Louis Cartarius raised to 60,000 from the cutoff and Dominik Panka called on the button. Aliaksei Boika put in a three-bet to 190,000 from the small blind. Back on Cartarius, the German shoved all in for 625,000.
Panka folded, Boika double-checked his holecards to make sure and then called.
Louis Cartarius:
Aliaksei Boika:
Cartarius was in a world of hurt, but could find solace in the other short stacks finding miracle escapes. Could the German pull off the upset as well?
The flop wasn't what he needed, but the on the turn improved his number of outs to ten. It wasn't meant to be, as the on the river put the final nail in the coffin.
Louis Cartarius finished in 10th place of the EPT Malta Main Event and took home €32,140. The remaining players are all being moved to the feature table to start the unofficial final table.
The action started off rather strange, as Tomas Macnamara posted the big blind under the gun while Xixiang Luo was the actual big blind. The floor got called over, and ruled Macnamara's out of turn post as a call.
Action folded to Peter Ockenden in the small blind, who shoved for 440,000. Back on Macnamara, the Brit immediately called to put his fellow countryman at risk.
Peter Ockenden:
Tomas Macnamara:
Macnamara's accidental post might just have paid off, as he got it in pretty good versus the Brit residing in Holland. The flop changed it all, as Ockenden found the much needed ace on the flop. The turn and secured it for Ockenden, giving him a full double up on the final table bubble.
Dmitry Yurasov, Mats Karlsson, and Peter Ockenden folded to Xixiang Luo in the small blind. He completed for 30,000 and the decision was on Tomas Macnamara.
Macnamara slid out a big pile of 25,000-chips, which virtually put him all in. Luo did move all in and Macnamara called.
Tomas Macnamara:
Xixiang Luo:
Luo trapped Macnamara and the Brit was looking for help from the board to stay in this tournament.
The wasn't really helping Macnamara but the turn did. Luo didn't river a king, when the fell and Macnamara scored a big double up as his all in was for 725,000 in total.
Right back from the break, Bastian Dohler managed to double his stack. From the cutoff, Dohler raised it up to 75,000 and in the small blind Dominik Panka raised to 185,00.
It was back to Dohler and he moved all in for 440,000 in total, Panka quickly called.
Bastian Dohler:
Dominik Panka:
Dohler had Panka dominated but was disgusted after the flop. Panka paired his jack and was way ahead now. However, the turn was the and Dohler was back on double up track.
The river was the and the Dohler remained in the hunt for the first prize of €355,700. The German qualified for only €10 in a PokerStars.com Spin & Go.
The 10 remaining players are on their first 30-minute break of the day. Chip counts to follow soon.
The first level of the day started with a blast. In the first couple of hands, two players were sent to the rail.
Benjamin Pollak was the first one to go. The Frenchman was left crippled when he doubled up Xixiang Luo in the first hand of the day. His eights couldn't hold against Luo's ace-king. The next hand, he lost his last chips, again it was Luo who took them from him.
Meanwhile, short stack Ole Schemion found his much-needed double up in the second hand of the day, when he rivered a flush with ace-four against Aliaksei Boika's pocket nines. The German was still short and busted some hands later when Mats Karlsson made a straight with king-ten against Schemion's ace-king.
The action slowed down after that and most of the pots were decided preflop. The level ended with two other bust outs both of Italian origin.
First, Daniele Colautti moved all in with nines and was up against Dmitry Yurasov's sixes. The Russian flopped a set and Colautti hit the rail. Shortly after, Marco Bartolini followed the same route. He ran his tens against Luo's queens and finished in 11th place.
Mats Karlsson leads the final 10 but Dmitry Yurasov and Xixiang Luo have more than two million in chips as well. PCA 2014 champion Dominik Panka and so is €10 spin-and-go qualifier Bastian Dohler.
Elie Saad raised to 55,000 in the small blind and Bastian Dohler defended his big blind. Saad continued with 55,000 on , Dohler raised to 130,000, and Saad called.
On the turn, Saad checked, Dohler bet 150,000, and Saad called again.
The river completed both straight and flush draws. Saad checked and Dohler emptied the clip. This time, the German Spin & Go qualifier bet 200,000. It took Saad two minutes, but eventually he counted out the call.
Bastian Dohler:
Elie Saad:
"Nice call," muttered the German, whose total airball with queen-high got called by second pair. Dohler had to ship half his stack to his Lebanese neighbor.
In the hand afterwards, Saad snapped off a bluff from Dominik Panka as well and now sits around 1,8 million in chips.