[Removed:568] opened 16,000 in early position and Antonio Crocetta pushed a stack of blues across the line for a raise of 85,000 on the button. Salah piled his chips and four-bet all in for his entire stack. Crocetta asked for a count and the dealer informed him it was 149,000. As Crocetta deliberated, Salah added, "You can still fold." Without responding, Crocetta made the call.
[Removed:568]: Q♣Q♦
Antonio Crocetta: J♥J♣
Salah hit his set as the K♥Q♠9♣ flop hit the felt, but he hadn't received the checkmark quite yet as Crocetta flopped a gutshot straight draw. The 2♥ turn and the 6♥ river changed nothing, however, sending Salah the double nearing the bubble.
Katie Lindsay and Bart Lybaert were seen with their cards on their backs as Lybaert was at risk for 132,000.
Bart Lybaert: J♠J♥
Katie Lindsay: A♣Q♠
It was a race but Lindsay was unable to connect on the 8♠7♠4♣4♦K♦ runout, leaving her with less than two big blinds.
With roughly 60,000 in the middle, the board read 4♠5♠J♠K♠9♣. Lucien Cohen bet 12,000 into Andrea Giuseppe. After thinking for a few moments, Giuseppe made the call.
Cohen tabled A♣K♣ for just a pair of kings, which won him the pot as Giuseppe slid his cards face down to the dealer.
Bart Lybaert raised to 6,000 from the cutoff. Katie Lindsay three-bet to 16,000 from the button and Luka Bojavic four-bet shoved for 34,000 from the small blind. Lybaert got out the way but Lindsay reluctantly made the call.
Luka Bojavic: J♥J♠
Katie Lindsay: K♦10♦
Bojavic was ahead with his jacks, but the flop of K♥5♠2♣ propelled Lindsay into the lead with a pair of kings. The 3♣ turn and 7♠ river didn't improve Bojavic, and he was sent to the rail at the hands of Lindsay.
Paul Leckey opened to 5,000 in early position and was faced with a three-bet jam by Lorenc Boci in the small blind to 39,500.
Eirik Lund Presterud was in the big blind and moved all in with a stack covering both players. Leckey thought things through momentarily, before moving his stack totaling around 60,000 into the middle.
Lorenc Boci: Q♥Q♠
Paul Leckey: K♣K♠
Eirik Lund Presterud: A♣K♦
Leckey was in great shape with his pocket kings, while Boci looked pretty disgusted with the spot he found himself in.
The 7♦5♥4♦ flop didn't alter matters, but the 6♦ turn gave Lund Presterud the diamond draw and also brought chop possibilities to reduce Leckey's equity.
As the players waited for the river, Lund Presterud rubbed his king of diamonds, almost pointing out to his opponents that he'd picked up the draw.
The A♠ then rolled off on the river, sending Lund Presterud the pot with his pair of aces and sending his two unfortunate opponents to the exit.
Dare2Stream and 2023 EPT Cyprus Main Event winner [Removed:553] moved all in for 18,000 from middle position and was called by Ryhor Karapanau from the cutoff.
[Removed:553]: A♦9♠
Ryhor Karapanau: 10♥10♦
Simon had three outs and picked up more equity after the 5♦4♣2♥ flop gave him a gutshot to the wheel. The 2♦ turn paired the board, offering no help to Simon. The Q♦ river confirmed his exit and Simon wished the table good luck before heading out.
After EPT Barcelona, the EPT will be returning to Cyprus after the massive success of the inaugural event in 2023.
The 2024 version will be the same, hosted at the mesmerizing five-star Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa from October 9-20.
There was a major suck and re-suck at Table 4 as Andreas Moser opened to 5,000 and a player called before Vittorio Pellegrino three-bet to 21,000. Moser responded by four-betting to 500,000 and the player in between folded as Pellegrino called.
Moser pushed in his remaining 45,000 on the flop of 7♥8♥K♠ and Pellegrino quickly called with slightly more.
Andreas Moser: A♥A♠
Vittorio Pellegrino: K♥K♦
Moser had been painfully out-flopped and was drawing to just two outs before the 2♥ turn gave him additional equity with a flush draw. But it was the A♣ river that gave him the winning hand as he improved to a better set to put a tough beat on Pellegrino, who was left with crumbs and eliminated during a four-way all in the very next hand.
In the last hand of the previous level, Candido Cappiello opened to 3,000 from middle position before Kevin Muders three-bet to 8,000 from the hijack. The action folded back to Cappiello, and the Italian jammed for around 70,000. Muders quickly called off his stack of 45,000 and the cards were tabled.
Kevin Muders: K♥K♣
Candido Cappiello: 7♠7♣
Muders doubled up after the A♦8♥10♠A♥9♥ runout to leave Cappiello short. A few hands later, Cappiello was seen leaving his seat and exiting the tournament room.
Michael Wang was seen all-in from the cutoff for roughly 22,000 against Adam Wagner in middle position, and both players revealed their hands.
Michael Wang: J♣J♦
Adam Wagner: A♦K♣
The K♦8♠4♣ flop paired Wagner's king as Wang stood up from his seat. The Q♣ turn and K♥ river further improved Wagner to trip kings, sending Wang out of the tournament.