Remy Murcia raised to 500,000 under the gun and Marco Gambini called in the big blind.
The flop came K♦9♣J♥ and Murcia bet 500,000. Gambini called and the Q♥ fell on the turn.
Murcia bet another 900,000 and Gambini again called. The river was the Q♠ and Gambini led out this time for 1,000,000.
Murcia snap-called and Gambini clapped his hands together as he showed Q♣9♥ for a rivered full house. Murcia mucked K♣10♦ for a beaten straight as Gambini extended his lead.
Action folded to Atanas Malinov in the small blind who moved all in. Kin Hang Man tanked for a minute in the big blind before calling for 1,200,000.
Kin Hang Man: A♥3♥
Atanas Malinov: J♦6♦
The flop came 4♠J♠Q♥ and Malinov took the lead with a pair of jacks. The J♣ turn improved Malinov to trips and Man was already drawing dead by the 8♥ river.
"He made it guys. It's possible," Guillaume Nolet told his tablemates as they prepared to draw for seats at the final table.
Gabi Livshitz made a bold move by pushing all in from middle position, prompting Federico Macori in the big blind, who had few chips remaining, to make the call.
Federico Macori: 7♣9♦
Gabi Livshitz: A♦K♠
Livshitz held a commanding lead with a very strong hand and the 7♦Q♦A♠Q♠10♣ board only solidified that advantage.
With Macori's elimination in ninth place, the remaining eight players continued battling it out, aiming to narrow down to the final six to end the day.
Emil Saad moved all in for 2,700,000 on the button and Virgile Turchi tanked for a minute before folding in the big blind. Saad then moved all in again a few hands later and got no callers once more.
"Easy money. Ten all ins and you're chip leader," Gabi Livshitz said to him.
Turchi then moved all in from the cutoff and Guillaume Nolet called for 2,550,000 in the big blind.
Guillaume Nolet: A♦10♠
Virgile Turchi: A♥6♦
Nolet had Turchi dominated as the board ran out 8♥Q♦5♠8♠7♠. "Straight," Livshitz joked, but Nolet's ten-kicker continued to play to earn him a double up.
Guillaume Nolet raised to 600,000 in the hijack and Marco Gambini called in the cutoff, as did Elie Saad and Atanas Malinov in the blinds.
All four players checked the J♦3♠4♠ flop. The turn was the 2♥ and Saad moved all in for 2,450,000. Malinov called, while Nolet and Gambini both folded.
Saad showed 3♥3♦ for a set and Malinov turned over J♠10♠ for a pair and flush draw. The river was the 5♠ and Malinov completed his flush to send Saad to the rail in eighth place.
"If I push on the flop, do you call?" Saad asked Malinov on his way to the exit and Malinov nodded as he stacked up the pot.
Action folded to Virgile Turchi in the small blind who raised to 700,000. Robbie Bull then moved all in for 2,700,000 and Turchi snap-called.
Robbie Bull: A♣3♦
Virgile Turchi: 10♣10♠
Bull was looking for an ace as the flop came Q♥4♦9♣. The 8♥ turn was no help, and the 6♥ river sealed his elimination in seventh place.
The remaining six players are now bagging up their chips for tomorrow's final table, which will be streamed by PokerStars on their Twitch and YouTube channels.
Atanas Malinov sits at the table with his head lowered and nearly completely covered by his hoodie. He looks more like a silent assassin than a poker player, and today on Day 3 of the PokerStars France Poker Series Main Event at Sporting Monte-Carlo, he made picking off opponents look easy.
Malinov eliminated the likes of Ankit Ahuja, Andrei Mjagkov, Kin Hang Man, and, finally, Elie Saad on his way to finishing as the chip leader with 21,725,000 as six players return for tomorrow’s live-streamed final table at 12:30 p.m. local time.
The Bulgarian high roller has EPT cashes dating back to 2015 and finished 17th at EPT Cyprus in October. But he’s not the most highly decorated player remaining in the field. That belongs to Guillaume Nolet, who has $1.6 million in live earnings including finishing second in a €10,300 event at EPT Barcelona in 2019. The Canadian ended up in third place with 10,500,000, closely behind start-of-day chip leader Virgile Turchi (10,700,000).
