Sometimes when you talk to a poker player you just have to put a voice recorder in front of them and let them speak. Then write it all down word for word.
This was the approach to overnight chip leader Alex Tikhoniouk last night, who as well as turning 26 this Sunday, the day of the final table, had the day of his tournament life yesterday, as the Irishman explained.
“I started the day with 77,000, pulled a big bluff. I was down to three or four blinds–I was down to 4,000 and the blinds were 600/1200 I think. Then I doubled up three times pretty quick. Ace-six against queen-ten, then queen-seven against ace-rag.
Alex Tikhoniouk
“And then I spun up to 20 bigs. And then when the blinds were one-two (Vladimir) Troyanovsky opened with fives, I jammed from the small blind with ace-four. I spiked a wheel to double up to 40 bigs.
“And then I had a stack of 80,000, then I swapped tables. I won a little pot with kings, got two streets on like a nine-high board. I chipped up, chipped up. Then I won a very large pot when I three-bet two aces. I got a call, the board came ace-nine two, two spades. I bet like quarter pot, the guy called, turns like eight of diamonds. I bet half pot, called, river pairs the nine, I have top full. He checks, I bet like nearly full pot like, he tanks forever, calls, so that pot was like 160k and then I chipped up from then.”
Easy really.
“It was a crazy day, I was down to four bigs. It was insane.”
Not bad for a first EPT.
“I’m just here for this to try it out. It’s going pretty well.”
Coverage from the Main Event of EPT Deauville is on the Main Event page. Check out all the action from around the festival on the main festival page. Also follow the action on EPT Live and stay up to date with the sensational EPT app for iPhone, iPad or Android.
Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.
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