Matt Tyler had his stack up to 18,000 before he got into a pot with an unknown player. Matt raised pre-flop in position with "not much of a hand" and was called. He then bet out on a king-high rainbow flop and was called again. After checking behind on the turn, his opponent again checked a "blank river" and then called Matt's pot sized bet with K-4.
After the hand, Matt said: "I actually thought he was stronger than that but would not call. I obviously picked the wrong customer".
After that 8,000-plus pot, Matt is still healthy with 13,500 in chips.
Annette "Annette_15" Obrestad has been eliminated from play. How, we're not sure, but she left the table seeming philosophical, offering only a shrug of the shoulders and a smile with her exit.
Chips seem to flowing in the direction of Hevad "RaiNKHan" Khan. His stack had already increased since the last count, when he raised it up pre-flop and got a caller to his left.
The flop came down and he bet out 500 into a 600 pot and was called.
The turn was the and this time he bet 2,400, which was also called.
The river was and they checked it down, Hevad showing the for a full house which beat the of his opponent.
Julian Thew "skillfully avoided a two-outer" when his Q-Q beat his opponent's K-K all in pre-flop; a Queen came on the flop to send the man they call "Yo-Yo" back up to his 10,000 starting stack.
Nikolaus Jedlicka is back down to 7,000 after calling a 2,000 river bet on a board reading . Jedlicka's opponent showed for a ten-high straight and Jedlicka mucked.
Young Italian online whizkid Dario Minieri has already got his stack up to 30,000 and is one of the tournament chip leaders.
The news is not so good for another online hotshot, Sorel "Imper1um" Mizzi. He is out after pushing all in on an all-spade flop, only to be shown the nuts. He must have had no pair as he mucked before the turn or river was dealt.
Andy Black has climbed back up to 4,700 and is now tucking into a steak meal at his table.
There are currently 235 players remaining in the field.
...Not many people would when the following occurs in back-to-back hands:
Hand #1: Facing an early position pre-flop raise to 800, Kabbaj re-raises to 2,800 from the big blind. His opponent calls after a mini-dwell and the flop comes:
John checks and then moves in over the top of his opponent's 3,000 bet, but gets called instantly. The players show:
Kabbaj:
Opponent:
The turn and river bring no help and John is left with just 1,900 in chips.
Hand #2: The UTG player opens for a raise, which is called by a player in late position before the action gets around to John, who moves all in from the small blind; UTG calls and the late position player gets out of the way.
John shows a solid , but once again finds himself up against ... (Yes, exactly the same suits as the previous hand).
The hit on the flop, ending John's tournament a bit earlier than he would've liked.
The numbers have been crunched and here's what they look like:
Entrants: 282
*According to Madeleine Harper of PokerStars, the discrepancy on player numbers was due to the late arrival of one Johan Storakers, which brought the total from 281 to 282.
Prizepool: €2,143,200
Places Paid: 24
First Place Money: €670,800