Ottomar Ladva opened the cutoff to 50,000 and Ren Lin shoved the small blind for around 260,000. After confirming the count, Ladva flicked in the call.
Ren Lin: A♦7♥ 
Ottomar Ladva: K♦10♥
Lin was ahead with his ace-high, and the board of 4♣8♣Q♥2♥3♥ didn't improve either player, which meant Lin scored the double-up.
On a board of 5♣2♥6♣A♦, there were around 300,000 chips in the pot when Raoul Kanme checked from the big blind and Ottomar Ladva fired out 175,000 from the cutoff. After thinking for a while, Kanme let it go.
Not so long ago, Mikita Badziakouski had disappeared from his seat and was eliminated from the tournament, leaving just 17 players in the penultimate level.
Jovan Kenjic raised the cutoff to 50,000 and Hassan Nashar called in the big blind.
"Do you want to go all the way? It's up to you," asked Nashar to Kenjic, in reference to taking the pot to showdown. Kenjic didn't reply and saw the flop of Q♣8♠6♦, which both checked.
The action checked through again on the 9♠ turn and when the 10♠ hit the river, Nashar once again checked. Kenjic then put out a bet of 85,000.
"Do you have it?" asked Nashar, who eventually called, only to see Kenjic flip a straight with A♥J♥. Nashar also had a straight, but he mucked his 8♥7♣ as his was lower.
Level: 14
Blinds: 10,000/25,000
Ante: 25,000
A pot of around 400,000 had brewed between Liang Xu on the button and Artur Martirosian in the big blind.
The board read 7♣9♠7♠J♥ and Martirosian had shoved the turn, which put Xu to the test for his remaining stack of around 350,000. Several time banks later, Xu called.
Liang Xu: J♣8♣
Artur Martirosian: 10♣7♥
Martirosian had flopped trips and even blocked some of the outs of Xu as any ten would make him a full house. Only a jack could save Xu, but the A♦ river wasn't it, which meant he was eliminated.
A full board of 2♠A♣J♦9♥Q♠ was showing and with around 500,000 in there already, Hassan Nashar had fired 425,000 on the river from the small blind. Alexander Zubov was in the big blind and contemplating how to proceed with his stack of around the size of Nashar's bet.
"What two pair do you have?" asked Nashar to Zubov.
Zubov was burning through his time banks until Nashar reminded him that he only had one left. When the countdown got to 10 seconds, Nashar took over the dealer's job.
"10, 9, 8..." Nashar continued until it hit zero, then he took his bet back and dragged in the pot as Zubov's hand was dead.
It wasn't all bad news for Zubov, as in the next hand Aleksei Gortikov raise the cutoff to 45,000 and Zubov shoved the small blind. Gortikov folded when it got back to him, and Zubov's stack climbed a little.
Both Aram Sargsyan and Biao Ding were also eliminated during Level 13, with the rest Ding's chips heading over to Orhan Ates.
The full board was already out and Ates held A♥A♣ for a pair of aces. Ding couldn't beat that, which meant he hit the rail while the stack of Ates grew to around 1,500,000.
Markkos Ladev shoved 170,000 from the hijack and Hassan Nashar called from the small blind.
Markkos Ladev: Q♣10♣
Hassan Nashar: 9♠8♠
Ladev was ahead with his overcards, and stayed there through the J♥2♣2♦ flop. A 4♥ on the turn put him one step closer to a double-up, but the 8♣ on the river paired Nashar, which ended Ladev's Day 1.
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