Pierre Sayegh seems determined not to make a critical mistake and is displaying extraordinary patience with his short stack. There have been several opportunities for him to just stick it in and see what happens but so far he has refused to do so. A recent hand illustrated his modus operandi.
Sayegh opened UTG +1 for 40,000, Andrei Nikonov makes it 107,000 from mid position and the blinds folded. Sayegh sat for a while, checked his cards once more, rubbed his eye and folded. He didn’t give off any sense that he was frustrated, just made his decisionand was on to the next hand.
Sergey Rybachenko opened the betting for 45,000. Kayan Tugrul in the small blind and Pierre Sayegh in the big blind called him. The flop was . The blinds checked and Rybachenko continued for 65,000. Tugrul now pulled out the old check raise from his armoury and made it 165,000. Sayegh got out of this hand but Rybachenko wasn’t giving up just yet and made the call. The turn card was the . First to act Tugrul moved all in. Rybachenko got out of the way.
Kayhan Tugrul opened preflop to 40,000 from under-the-gun, Alexey Rybin made the call in middle position and Maximilian Droege called in the big blind.
All three checked the flop but when Droege bet 65,000 on the turn, it was enough to scare the other two players off the pot.
There was a bit of friction before the break when Max Droege was talking to the Tournament Director when it was his turn to act, and Kayan Tugrul to his left told him in no uncertain terms to get a move on. Droege said it was only ten seconds and anyway other players took a lot longer thinking when it was their turn to act. Turgul asked Droege if this was his first time playing for big money but the Canadian declined to respond to the taunts of the Turkish player, instead requesting that he not tell him what to do.
They have been in some interesting blind on blind situations between the two. Could this bit of friction play into the dynamic now we are on the final table bubble?
Sergey Rybachenko is ramping up the pressure now, opening for 52,000 and stealing a few blinds and antes along the way. The first man to step up and try to put an end to this was Kayan Tugrul. When Rybachenko made his bet Tugrul defended his big blind. They saw a flop of . Tugrul check called Rybachenko’s bet of 52,000. The turn was the and again a check call, this time Rybachenko bet 135,000. The river was the . Tugrul checked for the last time and when Rybachenko get 200,000 it seemed that he had no other option than to believe he had a hand and let his cards go.
Sergey Rybachenko raised to 50,000 preflop from the cutoff, Albert Daher made it 120,000 on the button. If it was a test, Rybachenko passed it with flying colours, he moved all in for almost 600,000 and Daher quickly folded.
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. The blinds checked and Rybachenko continued for 65,000. Tugrul now pulled out the old check raise from his armoury and made it 165,000. Sayegh got out of this hand but Rybachenko wasn’t giving up just yet and made the call. The turn card was the 
. First to act Tugrul moved all in. Rybachenko got out of the way.
flop but when Droege bet 65,000 on the 
turn, it was enough to scare the other two players off the pot.
. Tugrul check called Rybachenko’s bet of 52,000. The turn was the 
and again a check call, this time Rybachenko bet 135,000. The river was the 
. Tugrul checked for the last time and when Rybachenko get 200,000 it seemed that he had no other option than to believe he had a hand and let his cards go.
and Tugrul held on to double up. Droege has been crippled.