EPT Tallinn Day 2 Report

Aug. 5, 2011, Posted by Pokerfarm

The second day of the European Poker Tour in Tallinn ended yesterday. A field of 198 remaining players returned to the green felt and as levels progressed only 63 earned their spot for the third day of the event. Nikolas Liakos from Sweden ended the day as the tournament captain with a chip count of 460,200.

Liakos started Day 2 with 86,000 chips and managed to triple his starting stack in the first few levels. He maintained his 250,000 stack all the way to the penultimate hand of the day. That's when he collided with Estonian Henri Kasper in a pre-flop all-in and was lucky enough to crack pocket aces with his pocket fours. Liakos flopped a set and after failing to improve on both the turn and the river, the local player was sent to the rail in utter disbelief.

Four more players were close behind the Swedish player. With Lari Sihvo (400,100), Michael Graydon (349,800), Liutauras Armanavicius (337,600) and Jani Sointula (333,300) jeopardizing his lead, the Swede doesn't have the luxury of playing it safe come Day 3.

But the biggest highlight of Day 2 wasn't Liakos' rise to the top. A Dutchman named Johan Van Til was the story of the day as he started with only 5,300 to his name. Better known for his Pokerstars handle 'busto_soon', the online pro went on a miracle run and bagged in 199,000 chips at the end of the day. Considering the fact this rush was accomplished on the felt of the 'Table of death', which included names like Ville Wahlbeck, Praz Bansi and Matt Frankland, it's no surprise that he's considered the best Dutch tournament pro for quite some time now. It will be interesting to see if he can maintain his spectacular form during Day 3.

Some other notables who survived the day are Finnish Sami Kelopuro, Jeff Sarwer, John O'Shea, Joe Ebanks and Anton Ionel. Alongside them are the only two remaining EPT champions: Roberto Romanello (80,800) and Arnaud Mattern (58,200). Although both of them ended the day well below the average stack (132,000) they will surely do their best in an attempt of making EPT history and be crowned as the first double EPT champion. Mattern is also the only remaining Team Pokerstars Pro in the tournament.

Day 3 is currently underway and play will stop after 24 players are left. Stick with us as tomorrow we will bring you a detailed report on the third day of this exciting tournament.