The under the gun player raised and the button moved all in. Mukrad Akhundov was pot committed in the big blind and made the call.
"I didn't look," said Akhundov as he flipped his cards.
Murad Akhundov: Q♥4♣
Button: A♥Q♣
Akhundov was dominated. "Oh, c'mon!" he said.
The board ran out 7♥9♦5♠7♠2♥. Akhundov was asking for the split as the straight draw ran out, but it never came. Instead, he lost the pot to the higher kicker.
Akhundov was eliminated in 17th place for €9,650 (€16,650 including bounties).
With that, the tournament broke to the final two tables.
Igor Yaroshevskyy raised to 60,000 and was called by Mario Navarro Arrocha and Stefan Dimitrov.
The flop came 6♠3♥4♠. Dimitrov bet out 90,000 and both Arrocha and Dimitrov called.
The turn was the Q♠. Dimitrov checked and Yaroshevskyy bet out 225,000. Navarro called and Dimitrov folded.
The river came the J♥ By this point, the point was inflated. Both players checked back. Yaroshevskyy showed Q♥Q♣ for a set of queens and scooped the pot.
Andrea Crobu opened to 80,000 from middle position and received a call from Stefan Dimitrov in the cutoff. The flop was revealed to be 5♦Q♠J♣ and Crobu checked to Dimitrov. Dimitrov made a bet of 75,000 and Crobu thought a while before he called.
The turn saw the K♦ appear and Dimitrov upped his sizing to 280,000 this time, after another check from Crobu. Again, Crobu called after a little tank.
The river J♥ completed the board and Crobu checked for the third time. Dimitrov now tanked for several minutes before announcing his all-in for 700,000. Crobu did not need any thinking time now, coming alive with an instantaneous call.
Dimitrov could only show 3♣3♠ for the failed bluff against the Q♣Q♦ of Crobu, who slow-played top set and rivered a full house. Crobu had the covering stack and thus Dimitrov was the last person to be eliminated on Day 2 of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty, as play would cease soon after.
Day 2 of the €3,000 Mystery Bounty, running as part of the PokerStars EPT presented by Monte-Carlo Casino®, has now wrapped up. The event is taking place at the Sporting Monte-Carlo venue, one of the most glorious card rooms in the world.
Nearly 100 players late regged for the event on Day 2, making for a total of 678 entrants for the event and 264 who participated in the second day. Of those, 95 made at least the min-cash of €3,150. There are now just 15 players left in contention for the title and the top prize.
Andrea Crobu was the end of day chip leader with 2,675,000 chips. He is followed by Matthias Lipp of Austria, who sits in second place with 2,255,000. Italy’s Fabio Peluso, who earned himself a WSOP bracelet in 2022, is in third with 2,155,000.
Anton Kraous sits in fourth place with a touch over 2,000,000 and Igor Yaroshevskyy rounds out the top five.
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Name
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Andrea Crobu
Italy
2,675,000
53
2
Matthias Lipp
Austria
2,255,000
45
3
Fabio Peluso
Italy
2,155,000
43
4
Anton Kraous
Czech Republic
2,020,000
40
5
Igor Yaroshevskyy
Ukraine
1,945,000
40
6
Nicolas Julien
France
1,885,000
38
7
Jon Ander Vallinas
Spain
1,440,000
29
8
Bruno Lopes
France
1,190,000
24
9
Ignacio Sole Aparicio
Spain
1,135,000
23
10
Aliaksei Boika
Belarus
1,030,000
21
Of course, a significant chunk of the Mystery Bounty prize pool went towards the bounties. There were two top prizes of €100,000 up for grabs and they have now both been claimed. Sam Greenwood won one and Aurelien Russo claimed the other.
Greenwood is no stranger to six (and even seven) figure scores. Russo, however, had just over €100,000 in live cashes before pulling the big one. Much to his delight, he has just earned the biggest score of his career and near-doubled his lifetime cashes.
Other players who had success when it came to bounties include Aliaksei Boika and Ehsan Amiri, both of whom pulled the second prize of €40,000, along with smaller, supplementary bounties to boost their totals.
Antoine Labat picked out a €25,000 prize along with a €5,000 and three €1,000 tickets, making for a grand total of €33,000 in bounties. He is still in contention.
Andrea Crobu, the current tournament chip leader, pulled a €25,000 bounty and is also in an excellent position to claim victory when he returns to the felt for the final day.
All of the big bounties have now been taken and there are only €1,000 tickets left in the box. However, there is still all to play for when it comes to finishing top of the table in the tournament.
Day 3 of the Mystery Bounty is set to kick off at noon local time. When action resumes, blinds will be on 25,000/50,000 with a 50,000 big blind ante.
The next player to bust will earn €11,100 in prizes. Whoever finishes first is set to walk away with €224,448 plus bounties.
PokerNews will be on the floor to bring you all of the action, bust outs, and mad moments on Day 3. Expect an action-packed finale as the tournament plays down to a winner.