Joao Barbosa got his last 7,000 or so all in preflop and was in bad shape against Lorenzo Sabato.
| Showdown |
Sabato:   |
Barbosa:   |
Barbosa was in desperate need of some help, but the 
flop brought none. The 
turn was a blank as well, and Barbosa needed one of the two remaining tens on the river to star alive. The dealer burned one last time and out out the 
, putting an end to Barbosa's tournament just shy of the first dinner break.
The PokerStars Blog was on the finish line as ElkY and Eugene Katchalov complete their cycle ride from Cannes to Sanremo.
Finland's Kimmo Kurko opened the hand with a raise to 425 in the middle position. Action folded to Mike "Timex" McDonald in the small blind and he made the call. Team PokerStars Pro Ana Marquez also called in the big blind and they went three-handed into the flop.
The board ran out 
, and Kurko continued with a bet of 550. McDonald answered with a call while Marquez folded her hand. McDonald checked when the 
rolled over on the turn and Kurko did the same.
McDonald then showed some initiative by betting 2,225 on the 
river which payed off as Kurko folded his cards giving the pot away to McDonald.
Action folded around to the player in the cutoff and he made it 450 to go. The 2005 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Joe Hachem three-bet to 1,025 from the button. Action folded back to his sole opponent and he called. After his opponent checked, Hachem c-bet the 
flop with a bet of 1,800. Hachem's opponent mucked and Hachem took down the pot.
A total of 209 players won seats to the EPT Sanremo Main Event. Among those who won their seats online are Team PokerStars Pros Jason Mercier and Richard Toth, PokerStars Team Online’s Mickey Petersen and Friend of PokerStars Pierre Neuville as well as EPT champions Andrey Pateychuk (EPT8 Sanremo winner), Toby Lewis, Anton Wigg, Mohsin Charania, Kent Lundmark, Nicolas Chouity & Kevin MacPhee plus current EPT Player of the Year Ondrej Vinklarek.
Jason Wheeler raised to 500 from early position and received a call from Gani Jahaj in middle position. The small blind came along, as did Philippe Ktorza in the big, and it was four-way action to the 
flop.
Two checks put action back on Wheeler and he continuation bet 900. Only Jahaj and Ktorza called, and three players saw the 
turn. Two more checks saw Jahaj bet 1,225, Ktorza raise to 2,500 and Wheeler fold. Jahaj made the call and then called a bet of 3,100 when Ktorza led out on the 
river.
Ktorza tabled 
for deuces full of fives, and it was good as Jahaj mucked his cards and dropped down to 40,000. Meanwhile, Ktorza is up to 50,000.
PokerStars.tv presenter Lynn Gilmartin opens the doors to Sanremo, looking at the rich history of the city and, somewhat self-indulgently, tucks into a tasty bit of gelato. Life's tough on the road...
Watch the video on the PokerStars Blog here.
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