Christopher Back defended his big blind against a raise from Michael Magalashvili and they checked the flop. On the turn, Back bet and called a raise to 300,000 by Magalashvili before checking the river. Magalashvili jammed for 535,000 and Back called.
Magalashvili showed for the nut flush and back mucked his cards, which were revealed as the .
Oleg Pavlyuchuk then raised the pot and Back called all in from the small blind, Hanh Tran called in the big blind. Tan pushed on the flop and Pavlyuchuk folded.
Christopher Back:
Hanh Tran:
The turn and river completed the board and Back doubled with a straight.
Pavlyuchuk was left short and then doubled through Magalashvili with versus on a board of .
Tarek Sleiman raised to 100,000 on the button and Martin Rothaermel moved all in for 280,000 in the small blind. Sleiman called and the cards were turned over.
Martin Rothaermel:
Tarek Sleiman:
The flop gave Sleiman a lot of outs and, despite the blank turn, he got there on the river. Rothaermel, who had a massive lead with four tables remaining, had to settle for 11th place and a payday of €3,121.
Oleg Pavlyuchuk raised the pot and Christopher Back pushed all in for what appeared to be 390,000, Pavlyuchuk called.
Christopher Back:
Oleg Pavlyuchuk:
Once he saw the cards of his opponent, Back already jokingly said goodbye and his prediction turned out to be true. The board came and Pavlyuchuk claimed the pot with two pair, sending Back to the rail in 10th place for €3,991.
All remaining nine players will now take a short break, move tables and redraw to the unofficial final table.
Sebastian Obermeier raised it up to 150,000 on the button and was called by Norbert Burkhard in the big blind. The flop came the and Burkhard checked, Obermeier bet 150,000 and an instant all in for around 600,000 followed. Obermeier called and Hanh Tran immediately predicted a set-over-set scenario.
Norbert Burkhard:
Sebastian Obermeier:
Burkhard was in dire shape and found no miracle on the turn and river, bowing out in 9th place for €3,991. The remaining eight players are now bagging up for the evening and will return tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time to play down to a champion.
The chip counts of all finalists and a recap of today's action are to follow.
The official final table of the 2018 World Series of Poker Europe Event #3: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed is set and eight players remain to battle for the coveted gold bracelet and payday of €59,625 that comes along with it. Only 46 players out of a 572-entry strong field returned to the tables of Europe's biggest poker arena at the King's Casino in Rozvadov and it took just over eight 40-minute levels to determine the eight finalists.
Austria's Hanh Tran and Chile‘s Tarek Sleiman are tied at the top of the counts with 2,265,000, Sebastian Obermeier follows just a few big blinds behind the duo with 2,000,000. Tran already knows what it takes to win a WSOP bracelet after taking down Event #29: $1,500 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw for his first career bracelet earlier this year in Las Vegas. Tran followed that up with a 7th place in Event #44: $10,000 Limit 2-7 Lowball Triple Draw Championship and the Austrian is in prime position to claim a second gold bracelet in 2018.
Another player that has had a great summer in Sin City is Romain Lewis, who came agonizingly close to winning a bracelet three times and reached yet another final table, bagging 725,000. The Frenchman finished 2nd in Event #13: Big Blind Antes $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em and Event #69: $3,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Handed, followed by a third-place finish in Event #74: Big Blind Antes $10,000 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed Championship. A win in Rozvadov would open up a possible late surge for the 2018 WSOP Player of the Year title, however, Shaun Deeb has cemented his lead with three cashes in as many events at the 2018 WSOPE.
The other finalists include Oleg Pavlyuchuk (1,750,000), Michael Magalashvili (1,090,000), Manish Goenka (970,000) and Florian Sarnow (375,000). Magalashvili can make it three WSOPE bracelets in a row for Israel in Rozvadov after the victories of Tamir Segal and Asi Moshe.
There will be 33:53 minutes left at blinds of 30,000/60,000 with Lewis on the button and Sarnow as the single big blind.
Final Table Seat Assignments
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Romain Lewis
France
725,000
12
2
Florian Sarnow
Germany
375,000
6
3
Oleg Pavlyuchuk
Latvia
1,750,000
29
4
Manish Goenka
India
970,000
16
5
Tarek Sleiman
Chile
2,265,000
38
6
Hanh Tran
Austria
2,265,000
38
7
Michael Magalashvili
Israel
1,090,000
18
8
Sebastian Obermeier
Germany
2,000,000
33
Action of the Day
Only 46 players survived the two starting days and the first three levels of Day 2 reduced the field dramatically, as 20 players ran out of chips. Among the early casualties were Grant Hart, Netanel Amedi, one-time WSOP bracelet winner Dario Alioto, Roland Israelashvili and four-time champion Shaun Deeb. Especially the elimination of Deeb was a surprise after he had entered the penultimate day second in chips. Deeb busted in a big pot against Martin Rothaermel when his overpair and second nutflush draw on the flop couldn't hold against top pair, gutshot and nutflushdraw.
Down to the last three tables, Rothaermel was the overwhelming chipleader and he also claimed the stack of Viliyan Petleshkov. Chris Ferguson and Dutch Boyd were eliminated just shy of the three-table redraw. Boyd was all in preflop with queens versus aces and blocked one ace, a queen on the flop was great news for the three-time champion but Florian Sarnow spiked the case ace on the river.
The eliminations continued at a quick pace and such notables as Guillaume Diaz, Michael Soyza, Amar Begovic and Aaron Duczak departed. Peter Jaksland, who played his first live PLO tournament, eventually finished in 19th place. Aussie Poker Hall of Fame member Jason Gray and Alfredo Vega Meister followed and that set up the final two tables.
Max Pescatori was then sent to the rail in 15th place after being unable to beat the pocket kings of Dor Mey Tal. Only minutes later, it was Tal that could only shake his head and leave the tournament area devastated. The Day 1A chip leader flopped a pair, straight draw and nutflushdraw, however, Hanh Tran held up with an overpair and straight draw.
By then, Tarek Sleiman had taken over the chiplead and Tran was hot on his heels, while Martin Rothaermel went from hero to zero in 11th place. Rothaermel lost several pots in a row and Sleiman rivered a straight to send the German to the rail. A mere minute later, the field was reduced to the final nine after Christopher Back was eliminated from the other table.
Manish Goenka doubled up to remain in contention and the official final table bubble burst in classic Pot-Limit Omaha fashion. Norbert Burkhard defended his big blind and flopped middle set along with a gunshot and backdoor flush draw, but he was crushed by Sebastian Obermeier, who held top set and had the clubs covered. There was no miracle on turn and river, and the final table was set.
Here is what the last eight are playing for:
Place
Prize in EUR)
1
59,625
2
36,851
3
25,473
4
17,905
5
12,802
6
9,313
7
6,896
8
5,198
All remaining eight finalists will return to the feature table on Thursday, October 18th, 2018, as of 3 p.m local time to determine a champion. The action will be streamed live on the Twitch Channel of King's Casino with hole cards displayed on a security delay of 30 minutes and the PokerNews live reporting team will be there from start to finish.