We didn't catch the hand, but we do know that perennial high roller Richard Yong was just eliminated by Imed Mahmoud. Yong had a decent stack, but now all his chips are a part of Mahmoud's burgeoning 350,000 stack.
We joined the action just as called Marvin Rettenmaier had called Ivan Kotov’s turn bet on a board of . The river was the . A brief pause and Kotov bet 50,000 into a pot of approximately 80,000. Rettenmaier went in the tank as the cameras crowded round and he tried to put Kotov on a hand. A prolonged period of chip riffling ensued as he mulled it over. The call would cost him over a third of his stack if he lost but if he won it would add a sizeable amount. In the end Rettenmaier called but couldn’t beat the two pair hand of Kotov.
After an under the gun open to 6,000, Andrew Moreno called from middle position. The rest of the table folded and Moreno was heads up with his opponent going to the flop.
The flop came down and Moreno's opponent fired 11,000. Moreno flat called to see the fall on fourth street. The action was checked to Moreno and he bet 14,500. His opponent shoved all in for roughly 40,000 total and Moreno called, tabling which was well ahead of his opponent's . The finished off the board and Moreno was able to score the elimination and drag in the pot. His stack has now been worked up to about 237,000.
From under the gun, Albert Daher raised to 5,000. Germany's Paul Knebel made the call on the button, and everyone else folded before the dealer spread out the flop. Daher checked, and Knebel bet 6,400. Daher called. The turn was the , and Daher checked. Knebel bet 14,000, and Daher folded.
It happened when Bulgaria's Aleksandar Denishev raised from the cutoff only to have Lunkin three-bet to 10,200 from the button. The blinds folded, Denishev four-bet to 22,000 and Lunkin ended up making the call. When the flop fell , Denishev fired out 14,100 and Lunkin made a relatively quick call. After the dealer burned and turned the , Denishev slid out a bet of 31,000 and Lunkin snap-shoved for roughly 125,000.
Denishev, clearly distraught, shot back his chair and put his hands on his head. He then removed his sunglasses and stared down Lunkin for well over three minutes before calling off for 117,300 total. Lunkin sheepishly turned over the for a bluff, and he seemed none too pleased when Denishev tabled the . Lunkin, who speaks limited english, expressed his displeasure and asked what took Denishev so long to call.
Whether or not it was a slow roll was a moot point as Denishev was shipped the double after the meaningless completed the board on the river.
With one level to go before the end of the night the pace has changed a little. Either short stacks are going all in or players are opening and generally folding to a three bet out of position. One recent hand did play down to the river. Kevin Schulz opened for 4,700 and was called by Tom Alner and Kent Lundmark in the big blind. The flop was prompting all three players to check. The turn was the and Lundmark led out for 7,500. Schulz called, Alner folded. The river was the and Lundmark kept the pressure up with a bet of 22,000. Too rich for Schulz and Lundmark stacked the chips.