€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event Day 3 | 2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event

Day 3 Completed

08-21-2009 17:52 UTC+2

Day 3 Concludes

Maxim Lykov will begin Day 4 as chip leader

When we began the day, just 68 of our original field of 296 had survived through two hard fought days of poker, all still hoping to claim part of the €1,391,200 prize pool for the first ever EPT Kyiv Main Event. The top forty spots pay, and since the plan today was to play down to 32, today's highlight would be the bursting of the cash bubble.

Eliminations came quickly early on, with 17 players hitting the rail during the first 75-minute level. Among those going out early were Arnaud Mattern, "Miami" John Cernuto, Raoul Refos, and Liya Gerasomiva. By the second level of play the pace slowed somewhat, as just five players went out, including Juhasz Barnabas of Hungary, Francesco Cirianni of Italy, and Priit Turner of Estonia.

It was the middle of Level 15 -- the third of the day -- when Ruslan Prydryk (Ukraine) was bounced in 42nd place, thus beginning a 30-minute or so period of hand-for-hand play that culminated in the elimination of Serguei Pomerantsev (Russia) at the hands of Jonas Kronwitter (Germany).

The next eight players to be eliminated all earned €7,610, and when Russian Albert Sungatullin was knocked out in 33rd we were done for the day. When the dust cleared, Maxim Lykov (Russia), Vadim Markushevski (Belarus), and Vitaly Tolokonnikov (Russia) were all battling for the chip lead, each with more than 600,000 chips. (Click "Chip Counts" for end-of-day counts for all 32 players.)

The remaining 32 come back tomorrow at noon Ukrainian time (GMT+2). Thanks for following our coverage today, and be sure to come back tomorrow to see who makes it to the final eight-handed table.

08-21-2009 17:36 UTC+2

Albert Sungatallin Eliminated in 33rd Place (€7,610)

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Adrian Schaap (Holland) raised from middle position, and the table folded back around to Albert Sungatallin (Russia) who called from the big blind. The flop came {J-Diamonds}

. Sungatallin quickly patted the felt to check, and Schaap didn't waste much time pulling a few chips off of his stack and pushing them forward -- a bet of 27,500. The Russian then pushed his remaining stack of about 110,000 forward as a check-raise, and Schaap waved his hand, saying he was calling.

Sungatallin showed {K-Hearts}

for top pair, but Schaap had him outkicked with {K-Diamonds}

. The turn was the {10-Diamonds}

and the river the {5-Hearts}

, and Sungatallin is our last elimination of the day in 33rd place.

Tags: Albert Sungatullin

08-21-2009 17:16 UTC+2

Play Ball!

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Play has resumed with 33 players. We'll need to drop one more before we can call it a night.

Level: 17

Blinds: 3,000/6,000

Ante: 500

08-21-2009 17:08 UTC+2

One More Break?

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The clock has been paused while the players take what figures to be their final 15-minute break of the day.

08-21-2009 17:07 UTC+2

Luca Falaschi Eliminated in 34th Place (€7,610)

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After a player raised to 15,000 in front of him, Luca Falaschi moved all in for his final 35,000 chips. His opponent called with {Q-?}

, and Falaschi was looking good to double with his pocket jacks.

Unfortunately for the Italian, a queen fell on the flop, and he was unable to re-improve to stay alive. That's all she wrote for the good-natured Falaschi as he heads to the payout desk to collect his 34th-place money.

Tags: Luca Falaschi

08-21-2009 17:06 UTC+2

Viktor Ivanov Eliminated in 35th Place (€7,610)

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Russian Viktor Ivanov has become the latest victim of Day 3, but his managing to survive the bubble will earn him a paycheck of €7,610 on his way out the door.

Tags: Viktor Ivanov

08-21-2009 16:57 UTC+2

Volodyhyr Sendetskiy Eliminated in 36th Place (€7,610)

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Ukrainian Volodyhyr Sendetskiy has been knocked out in 7th place, having met his end in a hand versus Igor Dubinsky.

We only picked up the story at its conclusion, with the board showing {Q-Hearts}

, Sendetskiy holding {Q-Spades}

for trip queens, and Dubinsky sitting with {A-Clubs}

for the club flush.

Tags: Volodyhyr Sendetskiy

08-21-2009 16:52 UTC+2

Mihaylo Demidenko Eliminated in 37th Place (€7,610)

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Mihaylo Demidenko of the Ukraine, chip leader at the end of Day 1a here at the EPT Kyiv Main Event, made it to the cash and was just eliminated in 37th place.

Having become short-stacked, Demidenko was forced to commit the last of his chips with {Q-Hearts}