Welcome to the final day of the European Poker Tour London High Roller sponsored by PokerStars.com held in partnership with The Hippodrome Casino London at the Grand Connaught Rooms.
Leonid Markin is the man best placed at the moment as he holds the lead with 1,921,000 but he has a fight on his hands as Jorryt van Hoof, chip leader in the WSOP November Nine, is breathing down his neck with 1,546,000
Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden returns as the short stack with 272,000 chips no doubt looking to spin it up to get him back in contention. Two Brits have also made the final table in Craig McCorkell (887,000) and Niall Farrell (510,000).
If the action is anything like yesterday we are in for a feast of high level aggressive poker. The field of 86 players was reduced to the remaining ten players in ten frenetic levels of play and just one more needs to be eliminated before a re-draw sees them all join on one table before the official final table of eight is set.
Cards are in the air at Noon and they will play down to a winner today who is set to receive £394,200. Don’t forget to keep an eye on the Main Event Final Table coverage which resumes at 2 p.m. on a one hour delay as the EPT London Season 11 Festival of Poker draws to a close. As always PokerNews will be on hand to bring you all the latest updates as they happen.
Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden moved in from the cutoff for 227,000. Craig McCorkell tanked on the button and then made the call. Philippe D'Auteuil and Salman Behbehani folded in the blinds.
Lodden:
McCorkell:
The flop came and Lodden paired his five in a three-outer to move into the lead, the on the turn gave McCorkell some chop outs but the on the river was even better as McCorkell caught his own three-outer to knock out Lodden in 10th place.
There will be a redraw for the unofficial final table. The official final table will consist of eight players.
Jorryt van Hoof opened the pot for 55,000 and Leonid Markin called from the small blind.
They saw a heads-up flop of and Markin decided to lead for 60,000. Van Hoof pondered for a short while before splashing out a chunk of red T25000 chips for a big raise. Markin announced all in and van Hoof called instantly.
Van Hoof had flopped top set but he was in for a nasty surprise as Markin tabled the straight. The turn card and river couldn’t pair the board for the November Niner and his chips were pushed to Markin who hit the 3,000,000 mark.
Philippe D'Auteuil was getting low on chips and when it folded to him he moved all in for 200,000. Fady Kamar asked for a count and raised to isolate. No one else wanted to get involved so it was cards on their backs time.
D'Auteuil Versus Kamar .
A final board of saw Kamars hand hold up to bust D'Auteuil.
Andrew Chen open-shoved for 588,000 in second position. It was passed to Salman Behbehani in the big blind who checked his cards, gave Chen's stack a resigned look and then reluctantly made the call.
Behbehani:
Chen:
The board came and Chen doubled up to leave Behbehani the second shortest stack remaining.
Fady Kamar opened to 65,000 preflop and it was passed around to Martin Quack who shoved for 425,000. Kamar got a count and then made the call.
Kamar:
Quack:
There was no help on the flop for Quack but the turn gave him two overs, a flush draw and a counterfeit pair draw to hit. Somehow he missed all of these on the river and was knocked out in 6th place.
Salman Behbehani moved all in from second position for around 300,000 and it was passed to Fady Kamar in the big blind who tanked for a moment then made the call.
"Do you have ace-six?" asked Behbehani, quite specifically.
Kamar:
Behbehani:
The board came and Kamar spiked a jack on the turn to knock out Behbehani in fifth place. The latter will receive £117,000 as compensation.
Just as some of the chips were being coloured up and the 100k black/red chip was being introduced, Craig McCorkell just played out one of the biggest pots of the tournament.
McCorkell opened to 125,000 preflop on the button and Chen made it 330,000 in the small blind. Fady Kamar got out of the way and McCorkell moved all in, Chen quickly called.
McCorkell:
Chen:
"Suits covered as well?" sighed Chen.
The board came and McCorkell doubled up into the chip lead.