Alexander Prokudin and Pratyush Buddiga were among the early eliminations. Prokudin got it in good with for around 18,000 and Pierre Calamusa looked him up with , the first card on the flop was a jack.
Calamusa took down another pot against Dmitry Yurasov soon after. Calamusa raised to 2,100 from the button and Yurasov called in the big blind. On the flop both players checked. On the turn, Yurasov check-called a bet worth 2,000 and then check-folded the river to a bet of 6,000.
2014 PCA winner Dominik Panka just scored a full double-up versus his right-hand neighbor Pasi Sormunen. The board read and Sormunen had bet 14,000. Panka moved all in for 60,200, which gave Sormunen a serious headache.
After mulling over his decision for two minutes, Sormunen reluctantly flicked a chip in to indicate a call. Panka showed for the nut flush and Sormunen mucked.
Grzegorz Grochulski raised to 2,500, Guillaume Diaz three-bet to 8,500 and Grochulski then four-bet to 19,500 and that shut down Diaz, who elected to fold.
Soon after, Usman Siddique defended his small blind and check-called a bet worth 7,300 on the turn by Diaz. Siddique checked again the river and Diaz bet 9,000, Siddique called. Diaz flashed and Siddique had that beat with for two pair.
Oliver Price just bought in today, but he's already up to double starting stack. From middle position, he just opened for 2,000. Big blind Ole Schemion three-bet to 9,000 followed by a shove by Price for 37,400. Schemion beat him in the pot.
Ole Schemion:
Oliver Price:
The board ran out and Price doubled up.
Another player that bought in today, Parker "tonkaaap" Talbot has already made his departure. After just 20 minutes of play, the popular Twitch streamer has said his goodbyes:
Hey hats the way to do it if you're not gonna win. Play for 25 minutes and then go out drinking. Rip 5k. I'll play he 10k in a few days :)
Short stack Senh Ung moved all in for around 10,000 and it was folded to Tomasz Panek, who just bought in right at the start of this tournament. He made the call and the cards were on their backs.
Ung had , while Panek showed . It was a race, but the flop was disastrous for Ung: . The turn and the on the river couldn't save Ung.
Right before that, Ivan Deyra, who doubled up before, was also knocked out of the tournament.
Many French made it over to Malta to participate in the EPT Main Event. Two of them just won small pots to build their stacks.
Knut Karnapp raised to 2,500 and Paul-Francois Tedeschi three-bet to 7,200 on the button, Karnapp called. On the flop, Karnapp checked and Tedeschi scooped the pot with a continuation bet of 4,500.
Pierre Merlin check-called a bet of 3,100 by a player in early position on the flop of . Both then checked the turn and the river. Merlin showed and that was good enough to win the pot.
Sylvain Loosli open-shoved for 12,700 in middle position and Charalampos Tsivikos snap-called from the big blind.
Charalampos Tsivikos:
Sylvain Loosli:
The flop was devastating for Loosli, and he was already preparing to stand-up and say his goodbyes. He didn't need to get up in the end, as the quickly hit the turn to secure Loosli's double-up.
Former EPT London winner Benny Spindler opened to 2,500 in middle position and Mikita Badziakouski called from the small blind. Badziakouski elected to lead out for 2,000 on and Spindler called.
On the turn, Badziakouski bet 3,500, Spindler raised to 9,500, and Badziakouski quickly folded.
Oskar Szwed came out victorious two hands in a row. In the first one, there was already 12,000 in the middle when Huy Pham fired out a 5,500 bet on the river. With the board reading , Szwed raised to 15,000. Pham took a minute or so to make his decision and called.
Szwed showed and that was enough to win the pot.
The following hand started with a raise to 2,200 from Mats Karlsson. Szwed called and so did Pham. Victor Ilyukhin and Stale Eggen came along from the blinds as well.
When the flop came down it was checked to Szwed who bet 5,600 and took it down.
From middle position, Vladimir Troyanovskiy committed his last 11,800 in chips. WPT Lucky Hearts champion Brian Altman called from the cutoff before action was on William Kassouf in the small blind.
Kassouf asked how much it was and tanked for a fair bit before making his decision. He asked how much Altman was playing (slightly more than him) and tanked some more.
"I'd rather be heads up" Kassouf said at one point.
"Time!" Altman said, requesting the clock on his opponent.
"Has it been that long?" Kassouf replied. "Time? I got a decision here."
"I'm thinking is it a flat call and set a trap, or ship it like a boss!" Kassouf continued.
Kassouf thought about it for a bit more before saying: "I'll speed it up, I'm all in! Let's gamble! If you wanna go, let's go. Call the clock? Let's go. You got it? You got it." before shoving for 46,400.
"I do" was all Altman said as he called to put both of them at risk.
William Kassouf:
Brian Altman :
Vladimir Troyanovskiy:
"Oh there you go. Another set up on the feature table. We got the hearts. Any kings about? What you wanna do, the king of spades?" Kassouf said as the dealer got underway dealing a flop. "Any king will do" he added.
"Look at these pairs, this is pretty sick" Kassouf continued, "The king of spades please, merci beaucoup. King of spades on the flop would be bloody marvelous."
The flop came and Kassouf aid "Dejavu from the WSOP Main Event. Any kings about?"
The on the turn prompted another line by Kassouf: "Oops, getting closer. King one time?"
The on the river wasn't the card either Kassouf or Troyanovskiy was looking for and they both made their exit. Troyanovskiy silently left, Kassouf left the table with one more line: