EPT: Sarwer Extends Vilamoura Lead on Day 2; Lellouche in 2nd

Jason Kirk | November 19, 2009

Two days of poker are in the books at EPT Vilamoura in Portugal, and former child chess prodigy Jeff Sarwer of Canada leads the way with only 69 players still in contention for the top prize of €404,793.

Sarwer, who also held the chip lead at the end of Day 1B, made the most out of several confrontations with his friend Shaun Deeb, especially the last one when he flopped a straight against Deeb’s top pair, top kicker. After leading this tournament for two days it appears that he is once again poised to make a run at the final table, which eluded him at EPT Warsaw last month when he finished in tenth place.

Sitting right behind Sarwer is French pro Antony Lellouche, who was one of the chip leaders along with Sarwer on Day 1B and Day 3 in Warsaw. Lellouche was fortunate enough to pick up Jason Mercier’s stack on a hand where aggressive young champ decided to make a huge move at the wrong time; his K K held up against Mercier’s Q J and boosted his stack past 400,000 late in the day. Lellouche is looking to add to his already impressive total of three EPT final tables, though a win here would be his first championship.

Also in the top ten are new Dutch Team PokerStars pro Ruben Visser, Day 1A chip leader Ljubomir Josipovic, Dutch online star Johan “busto_soon” Van Til, and new Irish Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth, who sits in tenth place heading to Day 3 despite only beginning the day with a stack worth 13,100. Still in the hunt, but further down the leaderboard, are the Hendon Mob’s Ross Boatman, Season 5 EPT Warsaw winner Joao Barbosa, Dutch pot-limit Omaha guru Rolf Slotboom, 2007 WSOP Main Event final tablist Alexander Kravchenko, and 2005 WSOP Main Event final tablist Andy Black.

Day 3 begins tomorrow at noon local time at Casino Vilamoura.

EPT Vilamoura Day 2 Top Ten Chip Counts

1. Jeff Sarwer (Canada) 549,800
2. Antony Lellouche (France) 484,700
3. Ruben Visser (Netherlands) 389,500
4. Ljubomir Josipovic (Austria) 371,700
5. Martin Wendt (Denmark) 360,300
6. Luis Rodriguez (Spain) 321,500
7. Pierre Neuville (Belgium) 270,500
8. Gino Gabriel (United Kingdom) 264,800
9. Johan Van Til (Netherlands) 259,500
10. Jude Ainsworth (Ireland) 230,600

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