Christopher Frank opened to 50,000 from the button and Juan Martin Pastor, after being crippled in an earlier hand against Adrian Mateos, moved all-in for 182,000. Christopher Frank made the call.
Pastor:
Frank:
The flop had a little something for everyone with being dealt. Frank needed an ace or a king on the turn or river, but the board completed with giving Pastor his first double.
A short while later Pastor was all-in again, this time with against Anton Astapau's .
The board ran out moving Pastor up to an 800,000 chip stack, whilst Astapau was crippled with about ten big blinds left behind.
Donnie Peters and Remko Rinkema talk all things EPT Grand Final. Topics include Erik Seidel's big win in the €100,000 Super High Roller, Dzmitry Urbanovich's insane run, and Scott Seiver's excellence.
Tom Hall came into the day with around ten big blinds, and had already moved all-in twice today, but got no callers. This time however the Brit moved all-in from the small blind and got called from Dmitry Ivanov in the big blind.
Hall:
Ivanov:
The dealer dealt the flop of which was no help to Hall.
"I'm gonna stand up, put my bag on, and get the seven on the river," Hall said as the was dealt on the turn.
But the seven didn't come as the came on the river, giving both players two pair, with Ivanov having the better kicker.
Tom Hall was eliminated in 15th place earning him €58,100.
Like a déjà vu, Koichi Nozaki opened under the gun for 42,000, and Johnny Lodden called on the button. Small blind Ole Schemion three-bet squeezed to 170,000 and the big blind quickly released. Nozaki tanked for a bit and called eventually. Lodden even needed some more time to make up his mind, and made the call as well.
The flop came and Schemion checked. Nozaki checked behind and action was on Lodden. The PokerStars Team Pro bet 190,000 and Schemion folded. Nozaki tanked, and raised to 410,000 in the end.
Lodden thought about it for a bit, before announcing all in for 1,271,000. Nozaki wasn't happy, and it was showing. He thought about it for a long time, started stacking his chips, then folded his arms and tanked for a fair bit more. At one point he smiled, and after some time more, he folded.
On the first hand of the day, Koichi Nozaki raised to 42,000 from under the gun before play folded to Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden on the button. He made the call, then Ole Schemion called from the small blind before the three players went to the flop.
The flop was , and Schemion checked. Nozaki bet 83,000, Lodden called, and Schemion called to keep all three players in action.
The turn was the , and Schemion opted to lead with a bet of 212,000. Nozaki slid forward the chips to make the call, then action fell on the Norwegian. Lodden took his time before firing in a raise to 600,000, verbally announcing the amount to the dealer. Schemion counted his stack with his left hand firmly over his mouth, then reraised all in for 1.05 million.
Nozaki quickly asked for a count, to which Schemion pushed all of his chips forward so the dealer could break them down. The shove amount of 1.05 million was confirmed, and Nozaki went into the tank. He eventually looked back at his cards one last time before sliding them to the muck, then Lodden made the call.
Schemion tabled the for a queen-high straight, and Lodden had the for a set of eights. With one card to come, Schemion had the lead.
Needing to fade a queen, ten, eight, or five on the river, Schemion did just that when the lowly hit on fifth street, and he doubled into the chip lead with 2.78 million. Lodden was knocked back to 1.115 million.
Just 15 players remain in the 2015 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event, all eying that first place prize of just over one million euros. That largest of cheques won't be handed out today though, but a ticket to still fight for the big money can be earned today.
The goal is to play down to 6 players, or five full 90-minute levels. A final table at the European Poker Tour consists of 8 players, but play will most likely continue even if the final table is reached, just to make sure the final day won't take too long. Last years final took till 9 in the morning, something the organization has tried to prevent from happening again ever since.
There's still some 40 minutes left in level 23 (10,000/20,000 with a 3,000 ante). PokerStars Team Pro Johnny Lodden starts out as the chip leader with 115 big blinds. His neighbor on his left is Ole Schemion with 59 big blinds.
Both of them have impressive records. Lodden has cashed 5 out of the 7 EPT Grand Final's he played, and finished third here two years ago for the biggest score of his live tournament career (€467,000).
Ole Schemion was the EPT Season 10 player of the year, has had multiple million dollar scores, and is arguably the best tournament poker player in the world at the moment.
We imagine that table being picked as the feature table today, so get ready for some action! PokerNews will be your one stop shop today, with all the big hands, interviews and photos from the Main Event and the €25,000 High Roller.