Ivan Demidov had opened in early position against Jeff Sarwer's big blind, with the former chess prodigy defending.
Both players checked the flop with Sarwer also checking the turn. Demidov looked a little unsure but both players stared at each other as the Russian bet 7,000. Sarwer made an instant call, gaining the chance to see the river.
Sarwer checked once more and Demidov thought for a moment, both staring intensely at one another as the Russian bet 14,000 this time. Sarwer thought for about 10 seconds more and made the call.
"Ace-Jack," said the Russian turning over but Sarwer quickly turned over for a rivered straight leaving Demidov rather annoyed with it all as we reach the end of the day.
Another mini-brawl between Matvey Linov and Seppo Parkkinen saw the former check-raise all-in on a flop after Parkkinen had bet 5,500. The Finn, having probably had enough of Linov's aggression, made the call for the rest of his 22,000 stack with but was ahead of the Russian's .
"Black cards please," requsted Parkkinen politely. The on the turn was one such card, while the was the other. Parkkinen jumps to 45,000 but it's just a drop in the ocean of Linov, he's on 120,000 still.
We strolled by the table to find the board reading and Juha Vilkki betting out 4,400 from the big blind position. Javed Abrahams called on the button and they proceeded to the river.
The river was the and this time Vilkki bet out 11,100, with less than 20,000 behind. Presumably this was intended to make Abrahams fold, as Vilkki mucked his hand the moment Abrahams tossed in the call. Abrahams showed and received the hefty pot for his troubles. He finished the hand with 95,000 in chips.
Matt Kay opened for 2,500 and was met with a mini-shove for less than 5,000 total from his neighbour, online qualifier Olivier Dupont. Everyone else folded, Kay made the call, and Dupont just shrugged as he discovered that he was in trouble.
Kay:
Dupont:
Board:
Dupont's run came to an abrupt end while Kay, who dropped down as low as 10,000 at one point today, moved back above his starting stack on 33,000.
Though there was some discussion about only playing eight levels today, we are, in fact, going to play nine. So everyone is off on their last 15-minute break of the night. They'll return to play one more hour before bagging and tagging.
After complaining that he'd had aces twice and queens three times earlier in the day but had seen no action at all, Mattern suddenly got all the action he could desire.
We only caught the tail end of this three-way all-in showdown, but that was plenty of time to see Arnaud Mattern's pocket aces (again!) hold up against both Philipp Gruissem's and a third player's . All we caught of the board before the dealer swept it up was that there was an ace on the flop.
Whatever happened there, both Guissem and the unknown Third Player busted out, and Mattern's stack swelled to 94,000.
Last time we left Matvey Linov, he had just dropped around 40,000 to Javed Abrahams which had us wondering whether he would self-destruct after such a good day so far. Instead, heading over to the same table saw him now sitting with a stack of around 140,000.
He fired on a flop against Seppo Parkkinen but got called and then applied more pressure by betting 8,975 on the turn, a bet which would force the Finn to commit or fold and the latter option was chosen. However this hand made it apparent to see the Russian's strength, he seems relentless in a pot and knows exactly how much pressure he seems to need to apply, but also when he should back off.
Incidentally, the 140,000 stack means that Linov has regained the chip lead.
Pokerstars qualifier Martin Papiernik opened preflop to 1,925 and fellow qualifier Thomas Dolezal reraised to 6,100 out of the blinds. Papiernik then 4-bet to 13,500 and Dolezal asked how much he had back which was roughly 37,000.
Dolezal moved in and Papiernik snap-called, flipping over , Dolezal sighed and turned over but like me on a friday night at the disco, he couldn't find the right lady when the board came
Papiernik was all-in for 50,800 and doubles up to over 100,000. Dolezal is crippled with around 15,000 remaining.
For a long time it seems that two-time WSOP bracelet winner Praz Bansi has had a bit of a curse on him. Although his track record in tournaments is extremely impressive, with a list of cashes longer than most arms to his name, Bansi has never managed to cash in an EPT despite playing almost every one over the past few years (the PCA - where Bansi placed 18th this January - is no longer an EPT event). He has often found himself with a big stack early on, even chip leader at times, but come time for the bubble to burst, Bansi is nowhere to be seen.
This EPT is sadly no different.
Having once again amassed a large stack early on, Bansi lost around half of it when he doubled up Seppo Parkkinen earlier in the day, and just now has managed to hit the rail. It seems he four-bet all in with . His opponent called with , Bansi failed to spike anything marvellous, and we will have to wait until at least EPT Vilamoura for Bansi's curse to lift.
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flop with Sarwer also checking the 
turn. Demidov looked a little unsure but both players stared at each other as the Russian bet 7,000. Sarwer made an instant call, gaining the chance to see the 
river.
but Sarwer quickly turned over 
for a rivered straight leaving Demidov rather annoyed with it all as we reach the end of the day.
flop after Parkkinen had bet 5,500. The Finn, having probably had enough of Linov's aggression, made the call for the rest of his 22,000 stack with 
but was ahead of the Russian's 
was the other. Parkkinen jumps to 45,000 but it's just a drop in the ocean of Linov, he's on 120,000 still.
and Juha Vilkki betting out 4,400 from the big blind position. Javed Abrahams called on the button and they proceeded to the river.
and this time Vilkki bet out 11,100, with less than 20,000 behind. Presumably this was intended to make Abrahams fold, as Vilkki mucked his hand the moment Abrahams tossed in the call. Abrahams showed 
and received the hefty pot for his troubles. He finished the hand with 95,000 in chips.
and a third player's 
. All we caught of the board before the dealer swept it up was that there was an ace on the flop.
flop against Seppo Parkkinen but got called and then applied more pressure by betting 8,975 on the 
turn, a bet which would force the Finn to commit or fold and the latter option was chosen. However this hand made it apparent to see the Russian's strength, he seems relentless in a pot and knows exactly how much pressure he seems to need to apply, but also when he should back off.
but like me on a friday night at the disco, he couldn't find the right lady when the board came 
. His opponent called with 
