Preben Stokkan opened to 65,000 on the button and Danny Tang asked for his stack size before three-betting to 190,000 out of the big blind. Ben Heath, who still has four time banks, gave it brief consideration and moved all in to force two quick folds.
One hand later, Stokkan's raise to 65,000 in the cutoff was called by Kfir Ivgi in the big blind. On the flop both players checked. Ivgi bet the turn for 85,000 and forced a fold from Stokkan.
We've reached a final table in the €10K High Roller, and Ben Heath - a regular in these events - is out in front, closely followed by Kfir Ivgi.
If the name Kfir Ivgi isn't familiar to you, don't worry; it wasn't to us either. But that's the great thing about these €10Ks; you get to see the emergence and evolution of players throughout their careers.
With two tables left, we began taking a closer look at the players we weren't familiar with. How did they get to this stage?
Kfir Ivgi opened to 75,000 on the button, which only Orpen Kisacikoglu called in the big blind. On a flop of , Kisacikoglu checked and called a bet of 125,000 by Ivgi. The appeared on the turn and Kisacikoglu check-called a second barrel, this time for 175,000.
After the river, Kisacikoglu moved all in and Ivgi asked for a count. The jam was for 535,000 and Ivgi used one time bank extension before calling. Kisacikoglu turned over and Ivgi only had for a bluff catcher to forfeit half of his stack.
There are plenty of pocket queens being dealt at the final table and Sergio Aido became the latest to pick up the ladies. After a raise from Preben Stokkan to 65,000 under the gun and a call from Kfir Ivgi, Aido shoved 480,000 in late position. Stokkan shoved all in as well to get Ivgi out of the hand.
Sergio Aido:
Preben Stokkan:
Aido cracked Stokkan's queens earlier and took it with queens this time: .
Before this hand, Hossein Ensan took two small pots in a row to jump to 1.7M.
Hossein Ensan limped in from the small blind and Preben Stokkan checked his option out of the big blind. On the flop, Ensan bet 40,000 and Stokkan called. The turn brought a check by Ensan and Stokkan checked behind while Ensan glanced over to get a reaction from the Norwegian.
Ensan's check on the river brought a bet of 150,000 by Stokkan and the 2015 EPT Prague Main Event champion quickly called. Stokkan showed for a busted straight draw, while Ensan raked in the pot with the fortop pair on the flop and third pair on the river.
Kfir Ivgi raised to 100,000 in middle position, Liwei Sun shoved 645,000 from the small blind and Ivgi called, having his opponent barely covered.
Kfir Ivgi:
Liwei Sun:
Ivgi's downward trajectory at the final table continued as Sun spiked the king to double up: . The Brit, supported by countrymen Will Kassouf and Artan Dedusha on the rail, was left with a mere 45,000.
After paying the ante, Ivgi stuck 40,000 in in the next hand. Sergio Aido raised to 110,000 from the cutoff, Sun called on the button and Preben Stokkan paused in the big blind. He then shoved for 410,000 total, Aido folded and Sun quickly called.
Kfir Ivgi:
Liwei Sun:
Preben Stokkan:
Hossein Ensan consolidated Ivgi that the jack was coming but there wasn't one in sight. On , Stokkan scored a near triple-up and Ivgi, who started the final table as the chipleader, bowed out in 9th after a little more than one level of play at the FT.
Roman Emelyanov raised to 100,000 and Danny Tang defended the big blind before check-folding the flop to a bet of 100,000.
Hossein Ensan raised the next three hands in a row to 85,000. First it were Preben Stokkan on the button and Ben Heath in the big blind that called and folded to a bet of 125,000 by Ensan on the flop.
In the next hand, Emelyanov defended his big blind and checked the flop, Ensan bet 125,000 once more and won the pot.
The third raise was called by Orpen Kisacikoglu in the big blind and Ensan jokingly asked for an ace-ace-eight flop. The first two cards were the and the , causing laughter at the table. The third flop card was the and both players checked. On the turn, Kisacikoglu checked and another bet of 125,000 by Ensan took down the pot uncontested.
Last but not least, Tang opened to 90,000 in the hijack and Heath three-bet out of the cutoff to 255,000. Tang called and both players ended up checking through the entire board of . Tang flipped over and that won the pot.
Sergio Aido won a couple of pots in quick succession to move up to 1.5M in chips. In the last hand, Orpen Kisacikoglu raised to 85,000 on the button but folded to a small blind shove from Aido.