Alessandro Limblici is yo-yoing between a 10 and 20 big blind stack at the moment as he lurches from doubling someone up before following it up with his own double.
First he called Vasily Fursov's 100,000 shove with only to find the Russian holding - which held on a board of . Fursov moved up to 260,000 and Limblici dropped to 100,000.
Next Limblici was all in with against Thomas Pettersson's and the board secured Limblici's own double up back to 200,000. Pettersson left with 350,000.
It's the sort of hand that makes a person think, "Well maybe, just maybe this is my day..."
Simon Higgins had raised Markus Ristola's 40,000 bet on a flop of to 110,000 forcing a third player out of the way. The Finn moved in for 450,000 in total and Higgins made the call with - up against but the made the British player a straight and with a non-board-pairing river it was Ristola walking to the rail.
Higgins is up to 1.85 million - a clear chip leader at the moment.
Daniel Weinman's final microstack was taken by Torsten Brinkmann (under 60,000) - in effect all in preflop although Weinman's card protecting chip strictly speaking went in on the flop. Unfortunately Brinkmann had now hit with his and Weinman's missed the turn and river.
William Reynolds just lost his "first flip of the tournament," and in dramatic, disappointing style. For him - on the flip side of it was Raemon Sluiter who is now over 1,100,000 in chips. It was a huge preflop pot, with Sluiter having raised 61,000 and big blind Reynolds choosing that moment, after careful deliberation, to move all in. He was called.
Reynolds:
Sluiter:
While the cameras gathered, someone asked him if he was going to commentate on this hand later.
"I'm gonna let James handle this one on the broadcast. I'm not getting paid to commentate right now," he joked, adding, "The hand played itself...that's all I got."
The board came prompting a squeal of delight from railer and girlfriend Fatima Moreira de Melo and big count down which left Reynolds with 1,000 over a big blind.
"Comebacks happen," he quipped, getting it in with a live vs. Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero's preflop and losing to a full house: . He gets €30,000 reward for his deep run.
Fernando Brito got his last 90,000 in preflop and was in bad shape against Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero.
Brito:
Ferrero:
Flop:
Realising that he was drawing dead, Brito shook hands with every player at the table while the TV crew inexplicably still made the dealer pause for ten seconds before the turn and again before the river. He was gone before the last card came down, a true gentleman in defeat.
Still, it's not been a bad year for Brito - even before cashing in this event, he was already unbeatable in the race for EPT Player of the Year, although it won't be official official until Thursday night's EPT Awards party.
Vasily Fursov can't have had a pleasant dinner break - he was on just 64,000 when the players took their repast. He wasted no time in getting his microstack in upon returning to the tournament, and got a call from Thomas Pettersson. He was behind.
Fursov:
Pettersson:
Board:
Fursov sat back down as he rivered a flush to stay in the game. He's still in some trouble though - he doubled up to 130,000, less than 11 big blinds. Pettersson is rather higher than him, although actually still below average, on 420,000.
Ted Forrest was all in for his final 56,000, pushing from the cutoff and Eric van den Berg made the call on the button. The five-time bracelet winning pro was in trouble when he turned over and the Dutch player turned over .
The board ran out and Forrest stood up and said, "Good playing with you guys," before heading over to the payout desk.
Michael Friedrich moved all in for his last 60,000 on the button, Juan Maceiras pushed out a 100,000 stack of chips and Josef Bachar made the call all in from the big blind.
Maceiras:
Michael Friedrich:
Josef Bachar:
The board came and surprisingly Maceiras' queen-ten high was still good. The Spanish Team Pro is on about one million now.
button in Safari
only to find the Russian holding 
- which held on a board of 
. Fursov moved up to 260,000 and Limblici dropped to 100,000.
against Thomas Pettersson's 
and the 
board secured Limblici's own double up back to 200,000. Pettersson left with 350,000.
to 110,000 forcing a third player out of the way. The Finn moved in for 450,000 in total and Higgins made the call with 
- up against 
but the 
made the British player a straight and with a non-board-pairing 
flop. Unfortunately Brinkmann had now hit with his 
and Weinman's 
missed the 
prompting a squeal of delight from railer and girlfriend Fatima Moreira de Melo and big count down which left Reynolds with 1,000 over a big blind.
vs. Pedro Javier Piazuelo Ferrero's 
