Mike Watson opened for 16,000 from early position and action folded to Andrei Chernokoz on the button. He moved all in for 76,000 and both blinds folded. Watson called and put Chernokoz at risk.
Mike Watson: 
Andrei Chernokoz: 
The board came 
and the tournament was down to 49.
As play has almost slowed down to a complete standstill, the tournament director has decided to play will now be hand for hand. The tournament is still three off the money, and the tournament director explained that a the hand for hand was implemented during the High Roller in Malta as well.
"Because we saw that this worked really well in Malta, we've decided to do the same thing here. We will also monitor the amount of time it takes to play one hand, which should be between three and four minutes, and it if takes considerably longer we'll see if we can add some time to the clock," the tournament director explained.
Simon Mattsson opened for 17,000 under the gun and action folded to Alexandru Papazian in the hijack. Papazian, one of the shortest stacks in the room with 53,000, moved all in after giving it some thoughts. Action folded to Mattsson and he reluctantly called after some time.
Simon Mattsson: 
Alexandru Papazian: 
The board ran out 
and the two chopped it up. Papazian wasn't too happy about that, but at least he got half the blinds and antes.
Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst took a bit hit right before the break, but she's already recovered nicely after picking up a pot from Ihar Soika.
On a 
flop we saw Soika bet 28,000 from the under-the-gun position and only Selbst called in position after which two other players folded.
The turn was checked by both players, and on the river the 
hit. Soika checked once more, before Selbst bet 78,000.
Soika tanked for upwards of six minutes, before slamming a stack of chips across the line to make the call.
Selbst showed 
and Soika shook his head numerous times as he mucked his cards and dropped down to 355,000 chips.
As play has slowed down considerbly we've decided to take a look at some of the biggest stacks in the room right now. There are still 50 players remaining and the final 47 will get paid.
Level: 17
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 1,000
Play will resume in 60 minutes.
Pavel Plesuv opened for 14,000 under the gun with around 5 minutes on the clock till the dinner break. Ihar Soika right next to him three-bet to 34,000 and two positions down action was on Vanessa Selbst. The PokerStars Team Pro made it 71,000 from the cutoff and the button and small blind both quickly released to go on dinner break.
Daniel Cates in the big blind wasn't hungry just yet and took his time figuring out what he was going to do. The break had almost started by now and he eventually decided to make it 115,000. Plesuv folded right away and Soika followed his example after less than half a minute in the tank. Selbst called however.
The flop came 
and Cates again took his time before betting 90,000. Selbst called.
Though it took some time, both players eventually decided to check the turn and 
river.
"I guess I win than" Cates said, still hesitant to show his cards. When Selbst didn't show either, he finally tabled his 
. Selbst mucked.
While Selbst and Cates both started counting and stacking their chips, with the break already about 10 minutes underway now, the latter said "Can I pay you €100 for your hand there?" Selbst snap accepted but Cates backed out a little; "Maybe I should have started with €50" Cates said. Selbst didn't want to know of any other deal and eventually Cates grabbed his wallet, pulled out a €100 note from a wad of cash, and handed it to Selbst. "I had pocket tens" Selbst admitted.
"Maybe if I jam river on you, you fold" Selbst said while packing her bag to go on dinner. "No! I'm never folding river. I wanted you to jam the river" Cates said with a giggle. With 48 minutes left in the break, the two were finally heading for the exit.
The €10,300 High Roller is down to just 50 players, but only 47 will get paid. The following five players are the only ones with less than 100,000 chips, and that means they are in the danger zone of missing out on the money.
The first level of payouts is €17,420, and the dinner break will start at the completion of the current level. Five more levels are left to be played after the one-hour dinner break.
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