Igin Viacheslav found himself all in preflop for his last 22,500 holding and out in front of Lorenzo Sabato's . The flop was safe for Viacheslav, but the turn was a dagger through his heart. The river improved Sabato to trips, and Viacheslav was sent home empty handed in 123rd place.
Team PokerStars Pro Jude Ainsworth was close to cashing here in San Remo, but got eliminated just before the money bubble burst. He shoved his stack of around 60,000 preflop and was called by Fernando Cimaglia.
Ainsworth:
Cimaglia:
Cimaglia had Ainsworth covered and the Irish pro needed help from the board to survive. And although he hit the queen on the flop, Cimaglia hit his king as well as the board ran out , sending Ainsworth out of the tournament.
Media and players alike crowded around the table once the words "All in" and "call" echoed throughout the tournament room. Thomas Gabriel was all in before the flop for his last 94,000 and was called by Michele Di Lauro. The hands were turned over to reveal that Gabriel was way out in front.
Gabriel:
Di Lauro:
The door card made the room gasp, as it was the , giving Di Lauro the potential of many ways to make a winning hand. The rest of the flop, however, was lackluster for him as it came and .
The turned and sealed the deal for Gabriel's grasp on the hand. The rivered, giving him a full house and he was able to double up on the bubble.
Maksim Semisoshenko raised to 8,000 from the hijack only to have Mike Watson three-bet to 20,000 from the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded, and then Semisoshenko moved all in for 87,000 total. Watson made the call, and after action at the other tables completed, the cards were turned up.
Showdown
Semisoshenko:
Watson:
Semisoshenko was way out in front, but the flop made things interesting by giving Watson a king. Unfortunately for him, he would not catch another as the turn and river gave Semisoshenko a double.
The third all in and call saw another player find aces!
The action folded around to the deep-stacked Alex Roumeliotis and he moved all in blind to put pressure on the short-stacked Chris Brammer and Samuel Panzica in the blinds. Brammer folded but Panzica called all in for 79,500.
The room erupted in laughter when the players' cards were announced:
Roumeliotis;
Panzica:
The board ran to make Panzica a full house. What a sweat he had on the turn though!
Renaud Desferet was the first player to act before the flop and he shipped all in for 72,000. Tom Alner called from the next seat over and it folded around to Michael Benvenuti who moved all in over the top.
Alner was contemplating for his tournament life and ultimately decided to release his cards. The hands were then turned over to find Desferet in trouble.
Desferet:
Benvenuti:
The flop brought good tidings for Desferet, as it came ten-high with . The rolled off on the turn and Desferet would need to dodge a king on the river to double up. The dealer pounded the table and produced the river.
The !
The players and media members gathered around the table all let out a gasp as the bubble burst. Everyone still in the tournament is guaranteed a payday of at least €8,000.