Damien Luis opened 5o 35,000 from early position. To his left, Jason Koon three-bet to 85,000. Diego Zeiter cold-called the three-bet in late position, and Luis called as well.
On the flop, Luis checked, as did Koon. Zeiter bet 90,000, Luis folded, but Koon check-raised to 240,000. Zeiter called, but gave it up when Koon fired 180,000 on the turn.
In the final hand before the latest break, Nicolas Chouity has been eliminated from the EPT Barcelona Season 13 Main Event. The Lebanese player led the entire field after Day 2, but two hands at his table did the damage.
First, Chouity was all-in pre-flop with the chance of knocking Mikhail Molchanov out of the tournament but ran his into Molchanov's . The board of saw Chouity exclaim in frustration: "And I flop a king too; so sick that happens!"
Then, in what would be Chouity's final hand, he moved all-in for 253,00 with and saw his opponent Jose Quintas re-shove for over half a million chips with , pushing another opponent out of the way and sending the two men to the run out.
The board of saw the demise of Chouity completed, and the man who led with 294 remaining does not make the final fifty.
"It happens." he said, as he moved to the cash desk.
The best players do their best to prepare for a big tournament in the most optimal way they can, and the November Niner still in the EPT Main Event field, Vojtech Ruzicka, is no different. Everything has been completely different for him since he made the final nine of the World Series of Poker Main Event and his life is narrowing in on that date with poker destiny in a few months time. He admits to us that he never understood how big that aspect of his success in the tournament would be.
"My original plan was to do more intense preparation, disappear almost," he told us at the latest break here in Barcelona. "That's proved impossible, really. I play for Kings in Rozvadov and enjoyed the cash games a lot there in recent weeks. Now I'm here. But if I run deep in the EPT Main Event, there's no better preparation for November."
Sharing a table with players such as Jason Mercier and Morten Mortensen today for example, seems to be focusing Vojtech's mind on taking on eight more elite players very soon.
"I really want to win. I hope so much that I can win. There are many ways to prepare, and I will do them. Right now I have 610,000 in the Main, so I will do my best here too."
As Ruzicka returns to the action, he'll be under the lights and sharing the feature table with Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier among others. When it comes to Vojtech Ruzicka, you get the feeling that every hand, every decision, every move points to Vegas and the game of his life. Maybe, just maybe, he might bag an EPT victory in the build up.
From the cutoff, Pavel Plesuv raised and Pavel Veksler then three-bet all in for 371,000 from the button. Plesuv called with the only to see Veksler turn over the . The board ran out and Veksler doubled.
Shortly after, Plesuv raised to 45,000 and Veksler called, as did Andreas Chalkiadakis in the big blind. The flop came and Chalkiadakis check-folded to a bet of 65,000 by Plesuv while Veksler called. On the turn, both checked and the river saw Plesuv bet 180,000 and Veksler fold.
Ryan Mcgarry raised to 42,000 from the cutoff and Filipe Olivera three-bet to 97,000 on the button. Mcgarry called, and both players saw the flop appear.
Mcgarry checked, Oliveira bet 75,000, Mcgarry check-raised all in for 301,000, and Oliveira called without much hesitation.
Ryan Mcgarry:
Filipe Oliveira:
Mcgarry was way ahead, and his hand held after the turn and river.
Alisan Holozlu has enjoyed a great day at the felt so far, and he has claimed yet another victim to move to within raising distance of the chip lead in the room. We joined the action from the turn on a board showing , whereupon Holozlu bet 178,000 and Joentausta (pictured, left) called it off.
The river of saw Holozlu shove all-in for around 504,000 but he was quickly called by Joentausta, who showed . Holozlu turned over , however, and he stacked up 1,900,000 in chips as his opponent left the tournament. Holozlu has every chance here of what would be an incredible breakthrough on the live circuit. The German has just one cash for under $3,000 in a Eureka event last year, so however his Main Event ends, it will be his best result to date. He could yet be the last man standing here in Spain and win over €1.12m.