Chakib Mhiri just busted Team PokerStars Pro Benjamin Spragg thanks to a lucky river, and he and tablemate Alexandre Vuilleumier filled in the details.
Spragg three-bet to 50,000 in the small blind and Mhiri called on the button. The flop came Ax7x5x with two hearts and Spragg bet 40,000. Mhiri called and Spragg moved all in on the turn for 140,000.
Mhiri called with ace-jack, but Spragg had him dominated with ace-king until a jack arrived on the river to earn Mhiri the pot and send Spragg to the rail.
Mhiri also got involved in the next hand, betting 12,000 from the cutoff on a flop of 10?6?3? and Salvatore Camarda called in the big blind.
The turn was the Q? and Mhiri bet another 35,000. Camarda again called to the 10? river, where Mhiri bet 25,000. Camarda called once more and Mhiri showed K?9? for a bluff. Camarda turned over A?J? for ace-high as he took the pot.
Mihai Trofim only had around 30,000 remaining when he moved all in from the button and Artsiom Lasouski put him at risk in the cutoff.
Mihai Trofim: A?Q?
Artsiom Lasouski: A?8?
Trofim was a favorite to double up as the flop came 5?3?K?, but Lasouski spiked the 8? on the turn to take the lead. The river was the 4? and Trofim was eliminated.
Four players limped in and checked the 7?J?6? flop as the 8? fell on the turn. Adrian Mateos then led out for 8,000 in the small blind and only Daniel Jackson called in the cutoff.
The river was the 2? and Mateos moved all in for 55,000. Jackson snap-called with 10?9? for a turned straight and Mateos could only show 5?4? for a lower straight as the EPT champion headed to the rail.
Cards were on their backs and stacks were in the middle, in a three-way all in scenario. Short-stack Aleksandr Razinkov had got his last 16,000 in the middle, Santhosh Suvarna was all-in for 118,000 from the small blind, and Artsiom Lasouski had them both covered.
Aleksandr Razinkov: A?8?
Santhosh Suvarna: A?A?
Artsiom Lasouski: K?J?
Suvarna was in great shape with rockets, and although he had a bit of a sweat after Lasouski flopped top pair on K?10?7?, the 3? turn and 4? river were bricks. Suvarna scooped the pot, while Razinkov departed.
Guy Taylor was in the big blind with a raise to 38,000 in front of him before Antoine Hasbani moved all in for 183,000 on the button. Taylor called and barely had Hasbani covered.
Antoine Hasbani: A?10?
Guy Taylor: 9?9?
Hasbani was racing for his tournament life, but the 8?6?3?6?7? board gave him no help as Taylor took the pot to send Hasbani to the rail.
Action was picked up with stacks in the middle and cards on their backs in a three-way all-in scenario.
Yiannis Liperis was all-in for 69,000, Peter Tschernigg had also got his 143,000 stack in the middle, and he was followed by Aleksandr Razinkov, who had Tschernigg slightly covered with 159,000.
Yiannis Liperis: A?K?
Peter Tschernigg: K?K?
Aleksandr Razinkov: Q?Q?
In a crazy cooler, Tschernigg had his opponents dominated with pocket kings. The 10?8?3? flop was clear for the Austrian, but the 7? turn spelt danger with Razinkov picking up a club draw.
In dramatic fashion, the A? then rolled off on the river to send Liperis the triple-up. Tschernigg took the 65,000 side pot against Razinkov, who was left with crumbs.
Mikhail Shalamov opened from under the gun to 10,000 and Artur Martirosian three-bet from the hijack to 32,000. When the action got back to Shalamov, he four-bet to 65,000, and Martirosian called.
On the flop of 2?Q?9?, Shalamov fumbled with his chips a little then fired out a bet of 35,000, which Martirosian called.
When the 5? landed on the turn, Shalamov shoved for 120,000. Martirosian thought for a while and used some extra time before he eventually called.
Mikhail Shalamov: A?A?
Artur Martirosian: A?10?
Martirosian had a flush draw, which was his only hope of winning the pot. Fortunately for Shalamov, no heart came on the river as the 9? completed the runout, which earned him a double-up.
Heads-up on a flop of 2?5?A?, Christian Steindel bet 17,000 from the small blind and Danielle Noja called in the hijack.
The turn was the Q? and Steindel bet 45,000. Noja then moved all in for 121,000 and Steindel quickly called.
Steindel turned over Q?Q? for a turned set. "Okay, nice call I guess," Noja said as he showed A?7? and was already drawing dead by the 8? river as Steindel scored the early knockout.
Sebastian Malec from under the gun and Milos Skrbic from the next seat played out a pot which left the latter at risk preflop for his stack of around 150,000.
Milos Skrbic: Q?Q?
Sebastian Malec: A?A?
Skrbic had picked up a premium, but it wasn't quite good enough as his pocket queens were crushed by the aces of Malec. The flop of 5?4?5? offered no help to Skrbic, but he did pick up a flush draw on the K? turn, which peaked his interest in the pot. However, the 10? river wasn't the card he needed, and he was the first player to hit he rail on Day 3.
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus has reached its halfway point in the $5,300 EPT Main Event, with the action set to resume today at 12 p.m. EEST.
From an initial field of 1,284 players, only 144 remain in contention at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa. Two frontrunners have emerged, leading the pack into Day 3. Bulgaria’s Fahredin Mustafov sits atop the leaderboard with a hefty stack of 920,000 chips, just ahead of Russia’s Ivan Zabiiakin, who holds 915,000. Germany’s Oliver Weis rounds out the top three with 715,000.
Fahredin Mustafov
Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Fahredin Mustafov
Bulgaria
920,000
184
2
Ivan Zabiiakin
Russia
915,000
183
3
Oliver Weis
Germany
715,000
143
4
Damir Zhugralin
Kazakhstan
705,000
141
5
Shankui Li
China
693,000
139
6
Chakib Mhiri
Tunisia
648,000
130
7
Georgios Tsouloftas
Cyprus
620,000
124
8
Radoslav Stoyanov
Bulgaria
575,000
115
9
Boris Kuzmanovic
Croatia
573,000
115
10
Mohamad El Rais
Switzerland
563,000
113
The event attracted 1,284 entries, and now, the remaining players will battle for their share of a $6,227,400 prize pool. The eventual champion will walk away with $1,030,000, the prestigious PokerStars trophy, and the title of EPT champion. Every player still in the field is guaranteed at least $9,100, with a pay jump just one elimination away, bumping the next payout to $10,460.
Place
Prize
1
$1,030,000
2
$642,300
3
$459,000
4
$353,100
5
$271,400
6
$208,720
7
$160,500
8
$123,400
9
$94,940
10-11
$73,100
12-13
$60,900
14-15
$50,760
16-17
$42,280
18-20
$36,740
21-23
$31,940
24-27
$27,780
28-31
$24,160
32-39
$20,980
40-55
$18,240
56-71
$15,880
72-95
$13,820
96-119
$12,020
120-143
$10,460
144
$9,100
Day 3 will start at noon, local time, with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante. The plan is to play five more levels as the field shrinks further toward the final table. Today also marks the start of the shot clock, with players having 15 seconds for their first decision and 30 seconds for subsequent moves. Each participant begins with six time-bank cards, giving them extra seconds to think in high-pressure situations.
Shot Clock
As always, keep it locked in with PokerNews to keep up with all the action from EPT Cyprus.
