After a series of raises, Beniamino Speroni, who has been relatively quiet for most of the day, found himself all in against Sebastian Ruthenberg before the flop. Ruthenberg had the usually powerful but was in bad shape against the of Speroni.
There was a minor sweat as the board ran out but Speroni's rockets were never in real danger and inevitably emerged best. After the hand, both men are hovering near the 400,000 chip mark.
Mark Randal Flowers open-shoved for his remaining 138,000 and was met with a call from Davidi Kitai. Flowers, holding needed some help on the board against Kitai's . The flop came down , pairing Kitai, but giving Flowers an open-ended straight draw. It wasn't to be, though, as an ace turned and a hit the river, making Kitai two pair and eliminating Flowers from the tournament.
Down to 12, and play will continue until we reach a final table of eight.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. With Sebastian Ruthenberg pushing all in preflop with , Jonas Molander made a brave call with a just-in-front and we had a showdown, Ruthenberg out-chipping his Swedish foe by the smallest of margins.
Although the flop looked safe, Molander's hopes for glory came crashing to floor on the turn, before the harmless river confirmed his demise.
After Molander cracked the German's aces with A-8 a couple of levels ago, this will have been a particularly pleasurable victory for Ruthenberg, who is now a real danger man once again with circa 650,000 in chips.
Stephen "stevie444" Chidwick open-shoved from late position, and was called by Samuel Chartier on the button. Chidwick's was in serious trouble against Chartier's , and got no help on the board. Chidwick hit the rail in 15th place, collecting € 29,700 for his finish.
Famous in online circles for winning over 100 seats to the WSOP Main Event, Chidwick will definitely be back on the EPT. He's already won six packages for the tour's London stop.
Sebastian Ruthenberg and Fintan Gavin just got tangled up in a hand that saw Ruthenberg's tournament life hanging in the balance. He was all in before the flop holding up against the of Fintan Gavin.
The flop came giving Ruthenberg the lead. He never gave up that lead as the turn and river fell the and respectively. Ruthenberg chipped up to about 355,000 leaving Gavin with a look of disappointment and a mere 110,000.
With the action folding round to Jonas Molander, the young Swede moved all in from the small blind, but was called by a short-stacked Claudio Cecchi in the big blind. Cecchi woke up with ; Molander tabled .
The board, however, was unforgiving, a awarding Molander the pot, and Cecchi the door.
In the largest pot of the tournament thus far, Dren Ukella opened and was met with a three-bet from Jonas Klausen. Ukella moved all in for an additional 440,000 and after a lengthy think, Klausen made the call.
It was a race situation, Ukella's up against Klausen's . The board ran out and Ukella raked in a 1,100,000 pot, leaving Klausen with only 269,000.
Now that we're into the nitty-gritty, the play has slowed down immensely. Perhaps due to the limelight of the cameras, players are now dwelling over every decision, whether it's a preflop fold or a call for their tournament life. Amid all the contemplation and pensiveness, there was one genuine forward motion on the outer table. With Fintan Gavin making it 33,000 preflop, Sebastian Ruthenberg pushed all in for what looked to be just under 200,000. Although the action ground to a halt on Salvatore Pengue, who made the inevitable fold, play finally made its way back round to the Irishman who also mucked his hand.