Three players piled their chips into the middle preflop with Axel Junker and Francesco Pagliazzo at risk against Bruno Desimoni.
Axel Junker: 10♣10♦
Francesco Pagliazzo: A♣J♣
Bruno Desimoni: A♠K♥
Desimoni took the lead on the A♥Q♣9♣ flop, leaving Junker with two outs. Pagliazzo had the nut flush draw still but bricked on the 4♥ turn as well as 5♥ river for both shorter stacks to bust.
Leon Verhoef moved all in for 35,500 in early position and Adrian Mateos called on the button.
Leon Verhoef: A♥A♣
Adrian Mateos: A♠K♠
Mateos could only laugh after Verhoef showed him aces. The flop came 3♥8♦10♣, and Mateos was already drawing dead by the 4♠ turn as the 9♦ river was a mere formality before Verhoef took in his double up.
Alexander Norden three-bet to 16,000 and Safwane Bahri called, which led them to the K♥9♦8♦ flop. Bahri check-called for 13,000 and the Q♣ turn went check, check. Bahri then bet the J♥ river for 25,000 and Norden folded.
On a completed board of K♥K♣4♣J♠7♠, Maria Lampropulos moved all-in for 160,500 out of the small blind. There were around 135,000 in the pot and David Miscikowski went deep into the tank before he eventually called.
Lampropulos tabled the A♦K♦ for trips kings and Miscikowski's A♣J♣ for kings and jacks was no good.
Tobias Peters raised to 5,500 on the button and Francisco Benitez called in the small blind. Aylar Lie then moved all in for 45,000 in the big blind and only Peters called.
Aylar Lie: A♥J♠
Tobias Peters: K♥K♠
Lie had run into Peters' kings with her tournament life on the line, but the 6♣A♣J♥ flop gave her the lead with two pair. The board ran out 2♠6♠ and Lie doubled up.
At the same time at another table, Ren Lin raised to 5,000 under the gun before Axel Junker moved all in for 32,000. "Merry Christmas, my friend," Lin said before calling.
Axel Junker: A♥10♠
Ren Lin: 3♥3♣
Junker also hit an ace on the 4♠A♣J♦ flop, while the rest of the board came 6♣4♦ to secure his double up.
"Ay, ay, ay. Gamble too much," Lin said as he handed over the pot.
Patrik Zidek opened to 5,000 and Alex Keating called in the small blind. Jovan Kenjic then three-bet to 21,000 and Zidek jammed for around 60,000, Keating folded and Kenjic snap-called.
Patrik Zidek: A♦Q♥
Jovan Kenjic: A♠K♥
The dominated ace of Zidek failed to connect on the J♠7♥4♠2♦7♣ board and that sent the Czech to the rail.
Heads-up on a flop of 3♥Q♠7♦, Quan Zhou bet 12,500 from the cutoff and Florin Bilan called in early position.
The turn was the 3♠ and Zhou bet another 21,500. Bilan again called and checked the 3♦ river. Zhou also checked back and Bilan turned over A♠10♠.
Zhou, though, had 10♦10♥ as he took the pot.
This table also includes Ole Schemion and last year's fourth-place finisher Vladas Tamasauskas.
Arriving on a turn on 8♥A♦6♥K♦, Alex Keating shoved in his stack of 350,000 from the hijack, in a pot that had already grown to a massive size of 125,000.
Dorian Melchers was his opponent and sat in the cutoff. Melchers played around 300,000 himself and was deep in the tank regarding this decision. Eventually, he pushed in all of his chips, and the two hands were revealed.
Dorian Melchers: A♥5♥
Alex Keating: 8♦8♣
Keating's set was up against the flush draw of Melchers. The river was red, but the 7♦ was not the suit Melchers was looking for. He was eliminated from the Main Event in an enormous clash that saw Keating chip up to three times the average stack.
Mario Lampropulos raised to 6,000 from middle position and Gerd Singer came along from the big blind. Radu Pitic then made it 27,000 to go from the big blind and both of his opponents called.
The K♠2♣7♥ flop was checked by all three players before Pitic tossed in a single T-25,000 chip on the K♦ turn. Lampropulos got out of the way but Singer stuck around with a call.
On the 5♣ river, Pitic sized up to 55,000 chips, and another quick call followed from Singer. Pitic tabled 10♥10♦ for two pair with the kings on the board, and Singer nodded his head before he mucked his cards, shipping the pot Pitic's way.
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