The field is on their second 20-minute break of the day. Three more players need to bust out before the day comes to a conclusion.
The last level caused another flurry of bust outs. Sarah Herzali, who started the level with only one big blind, was gone in the first hand after the break. Her nine-four suited failed to improve against Tomas Macnamara's queen-nine.
The redraw that followed did slow down the bust outs for a while and even Dominik Panka managed to survive. He was short after he doubled up Sergey Sergeev in the previous level.
Panka doubled up through Konrad Abela and Guillaume Diaz to get back to a healthy stack. Abela was left short and the last local hero busted in 24th place. It was Mats Karlsson that got the final chips of the last Maltese in the field.
Chi Zhang was the next one to go. He lost most of his chips to Ole Schemion and was knocked out by another German, Bastian Dohler. Zhang's pocket tens couldn't hold up against Dohler's ace-queen when the latter paired his queen on the flop.
Davidi Kitai finished 22nd in this EPT Malta Main Event. He got it in with pocket queens against Louis Cartarius' ace-ten, but an ace on the river ended his shot at a second EPT title.
Brian Altman followed him to the rail shortly after. Again, it was Louis Cartarius who pulled the trigger. Altman's ace-eight proved to be no match for Cartarius pocket jacks.
Sergey Sergeev was the last one to go. Just before the break, he ran his king-queen into Schemion's kings and finished in 20th place.
Ole Schemion is now the chipleader and has around 1,600,000 in chips.
At the feature table, Sergey Sergeev got it preflop all in for 584,000 against Ole Schemion. Sergeev was on the button in the hand and four-bet shoved against Schemion, who had three-bet him out of the small blind.
Sergey Sergeev:
Ole Schemion:
The Russian found himself in a massive hole from the start, and the flop made things even bleaker. The on the turn left Sergeev drawing dead, making the Barry Greenstein-esque on the river just for the show.
Brian Altman had only just 130,000 left in chips. From the button, he pushed everything over the line. Elie Saad folded, but big blind Louis Cartarius quickly made the call.
Brian Altman:
Louis Cartarius:
Altman was on the brink of elimination. The flop did give him some extra outs, as he now had straight outs to go with the aces.
He paired up with the on the turn, but Cartarius improved to a straight. The river was a blank and Altman was on his way out. Cartarius scored his second knockout in quick succession.
Davidi Kitai opened to 27,000 from the cutoff. Louis Cartarius three-bet to 71,000 on the button. Kitai shoved 242,000 all in and Cartarius called.
Davidi Kitai:
Louis Cartarius:
It was safe for Kitai after the flop and , but the dreaded fell on the river. His dream of winning a second EPT title came to an end, and Kitai let out an audible sigh. The Belgian mastermind finished in 22nd place.
From early position, Dmitry Yurasov came in with a raise to 26,000. It was folded to Daniele Colautti on the big blind. He threw in a three-bet to 76,000 and Yurasov made the call.
The flop came and Colautti moved all in. Yurasov had to make a decision for all of his chips as Colautti had him covered. The Russian made the call and the cards were on their backs.
Daniele Colautti:
Dmitry Yurasov:
Colautti had an overpair but was way behind against Yurasov's aces. The turn and river didn't change anything and Yurasov doubled up.
After losing most of his stack to Ole Schemion two hands earlier, Chi Zhang got it in for 122,000 total. Bastian Dohler called to try and score the knock-out.
Chi Zhang:
Bastian Dohler:
The flop was devastating for Zhang, leaving him drawing to the remaining tens to survive. The on the turn added some straight outs, but the on the river wasn't one of his escapes.
Just like that, Zhang was out of the tournament. The Brit collected €19,640 for his 23rd place finish.
Chi Zhang raised to 27,000 from the cutoff and Sergey Sergeev called on the button. Ole Schemion three-bet to 100,000 out of the small blind. Zhang took some time, then simply moved all in, covering both players.
Sergeev spent four minutes in the tank, agonizing over his decision, before eventually letting it go. Even though Schemion already had time to think during Sergeev's decision, the German needed minutes more himself to figure out the situation.
The poker prodigy sat with his head buried his hands, thinking it over. He then rose up from it and committed his total stack of 591,000 to the pot.
Chi Zhang:
Ole Schemion:
Schemion had figured it out correctly and his hand held up on , catapulting him up the leaderboard. Zhang was left with just ten big blinds.
Armin Mette opened to 26,000 from middle position and Benjamin Pollak defended his big blind. Both players checked the flop. Pollak led out 37,000 on the turn and Mette called.
The river was the . Pollak checked and Mette moved all in for 132,000. The Frenchman leaned back in his chair and appeared to have a tough decision. Pollak eventually decided against it and folded his hand.
It was folded around to Brian Altman on the button and he made it 26,000 to go. From the big blind, he got called by Elie Saad.
The flop came down and Saad check-called a bet of 28,000. The turn was the and Saad checked again. Altman lined up another bet and pushed out 87,000 chips. Saad called once more.
The hit the river and Saad checked a third time. Altman pushed all in for 229,000 effectively, as he covered Saad. The Lebanese gave it some thought and called.
Altman tabled for a complete bluff and Saad slammed his on the table for top pair and the pot.
The last Maltese hope in this tournament has just been eliminated. Konrad Abela was down to his last 77,000 chips and on the button he moved all in.
Big blind Mats Karlsson called after a short moment of thought.
Konrad Abela:
Mats Karlsson:
Karlsson dominated Abela and was in good shape to bust his opponent.
The gave both a pair but didn't really help Abela. The turn provided some split possibilities, but the river wasn't any good for Abela and he hit the rail in 24th place. With his cash, Abela is now 3rd on Malta's all-time money list.
flop made things even bleaker. The 
on the turn left Sergeev drawing dead, making the Barry Greenstein-esque 
on the river just for the show.
flop did give him some extra outs, as he now had straight outs to go with the aces. 
on the turn, but Cartarius improved to a straight. The 
river was a blank and Altman was on his way out. Cartarius scored his second knockout in quick succession.
, but the dreaded 
fell on the river. His dream of winning a second EPT title came to an end, and Kitai let out an audible sigh. The Belgian mastermind finished in 22nd place.
![[user13328]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop was devastating for Zhang, leaving him drawing to the remaining tens to survive. The 
. Pollak checked and Mette moved all in for 132,000. The Frenchman leaned back in his chair and appeared to have a tough decision. Pollak eventually decided against it and folded his hand.
for a complete bluff and Saad slammed his 
