Ramzi Karam opened to 500 from early position, and Julien Sitbon called from the big blind. Sitbon check-called for 500 on the flop, which brought in the turn.
Sitbon checked for a second time before Karam continued for another 1,800. Sitbon then jammed for 13,700 and was called.
Julien Sitbon:
Ramzi Karam:
Sitbon had turned two pair, eights and threes, to have the best hand at the time. The river completed the board, and Sitbon doubled up.
When the action was caught on the board , Hayato Kitajima had the iconic all-in triangle in front of him. He had his opponent Gianluca Speranza's stack covered. Speranza made the call, and got shown by Kitajima for a pair of sevens. Speranza bested that with his , and doubled up.
Andreas Chalkiadakis raised it up on the button and was called by the big blind. The flop came and Chalkiadakis continued with a bet 700. The big blind check-raised to 2,500 and Chalkiadakis made it 6,500. His opponent called and the landed on the turn.
The big blind checked again and Chalkiadakis bet 11,000. The big blind check-raised all in for around 16,000 and Chalkiadakis quickly called.
Chalkiadakis tabled for an overpair while his opponent was left with a straight draw holding . The river was the and Chalkiadakis held on for the knockout.
There was around 10,000 already in the middle on the flop. Yasuhiro Waki jammed as the big stack from the cutoff and Paawan Bansal called with his last 15,000 behind.
Paawan Bansal:
Yasuhiro Waki:
Bansal was the favorite and it stayed that way following the turn. However, the river gave Waki trip fives and sent Bansal to the rail.
The always-talkative Ren Lin has joined the tournament and is driving the action at his table.
In this hand, Pierre Gineste opened his button to 2,000. Ren Lin in the small blind happily called, while the big blind got out of the way.
Lin pointed at the flop of before he led with a bet of 1,500. Gineste was not going anywhere and called the bet.
On the turn, Lin fired a bet of 3,500, while claiming that Gineste's supposed ace-king was no good. However, that did not deter Gineste from making the call, and he matched Lin's bet to see the river.
Lin asked the dealer for a deuce to fall, as he did before the turn, and he got his wish as the hit the table. Lin cheered and announced that he was all in, covering Gineste's 16,500 remaining chips. Gineste only thought a few seconds before putting in the call, after which Lin burst out in laughter and gave his neighbor a jovial hug.
The reason for Lin's antics became clear when he tabled , playing only the pair on the board. Gineste showed his hand and it turned out Lin's read was correct; were his cards. Gineste made an amazing hero call with the same board pair as Lin, but having the higher kicker meant he won the pot and doubled his stack.
Lin gave most of his chips to Gineste, with his smile never fading from his face.
Romain Morvan opened to 700 from early position and was called by Jon Kyte on his direct left. Francky Magliocco then made it 3,200 from the hijack before Daniel Custodio four-bet to 7,000 from the small blind. Only Magliocco called.
Custodio checked and Magliocco jammed for 12,200 on the flop and was called.
Francky Magliocco:
Daniel Custodio:
Magliocco had a gutshot straight draw to the straight flush but was still behind Custodio's ace-high. The turn gave Maglicco the flush and the river kept him ahead to claim the double-up.
Picking up the action on the turn with the board reading , Chakib Mhiri tossed in a bet of 2,200 into a pot of around 5,000. Hael Al Labani called from the big blind and the completed the board.
Both players checked and Al Labani showed for a pair of nines. Mhiri tabled for a pair of kings and raked in the pot.
On the next hand, Zhong Chen opened to 800 from under the gun and was called by Al Labani and Mhiri in the blinds. The flop fell and the blinds checked to Chen who bet 1,100. Al Labani called and Mhiri check-raised to 3,100. Chen folded and Al Labani followed suit.