Barbosa raised to 44,000 from the button and Behling re-popped for 125,000 from the big blind.
"You had five-four?" enquired Behling as he stacked his chips. "Ace-four?" An amused shake of the head from Barbosa. Not put off, Behling continued, "So you don't have five-four or ace-four... Er, pocket fours?"
Barbosa checked to Behling on the flop, and Behling bet 20,000. Call.
Both players checked the turn, but come the river, Barbosa bet out 55,000. "Why so much?" pondered a bemused Behling, but he was met by just the usual Barbosa shrug. After a while, he folded, showing the . Barbosa showed the as he raked in the chips.
With the exit of the tiny Italian raising machine, play has become noticeably more cagey, mostly consisting of steals from the button, occasionally interspersed with a walk or a reraise from the big blind and a swift fold from the original raiser.
At one point Barbosa raised to 44,000 from the button and Behling reraised to 125,000, only for Barbosa to announce, "All in" -- but Behling folded instantly, and it was back to caginess for our heads-upsers.
Joao Barbosa made a button raise to 44,000, Dario Minieri moved all in from the small blind for about 180,000 and Barbosa called.
Minieri:
Barbosa:
As the crowd surged around the table to watch the showdown, the flop came . Only a seven could save Dario. The turn, though was the , the river was the and a rather unhappy-looking Dario headed to the rail in third place. €123,162 should ease the blow a tad, but Minieri was clearly hoping for a win here.
After a rather leisurely dinner break for our remaining finalists, during which time the trophies and a gigantic novelty check appeared on a pedestal in the tournament area, they arrived back at the table and settled down to the serious business at hand.
Unsurprisingly, it was short-stacked Dario Minieri who was getting jiggy early doors. The very first hand back, he raised to 48,000 from the button and took down the blinds for his troubles. The next hand, it was Nico Behling's turn to raise the button, and this time Minieri pushed from the small blind. Behling passed, and Minieri picked up a few more much-needed chips.
A couple of hands later, though, when Minieri raised to 48,000 from the button again, he was met by a reraise from Barbosa that would have put him all in. "I fold, you show?" pleaded Minieri. Silence from Barbosa. "You don't want to say anything?" A mere shrug. Minieri folded face-up, and Barbosa rewarded by turning over pocket sixes.