On the tail end of a J♦8♣5♣5♠8♥ board, Hongru Zhang bet 32,000. Fabio Peluso then raised to 152,000 and that sent Zhang into the tank. He eventually called and mucked when Peluso tabled the A♣8♦.
Within the first three hands on the bubble, there were three all-in and call. Each of them resulted in a double and that included an open shove by David Guetta (the poker player, not musician) in the cutoff for 39,000, Jean Delorme called in the big blind.
David Guetta: A♥Q♥
Jean Delorme: 9♠8♠
The A♦Q♦7♠4♣2♦ board awarded a double for Guetta.
One hand later, Lukas Hafner simply open-jammed from middle position into the entire table behind him. Guetta called all-in for 89,000 in the hijack.
David Guetta: A♥A♣
Lukas Hafner: J♣9♦
Guetta held once more on the Q♥5♥3♥8♦K♦ board as the bubble on Day 1b continued.
With 85 players remaining and several tables stalling, floor staff told the dealers to stop after the current hand as hand-for-hand mode was to commence early.
During this exact hand, Francesco Delfoco busted and further all-in action unfolded. Naim Ouachekradi raised to 32,000 in the cutoff and then folded when Demosthenes Kiriopoulos bumped it up to 162,000 in the big blind.
Last but not least, Mohamed Aissani had defended the big blind against cutoff aggression by big stack Fabio Peluso. The turn showed 6♦4♥2♣9♥ and Aissani had checked. Peluso pushed all-in and Aissani tank-called all-in for around 90,000.
Mohamed Aissani: 8♣7♦
Fabio Peluso: J♠10♥
"Let's go straight," Aissani said in French table chat but bricked the 6♣ river to leave the entire table stunned.
And just like that, the field was reduced to 83 players, thus ensuring hand-for-hand play on the stone bubble.
The floor staff has become more busy now as several tables have had players tanking. Clocks are being called albeit reluctantly as Day 1b is only three eliminations away from the finish line. The last player to bust was Nemanja Lukovic.
Level: 20
Blinds: 6,000/12,000
Ante: 12,000
Justin Steinbrenner opened for 165,000 from the hijack, leaving himself a short stack of 1,000-denomination chips behind, and Gonzalo Almeida shoved from the small blind for more. Action folded back to Steinbrenner, who called all in to put himself at risk.
Justin Steinbrenner: K♣Q♣
Gonzalo Almeida: A♥K♦
Steinbrenner found himself dominated, and the 5♠6♦7♦9♦9♥ runout provided no help — forcing him to surrender his stack to Almeida.
Toni Kaukua pushed all-in for 94,000 and table big stack Fabio Peluso looked him up.
Toni Kaukua: A♦Q♦
Fabio Peluso: 8♠8♣
The Finn took the lead with the A♥2♥2♠ flop, then stayed ahead throughout the 2♦ turn as well as the 10♣ river.
Jesse Lonis raised from an early position to 22,000 and Istvan Toth in the small blind pushed all-in for 82,000. Clement Bonnant in the big blind asked for a count and inquired about the stack size of Lonis, too, but folded, while Lonis instantly called.
Istvan Toth: A♠K♦
Jesse Lonis: 10♦10♠
It was all but over for Toth with the 10♥9♦8♠ flop and the A♦ turn confirmed his elimination, as a meaningless 4♥ fell on the river.
Sergiu Covrig pushed a short stack of around 90,000 into the middle and Maciej Gut did so with the covering stack, forcing out all opponents.
Sergiu Covrig: 7♣7♠
Maciej Gut: 8♥8♦
"Seven seven is my favourite hand. I can feel it, it is coming," Covrig declared while filming the showdown with his smart phone.
However, there was no seven on the A♠K♥4♦5♠9♦ board to knock out the WSOP Europe bracelet winner. Adrian Mateos followed suit on a different table right after.
Within very quick succession, another three tables broke and the field plummeted below 100 hopefuls. Floor staff instructed dealers to no longer bust players on their iPads and as the all-in showdowns kept coming in hot.
Big names to miss out on a cash price in this event include Kalidou Sow, Yasuhiro Waki, Joao Sydenstricker and Ilija Savevski as they all came up short in the last few minutes.
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