EPT Dortmund 2009 Blog

Read Damian's Casino Wiesbaden February 2009 Blog

March 2009

After gaining live poker tournament experience at the Casino Wiesbaden and winning a few thousand Euros, Damian Ciomperlik (Germany) was now even more ready to compete in his next live tournament as a part of Team Titan - at the EPT Dortmund in Dortmund, Germany. This is his reflection of the event.

Day 1

At the EPT in Dortmund, I must say that I was very nervous and as a consequence I made some errors. It took about an hour before I got used to the media presence and the large amount of spectators in the audience and was able to focus on my game.

The first day went surprisingly well. I played good, I was able to read my opponents and my moves worked. I played aggressively so that I could further expand my stack. Towards the end of the first day my chip peak was 60,000 chips, from 10,000 initially. Throughout the day I was one of the chip leaders.

However, it was clear that it could not possibly run so smoothly all of the time. So the second to last hand of the day was when I ran into trouble and what turned out to be the key hand of the day.

In the early position, I held QQ and raised to the standard three big blinds. All players folded, but the button re-raised me with 20,000 chips left in his stack. He had played some weak hands before so there was still the possibility to gain even more chips. I decided to be aggressive and went All-In. Unfortunately I ran into kings and my stack shrank to 35,000 chips.

Damian Ciomperlik in action at the tables.

Day 2

The second day continued the same way that the first day ended. I came to an aggressive table and there were many re-raises. The only familiar faces I knew were George Danzer and an Intelli-Freeroller. The day before I saw a video interview with him and I knew that he would play aggressively. After about half an hour there was a short stack in first position with his small stack All-In. I was the big blind. George Danzer re-raised the minimum allowed in the later position, just when I had AQ. Since I assumed that he had the short stack only to isolate and not necessarily a strong hand and that I could possibly get free cards, I called. The flop brought the A Rainbow on the board. I checked, Danzer added 1/3 to the pot. I called. The Turn brought me a small card in spades, 2 spades on the table. I checked again, this time Danzer did to. River brought another spade. Check, check and Danzer showed Nuts with AQ in spades. I was a bit lucky that he did not realize he had a Flush; otherwise I would have probably lost more chips. I now had 20,000 chips left after that hand.

15 minutes later, I got a 10 and Ace in clubs in the later position. The big blind was the Intelli-Freeroller. I raised again and this time the big blind made a re-raise with the more than 40,000 chips he had left. I knew from the video that he plays aggressively and called only to see the flop. The flop came along with 2, 5, and 8 with two clubs. Because there was already a lot in the middle it was clear to me that I would go All-In. The Intelli-Free Roller Raised to almost the whole pot. I could not fold anymore and went All-In. My A 10 against 5, 4 off suit. Turn and river were blanks. So, after half an hour, the second day was finished for me.

After all, I think it would have been better to push Pre-flop, instead of just calling because I knew that he is capable of moves. I was a little anxious, but I guess that is normal if you play for the first time in such a great tournament.

A few known Poker pros who happened to be sitting at my table were William Thorson, Marcin Horecki and Ivan Demidov. To have had the chance to play at the EPT Dortmund with so many Poker Pros was a very good experience and I hope it will not be the last.

Titan Poker congratulates you on an excellent performance and thanks you for a great tournament. See you at the next one!

Read Damian's Casino Wiesbaden February 2009 Blog