Esfandiari joins Premier League Party
Friday, 22 March 2013
Another intense day of action inside Aspers Casino, London, produced three more winners in this year’s PartyPoker Premier League preliminary rounds.
Having previously seen Jonathan Duhamel and Dan Cates claim victories in Heats 1 and 2, Antonio Esfandiari decided he wanted a slice of the action, yesterday.
Having only bagged three points going into the third match, Esfandiari needed a strong performance to stay in with a chance of making it through to the final rounds.
Fortunately, he got his wish as previous winner, Cates, couldn’t maintain his momentum and subsequently hit the rail in 8th place. Following swiftly behind was Daniel Negreanu (2 points) and Marvin Rettenmaier (3 points), before this year’s dominant force, Jonathan Duhamel, suffered his worst finish yet.
After leaving in fifth place (4 points), Duhamel could only watch as Sam Trickett (6 points) and Phil Hellmuth (8 points) made way for Scott Seiver and Esfandiari. At this point in the match it was Esfandiari with the imposing chip lead and despite his best efforts, Seiver was unable to overcome the deficit.
The final hand saw Seiver commit his stack with Qc-Jd and Esfandiari call with As-5h. As the board ran out 6c 5d 2d Kc Kh, the match came to a satisfying conclusion for The Magician.
Group B’s third session followed a similar pattern as Group A’s with a fresh victor emerging. Having scored 10 points before the session, recent EPT London High Roller Champion Talal Shakerchi managed another 16 yesterday. After cutting his way through the stellar field, Shakerchi had a Tobias Reinkemeier sized speed bump in his way.
However, as impressive as the German has been so far in the event, Shakerchi was able to force his opponent into some loose calls with his unorthodox play. Eventually Reinkemeier’s money went in with pocket sixes and was left to race Shakerchi’s Jc-Th. A jack on the flop swung the advantage towards the Brit and after a blank turn and river it was Shakerchi who claimed the win.
Rounding out yesterday’s action was Group A’s fourth and final Heat which saw Cates and Duhamel battle once again for the win. After a swift session it was Cates who bested his opponent this time around, bagging another 16 points after a fortunate Js Ad Qd Jh 4c board helped his Kh Jh beat Duhamel’s Kc Qd.
Group B will play their final heat later today.
Group A - Overall Standings:
1st. Jonathan Duhamel (42 points) takes stack of 420,000 to the final
2nd. Daniel Cates (34 points) takes stack of 340,000 to the final
3rd. Sam Trickett (27 points) takes stack of 270,000 to the final
4th. Antonio Esfandiari (23 points) plays Scott Seiver for a place in the final
5th. *Scott Seiver (21 points) plays Antonio Esfandiari for spot in the final
6th. *Phil Hellmuth (21 points)
=7th. Marvin Rettenmaier (16 points)
=7th. Daniel Negreanu (16 points)
Group B – Overall Standings:
1st. Tobias Reinkemeier, 38 points
2nd. Dan Shak, 35 points
3rd. Talal Shakerchi, 26 points
4th. Jennifer Tilly, 16 points
=5th. Jason Mercier, 10 points
=5th. Tony G, 10 points
7th. Igor Kurganov, 8 points
8th. Phil Laak, 6 points