In the first hand we saw Dimitar Danchev raise the cutoff to 10,000 and then call the three-bet of Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier in the small blind to 23,500. On the flop ElkY fired and did so again on the turn for 38,000.
Danchev called both bets and then the two of them checked down the on the river. ElkY showed pocket threes and Danchev took down the pot with .
One hand later. Mustapha Kanit raised to 10,000, the Frenchman made it 28,000 to go and Kanit moved all in. Call from Grospellier:
Grospellier:
Kanit:
The Frenchman was in excellent shape to double up to where he was just five minutes ago. The dealer spread out the flop and Kanit had the open ended straight draw. The turn completed exactly that and the river saw ElkY storming out of the tournament area.
Philip Sternheimer raised from under the gun, Myro Garcia raised to 27,000 and Sternheimer then made it 58,000 to go. Garcia five-bet to 100,000 and Sternheimer moved all in. Snap call:
Sternheimer:
Garcia:
"No diamonds please," said Sternheimer. The dealer did him that favor as the board ran out was chopped and both players increase their stack with half the blinds and ante.
Ihar Soika from Belarus opened the cutoff with a raise to 10,000. Artem Litvinov folded his button, but Dominik Nitsche in the small blind had bigger plans with his hand. He shoved allin and David Vamplew folded his big blind. Soika called, even without asking how much it exactly was.
Nitsche tabled his and was up against Soika's .
The flop was a safe one for Soika, though things got pretty scary with the on the turn. The river was not an ace or club but the and Nitsche departed from the tournament.
Mustapha Kanit opened the action with a raise to 10,000 and Tamer Kamel in the cutoff as well as Konstantin Puchkov in the big blind called. The flop saw the continuation bet of Kanit for 12,000 and only Kamel called. On the turn both players checked.
The river completed the board and Kanit led for 14,500. Kamel raised to 62,500 after some consideration. It took about one minute for Kanit to toss in chips and make the call. He then mucked when getting shown the by the Brit.
A huge pot just took place between two big stacks.
It began when Alex Bilokur opened with a raise from middle position and Max Greenwood three-bet to 47,500 from the button. The blinds folded, Bilokur four-bet to 86,000, and Greenwood moved all in for roughly 250,000. Bilokur called and it was off to the races.
Bilokur:
Greenwood:
The flop kept Bilokur in the lead, as did the turn. However, the river did not. Instead, it put a straight on the board, and that meant it was a chopped pot.
You know what they say here in the EPT: "Everybody loves a chopped pot."
From early position, Konstantin Puchkov moved all in for five big blinds and was called one seat over by Mustapha Kanit. All other players folded and Puchkov showed the .
Kanit had that covered with the and the Russian was already drawing dead on the turn. The completed the board and the field was reduced to 19.
Minutes later, Griffin Benger arrived in the previous seat of Puchkov and he and Kanit checked down a hand. On the river Benger checked, and Kanit said to him, "I wanna see your cards, I check. You wanna see mine?"
Benger replied "Sure," to which Kanit added "50 euros." Both opponents and the rest of the table laughed.
Thomas Muhlocker raised to 12,000 and Max Greenwood called on the cutoff before Marc-Andre Ladouceur on the button moved all in for 106,000. Muhlocker quickly tossed his cards to the dealer but Greenwood tanked for a good two minutes. He ultimately threw in a few blue chips and it was time for a showdown:
Greenwood:
Ladouceur:
Greenwood joked to his neighbor "Like the last time when I turned a king?" Both players had the same constellation before with Ladouceur holding king jack and hitting the king, but Greenwood rivered the straight. This time the board ran out and Ladouceur grabbed his jacket.
Update on the table banter between Griffin Benger and Mustapha Kanit. Benger raised to 13,000, Kanit clicked it back to 35,000 and the Canadian four-bet to 77,000. Kanit folded and then offered Benger 50 euros if he would show his cards.
Benger did him the favor and turned over . The whole table erupted in laughter while Kanit handed over five 10 euro notes. Well, that pays for some ice cream here in Sanremo. :)