Guillaume Nolet
Day 3 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Atanas Malinov
Bulgaria
21,725,000
72
2
Virgile Turchi
France
10,700,000
36
3
Guillaume Nolet
Canada
10,500,000
35
4
Marco Gambini
Italy
9,525,000
32
5
Gabi Livshitz
Israel
6,050,000
20
6
Remy Murcia
France
4,325,000
14
Marco Gambini was at times the story of today’s play as he enjoyed a spectacular fall to an extreme short stack, only to rise up to become an overwhelming chip leader. The Italian eventually fell back toward the pack and bagged up 9,525,000. Gabi Livshitz, who has a run to fourth place at the EPT Prague Main Event in 2019 among his $1.5 million in live earnings, is in fifth place with 6,050,000, while Remy Murcia rounds out the final table with 4,325,000.
Day 3 Action
Day 3 began with 31 players remaining out of a starting field of 2,096. Harry Lodge busted in 29th place when he lost a race with ace-jack to Nolet’s threes, while Robbie Bull won a big flip to eliminate Miroslav Alilovic in 27th place.
Ahuja has shown a remarkable proficiency in these events, including finishing in fifth place out of 7,398 entries at the ESPT Main Event at EPT Barcelona last year, then winning the Eureka Poker Tour Main Event at EPT Cyprus over 2,659 entries in October. However, his run here in Monte Carlo ended in 23rd place when he picked up aces but Malinov turned two pair with queens and nines.
Antonino Venneri was among the top stacks remaining when he jammed for 1,875,000 on the river with jacks and fours, but Turchi had a set of sevens to win the massive pot and bust Venneri in 19th place. Eusebiu Jalba (18th) and Alessandro Merelli (17th) followed to the exit as the field went down to the final two tables.
Virgile Turchi
Then came the fall and rise of Gambini. He ran two tens into Kin Hang Man’s kings to drop down to just 310,000, good for three big blinds. After one double up, he was all in for 920,000 with fives against Federico Macori’s kings but spiked a two-outer on the river to stay alive yet again.
Malinov, meanwhile, busted Mjagkov in 16th with trip kings, while Jason Wheeler fell in 15th in a blind-versus-blind battle with Murcia. Gambini then opened to 250,000 in middle position and Alisa Sibgatova moved all in for 720,000. Pierre Basile reraised to 1,200,000 in the small blind. Gambini didn’t notice Basile had raised and just called Sibgatova’s bet. He was forced to put in the extra chips as Basile jammed for 4,000,000 on a nine-high flop. Gambini snap-called with pocket threes, while Basile had two tens and stayed in the lead until a three fell on the river.
Marco Gambini
Gambini had once again hit a two-outer to win the massive pot and knock out both players to take the chip lead with more than 13,000,000. Day 1 chip leader Gil Aboodi fell in 12th after running two tens into Murcia’s kings, while EPT champion Uri Gilboa was eliminated by Bull in 11th.
Play slowed down considerably near the final table bubble, with tournament officials stopping play at one table because they had played so many more hands than the other. Gambini crossed 20,000,000 when he rivered a full house against Murcia’s straight, but Turchi then picked up aces to Gambini’s sevens to double up to 11,000,000. Finally, Man called Malinov’s pre-flop shove with ace-high, but Malinov made trip jacks to eliminate Man in 10th and set up the nine-handed final table.
Gambini led with 16,000,000, followed by Malinov at 15,500,000. Macori was the first out, calling off his short stack with nine-seven against Livshitz’s ace-king. The final table then became a war of attrition as the short stacks battled for survival. Murcia doubled off Gambini with aces, while Nolet doubled off Turchi. Nolet then moved all in for 5,000,000 with kings against Gambini’s ace-queen and held on to double again.
Livshitz was all in for 2,400,000 with two tens, but Gambini woke up with kings to leave Livshitz at risk of elimination. Livshitz, though, caught a running straight to earn a miracle double up. Saad's set of threes then went down to Malinov’s rivered flush as Saad finished in eigthth. Two hands later, Turchi picked up tens in the small blind to eliminate Bull in seventh and bring the night to an end.
Gabi Livshitz
Final Table payouts
Place
Player
Country
Earnings
1
€303,190
2
€189,220
3
€135,160
4
€103,970
5
€79,980
6
€61,520
7
Robbie Bull
Scotland
€47,330
8
Elie Saad
Lebanon
€36,410
9
Federico Macori
Italy
€28,020
The remaining six players are guaranteed €61,520, with the winner tomorrow earning €303,190. The final table will be streamed on a 30-minute delay by PokerStars beginning at 1 p.m. Action begins with 24 minutes remaining on Level 34 with blinds of 150,000-300,000 and a 300,000 big blind ante.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as a champion will be crowned out of this massive field tomorrow.
