The eagerly-awaited PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London kicked off Sunday at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, better known as The Vic. A hardy bunch of 236 players posted the £5,000+250 buy-in on the first of two Day 1 flights, and only 131 made it through to Day 2.

It took eight 75-minute levels of play to whittle down to that number, and at the end of the day Canadian poker pro Marc-Andre Ladouceur finished on top with 163,500. Players from the Québéc region of Canada have been dominating the EPT this season, whether it’s at the table or a nearby bar. Ladouceur had already won more than “300,000 in Season 9 and stormed his way through Day 1a. He was a raising machine that caused his tablemates all kinds of trouble.

Someone had to stand up to Ladouceur and that person was Marvin Rettenmaier. To be fair, when Rettenmaier called all-in after a Ladouceur river over-bet he did have a set, but that was no match for Ladouceur who had turned a flush. That put the Canadian up to 170,000 (100,000 more than second placed player at the time) and from there he steadied his ship.

Another player who thrived on Day 1a was EPT Vilamoura Season 6 winner Antonio Matias who finished with 141,000 in chips. Some of those chips came courtesy of Team PokerStars Pro Tono Judet. The man from Portugal was betting into Judet with a flush draw and got there on the river, at which point Judet called all-in, saw his opponent’s hand, mucked, and left the room.

Those two players are well placed for a deep run and a shot of glory, as are Timothy Davie (136,800), Michel Dattani (119,000), Pierre Neuville (83,200), Adria Balaguer (160,300) and Davide Suriano (130,800). Also advancing on Day 1a were Luke Schwartz (66,000), Theo Jorgensen (65,500), Henrique Pinho (63,500), Marcin Horecki (57,000), Alex Kravchenko (52,200), Johnny Lodden (33,200) and Luca Pagano (30,600).

EPT London has seen luminaries such as Team PokerStars Pro Vicky Coren, Benny Spindler, Michael Martin and Aaron Gustavson claim this coveted title in the past. The latter was the only former champion playing Sunday and he didn’t last long. Gustavson got his stack in on the turn when he had the nut straight only for the board to pair up for a player holding a set.

Coren was too busy cashing in the UKIPT High Roller to play the EPT Main Event on Sunday, but the ladies were very well represented as Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Selbst (54,800), Liv Boeree (56,100), and Leo Margets (57,000) all advanced, as did Annette Obrestad (84,100). Selbst seemed to be in every pot for a while and her stack fluctuated a lot but never to a critical point. Boeree felt like she was back on form, and Margets was stuck in the corner all day but managed to advance. Obrestad, meanwhile, eliminated veterans such as Barny Boatman and Steve Jelinek to cruise through to Day 2.

Joining Boatman and Jelinek on the rail were Dominik Nitsche, Ari Engel, Sam Holden, Wojceich Barzantny, Max Silver, Kent Lundmark, Paul Foltyn, Chris Bjorin, Andrew Teng, Ville Wahlbeck and Scott Seiver.

Day 1b got under way at 12:00 PM GMT and eight more 75-minute levels will be played before all remaining players join forces for Day 2 on Wednesday. Be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting page for up-to-the-minute reports, photos, chip counts, and more!

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.

Check out the original source here! Originally from PokerNews.com

March 26 2012, Chris Hall

The PokerStars European Poker Tour has moved on to Campione, Italy, a tiny town actually in Switzerland on the edge of Lake Lugano. Casinò di Campione, the largest casino in Europe, played host to Day 1a of EPT Campione, where 178 players began the day. When play ended Monday night, Davide Andreoni held the chip lead, finishing the day with 175,100.

Andreoni had several tussles throughout the day against Dario Nittolo, whom he sat next to, but Andreoni came out ahead by the end of the day with the overall chip lead.

Given the high number of Italians playing on Day 1a, an often-used strategy would be to play fairly straightforward to reduce the potential volatility, but Nick Yunis had other plans. The Chilean was seen playing almost every hand, his stack jumping around from 30,000 up to 100,000 and back down again. Winning significant pots against both Simon Persson and Rasmus Nielsen, Yunis finished on a high with 169,200, second only to Andreoni.

There were only four Team PokerStars Pros playing on Day 1a and they suffered mixed results. Alex Kravchenko (23,600) and the home hope, Luca Pagano (16,200) managed to make it through the action, but both will be back on Wednesday with fairly short stacks and in need of an early double-up.

Theo Jorgensen entered after the first couple of levels but didn’t last long. First, his jacks were cracked by Anton Ionel’s ace-three, which hit trip threes on the flop. Ionel then finished Jorgensen off soon after with kings against king-jack. Pierre Neuville also suffered a surprisingly early exit, as did Mads Wissing and Cristian Dragomir.

Other players who didn’t make it through the day included former EPT Prague runner-up Emiliano Bono, James Dempsey, former Irish Open champion James Mitchell, McLean Karr, Yordan Dimitrov and Casey Kastle. They’ll have to enjoy the relaxing views and sights that Campione and nearby Lugano have, as well as the multitude of side events that the casino will be putting on over the next few days.

Per Linde (67,200), former EPT champion Roberto Romanello (50,800), Marion Nedellec (51,200) and Rasmus Nielsen (41,000) are just a few players who have moved on to Day 2.

End of Day 1a Chip Counts

Although Day 1a was relatively quiet, the field on Tuesday should be bigger. Plenty of players are expected to play on Day 1b, including Team PokerStars Pros Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov, Liv Boeree, Lex Veldhuis, Victor Ramdin, Vanessa Selbst, Marcin Horecki and Dario Minieri.

Day 1b action kicks off on Tuesday at 1400 CEST (0500 PDT) and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on the floor bringing you all the action live from the felt.

Follow PokerNews on Twitter for up-to-the-minute news.