Artem "veeea" Vezhenkov and "Alexgirs" have chipped up on their table while Thomas "MarToMchat" Boivin as well as Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress were trending in the other direction.
Dvoress opened from under the gun and called a three-bet to 900,000 by "Alexgirs" from one seat over. Dvoress check-called the flop for 710,000 and they checked down the turn and river.
Dvoress had two pair with but "Alexgirs" had the superior two pair in .
Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis was looking to finish the job he had previously started and took on "Hatrick19911" with versus . However, the board gave his opponent a straight on the river.
James "Cmon_Gasquet" Hopkins lost a chunk of his stack to Francisco "chicalltreta" Correia in a three-bet pot when he made it 786,000 to go preflop and continued for 612,810 on the flop. The turn and river were checked and Correia's were good.
"girafganger7" also kept his hopes of a deeper run alive when he doubled with against the of chip leader Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts. There was no surprise on the board.
Michael "merla888" Gathy started the day second in chips but he has just been eliminated in 26th place after losing a huge pot to Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts.
It started with a raise to 249,600 by Gathy and Aerts called in the small blind. The flop brought a check by Aerts, a bet of 540,000 by Gathy and a call. They checked the on the turn and Aerts then bet the river for 541,260.
Out of a stack of 8 million, Gathy raised to 1.62 million and Aerts moved all in. That sent Gathy into the think tank and he could not find a fold with the as Aerts scored the huge pot with for the nuts.
Before the scheduled break, Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis raised the button and called the shove of "Hatrick19911" out of the big blind for his last 2.8 million.
Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis:
"Hatrick19911":
The turn gave Veldhuis broadway and he doubled to send his opponent into the danger zone.
Francisco "Tomatee" Benitez doubled twice in quick succession to remain in contention and 26 players headed into the second scheduled 5-minute break.
In a battle of the blinds, Benitez was at risk with against the of Ignat "0human0" Liviu. The flop changed nothing yet while Liviu turned a pair thanks to the . The on the river gave Benitez broadway.
Ben "Ben86" Tollerene was at 2.5 million when he limped the small blind and "EEE27" checked his option in the big blind. Tollerene check-called a first small bet on the flop and did so again for 516,000 on the turn. Tollerene check-called a shove for just under 1.7 million on the river with for eights and sevens but "EEE27" had the best of it with for trips eights.
Shortly after, Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress min-raised from under the gun and Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker three-bet to 624,000. Dvoress four-bet all-in and Muehloecker called for around 3.1 million as he was covered by fewer than one big blind.
Thomas "WushuTM" Muehloecker:
Daniel "Oxota" Dvoress:
The flop kept Muehloecker ahead but Dvoress took the lead on the turn, the on the river reduced the field to the final 26 contenders.
The clash of the two PokerStars ambassadors seemed inevitable for some time and Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis had been busy with raising the button and into the big blind of Ben "Spraggy" Spragg previously. He just did so again right before the blinds went up and min-raised to 200,000, which Spragg called with six big blinds behind.
Spragg jammed the flop and was called instantly.
Ben "Spraggy" Spragg:
Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis:
The turn provided some chop outs but the river came up blank to eliminate Spragg in 30th place.
Spraggy eliminated by L. Veldhuis
David "deivid29" Tovar followed to the rail moments later. The UK-based Spaniard raised from early position to 210,000 and was called by Max "goodeh99" Silver on the button. Tovar check-called for 250,000 on the flop and did so again for 625,000 on the turn.
Tovar had fewer than 12 big blinds behind to the river and spent a long time in the tank before check-calling the shove with only to see Silver turn over for aces and sixes.
Max "goodeh99" Silver opened the action with a raise to 225,000 and was called by Pieter "XMorphineX" Aerts in the small blind and Pablo "pabritz" Brito in the big blind. On a flop, Aerts check-raised a bet of Silver from 228,750 to 650,000 and Brito check-reraised to 1.3 million. Silver folded and Aerts called.
The turn was checked and Aerts jammed the river for an effective 25 big blinds to force a fold from Brito.
Lex "L. Veldhuis" Veldhuis then took a hit when his clashed with Ben "Ben86" Tollerene, who held the . Since neither player had a club in the hand, the board kept Tollerene with top set in contention.