We are down to five in the Main Event after César García's tournament came to an abrupt end.
Mario Puccini opened to 120,000 from under the gun and Andrew Chen made a loose three-bet to 310,000 holding just . César García was in the big blind and he woke up with and moved all in for 1,580,000. Unfortunately for him Puccini had opened with and re-shoved all in. Chen instantly folded and the dealer got busy putting out the community bards.
By the river they read and with that García became the sixth place finisher.
Pratyush Buddiga departs in eighth place, a great performance and one aided by his coach Mike McDonald, who talked about his teaching role, with the PokerStars Blog.
From middle position, Mario Puccini raised to 160,000 with the . In the big blind, Davidi Kitai reraised to 420,000 holding the . Puccini called and the flop came down . Kitai fired 275,000 with his ace high and Puccini called with his straight draw.
The turn was the and Kitai fired a second barrel worth 550,000. Again, Puccini stuck around.
The river was the and Kitai checked. Puccini fired 875,000 and Kitai tanked for a bit, staring Puccini down the entire time. At one point, he reached for a stack of chips, slid it around his cards and hoped to get a reaction from Puccini. Puccini didn't flinch and after another minute, Kitai folded.
The bubble has burst in the EPT Berlin €10,000 High Roller with the elimination of Joe Ebanks. He was eliminated in ninth place by Marvin Rettenmaier. Here are the chip counts in seat order for the final eight.
Seat
Player
Country
Chips
1
Oleh Okhotskyi
Ukraine
76,500
2
Chris Moorman
UK
555,000
3
David Peters
USA
270,000
4
Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier
France
232,000
5
Martin Jacobson
Sweden
92,600
6
Viktor “Isildur1” Blom
Sweden
175,000
7
Marvin Rettenmaier
Germany
220,000
8
Tobias Reinkemeier
Germany
40,000
All the players left have locked up €26,400 with €231,000 up top to the winner.
Mario Puccini has read Davidi Kitai perfectly to win a pot with jack high. Kitai was in the big blind with and he lead out with a 275,000 bet on a flop. Puccini made the call with and the dealer put out the turn.
Kitai fired again, testing the waters with a 550,000 bet and Puccini called once again. Kitai checked the arrival of the river but Puccini pounced and bet 875,000 into the 2,580,000 pot. Kitai, who has not put a foot wrong on this final table, tanked for over a minute before finally folding his hand.
As Kitai folded Puccini showed him a jack and received a smile in repsonse.
Mario Puccini is making a move up through the counts and becoming a real force. He won two pots on the bounce with pocket sevens to move past the six million mark.
His better Anderew Chen's on a board. Chen was the aggressor up until the turn where the rest of the hand was checked down.
Then he called a Davidi Kitai raise with and bet the turn of a board to get the Belgian to fold his .
From the button, Andrew Chen raised to 175,000 with the . Bahadir Kilickeser called from the big blind with the and flopped bottom pair on the flop. Kilickeser checked and Chen bet 225,000. Instantly, Kilickeser check-raised all in for 2.11 million. Chen didn't look like he liked it, but he made the call anyway.
Chen's top pair was ahead and he stayed there after the hit the turn. The fell on the river and didn't help Kilickeser. He was eliminated in fifth place and took home €172,000. With this pot, Chen has claimed the chip lead with four players left.
. César García was in the big blind and he woke up with 
and moved all in for 1,580,000. Unfortunately for him Puccini had opened with 
and re-shoved all in. Chen instantly folded and the dealer got busy putting out the community bards.
and with that García became the sixth place finisher.
. Puccini called and the flop came down 
. Kitai fired 275,000 with his ace high and Puccini called with his straight draw.
and Kitai fired a second barrel worth 550,000. Again, Puccini stuck around.
and Kitai checked. Puccini fired 875,000 and Kitai tanked for a bit, staring Puccini down the entire time. At one point, he reached for a stack of chips, slid it around his cards and hoped to get a reaction from Puccini. Puccini didn't flinch and after another minute, Kitai folded.
on a 
board. Chen was the aggressor up until the turn where the rest of the hand was checked down.
and bet the turn of a 
. Bahadir Kilickeser called from the big blind with the 
fell on the river and didn't help Kilickeser. He was eliminated in fifth place and took home €172,000. With this pot, Chen has claimed the chip lead with four players left.