund: EPT Descends on Germany

Wednesday, 30 January 2008

The Germans are world-renowned for their efficiency, right? Even the best briefed organisers couldn’t have been prepared for the number of people who turned up hoping to take part in the Pokerstars EPT in Dortmund, and with bumper queues of people ho

The Germans are world-renowned for their efficiency, right? Even the best briefed organisers couldn’t have been prepared for the number of people who turned up hoping to take part in the Pokerstars EPT in Dortmund, and with bumper queues of people hoping to register, the event started an hour later than scheduled.
A total of 198 players took part in Day 1a, with some of the world’s finest walking through the doors of the Hohensyburg Casino. Amongst the line-up were Juha Helppi, Alex Kravchenko, Julian Thew and Katja Thater.
With so many top players in one field it wasn’t surprising that certain tables took on the mantle of ‘Table of Death’. One contender might have been the one which harboured Juha Helppi, Alex Kravchenko and Gino Alacqua, the recent EPT Prague runner-up. Another dynamite table found Katja Thater, Sorel 'Imper1um' Mizzi and Dario Minieri, although Dario was an early casualty, with Mizzi shortly following him to the rail after he ran Ah-Qd into Claudio Rinaldi’s pocket kings.
Juha Helppi was kept busy by Rob Hollink and Alex Kravchenko, with Katja Thater coming to the table later in the day. Helppi’s chip graph for the day reads like a rollercoaster ride, but he ended up with a crucial double-through after a flop of Kc-8s-5h saw his KQ survive against his opponent’s KT.
Helppi will be joined in Day 2 by Katja Thater who was another who had a tough day, ending up on 19,500 chips. Seventy-three others will join the pair of them in Day 2. Now we just have to see who manages to negotiate Day 1b and will join them there.



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