Hand Reviews: EPT 2024

EPT Paris – Greenwood v Fournier

The year for the EPT started off in Paris and during the €5,300 main event that was eventually won by Barry Boatman.  With the bubble looming – 261 were left and 255 were paid, Canadian Sam Greenwood and Frenchman Gregory Fouriner tangled in a devastating pot.

• Preflop Greenwood (270k stack) was UTG and raised to 9k and Fournier (562k) called from the CO.
• The flop goes check-check
• The turn saw Greenwood over bet the pot, firing 35k into a 28k pot, and Fournier called.
• The river saw Greenwood over bet again, sending 120k chips into a 98k pot where Fournier called again.  

The hands were:

Greenwood executed the perfect trap in this hand and got rewarded for it handsomely – the check on the flop with the perfect turn card resulted in Fournier thinking he was good with his set of sixes.  Fournier thought he had gotten lucky on the flop by not having to call a bet with what would have been third pair, only to see it turn into a set.  The odd part about this hand is that Fournier simply flat called the turn and river.  Other than a set, Fournier was only worried about QJ getting there on the river and with double Greenwood’s stack and only 6 away from the money, it is rather puzzling that the bigger stack didn’t put any pressure on the smaller stack as the bubble approached.

On the other hand, it’s also rather puzzling that Fournier didn’t heed the warning flags that Greenwood was firing up that a shorter stack was betting this aggressively so close to the bubble of an EPT main event tournament. Sam Greenwood is not one who is afraid of being the bubble player, but at the same time a short stack being this active at this stage of the tournament should ALWAYS be a sign of caution to a bigger stack in any tournament, let alone a 5300 Euro buy-in main event.

At the end of the hand, this is a pure example of why being passive post flop is never going to work out for you in the long run – and it’s also an example of just how cruel the poker gods can be by giving Greenwood the perfect turn card.  Fournier – who was the day 1B chip leader of this event – ends up fizzling out well before we would have liked to have finished.

EPT Monte Carlo – Bigot v Chauskin

The scene shifted to Monaco for the EPT Monte Carlo and the €5,300 main event which was saw 1,208 entries to make it the biggest EPT Monte Carlo event ever.  There was €1 million up for grabs for first place, and with 56 left in the tournament, we find this crazy hand between Fabrice Bigot and Natan Chauskin,

We find Chauskin in the HJ with a stack just over 2 million chips and 6k and 12k blinds and raises to 26k.  Bigot is in the BB with a 331k stack and defends.  

• Chauskin c-bets 20k and Bigot check-raises him up to 65k.  Chauskin quickly called.
• The turn goes check-check
• The river sees Bigot check and Chauskin shoves which Bigot quickly called.

Many of us, if not all of us, have been there at one point in their poker career.  We get a big hand, hit a flop perfectly, only to see some garbage hand take us out.  This is exactly what happened to Chauskin in this spot.  It also illustrates the potential that defending your big blind can yield in certain situations.

When Bigot hit bottom two pair on the flop, he most likely had Chauskin on top pair with the ace and no real threat to getting a straight with his pre-flop raise from the HJ.  The check-raise is really interesting from Chauskin given that there are two cards that could be in a big blind’s calling range on that flop – but the REAL interesting part of this hand was Bigot’s play post turn. 

The check-check looks like he took a shot at the pot on the flop, it didn’t work and gave up and Chauskin shoving and putting maximum pressure of Bigot should have worked.  Clearly Bigot had a read that this line was a possibility from Chauskin and couldn’t call fast enough knowing that his two pair was good on the river.  If Bigot had more chips, we most likely don’t see a shove from Chauskin but only starting the hand with 331k vs Chauskin’s 2 million stack has the appearance of a David vs Goliath situation, to which David won.

EPT Barcelona – Moene v Song

Stephen Song took down the EPT Barcelona for almost €1.3 million and he gained the nickname the River Monster because of his crazy catches on the last street.  That was not necessarily in play on this hand with 15 left as he defends his BB against Jelle Moene.

• Moene starts this hand with roughly 1.25 million in chips from the HJ and raises to 160k. 

• All fold to Song in the big blind with over 6.3 millions who defends. 
• Blinds are 40k and 80k.
• The flop sees Moene continue with a 110k bet and Song check-raises him up to 275k. 
• Moene decides this is his moment with roughly 12 big blinds behind and shoves all in, to which Song quickly called, building up a 2.6 million pot.

Stephen Song enjoyed a wonderful time in Barcelona, winning this tournament and earning the nickname River Monster.  We don’t need to explain why – Song got his chips into the middle often and was rewarded time and time again even if he got his money in bad.  This hand was no different – when the chips went into the middle, this was a true coin flip with Song having a slight advantage 52-48% – having three 6’s, four 4’s and eight spades to end Moene’s run and the dealer didn’t wait until the river to crush Moene’s heart.  But why we picked this hand was Moene’s line.

Moene’s in position in this hand with the A5 off-suit and the action is put to him on the flop where he has second pair top kicker.  He started the hand with roughly 15 big blinds, and at this stage of the tournament one must wonder if you need to hit flops or just win blinds to survive. 

Keep in mind, we have only 15 players left and the money is getting real for all of the remaining players – so if you need to maintain your chip stack you have to aim to win a hand every orbit and you can make the argument that Moene needs to just shove his stack and take the blinds versus risk being out-flopped…especially when you have someone like Song in the big blind who has already earned the nickname River Monster.  Winning pots is essential – winning big pots is a bonus but with €74,600 for the next elimination and €1.29 million up top, letting an opponent into a hand who is running pure may not be the way to ladder.

EPT Cyprus – Labat v Astedt

Our final stop on the EPT circuit is the most recent series in Cyprus where over 1200 players entered the €5,300 main event.  On day 2 an interesting hand developed between Frenchman Antonine Labat and Swedish player Niklas Astedt.  At the start of the hand, 204 players remained with only 191 players making the min cash of €8,400 and Astedt has over 331k in chips, while Labat is short stacked at only 60k.

• Pre-flop, Astedt in MP raised to 6k and Labat defended the big blind.
• The flop say Astedt continue for 4k into a 16k pot.
• The turn brings a check from both Labat and Astedt.
• The river brings a perceived value bet from Labat of 13k and Astedt makes it 60k and Labat calls it off quickly…the hands speak for themselves.

Labat was very patient on day 2 trying to find a spot to accumulate chips and get himself into a position to make the money but when the deck goes cold, it can go ice cold.  One shouldn’t necessarily question the decision to defend his big blind heads-up against a middle position raise and the sizing of the flop bet was perfect to keep Labat interested in the hand.  The check on the turn by Astedt was as big of a disaster for Labat as the nine itself, giving him the idea that his trip nine’s are ahead. 

The sizing of the river bet was suspect but it really didn’t matter – there was no way Astedt would have let him off the hook at all even if Labat had sized up or shoved the river when all of the draws missed and he most likely had Astedt on an ace from his position, meaning that he was expecting to get paid and regain momentum in the tournament.

Some of the time this would have worked perfectly – this time, all Labat could do is tap the table and walk away 10 players from the money.  At least he was in Cyprus and could enjoy the beautiful weather on his way out of the tournament room.