In a preflop all in situation, Rainer Kempe committed his last 78,500 chips with the 
and Nichan Khorchidian made the call with 
. The board ran out 
and Kempe doubled.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
165,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
|
95,000
-91,000
|
-91,000 |
The stacks were counted and then it was clear that Farid Jattin had moved all in for around 95,000 on the feature table with the 
.
Dan Smith made the call with 
to put Jattin at risk and the latter was drawing dead after the turn of a 
board to reduce the field to 98.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
450,000
206,000
|
206,000 |
|
Busted |
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 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
510,000
-30,000
|
-30,000 |
|
250,000
50,000
|
50,000 |
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
590,000
275,800
|
275,800 |
|
||
|
Busted | |
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.
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
490,000
225,100
|
225,100 |
|
||
|
255,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
195,000
-14,200
|
-14,200 |
With 97 players remaining, the tournament is now played hand for hand.
Bryn Kenney's abuse of the bubble continues here in Malta.
He raised it up to 9,000 and Koray Aldemir defended his big blind. The flop came and after Aldemir checked, Kenney continued for 12,000.
Aldemir flatted and they both checked the board-pairing . Aldemir checked the , but it was bombs away for Kenney, as he threw out a bet of 31,500.
Aldemir folded, allowing Kenney to add more than 20,000 to his growing stack.
"Good board for a check raise on the river," Kenney said. "I wouldn't have liked a raise, a call would have been fine, just not a raise."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
249,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
"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 
.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
375,000
-75,000
|
-75,000 |
|
175,000
102,000
|
102,000 |
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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
1,000,000
375,000
|
375,000 |
|
155,000
-142,000
|
-142,000 |
