Ivan Demidov could have been the story of the tournament, but somehow he found himself going from 700,000 in chips to out in 22nd. Demidov raised to 35,000 on the button, and in the small blind, Konstantin Bilyaver reraised to 90,000. Demidov took two minutes to decide on a big raise, and Bilyaver took less than two seconds to announce that he was all in. Demidov called just as fast. Monster against monster? Umm, sorta.
Demidov:
Bilyaver:
The flop was clean, but the turn had Demidov in need of a five or a six to survive. The river bricked the , and Demidov's quest for another final table came to an abrupt end. Bilyaver is now the massive chip leader with 1.8 million.
Toni Ojala opened to 36,000, and out of the small blind, Vallo Maidla moved all in for a total of 132,000. Ojala snap-called with , but he really didn't want to see Maidla's . The board came , and Maidla doubled up to start his comeback as the only Estonian left in the field.
Arnaud Mattern opened for 36,000 under the gun and it folded around to Nicolo Calia in the cutoff. The Italian veteran who went deep into the money at this year's WSOP Main Event paused only very briefly before moving all in for 265,000. Back around to Mattern, who looked interested for a moment or two, but eventually folded.
Two hands later and Calia shoved again, this time in early position. Everybody folded, and he treated them to a flashed .
Javed Abrahams, who already doubled through Johan Storakers in the first few minutes of play, found himself in the small blind once again and raising - this time he had enough chips to make it just a standard raise. Johan Storakers, in the big blind once more, reraised to cover Abrahams - who very quickly called all in.
Storakers:
Abrahams:
Board:
Storakers made a face like he'd been punched in the stomach as he dropped to 260,000.
Abrahams meanwhile has made an impressive comeback. From one of our two official short stacks coming back today, he has now quadrupled his short stack to a roughly average 540,000 and is in with a shot at the serious money. It has been a very good year for Abrahams - he started it off with fifth place in the $1,000 six-max side event at the PCA, and then followed it up with a number of outstanding cashes including 14th place in the $2,500 six-max event at the WSOP and 147th place in this year's WSOP Main Event. After his excellent run so far today, he is in with a decent shot at an EPT final table to go along with it.
There was already quite a pile in the middle by the time Arnaud Mattern and Attilio Donato got to the turn of a board. Mattern knew he liked the turn card, but he didn't know how perfect it was until he saw how happy Donato was to get it in against Mattern. Donato was much, much less happy when he turned over for a turned set only to discover that Mattern's had become a straight with the same card. The on the river didn't pair the board, sending Donato home in 23rd place and adding 300k to Mattern's stack. He's up to 1.4 million now.
After losing that big flip, Nathanael Filskov was moved across to Arnaud Mattern's table. Filskov soon got into a pot for his tournament life holding against Attilo Donato's and the board came . Filskov was eliminated, Donato adds more to his stack.
Meanwhile, Team PokerStars Pro Arnaud Mattern, who came into today in third place in chips, has not yet played a hand. Neither has his fellow Team Pro Ivan Demidov.
By the by, while Zavorotnis was busy busting out, on the next table Simone Falorni was open-shoving in the cutoff and getting called by Nathanael Filskov on the button.
Off to the races.
Falorni:
Filskov:
Board:
"YES! YES!!!" cried Falorni and banged the table. He doubled to 200,000 or so.
button in Safari
flop was clean, but the 
turn had Demidov in need of a five or a six to survive. The river bricked the 
, and Demidov's quest for another final table came to an abrupt end. Bilyaver is now the massive chip leader with 1.8 million.
, but he really didn't want to see Maidla's 
. The board came 
, and Maidla doubled up to start his comeback as the only Estonian left in the field.
board. Mattern knew he liked the turn card, but he didn't know how perfect it was until he saw how happy Donato was to get it in against Mattern. Donato was much, much less happy when he turned over 
for a turned set only to discover that Mattern's 
had become a straight with the same card. The 
against Attilo Donato's 
and the board came 
. Filskov was eliminated, Donato adds more to his stack.
