Azamat Tulepbergenov raised 5,500 in the hijack before Kim De Sousa jammed 35,000 in the cutoff. The action folded back to Tulepbergenov and he made the call.
Kim De Sousa: A♥9♥
Azamat Tulepbergenov: A♦J♥
De Sousa was dominated but the K♦Q♠9♦ flop gave him the lead with a pair of nines. The 7♠ turn and 7♦ river meant he could remain seated.
On a Q♦10♣9♥ flop, Ronald Steinmetz and Henrik Veldhoem got their chips into the middle and both players flipped over premium pairs in the following showdown.
Ronald Steinmetz: K♦K♠
Henrik Veldhoem: A♣A♠
The aces held as neither the 7♣ turn nor the 4♦ river helped Steinmetz.
"You waste all your run-good on Day one?!" Parker Talbot joked from the other side of the table.
Cheng Zhao open shoved for 25,000 from middle position, exactly ten big blinds. Konstantin Farber isolated from the button and the rest of the table folded. Players flipped their cards, with Zhao at risk.
Cheng Zhao: 10♣10♥
Konstantin Farber: A♠10♦
The board ran out 6♣10♠4♣J♠2♦. The ten on the flop brought Farber a pair and gave Zhao a set of tens. Zhao held and doubled up his stack.
Down to the last 19,000 on the Q♣Q♠9♣ flop, Mike Mettoudi was all-in and Alberto Cigliano instantly called.
Mettoudi tabled the J♥10♣ for the open-ender while Cigliano was out in front with the A♦Q♥.
The 2♠ turn changed nothing but the K♥ river provided the straight.
On a four-way flop of 7♥6♥5♣, Dogan Dinler led for 34,000 in the small blind and Sergei Petrushevskii called all-in for slightly less in the big blind. Abel Pruchon folded and so did the other bigger stack Yang Zhang.
Sergei Petrushevskii: 9♦6♣
Dogan Dinler: 6♦5♠
The bottom two pair held on the J♣ turn as well as K♥ river runout.
Antoine Boulet open raised, Thomas Saminadin called, then Charles Laczny moved all in from the button with a short stack. Boulet and Saminadin both called, then checked down the action on a board of 3♣A♠6♥K♦Q♥. Players flipped their cards for showdown.
Charles Laczny: 7♥7♦
Antoine Boulet: K♥J♥
Thomas Saminadin: 4♦4♥
Saminadin and Laczny both had pocket pairs, but Boulet paired his king on the turn to get ahead and win the pot. Laczny was eliminated from the flight.
Ankit Ahuja raised from early position and was called by Johannes Verhagen from middle position. Marcelo Manfredini, with 73,000, three-bet to 15,000 from the cutoff. Ahuja jammed as the big stack and Verhagen got out of the way while Manfredini called.
Marcelo Manfredini: Q♣Q♦
Ankit Ahuja: A♠5♠
Manfredini avoided an ace on the J♣10♣3♣9♠9♥ runout and doubled out.
"I should have called," lamented Verhagen who said he folded pocket nines.
"Why did you do that?" he asked Ahuja. "This is not how you preserve a stack," Verhagen continued to his opponent who has more than $2.5 million in tournament earnings.
Kamil Karaoglu opened 5,000 in the hijack and Andrea Cardinali jammed for 51,000 from the small blind. Karaoglu wasted little time making the call and both hands were exposed.
Andrea Cardinali: 7♦7♣
Kamil Karaoglu: A♣Q♣
Cardinali smashed the 7♠4♠2♣ flop, and the board completed with the K♦ turn, and 9♥ river.
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