Matthew PittJohn Hall looked even more unhappy than this when he had to split the pot
Just as it looked as if the unofficial final table of nine was going to become the official final table of eight the poker gods threw a split pot into the mix.
With the draw heavy board reading , Juanda bet out 600,000 and then immediately called John Hall's all in raise, which was not for many more chips.
Juanda:
Hall:
Both players held the nut straight saw when the meaningless arrived on the river, the players chopped the pot, with Hall not looking all that impressed by the situation.
David Vamplew min-raised to 120,000 and both Fernando Brito on the button and Artur Wasek in the big blind made the call.
They saw a flop and it checked around to Brito - who promptly pushed his remaining 700,000 across the line. Both his opponents swiftly folded, and Brito took the pot.
A few hands later, Brito opened for a non-standard 350,000 - almost six big blinds - prompting John Juanda, whose big blind it was that he was raising, to make a noise like, "Tssssss!" Everybody folded, and Brito is back up to around a million.
John Juanda raised to 145,000 and Fernando Brito called with less than nine big blinds behind and then immediately checked in the dark. This is the second time we have seen him do this.
They checked down the board, Juanda now presumably thinking that Brito could be sitting on a monster - but come showdown, Brito turned over just for a pair of sixes, and with a wry smile, Juanda mucked.
Per Ummer has just doubled his stack after an all in encounter with John Hall. Ummer started the betting with a raise to 150,000 from middle position, Hall, seated in the small blind, three bet to 450,000.
Ummer wasted no time in moving all in for a further 920,000 chips, a bet that Hall called to put Ummer at risk of being eliminated.
Ummer:
Hall:
After burning a card, the dealer put out the flop, giving Ummer the lead with a pair of queens. The on the turn gave Hall some extra outs to a club flush draw but none of them appeared as a second eight, this time the fell on the river to double up Ummer to 1,990,000 and leave Hall with just 750,000 chips.
Kyle Bowker briefly slipped below the 6 million mark when he raised preflop and got a call from David Vamplew in the cutoff. Bowker check-called 240,000 on the flop before Vamplew checked behind him on the turn. Bowker checked a third time on the river and this time folded to Vamplew's 490,000 bet.
Bowker was at 5.95 million after that.
But his sojourn in sub-6-millionsville was short-lived, as two hands later he made it 130,000 under the gun and found a call from Per Ummer on the button. Both players checked the flop and Bowker checked the turn too. Ummer tried a 200,000 bet, but Bowker promptly check-raised him to a million, and Ummer gave it up.
With ten players left, it's just nondescript poker faces and bottled water in the tournament room right now, but we all know that EPTs aren't all about the action on the felt. PokerStars hosted their big blowout last night at a local night club, and though some of us were busy toiling away at the Hilton, Glo and her trusty cameraman headed out for a night of partying London style. You're gonna like this one:
Kyle Bowker opened from early position with Fernando Brito making the call in the big blind despite having just 850,000 behind. The flop came and Brito check-folded to Bowker's 175,000 bet.
Matthew PittBowker adding chips to his monster stack
Kyle Bowker has added to his already impressive chip stack after taking down a 1.27m pot in the very first hand of the unofficial final table.
Kayvan Payman opened the betting with a 150,000 raise from the hijack, which was three-bet by Bowker in the cutoff. Payman made the call and both players saw, then checked, the flop.
Turn:
Once again, Payman checked but Bowker was in no mood for playing passively anymore and quickly pushed out chips worth 410,000. After a little deliberation, Payman folded his hand and Bowker raked in the pot.
Bowker now has 6,185,000 chips in front of him, whilst Payman slips to 1,580,000
Seat 1: David Vamplew
Seat 2: Tom Marchese
Seat 3: Fernando Brito
Seat 4: Per Ummer
Seat 5: Artur Wasek
Seat 6: Kayvan Payman
Seat 7: Kyle Bowker
Seat 8: John Juanda
Seat 9: John Hall
, Juanda bet out 600,000 and then immediately called John Hall's all in raise, which was not for many more chips.
arrived on the river, the players chopped the pot, with Hall not looking all that impressed by the situation.![[user46392]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop and it checked around to Brito - who promptly pushed his remaining 700,000 across the line. Both his opponents swiftly folded, and Brito took the pot.
for a pair of sixes, and with a wry smile, Juanda mucked.
flop, giving Ummer the lead with a pair of queens. The 
on the turn gave Hall some extra outs to a club flush draw but none of them appeared as a second eight, this time the 
fell on the river to double up Ummer to 1,990,000 and leave Hall with just 750,000 chips.
flop before Vamplew checked behind him on the 
turn. Bowker checked a third time on the 
river and this time folded to Vamplew's 490,000 bet.
flop and Bowker checked the 
and Brito check-folded to Bowker's 175,000 bet.
flop.