Directly after Vrakas' elimination, Banic moved all-in from the small blind with for 11.6m and Chikita had the decision with for his tournament life. He called and the flop of saw Banic move ahead.
The on the turn gave Chikita a lifeline, however, and he was jumping out of his seat. The river saw Chikita double, to his unbridled joy.
On a less than dramatic board until the river, Ivan Banic put in a big bet of 1.4m on a board of J .
Croitoru had the decision and called with , but he was wrong to do so with Banic holding and a thrilling 2.2m swing in chips saw Banic take the lead.
the chips now show exactly how disparate the stacks are divided, with Banic and Croitoru both massive favourites to make the heads-up battle. Everyone else is considering ICM with each move.
Vrakas opened to 225,000 with and saw Banic raise all-in for 8 million chips with . Chikita had woken up with , but despite that premium holding, took a considerable amount of time to weigh up his move.
With the clock having been called on him, Chikita folded, which saw Ivan Banic’s worst hand win the pot and no-one at the table seemed quite sure what to make of it.
Chikita then folded to players openly laughing as in the small blind, Chikita threw away another premium hand to a opening bet from Banic with on the button! Chikita is still in this tournament.
Chikita had and after Mihai Croitoru’s opening bet to 225,000 from the hijack position with , Chikita only called. The flop of saw Croitoru c-bet to 225,000, which Chikita called.
The turn was a , and Chikita checked, but so too did Croitoru. The river of saw both men check and Croitoru took it down. Chikita was suddenly silent, perhaps wondering how he has lost that hand.
Chikita moved all-in for 660,000 with and Croitoru called with but Vrakas had woken up with and was going nowhere. Vrakas raised to just under 1.5m and Croitoru folded.
Chikita was on his feet and looking to triple up, the flop of set that up perfectly. The turn and river confirmed local businessman Chikita’s resurgence, putting him third in chips! A carnival atmosphere in this cardroom, as Chikita is elated, again shouting “Chukka Chukka!”
Vrakas opened to 575,000 with and was raised powerfully to 800,000 with by Miahi Croitoru. The Spanish-based Romanian-born player has been a big-stack all day and has showed very few of his cards. Strong stuff.
Kadziela moved all-in with 795,000 in front of him on the button and got folds from Croitoru in the small blind and Vrakas in the big blind. For the first time at the final table, Kadziela is smiling, having won his first hand in hours of play.
for 11.6m and Chikita had the decision with 
for his tournament life. He called and the flop of 
saw Banic move ahead. 
on the turn gave Chikita a lifeline, however, and he was jumping out of his seat. The 
river saw Chikita double, to his unbridled joy.
on the button and Vrakas moved all-in with 
turn ended all hope for the Greek player. 
river completed the action and Vrakas was out, giving Croitoru back the chip lead by just one big blind from The Croatian player Ivan Banic.
in the small blind. 
saw Kadziela depart in 5th place after a really difficult day at the felt never really saw the Polish player get any traction.
. 
, but he was wrong to do so with Banic holding 
. Chikita had woken up with 
from early position and he was isolated by Ivan Banic’s re-raise with 
saw Croitoru c-bet to 225,000, which Chikita called. 
saw both men check and Croitoru took it down. Chikita was suddenly silent, perhaps wondering how he has lost that hand.
and river 
by Miahi Croitoru. The Spanish-based Romanian-born player has been a big-stack all day and has showed very few of his cards. Strong stuff.