Natan Chauskin open-shoved for 51,000 under the gun. It folded to Jason Wheeler in the small blind, who called.
Natan Chauskin: K♦Q♦
Jason Wheeler: A♦K♥
"Every time, huh? Easy game," Chauskin said as he saw Wheeler's cards.
He flopped a bunch of outs on 10♦J♦2♣, however, and he completed his straight draw on the A♣ turn. The 5♥ river did not provide a chop, and Chauskin sat back down to rake in the chips.
"As soon as he started moaning, I knew I was going to lose," Wheeler stated. "The harder you moan, the more you win. It's one of the rules of poker."
"Well, I've never seen Ben moan, and he wins a lot in poker," Dietrich Fast replied in reference to Ben Heath, also present at the table.
"Well, of course it works both ways," Wheeler explained.
Kosumosu Yamanaka raised to 25,000 on the button, having started the hand with roughly 90,000. Jason Wheeler moved all in from the big blind, with a much larger stack, and Yamanaka called.
Kosumosu Yamanaka: K♥Q♥
Jason Wheeler: A♠K♠
It wasn't what Yamanaka would have wanted to see, and when there was no help from the deck on the 8♦9♣8♥2♥2♦ runout, his deep run was over.
Elia Salerno had pushed in his last 53,000 under the gun, and Yurii Zabrodotskyi was all in for 137,000 in middle position. Derk van Luijk looked them both up in the big blind, covering both opponents.
Elia Salerno: A♦4♦
Yurii Zabrodotskyi: 10♠10♣
Derk van Luijk: A♠K♥
Salerno flopped a pair on 6♥Q♥4♠, and Van Luijk turned a flush draw on the 3♥. Zabrodotskyi's tens remained best on the 8♣ river, however, and he scooped the pot to eliminate Salerno.
Seeing a raise to 8,000 ahead of him, Ilya Nikiforov three-bet to 32,000 from the small blind. Stanislav Anufriiev responded with a cold four-bet to 103,000 from the big blind. The original raiser folded, but Nikiforov moved all in for 135,000, which Anufriiev called.
Ilya Nikiforov: K♠K♣
Stanislav Anufriiev: A♦J♦
A sweet situation soon turned sour for Nikiforov, as the dealer spread a J♣8♠J♥ flop, improving Anufriiev to trips.
There was no saving grace for Nikiforov, as the 6♣ turn and 4♣ river completed the board, seeing him eliminated in unfortunate circumstances.
Gianluca Cedolia opened to 8,000 under the gun. Hugo Blaison made it 24,000 in the cutoff before Artsiom Lasouski four-bet to 51,000 on the button. Cedolia immediately got out of the way, but Blaison clicked it back to 95,000.
Lasouski confirmed the amount before calling, and the 4♣5♠2♣ flop was fanned. Blaison continued for 27,000, which Lasouski called. Blaison sized up to 102,000 on the 9♦ turn, but was still unable to shake his opponent as Lasouski called again.
The river fell the 6♣. Blaison moved all in, covering Lasouski's 175,000 remaining chips. Lasouski went deep into the tank, but eventually tossed a single chip in the middle to signal a call.
Blaison tabled A♠10♣ for just ace-high, prompting Lasouski to triumphantly show 8♥8♦. His pair of eights won him the massive pot worth more than 200 big blinds, and saw him ascend to be among the leaders in the room.
The action was joined as Cedric Schwaederle had worked his stack in preflop from the cutoff, and was at risk versus the under-the-gun player Robbie Bull.
Cedric Schwaederle: A♣A♥
Robbie Bull: A♦K♦
The ace-high runout saw Schwaederle improve to top set, with the collision leaving Bull with just a couple of big blinds.
The very next shuffle, Bull was eliminated, his K♦4♦ unable to beat 7♦7♣.