 12.28pm: Play begins
The EPT Vilamoura final table is under way. We're just hours away from someone winning ?467,835. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not to be sneezed at. -- SY
12.20pm: Nearly ready
The final eight players are now in their seats. Thomas Kremser is making the...
 12.28pm: Play begins
The EPT Vilamoura final table is under way. We're just hours away from someone winning ?467,835. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is not to be sneezed at. -- SY
12.20pm: Nearly ready
The final eight players are now in their seats. Thomas Kremser is making the introductions, we'll be off in around five minutes. -- SY
12.15pm: What a relief
Followers of PokerStars Blog this week will know we've had a spectacular run of fortune, making more than $12million from kindly ladies in Africa wanting help with their deceased fathers' fortunes, plus a cheeky win on an Australian state lottery (which we never entered, but we're keeping quiet about that).
Imagine our horror, therefore, to receive an email at blog@pokerstars.com from FBI Headquarters in Washington. We instantly feared the worst - perhaps the FBI was to tell us we had been conned and our bank accounts were being fleeced.
But no. It turns out this was another piece of good news. Dr Chad L. Fulgham was writing from the FBI to tell us his department had discovered we were owed $6million from China. We're not sure how, but we're certainly not questioning it, although his yahoo.cn email address is a worry (shouldn't it be fbi.com or something?). Nonetheless, we're sending him the $150 he needs to get the ball rolling.
So, we're now up to $18million this week. Quite impressive, we think you'll agree. -- SY
12.10pm: Delayed start
The players are here but not yet ready to play. Chips are on the table but the usual preliminaries are taking a few minutes. Play should be under way soonish. When play does start the blinds will be 12,000-24,000 with a 2,000 ante. -- SB
Welcome back for the final table of EPT Vilamoura, the culmination of five days of play that began with a field of 384. Those players are just a memory now as the last eight emerge to fight it out for a first prize of ?467,835.
The leader coming into the final is Englishman Toby Lewis, who last night snatched the chip lead from countryman Sam Trickett at the bell, ahead by just 4,000. Behind them is soccer legend Teddy Sheringham, making the top three an all English affair that we couldn't believe either. The table will line up like this:
Seat 1: Teddy Sheringham, 44, UK, Friend of PokerStars - 1,783,000
Seat 2: Toby Lewis, 20, UK, PokerStars player - 3,322,000
Seat 3: Martin Jacobson, Sweden, PokerStars qualifier - 441,000
Seat 4: Jason "JaspudUF" Lee, 25, Florida, USA PokerStars qualifier - 1,167,000
Seat 5: Sergio Coutinho, 30, Oporto, Portugal - 872,000
Seat 6: Sam Trickett, 24, Nottingham, UK - 3,318,000
Seat 7: Rob Hollink, 48, Groningen , Netherlands - 259,000 chips
Seat 8: Frederik Jensen, 28, Denmark, PokerStars player - 375,000
Lewis seems confident, or at least he's looking forward to the final. His Facebook status this morning reads: "BAM BAM BAM BAM BAM! 1/8 into the FINAL! Lets f do this 480k euros yes." I think that says it all.
Casino Vilamoura
And so to it. The players are arriving, well kind of. Martin Jacobson was just seen still eating breakfast back at the hotel and to be honest I can't see any of the others. But we're assured they're on their way, undergoing the rigours of a pre-match photo shoot with Neil Stoddart before taking their seats in Casino Vilamoura's tournament coliseum.
In honour of this momentous occasion the blog team are each decked out in ceremonial battle dress today, complete with staff blazers and ties, decorative sash, plus fours, tricorne hats and campaign medals. All except Rick Dacey, who follows us all making horse noises with two coconut shells. As leader Simon Young is entitled to carry a side arm.
Live coverage will begin shortly. You can find regularly updated chip counts throughout the day on the chip count page, while all the results will be posted on the prize winners page as we inch nearer to a winner. Fancy starting from the beginning? Then all news from Vilamoura is posted at this convenient link.
PokerStars Blog reporting team at EPT Vilamoura (in order of Octopus eaten this week): Rick Dacey (1), Stephen Bartley (1), Marc Convey (1 tentacle) and Simon Young (not on your life). Photos by Neil
Posted originally: 2010-09-02 13:44:56
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