Danny Verheij made it 600,000 to go in early position. Ali Abdulzahra three-bet to 1,500,000 in the cutoff, after which Cristian Ivanus committed his stack of 5,825,000 in the big blind.
Verheij called off for his stack of 5,200,000, and, after some minutes in the tank, Abdulzahra called as well, covering both opponents
Danny Verheij: A♦K♦
Cristian Ivanus: 10♠10♥
Ali Abdulzahra: A♥K♠
Ivanus flopped top set on 2♣10♦9♦. Verheij had a flush draw to work with, but Ivanus made a full house instead on the 5♥5♠ runout. Ivanus nearly tripled up, while Verheij had to take his exit in 24th place.
Marios Papazois opened to 600,000 from early position, and found himself facing a three-bet to 1,800,000 from Oliver Gayko in the cutoff. When the action folded back to Papazois, he four-bet shoved for roughly 3,000,000. Gayko wasted no time and made the call.
Marios Papazois: A♦Q♦
Oliver Gayko: K♥K♦
The flop brought more ways to win for Papazois, coming down 8♦6♠J♦.
That wasn't his only route to survival, though, as the Q♣ turn and Q♥ river improved him to trips, seeing the pot pushed in his direction.
Danilo Donnini made it 500,000 to go in the hijack. 2016 champion Dan Wilson then three-bet to 3,000,000 on the button, leaving 500,000 behind.
Vasyl Palandiuk called and revealed A♣Q♣ once Donnini got out of the way, not realizing that Wilson had chips behind. The floor was called over, and a flop was ordered to be dealt, with Palandiuk playing his hand face-up.
Palandiuk then put Wilson all-in on the K♣J♣4♠ flop, and Wilson could only laugh as he called off.
Dan Wilson: J♠J♦
Vasyl Palandiuk: A♣Q♣
The 7♠ turn was safe for Wilson's jacks, but the 5♣ river completed Palandiuk's flush. Wilson was knocked out in 27th place, narrowly missing out on the final three tables.
Kenneth Svendsen opened to 500,000 in the hijack. Steve O'Dwyer then moved in his stack of 4,150,000 in the cutoff, and Svendsen called after receiving a count.
Steve O'Dwyer: K♠Q♠
Kenneth Svendsen: 8♦8♣
O'Dwyer flopped the nuts on A♥10♠J♥, although the A♠ turn gave Svendsen some outs. He did not hit a boat on the 2♥ river, however, and the 2022 Irish Open champion doubled to an average stack.
Kevin Killeen opened the action with a raise to 500,000 from early position. Both Michael Prendergast on the button and Jarkko Suokas in the big blind called.
Killeen continued for 575,000 on the 3♦4♣2♠ flop, and both his opponents called.
The J♠ turn joined the board, and when action checked over to Prendergast, he bet 1,500,000. Suokas called, but Killeen folded.
When the 6♥ river completed the board, Suokas took over the betting lead, putting 5,000,000 into the middle. Prendergast wasted no time before he called.
Suokas flipped over 9♠5♠ for a rivered straight. Prendergast also had a straight, showing he had flopped it with A♣5♣.
Danny Verheij opened the action with a raise to 400,000 in the hijack. Ali Abdulzahra then three-bet to 1,300,000 in the cutoff, and Luca Bernardi put in a four-bet to 2,500,000 on the button.
Verheij quickly got out of the way, but Abdulzahra called to see the J♥4♠A♥ flop. Abdulzahra checked, Bernardi fired a bet of 1,200,000, and Abdulzahra called.
The 5♣ turn saw Bernardi size up to 2,500,000. Abdulzahra check-called once more, after which he went into the tank on the Q♦ river.
After a while, he decided to move all in. Bernardi snap-called his 4,280,000 remaining chips and tabled A♠A♣ for top set. Abdulzahra could not believe his eyes as he showed J♠J♦ for a lower set.
Ali Abdulzahra - Luca Bernardi
The massive pot was shipped to Bernardi, who doubled up to become the first player to cross the 20-million mark. Abdulzahra, meanwhile, saw his big stack whittled down to just 12 and a half big blinds.
Victor Ponciano opened under the gun, prompting Vasyl Palandiuk to three-bet to 1,00,000 in the next seat over. The action folded back to Ponciano, who four-bet all in for 4,300,000. Palandiuk quickly called with the covering stack.
Victor Ponciano: A♠Q♦
Vasyl Palandiuk: K♥K♦
Ponciano went looking for an ace, but none were to be found on the 9♦2♥9♥J♥10♦ runout. He headed to the exit as Palandiuk chipped up further, seizing the tournament chip lead with a stack of nearly 18,000,000.