Shamus
Maxim Lykov
Alex Dovzhenko opened with a raise to 135,000 from under the gun, and ended up getting two callers from the blinds -- Arthur Simonyan (small) and Maxim Lykov (big).
The flop came . It checked to Dovzhenko who bet 250,000, and Simonyan quickly folded. Lykov then slid his entire stack forward -- a raise to 1.145 million total. Dovzhenko went deep into the tank.
After a couple of minutes, Dovzhenko stacked out the chips needed to call and held his hand next to them, occasionally shooting glances in Lykov's direction. Finally, the chip leader let it go.
Lykov moves up to 1.33 million, and Dovzhenko down a bit to 3.915 million.
Shamus
Arthur Simonyan opened by pushing all in for 625,000 from the cutoff, and it folded to Alexander Dovzhenko who quickly called from the small blind. Dovzhenko turned over and Simonyan , and the race was on.
The flop came , and Simonyan took the lead. The turn was the and the river the , and Simonyan survives with 1.29 million chips. Dovzhenko is still comfortably in front of the pack with 3.635 million.
[user66118]
Alexander Dovzhenko
Alexander Dovzhenko opened the pot with a raise to what appeared to be 110,000 under the gun, and he found action only from big blind Maxim Lykov.
Heads-up then, the flop came out . Max Lykov led out into the pot with a bet of 135,000, and Dovzhenko mulled it over for a minute before making the call. The turn card brought the and another bet from Lykov, 255,000 this time. Dovzhenko looked a bit more pained this time, but he eventually made the call.
The last card off the deck was the , and Lykov stacked out 275,000 and slid them forward. His opponent would think long and hard before announcing a call.
Lykov sheepishly tabled for the airball bluff, while Dovzhenko showed up his excellent call with . Looking Lykov up three times with ace-high is good enough to earn the Ukrainian crowd favorite a pot of over 1.6 million!
[user66118]
From the cutoff seat, Alexander Dovzhenko raised to 135,000, and Vitaly Tolokonnikov put in the call from the button. In the small blind, Lucasz Plichta was reaching for chips, and he made a re-raise to 400,000 straight, reminiscent of a play he's made once or twice already today.
Dovzhenko instantly folded, but Tolokonnikov wasn't so quick to act. He asked for a full count of his opponent's stack as he sat statue-still, looking for any sort of reaction he could interpret. After several minutes of deep thought, he finally let his hand go, sending more chips over to Plichta.
[user66118]
Alexander Dovzhenko came in raising to 135,000 before Vitaly Tolokonnikov three-bet it up to 325,000. The table folded back to Dovzhenko, and he didn't waste much time announcing an all in and sliding his chips forward. As soon as he had one stack across the line, Tolokonnikov folded, and Dovzhenko will increase his chip lead just a bit.
*****
On the next hand, Lucasz Plichta opened to 130,000 and Maxim Lykov was the three-bettor, making it 330,000 to skate. Plichta quickly announced, "All in," and Lykov slid his cards back to the dealer just as quickly.
[user66118]
With the action folded to the blinds, Maxim Lykov limped in and then called a raise from big blind Alexander Dovzhenko.
With just two to the flop, the dealer spread out , and both players checked. They would do the same on the turn before the hit the river. Lykov elected to lead out with a bet of 200,000, and Dovzhenko went through a long period of deep thought before putting in the call.
Lykov tabled for two pair, and it was the winner. Dovzhenko mucked his cards after paying off that value bet, and the pot goes to the Russian.
Shamus
Vitaly Tolokonnikov
Vitaly Tolokonnikov opened with a raise to 120,000 from the cutoff, and it folded to Maxim Lykov who reraised to 335,000 from the big blind.
Tolokonnikov considered the situation for a beat, then announced he was all in. Lykov instantly mucked, and Tolokonnikov provocatively flashed the as he dragged the pot.
Tolokonnikov is up over 2 million now, pushing ahead of Lykov who is now at 1.57 million.
Shamus
Anyone who has played the game of Risk -- that board game in which players compete with their armies to take over all of the territories on the different continents -- are aware of the strategic importance of Ukraine to winning the game.
Kind of resembles poker, actually, in which players move chips back and forth in an effort to control the field. A similar end goal, too. In Risk, the idea is to take over all of the territories. Here players complete for chips, not countries, but we're still talking an all-or-nothing affair in which the game won't end until one player achieves total domination, claiming all there is to claim.
Right now the Ukrainian Alexander Dovzhenko has the advantage, with the most chips to marshal as he tries to conquer his foes. Here's how the five players' fighting power compare as the new level begins:
Alexander Dovzhenko -- 3.49 million
Maxim Lykov -- 1.852 million
Vitaly Tolokonnikov -- 1.625 million
Lucasz Plichta -- 1.2 million
Arthur Simonyan -- 766,000
[user66118]
The players are back in their chairs, and the cards are in the air after a sizable increase in the blinds and antes. Check out the live broadcast of today's final table in five languages on EPT Live.
. It checked to Dovzhenko who bet 250,000, and Simonyan quickly folded. Lykov then slid his entire stack forward -- a raise to 1.145 million total. Dovzhenko went deep into the tank.
and Simonyan 
, and the race was on.
, and Simonyan took the lead. The turn was the 
and the river the 
, and Simonyan survives with 1.29 million chips. Dovzhenko is still comfortably in front of the pack with 3.635 million.
![[user66118]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
. Max Lykov led out into the pot with a bet of 135,000, and Dovzhenko mulled it over for a minute before making the call. The turn card brought the 
and another bet from Lykov, 255,000 this time. Dovzhenko looked a bit more pained this time, but he eventually made the call.
, and Lykov stacked out 275,000 and slid them forward. His opponent would think long and hard before announcing a call.
for the airball bluff, while Dovzhenko showed up his excellent call with 
, and both players checked. They would do the same on the 
hit the river. Lykov elected to lead out with a bet of 200,000, and Dovzhenko went through a long period of deep thought before putting in the call.
