Simon Higgins raised to 40,000 from the cutoff and Mark Teltscher three-bet to 92,000 from the small blind. Carla Sabini folded her big blind and Higgins shoved for around 400,000 chips.
It seemed like Teltscher had not anticipated this move and after about ten seconds he shook his head and folded his cards.
Sorel Mizzi raised to 40,000 from early position and Tamer Kamel called from the button. Mark Teltscher was seated in the small blind and he three-bet to 320,000 with just 60,000 chips left behind. Mizzi moved all in, Kamel folded and Teltscher called.
Mizzi:
Teltscher:
The board ran out and Teltscher found himself a big double up.
David Ulliott raised to 55,000 from the button and Simon Higgins called from the big blind. The flop brought and Higgins checked to Ulliott who bet 50,000.
Higgins quickly called the flop bet and checked again when the hit on the turn. Ulliott bet 65,000 and Higgins called once more.
The river brought the and both players checked. Ulliott showed and took down the pot.
Carla Sabini opened to 44,000 in the cutoff, and David "Devil Fish" Ulliott defended his big blind, saying that all Sabini does is bluff.
The pair checked on a flop of , and the turn brought the . Ulliott led out for 45,000, Sabini called, and the completed the board. Again the Fish led - this time for 100,000 - and Sabini nearly beat him into the pot.
"It was my turn to bluff," Ulliott said, keeping his cards facedown.
Jason Lavallee opened to 42,000 in middle position, Carla Sabini tried to raise to 44,000 on the button, not seeing that Lavallee had already raised, and then opted to call. Luca Pagano moved all in for 476,000 from the small blind, and Talal Shakerchi re-shoved for around 625,000 from the big blind.
"I'm outta here," Lavallee said, pitching his cards into the muck, and Sabini followed suit.
Pagano:
Shakerchi:
According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, these two hands chop 90.67% of the time, but Shakerchi found himself drawing dead after the flop came . The turn and river came , respectively, doubling Pagano to 1.063 million chips.
The defending champion was left with around 150,000, and the action folded to him in the small blind the next hand. He moved all in, Sorel Mizzi quickly called, and the cards went on their backs.
Shakerchi:
Mizzi:
The Brit found no help on the flop (), the turn (), or the river (), and was eliminated in ninth place.
Former EPT San Remo runner up Jason Lavallee just raised to 42,000 from the hijack and both blinds decided to defend. The flop brought and both Mark Teltscher and Carla Sabini checked to Lavallee. The Canadian pro gave it some thought but decided not to bet.
On the turn the hit and Teltscher checked again after which Sabini fired out 88,000. Lavallee made the call and Teltscher quickly folded.
The river brought the and this time Sabini asked Lavallee how much he had left behind. Lavallee said it was around 650,000 and his opponent bet 160,000.
Lavallee tanked for quite a while but eventually he made the call.
"Nice call," Sabini said as she turned over .
Lavallee showed and took down the pot holding ace high.
"I was wondering what you were up to since I folded the last king," Talal Shakerchi said with a smile as Lavallee jumps up to over a million.
The first three hands at the final table were uncontested but on the fourth that changed. Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano raised to 45,000 from under the gun plus one and Sorel Mizzi three-bet from middle position to 106,000.
The action was folded back to Pagano who tanked for a bit before calling with 440,000 left behind.
The flop showed and both players checked rather quickly. On the turn the appeared and Pagano checked again. This time Mizzi put a price on seeing the next card and bet 135,000. Pagano quickly folded and Mizzi raked in this pot.
One hand after Antonio Lafosse busted out it was Frederik Jensen on the outer table who raised to 40,000 under the gun. Simon Higgins and Mark Teltscher folded after which David Ulliott went into the tank.
Ulliott asked how much Jensen had left and the Dane said he started the hand with around 370,000.
"One hundred," Ulliott finally said as he put in a three-bet from the button. Both blinds folded and Jensen moved all in followed by a snap call.
Jensen:
Ulliott:
"Jezus," Jensen sighed as he ran into pocket aces again.
The board ran out and all of a sudden we are down to nine players. There will be a redraw right now as the final nine players are moving to one table.
Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano was seated on the button and he moved all in for 277,000 when the action was folded to him. Sorel Mizzi gave up his small blind but Antonio Lafosse looked down at a serious hand. Lafosse gave it some though, hesitated and finally decided to make the call for his tournament life as Pagano had him slightly covered.
Lafosse:
Pagano:
The board ran out and the king on the turn gave Pagano the winning hand. Lafosse was knocked out in 11th place and just ten players remain.