Norwegian Poker Players Dominating at EPT Grand Final

[I Heart Gambling Online]

Once again those aggro Scandi poker players are dominating an EPT event. However, this time they are all from one country, Norway.

After Day 2 of the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, Norwegian poker players held the top four spots on the leaderboard. 2005 WSOP champion Joe Hachem managed to sneak above another Norwegian into fifth place, otherwise the top five would've all been Nordic.

Those four Norwegians sitting at the top of the list of 129 players that made it through the day were Oyvin Riisem, Johnny Lodden, Borge Dypvik and Andreas Hagen. They were followed at the top of the leader board by controversial online poker player Sorel "imper1um" Mizzi, Luca Pagano and Hachem, as we mentioned. Among the mighty that fell yesterday were Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen, Team Bodog poker pro Josh Arieh and Barry Greenstein.

Play is already underway due to the vagaries of time zones and we've already lost several of the big names that sat down this morning. Eli Elezra, Mel Judah, Marcel Luske and Anna "The Poker Pixie" Wroblewski have all been sent to the rail today.

On the other end of the specturm, Mizzi has managed to crack the top four, but still has about 200k in chips less than Riisem, who is stubbornly holding onto his lead. Pagano and Hachem both just took hits to their stacks and have dropped down the board. Notables still trying to catch the Scandis include Antonio Esfandiari, Freddy Deeb, online poker pro Isaac "westmenloAA" Baron, 2007 WSOP final tablist Raymond Rahme and then a bunch of names from the Lord of the Rings books.

There are currently 81 players remaining, which means they are one bustout away from bursting the money bubble. The payouts begin at $26,908 so everyone is understandably taking their time and hoping beyond hope that the "other guy" will be the one to go home. Needless to say, play has slowed considerably and they are now on a 15-minute break.

Stay tuned to the Beat for more updates from the 2008 EPT Grand Final.

- Bodog Beat

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