We arrived at the table just in time to see a series of bets and raises between Michael Brady and Zsolt Vasvenszki on a flop of . All of the money went in and it was Brady's tournament life that was at risk.
Vasvenszki showed for middle set, the second best possible hand at this stage in the hand. Brady, however, rolled over for top set of tens and was a huge favorite to score a key double up early in play. The deck would not be kind to Brady, though, as the dealer ripped off the on the turn without any hesitation. Suddenly, Brady was one card away from elimination as a victim of Vasvenszki's quad fives. The on the river was not the case ten that Brady was looking for and he made a quick exit from the tournament area. Vasvenszki raked in the pot and now sits around 66,000.
Two PokerStars players had an early confrontation; Radif Sharifullin from Russia and Alejandro Gonzalez Olaechea from Spain. On a flop of Sharifullin bet 325 from the cut off and was raised by Olaechea to 750. Sharifullin looked pained but after considering his options raised him back to 1,950. After a short pause Olaechea made the call. The on the turn led both players to check and the river was the . Olaechea toyed with his stack and then bet 2,750. Sharifullin looked like someone had punched him in the gut. Had the check on the turn left Olaechea an opportunity to bluff? He cut out the calling chips and reluctantly pushed them over the line. “Full house.” Said the dealer as Olaechea flipped over . Olaechea, despondent, mucked.
Bernard Guigon from France raised from early position and was called by the small blind and Sergey Rybachenko in the big blind. The flop came . Guigon bet 450 and Rybachenko was his only caller. They both checked the next two streets and Rybachenko tabled his . His opponent hesitated, the dealer indicated that Guigon should now turn over his cards. He slowly flipped over for the best hand. Rybachenko’s hooded eyes gave his opponent a withering look. He doesn’t look like a man used to being slow rolled.
The flop read when we found Oleksii Khoroshenin and Khiem Nguyen staring down at the felt. With a sizable amount already in the middle, Khoroshenin fired out a bet of 2,075. Nguyen called and fourth street brought paint with the . Khoroshenin did not let up as he cut out a bet of 3,600. Nguyen called once more.
The final card was the and Khoroshenin took his time before dropping 6,300 in the table's center. Nguyen went into the tank for over one minute while he attempted to come to a decision. Eventually, he decided to call the bet.
Khoroshenin rolled over which prompted a quick muck from Nguyen. Khoroshenin dragged in the pot and now has about 46,000 while Nguyen has fallen to about 21,000.
We arrived at the table just in time to see three players including Luca Pagano and Marvin Rettenmaier commit 800 in chips each after a flop of . Fourth street brought the to the felt and Pagano checked from the small blind. The UTG player checked as well and Rettenmaier took charge with a bet of 1,825. Pagano flat called and the UTG player folded.
The brought a third spade on the river and Pagano checked. Rettenmaier knuckled the table back and Pagano showed for a baby flush. This was enough to cause Rettenmaier to muck his hand and watch as the pot was pushed to Pagano.
Pagano, who got off to a rocky start, has now climbed back to about 22,500. Rettenmaier, on the other hand, has dropped to around 26,500.
It was a busy day on the European Poker Tour yesterday, with the conclusion of the €50,000 Super High Roller event, won by Russian pro Vitaly Lunkin, and the opening day of the main event, with a field in excess of 500 players.
We caught the action preflop, albeit after some action had already occurred. When we arrived, Shannon Shorr had 2,650 out in front of him from the big blind and was contemplating a raise to 5,475 from Martin Bolecek in the cutoff.
Shorr eventually made the call and then checked the flop. Bolecek fired out 5,475, and Shorr thought for a bout 40 seconds before making the call. Both players checked the turn, which was followed by a bet of 4,600 from Shorr on the river. Bolecek thought for a little over a minute before tossing in a single blue T5,000 chip to signify a call, but mucked just as soon as Shorr rolled over the for a rivered set.
The flop read when we found Ivan Demidov fire out a bet of 800 against Brian England. England called and the turn brought the . Demidov slowed down with a check and England bet 1,700. Demidov took a bit of time before deciding to flat call and check once more after the rivered. England checked behind.
Demidov showed for top pair but was ultimately outkicked by England's for top-top. The pot was pushed to England who now has about 34,000 to Demidov's 28,000.