Igor Kurganov opened for 20,000 from under the gun and was raised to 45,000 by David Benefield. Daniel Negreanu elected to call from the small blind and when Steve O’Dwyer folded the big blind Kurganov moved all in for just over 150,000. Benefield quickly called which gave Negreanu the opportunity to fold his hand. Kurganov showed but was in bad shape against the of Benefield. The board ran out and Kurganov exited the tournament.
It happened after Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier opened with a raise from the cutoff and Smith shoved from the button for 42,000. The blinds folded and Mercier made the call.
Mercier:
Smith:
Smith got it in good, but Mercier was drawing to two live cards. He hit one of them on the flop and left Smith in need of either a king or an ace. The turn wasn't what he was looking for, and neither was the . Smith failed to catch and was bounced from the tournament in 25th place.
Meanwhile, Vladimir Troyanovskiy was eliminated at one of the outer tables.
With registration officially closed, the prize pool information has been released. There were 40 unique players and 11 re-entries for a total of 51 entries. This event is paying the top seven spots with first place taking home a whopping €771,300.
In the last hand before the break, a big hand developed over at the feature table between Mike Watson and Frederik Jensen. We missed the early action, but we do know a flop saw action explode and resulted in Jensen being all in for 416,000.
Jensen:
Watson:
Watson had flopped a straight, but Jensen was drawing very live with an open-ended straight and flush draws, which he'd hit 45% of the time. Any heart or king would give Jensen the win, and he could still chop with an eight. With 928,000 in the pot, the dealer burned and turned the . It was a blank as far as Jensen was concerned.
It was down to the river for Jensen, who sat silently with his eyes fixed on the board. The dealer burned once again and put out the . It was red, but it was not a heart. Clearly dejected, Jensen exited the tournament stage while the rest of the table went on break.
Sandor Demjan, the dangerous big stack at the table opened to 18,000. Mike McDonald moved all in for his last 63,000 and was cautiously called by Martin Finger. The blinds folded and when Demjan too decided not to play the two players turned their cards over. McDonald had and was ahead of the of Finger. The board ran out and McDonald survived.
We made it to the table just in time to see all of Jeff Rossiter's money go in on a board of against David Benefield. Rossiter tabled for a turned flush but was up against Benefield's ace-high flush with . The meaningless completed the board and Benefield was awarded Rossiter's stack.
Rossiter hit the rail while Benefield now sits around 770,000 in chips.
but was in bad shape against the 
of Benefield. The board ran out 
and Kurganov exited the tournament.
flop and left Smith in need of either a king or an ace. The 
turn wasn't what he was looking for, and neither was the 
. Smith failed to catch and was bounced from the tournament in 25th place.
flop saw action explode and resulted in Jensen being all in for 416,000.
. It was red, but it was not a heart. Clearly dejected, Jensen exited the tournament stage while the rest of the table went on break.
of Finger. The board ran out 
and McDonald survived.
for a turned flush but was up against Benefield's ace-high flush with 
. The meaningless 
