The action folded to Igor Kurganov on the button who raised to 80,000. Ming Xi was in the big blind and re-raised to 365,000 which Kurganov just called. The flop came and Xi just open-shoved all in. Kurganov made a quick call for the rest of his 2,000,000 chips.
Ming Xi:
Igor Kurganov:
Kurganov was in a great position to score a massive double up. However, the on the turn sent the table into a frenzy. Kurganov stood up from his seat with his hands on his head. The dealer burned and turned the on the river and Kurganov was eliminated in one of the sickest hands of the tournament thus far.
Milos Skrbic raised to 85,000, Armin Rezeai three-bet to 265,000 and Skrbic called. The flop was and Skrbic check-called 225,000 from Rezaei.
On the turn, Skrbic checked, Rezaei shoved for 655,000, and Skrbic quickly called it off.
Armin Rezaei:
Milos Skrbic:
Rezaei found himself in a fantastic spot to double up but the brutal on the river squashed his Main Event dreams on the spot. Instead, the Austrian walked away with €31,623 as a consolation prize for his 23rd place finish.
Laszlo Bujtas opened to 85,000 from under the gun and Oleksandr Lagoda ripped all in for 810,000 in the hijack. Bahram Chobineh also pushed all in for around 480,000 on the button and Bujtas made a quick call when the action came back to him.
Laszlo Bujtas:
Oleksandr Lagoda:
Bahram Chobineh:
The board ran out and the pocket aces for Bujtas held up to send both of his opponents home. The final 24 players will now redraw for seats on the final three tables.
Niall Farrell opened to 65,000 in middle position and Milos Skrbic was in the big blind with one of the biggest stacks of the tournament. Skrbic announced all in and Farrell called off his stack of around 480,000.
Milos Skrbic:
Niall Farrell:
The flop came and Farrell picked up some backdoor straight and flush outs. The on the turn squashed those outs in a hurry and the on the river sealed Farrell's fate.
Leonard Maue open-shoved from the cutoff for around 300,000 and Koray Aldemir called in the big blind.
Leonard Maue:
Koray Aldemir:
Maue had run into the aces of Aldemir, and although he picked up a jack on the flop, the turn and river bricked out and he was eliminated in 28th place.
Markus Durnegger was down to his last 510,000 chips and he moved all in from late position. Yunsheng Sun was just a couple of seats over and made the call to put Durnegger at risk.
Yunsheng Sun:
Markus Durnegger:
It was a classic race between the two players but the flop of was too low for Durnegger's liking. The board went running deuces to give Sun a full house and Durnegger was eliminated.
Yesterday, there was word going around the tournament that there was someone who had qualified for the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for just €0.01. Players wanted to know if it was true. It was.
The player in question was Russian Viktor Taranenko and yes, he had qualified for just €0.01.
And after outlasting over 450 players, he was almost ready to lock up a €15,074 min-cash. There was just one more thing to get past. The money bubble, and Taranenko was short.
So short in fact, that yesterday he got his last chips in with against the of Gary Hasson. There was no help for Taranenko who was eliminated and left the tournament area empty-handed and distraught.
But today there has been a development which hopefully will put a smile on Taranenko's face. partypoker have decided to give the Russian a $530 MILLIONS Online satellite ticket as a consolation prize.
This will give Taranenko the chance to qualify for online poker's biggest-ever single tournament, with a $20 million guaranteed prize pool and one that is guaranteed to award the top four finishers at least $1 million and the champion $2.5 million.
Taranenko has already turned €0.01 into a €10,350 seat, and will now look to turn a $530 satellite ticket into a $5,300 seat in this huge online tournament! Good luck Viktor!