For the second day in a row, Tom “hitthehole” Middleton begins play as the chip leader. He sits on a stack of 3.886 million, which is nearly 700,000 more than his next closest compeitior Alejandro Perez, who will start with 3.3 million. Another man with a big stack is Anaras Alekberovas, who finished fourth in this very event last year. The Lithuanian is looking to make back-to-back final tables, which would be an incredible feat considering the size of the field the past two years.
Headed into the penultimate day, there are still two players left in the Skrill Last Longer competition – Middleton and Bulgarian player Valentino Konakchiev. Whichever one of them lasts longer in the tournament will received their €5,300 buy-in back courtesy of Skrill, the official payment provider sponsor of EPT Season 10. It’s a small pittance compared to the €1,067,000 first-place prize, but rest assured we’ll be keeping an eye on that storyline.
Speaking of the top prize, there is plenty of tough competition among the final 24 including Kimmo Kurko (2,427,000), Eduard Bhaggoe (1,637,000), Rens Feensta (1,255,000), Pasi Sormunen (703,000) and Julian Thomas (230,000). Some have big stack, others not so much, but the one thing they all have is a shot at becoming the next EPT champion.
Action will kick off in a little over an hour here at the Casino Barcelona. Be sure to stay tuned to PokerNews' live coverage as we bring you all the action and eliminations from the tournament floor. Until then, check out this interview from Day 1 of the €10,000 High Roller were Kristy Arnett asked Peter Jetter to “Explain This.”
Tom Middleton opened for 60,000 and Julian Thomas moved all in for his last 195,000. Middleton made the call and tabled . It looked good for Thomas who had . The cards though had other ideas. they fell and despite the flush draw on the flop Middleton’s trips sent Thomas home.
We missed the preflop action, but we do know that Jamila Von Perger, the last woman in the field, got her stack of 625,000 all in preflop holding the and was in bad shape against the of Madis Müür.
Yesterday Von Perger was able to spike a miracle river in a similar situation, but she wouldn't be as fortunate here as the board ran out a dry . Von Perger, the girlfriend of poker pro Manig Loeser, collected her things and quietly exited the tournament area in 23rd place.
Pasi Sormunen opened the action for 60,000 from middle position only to have Florian-Dimitrie Duta three-bet to 140,000 from the cutoff. Action folded back around to Sormunen, he made the call, and the flop came down .
Sormunen checked, Duta bet 135,000 and Sormunen let his inner Finn out by moving all in. Duta nonchalantly called off for 861,000 total and the cards were turned up.
Sormunen:
Duta:
Duta got it in with the best hand, but one card later he'd be drawing dead as the turn gave Sormunen his straight. The meaningless river was put out for good measure, and Duta took his leave in 21st place for €34,950.
All in preflop with Nicolau Pacheco Villa-Lobos was at risk against Kimmo Kurko who held . The rail for Villa-Lobos were calling for an ace with all their might but as the cards ran out there was no help and the nines held. Villa-Lobos shook Kirkland’s hand and exited the tournament.
Niall Farrell opened to 120,000 from middle position and Valentino Konakchiev, sat next to him in the hijack, went all in for his last 900,000. The blinds folded and Farrell’s call was good with against the of Konakchiev. The board ran out . For once there wasn’t a sweat and Farrell added to his stack, now 2,900,000 while Konakchiev was bust.
Rens Feenstra opened from the button and got a call from Andreas Christoforou in the small blind. Tom Middleton in the big blind was waiting with a raise and made it 375,000. Christoforou thought for a good while and gave him the stare down, but folded. Feenstra doesn’t give up that easily and made the call. They saw a flop of . Feenstra check called a bet of 400,000 from Middleton and they saw a turn card of . Again Feenstra checked and Middleton moved all in. Feenstra didn’t seem to like it but made the call turning over for top pair and a flush draw. Middleton had . The last card fell . Middleton moved on to 5,500,000 and Feenstra was crippled on 255,000, just four big blinds.
First hand after the dinner break on the second feature table and Feenstra was all in for his last 365,000. Luca Fiorini took his time and made the call. Feenstra had and Fiorini tabled . They saw the five cards, which ran out , and Feenstra, who had been crippled by Tom Middleton not long before, was eliminated from the tournament.
Pasi Sormunen opened for 160,000 and Niall Farrell shoved all in over the top of him for 925,000. Sormunen made an optimistic call with and was drawing live against the of Farrell. The board ran out and the gamble paid off as Sormunen paired his ten on the river to send Farrell home in 15th place.
Luca Fiorini opened for 220,000 from the cutoff only to have Michel Eid, who has been playing on the tighter side of things as of late, three-bet all in for 1.365 million from the button. The blinds both folded and action was back on Fiorini. He immediately shot back in his chair, removed his sunglasses and stared down Eid. Eventually he made the call.
Fiorini:
Eid:
Eid let a big smile cross his face as he knew he'd been caught red handed trying to steal. Fiorini also smiled as he wasn't expecting to be such a heavy favorite. The was no help to Eid and he got out of his chair in preparation for his exit. His preemptive rise wasn't wasted as the dealer burned and turned the to leave him drawing dead.
Fiorini let out a little cheer as the was put out on the river and Eid took his leave from the tournament in 14th place for €52,940.
![[user252447]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. It looked good for Thomas who had 
. The cards though had other ideas. 
they fell and despite the flush draw on the flop Middleton’s trips sent Thomas home.
and was in bad shape against the 
of Madis Müür.
. Von Perger, the girlfriend of poker pro Manig Loeser, collected her things and quietly exited the tournament area in 23rd place.
river was put out for good measure, and Duta took his leave in 21st place for €34,950.
Nicolau Pacheco Villa-Lobos was at risk against Kimmo Kurko who held 
. The rail for Villa-Lobos were calling for an ace with all their might but as the cards ran out 
there was no help and the nines held. Villa-Lobos shook Kirkland’s hand and exited the tournament.
against the 
. Feenstra check called a bet of 400,000 from Middleton and they saw a turn card of 
. Again Feenstra checked and Middleton moved all in. Feenstra didn’t seem to like it but made the call turning over 
for top pair and a flush draw. Middleton had 
. Middleton moved on to 5,500,000 and Feenstra was crippled on 255,000, just four big blinds.
, and Feenstra, who had been crippled by Tom Middleton not long before, was eliminated from the tournament.
was no help to Eid and he got out of his chair in preparation for his exit. His preemptive rise wasn't wasted as the dealer burned and turned the 
