There was an open from a player in mid position from seat 5 and a call from Oleg Bychkov before Team PokerStars Pro Chris Moneymaker called and the three players went to a flop of .
The original raiser checked and Bychkov had a stab for 2,500. That shook no one off though as Moneymaker and the original raiser called.
The turn card saw no action and when the completed the board the initial raiser changed tack and led out for 5,300. Bychkov mulled it over, stuck between two players, and then released his hand. Moneymaker paid the price though and mucked when he saw his opponent table .
Driss Ekadioin limped from early position and the player to his immediate right raised to 550. Igor Dimitrijevic then three-bet to 1,600 from the big blind. Ekadioin folded and the other player called.
The flop was and both players checked. The turn was the and Dimitrijevic bet 1,700 and his opponent called.
The river was the and Dimitrijevic bet 5,000 and his opponent quickly called, but mucked when Dimitrijevic showed for a flopped full house.
Orpen Kisacikoglu was last spotted with less than half the starting stack, but that has since been reduced to zero. One new player sat down on his former table that also includes Andrey Kotelnikov, and that is Russian regular Roman Korenev. Back in March, Korenev was part of a three-way deal in a PokerStars Championship Macau High Roller for HK$ 1,236,696 (approximately ($159,188) and is looking for another deep run here in Sochi.
On the three-way turn of , Ricardo Tavares bet 1,400 out of the small blind and Alexandr Merzhvinskij was the only caller to see the river complete the board. Tavares slowed down and checked, and the bet of 5,100 by Merzhvinskij did the trick to secure the pot without showdown.
Both Tavares and Merzhvinskij are well above average and the two biggest stacks at their table.
Igor Kurganov paid a flying visit to Sochi earlier this week, and it seems like he thoroughly enjoyed his time.
"It's a great venue. I love being surrounded by the mountains in a place like this. It's great during the PokerStars Championship, but I cannot wait to come back during ski season!”
Like most players, Kurganov has been playing SCOOP for the past month in the lead-up to the event here in Sochi, but not as much as the full-time online grinders.
“I played half the SCOOP days and it hasn’t gone too well for me. Fortunately, Sit & Go’s went well.
"Liv has made a few very deep runs but fell just shy of the final table a couple of times. I enjoyed the series a lot and look forward to WCOOP”
Kurganov is leaving Russia today to fly to Las Vegas in time for some of the biggest tournaments this year, as well as spending time with girlfriend Liv Boeree.
"I will play the $300k Super High Roller Bowl and the €111,111 High Roller for One Drop there.
"Afterwards Liv and I will play the team event together for REG-charity and afterwards go back to Europe before the WSOP Main Event.”
Denis Pavlenko opened from under the gun and picked up calls from Maksim Nosov and Alexander Kostritsyn before the blinds folded.
The flop was and Pavlenko continued the aggression with a bet of 950. Nosov folded but Kostritsyn called. The turn card was the and Pavlenko showed no signs of slowing down, ramping up the bet to 2,400. Kostritsyn let him have it.
It was Nosov who was under the gun on the next hand and he opted to call. Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano raised to 650 and with the remaining players folding Nosov called.
The flop was and Nosov led out with Pagano wasting no time before mucking.
and it checked to the button who bet 500 and both other players called.
was checked by both players and the river was the 
. The first player checked and Aubakirov bet 6,000.
. 
saw no action and when the 
.
and both players checked. The turn was the 
for a flopped full house.
, Ricardo Tavares bet 1,400 out of the small blind and Alexandr Merzhvinskij was the only caller to see the 
river complete the board. Tavares slowed down and checked, and the bet of 5,100 by Merzhvinskij did the trick to secure the pot without showdown.
and Pavlenko continued the aggression with a bet of 950. Nosov folded but Kostritsyn called. The turn card was the 
and Pavlenko showed no signs of slowing down, ramping up the bet to 2,400. Kostritsyn let him have it.
and Nosov led out with Pagano wasting no time before mucking.