On the very last hand of day two in the high roller event, Martin Kabrhel and Max Lykov, the two tournament big stacks, went to war. Kabrhel bet huge on the river on a dry board, sending Lykov into the tank and pondering whether to call with king high. PokerStars Blog caught up with both players this morning to find out what they were thinking. In short: neither was backing down.
Philippe Ktorza opened to 60,000 from under the gun, Griffin Benger called out of the small blind, and Max Lykov defended his big blind. The flop fell , all three players checked, and the turn was the . Benger checked, Lykov fired out 114,000, and only Benger called.
The river was the , and Benger checked again. Lykov reached for chips, and tossed out another 187,000. Benger tanked for over a minute, checked the clock, the tossed his cards into the muck.
Griffin Benger made it 60,000 to go from under the gun and Max Lykov called from the next seat over.
The dealer fanned a flop of and Benger checked. Lykov took this opportunity to bet 78,000 but he was flat called by Benger. The turned and Benger checked for a second time. Lykov rapped the table back and the paired the board on fifth street.
Benger tossed out 100,000 and Lykov dropped in a call. Benger tabled for kings and fours which caused Lykov to muck his hand. Benger dragged in the pot and is now sitting at 1.75 million.
In the first hand of Level 23, Griffin Benger raised to 62,000 in the hijack seat. Philippe Ktorza called on the button, and Martin Kabrhel three-bet to 191,000 out of the big blind.
Benger went into the tank for a bit, then four-bet to 375,000. Ktorza quickly folded, and the action was back on Kabrhel.
"How much you have?" he asked Benger.
Benger told him an amount, but Kabrhel disagreed. He asked Benger to make it "better looking," but all Benger did was make the stacks more visible. Kabrhel finally folded.
Benger and Kabrhel had some words with one another after the hand - nothing vicious or anything - and Benger said that his friends are better at counting chips.
Action folded to Philippe Ktorza on the button. He made it 50,000 to go which caused the small blind to fold. James Mitchell peeked down at his cards in the big blind and announced that he was all in for around 570,000. Ktorza took a deep breath and moved chips into the middle, signifying a call.
Ktorza:
Mitchell:
The board came down and Mitchell was unable to improve. He will collect €54,900 in prize money for his seventh place finish.
Aaron Lim opened to 50,000 on the button, Griffin Benger called out of the small blind, and Max Lykov defended from the big blind.
The board rolled out , Benger led out for 76,000, and only Lykov called.
The turn was the , Benger led out again - this time for 185,000 - and Lykov again called.
The completed the board, and Benger tanked for around 30 seconds before checked. Lykov quickly checked behind. Benger paused, then turned over for king-high. Lykov frustratedly showed for a bricked flush draw and a lesser king-high.
"Are you guys even taking this seriously?" Sam Grafton asked from the rail. "Playing with no pairs?"
Aaron Lim opened to 48,000 from the hijack and Griffin Benger called from the cutoff. The rest of the table folded and the duo took a flop of .
Lim fired off a continuation of 65,000 and Benger stayed the course. Fourth street was the and Lim slowed down with a check. Benger checked it back and the board paired on the river with the . Lim tapped the table once again and Benger cut out 155,000.
Lim folded his cards and Benger was pushed the pot. Benger is now sitting around 1.16 million.
In the first five hands played, there was only one flop. Martin Kabrhel opened to 48,000 in early position, and Philippe Ktorza defended in the big blind. The Frenchman then check-folded to a bet from Kabrhel.
Joni Jouhkimainen has a flight in two hours, or maybe three. He doesn't know.
Play was about to begin here on Day 3 of the EPT Berlin High Roller, and only six of the seven players had turned up. Finnish pro Joni Jouhkimainen was missing, and the table didn't know what to do.
"Should we wait for Joni?" James Mitchell asked no one in particular.
There was no answer, until Griffin Benger spoke up.
"Yes," he agreed, then changed his mind. "Actually, no. We're playing for a lot of money. It's not our responsibility."
Right as a Finnish dealer was about to text Jouhkimainen, he came bustling through the door with two suitcases in hand.
"I have a flight in three hours," he said, sitting down. "Maybe three. I don't know."
"So you're going to be playing aggressively?" Benger asked, grinning.
"My flight's at seven," Mitchell added.
"Don't worry everybody," Martin Kabrhel interjected. "I miss my flight already."
With €429,000 on the line, we're assuming that paying for a flight change won't affect any of these players.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, all three players checked, and the turn was the 
. Benger checked, Lykov fired out 114,000, and only Benger called.
, and Benger checked again. Lykov reached for chips, and tossed out another 187,000. Benger tanked for over a minute, checked the clock, the tossed his cards into the muck.
and Benger checked. Lykov took this opportunity to bet 78,000 but he was flat called by Benger. The 
turned and Benger checked for a second time. Lykov rapped the table back and the 
paired the board on fifth street.
for kings and fours which caused Lykov to muck his hand. Benger dragged in the pot and is now sitting at 1.75 million.
and Mitchell was unable to improve. He will collect €54,900 in prize money for his seventh place finish.
, Benger led out for 76,000, and only Lykov called.
, Benger led out again - this time for 185,000 - and Lykov again called.
completed the board, and Benger tanked for around 30 seconds before checked. Lykov quickly checked behind. Benger paused, then turned over 
for a bricked flush draw and a lesser king-high.
