Paraschos Stavridis moved all in for 36,100 and Winfred Yu, with a stack of just over 46,000 had a decision to make. It was obviously borderline but in the end he felt it was a spot he couldn’t pass up and he made the call. The blinds folded and he got it heads up. Stavridis flicked his on the felt in exasperation and a relieved Yu tabled . The board ran out , and the dealer announced “Straight.” And a distraught Yu was crippled.
We arrived at the table just as Russell Thomas and Marc Emond took a flop of . Thomas came out swinging for 8,500 and Emond called to see a turn.
The dealer rapped the table and produced the on fourth street and Thomas slowed down with a check. Emond followed suit an the finished off the board. Thomas checked once more and Emond rapped the table back. Thomas showed for merely queen-high and Emond was able to scoop the pot with his . Emond is now sitting on about 125,000 while Thomas has dropped to 148,000.
From middle position, Brian Kim opened with a raise to 3,500. Action folded over to Steve Gallo in the cutoff seat, and he reraised to 7,600. In the big blind was Andreas Christoforou, and he tanked for a bit before folding his hand. Kim then reraised to 15,500, but Gallo came right back over the top with a reraise to 24,500. Kim shoved, and Gallo snap-called.
Kim held the , but was crushed by Gallo's . On the flop, though, Kim's chances got a bit better when the fell to give him a flush draw. The turn was the and now Kim had a straight draw as well. The river was the , though, and now what Kim needed.
Gallo was all in for 63,100 and doubled to right around 130,000. Kim was left with just 16,000 in chips.
Full Tilt Ambassador Dermot Blain opened for 3,300 from the Hi-Jack and action was on small blind Ryan Spittles. The big blind seat was empty as the player had stormed off on a huff the previous hand when he faced a three bet and folded his face up. Was Blain taking advantage of this and opening light? Spittles bet enough to put him all in to put him to the test. Balin made the call so he wasn’t bluffing, but he was racing, with against the of Spittles. The board ran out and Blain doubled up.
Marvin Rettenmaier raised his button to an unknown amount and found a three-bet from Grudi Hristov Grudev in the small blind. Rettenmaier called and we're unsure of the amounts, but each player committed at least 12,000 before the flop.
The flop came down and Grudev checked. Rettenmaier fired 11,600 and Grudev tanked for about one minute before flat calling. The hit the turn and Grudev thought very deliberately once more. He checked again.
Rettenmaier once again cut into his stack and on this street fired 21,800. Grudev called.
The river was the and Grudev checked for a third time. Rettenmaier thought for over two minutes before finally deciding to knuckle the table back. Grudev showed for a pair of sixes but was ultimately behind Rettenmaier's for a flopped two pair. Rettenmaier scooped the pot and now sits at roughly 150,000.
Alessandro Monticciolo is the joker at his table, telling everyone what he will do if one player pushes on him, guessing peoples cards, singing “I’m a Survivor.” and flashing his when he three bet a button raiser from the big blind. But even he fell silent as the following tense hand played out blind on blind.
Ziv Vachar opened for 4,200 from the small blind and Jukka Paloniemi, a PokerStars player from FInlad, checked how much Vachar had behind, about 40,000, before making the call. They saw a flop of and Vachar continued for 4,500 with Paloniemi calling. The turn was the and they both checked. River card , and Vachar bet 50,000 after some thought. Paloniemi too took his time before announcing that he was all in. It looked as if Vachar had trouble believing his opponent but evidently his hand was not strong enough for him to justify calling and risking his tournament life and he reluctantly folded.
Action folded around to Thomas Brauner on the button and he opened for 4,000. A short-stacked Kai Herold then moved all in from the small blind, the big folded and Brauner made the call.
Herold:
Brauner:
It was a flip, and while Brauner had a pair, the flop actually made Herold the favorite with two overs and straight and flush draw. Surprisingly, neither the turn nor river helped Herold.
"How can I lose that?" he bemoaned before gathering his things and exiting the tournament floor.
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
on the felt in exasperation and a relieved Yu tabled 
. The board ran out 
, and the dealer announced “Straight.” And a distraught Yu was crippled.
. Thomas came out swinging for 8,500 and Emond called to see a turn.
for merely queen-high and Emond was able to scoop the pot with his 
. Emond is now sitting on about 125,000 while Thomas has dropped to 148,000.
, but was crushed by Gallo's 
fell to give him a flush draw. The turn was the 
and now Kim had a straight draw as well. The river was the 
face up. Was Blain taking advantage of this and opening light? Spittles bet enough to put him all in to put him to the test. Balin made the call so he wasn’t bluffing, but he was racing, with 
against the 
of Spittles. The board ran out 
and Grudev checked for a third time. Rettenmaier thought for over two minutes before finally deciding to knuckle the table back. Grudev showed 
for a flopped two pair. Rettenmaier scooped the pot and now sits at roughly 150,000.
and they both checked. River card 
turn nor 
river helped Herold.