On a board of we saw Jaroslaw Sikora check from the small blind. Ezequiel Kleinman bet out 15,000 from the big blind and Sikora folded and got up from the table to check on one of his friends over on a different table. That would have been all good if it weren't for Max Silver on the button with still cards in front of him. Silver at least now knew he would be heads up if he called, and did just so. The fell on the river and Kleinman bet out 71,000. Silver made the call, but mucked upon seeing .
When Sikora came back to the table, he got a 2-hand penalty from the floor for folding out of turn.
Alexander Ivarsson min-raised to 8,000 from under the gun and Christoph Vogelsang three-bet to 20,000 from the button. Ivarsson four-bet to 53,000 and was called before betting the flop for 55,000. Vogelsang called and then faced the all in of Ivarsson with the superior stack.
Vogelsang spent the next few minutes in the think tank and the TV camera crew headed over to the table. All other tables had finished their action and Vogelsang was still to make up his mind. The clock on the screens ran down another three minutes and he then folded, Ivarsson showed no reaction and slid his cards into the muck.
Jaroslaw Sikora has been chipping up nicely today and has passed the million mark. We just witnessed him betting a 100,000 straight on a board of . Shaan Siddiqui called him just about instantly, and was shown .
"Is that a straight?" Sikora asked in unbelief. When the dealer confirmed, he mucked and said he had a set.
"All in and a call at the feature table," we heard the announcer declare.
We're not sure how the chips went in, but we do know that Paul Berende got his last 73,000 all in preflop and was at risk against Dan Smith.
Smith:
Berende:
Upon seeing the cards it was no surprise to see why the chips went in. Berende was in a great spot to double, which is just what he did after the board ran out .
The stack of Kitty Kuo was just verified and came off as an astonishing 490,000 chips, though at this point it is unclear how the EPT regular and poker lover from Taiwan got there. Chris Hunichen from one table over has also used the upcoming bubble to increase his stack and Thomas Muehloecker just played a pot to regain lost profit.
Muehloecker opened to 9,000 and Ferdinand le Pichon three-bet to 24,000 out of the big blind. Muehloecker called and le Pichon checked the flop . Muehloecker then bet 28,500 and that won the pot.
One more table played a hand still and Christoph Vogelsang eventually gave up to start-of-the-day chip leader Alexander Ivarsson after very long consideration.
The EPT appears to be experiencing a stalling epidemic, with short stacks forcing others to call the clock on them every single hand as the bubble approaches.
It's a tactical move most agree with, considering the less hands a short stack sees the slower they will go broke, but seems to be a breach of poker etiquette at the same time. Some say the solution lies in going hand-for-hand three or fives spots off the money bubble instead, but the tournament staff said previous attempts at that proved to make the bubble last even longer.
Christopher Andler was one guilty of stalling with just a few big blinds in his stack moments ago. Eventually a ruling was made shortening his clock to 30 seconds as they will do for any player who appears to be stalling.
Chris Hunichen raised it up with Andler on his left and was forced to wait through his stall to pick up the blinds and antes in a hand with 98 players left.
"It's annoying," he said. "But at the same I understand it as a strategy. If I was him I would do it too. This is what's encouraged when you don't go hand for hand earlier."
The stalling continued and the frequency of players calling the clock increased before they reached the 97 player mark.
Mike "Timex" McDonald opened the action with a raise from the button and Abdelkarim El Haddouti three-bet out of the big blind to get called by McDonald. On the flop , El Haddouti check-called a bet worth 25,000 and did so again for 55,000 on the turn. The board filled up with the river and El Haddouti checked for a third time.
McDonald announced all in and El Haddouti ended up calling off for his last 100,000 to immediately muck once Timex had tabled his . The dealer retrieved the cards from the muck to show and El Haddouti joined the rail very close before the money.
On the turn, Erik Scheidt checked and Mikael Jean bet 22,500 to receive a call from the German big stack. The river completed the board and Jean glanced over at his opponent, waiting for a reaction. Scheidt shrugged and said he had already checked, Jean checked behind and won the hand with versus .
we saw Jaroslaw Sikora check from the small blind. Ezequiel Kleinman bet out 15,000 from the big blind and Sikora folded and got up from the table to check on one of his friends over on a different table. That would have been all good if it weren't for Max Silver on the button with still cards in front of him. Silver at least now knew he would be heads up if he called, and did just so. The 
fell on the river and Kleinman bet out 71,000. Silver made the call, but mucked upon seeing 
. 
for 55,000. Vogelsang called and then faced the all in of Ivarsson with the superior stack.
. Shaan Siddiqui called him just about instantly, and was shown 
. 
.
![[user127999]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and after Aldemir checked, Kenney continued for 12,000.
. Aldemir checked the 
, but it was bombs away for Kenney, as he threw out a bet of 31,500.
, El Haddouti check-called a bet worth 25,000 and did so again for 55,000 on the 
. The dealer retrieved the cards from the muck to show 
and El Haddouti joined the rail very close before the money.
turn, Erik Scheidt checked and Mikael Jean bet 22,500 to receive a call from the German big stack. The 
