Alexander Ivarsson min-raised to 8,000 from under the gun and Christoph Vogelsang three-bet to 20,000 from the button. Ivarsson four-bet to 53,000 and was called before betting the flop for 55,000. Vogelsang called and then faced the all in of Ivarsson with the superior stack.
Vogelsang spent the next few minutes in the think tank and the TV camera crew headed over to the table. All other tables had finished their action and Vogelsang was still to make up his mind. The clock on the screens ran down another three minutes and he then folded, Ivarsson showed no reaction and slid his cards into the muck.
On a board of we saw Jaroslaw Sikora check from the small blind. Ezequiel Kleinman bet out 15,000 from the big blind and Sikora folded and got up from the table to check on one of his friends over on a different table. That would have been all good if it weren't for Max Silver on the button with still cards in front of him. Silver at least now knew he would be heads up if he called, and did just so. The fell on the river and Kleinman bet out 71,000. Silver made the call, but mucked upon seeing .
When Sikora came back to the table, he got a 2-hand penalty from the floor for folding out of turn.
After a raise to 9,000, Rainer Kempe called on the cutoff and so did Natasha Barbour in the small blind and the player in the big blind. On the flop , the action checked to Kempe and he fired a bet worth 17,500. Only Barbour called and also checked the on the turn. Kempe bet 36,500 and Barbour check-raised to 81,500 in order to scoop the pot.
Rainer Kempe raised to 9,000 and Darrell Goh moved all in for 130,500 out of the small blind. Kempe announced the call for more than half of his stack but they had to wait for the action on Chris Hunichen's table before proceeding with the showdown. All other players had headed into the break already and barely anyone got to see the showdown.
Kempe:
Goh:
The flop gave Kempe some back door outs for the flush, but the turn ensured a split pot. A meaningless fell on the river and then the table also headed into the break.
Level 17 is underway. Hand-for-hand play will continue, and with some short stacks out there, we're thinking the money will be here sooner than later. Two more players need to go to make it happen. Stay tuned to find out who it will be.
Up at the feature table, Dara O'Kearney got his stack of 95,500 all in preflop and was at risk against Alen Bilic.
Bilic:
O'Kearney:
The flop wasn't particularly interesting, but the turn was as it gave Bilic a flush draw. Fortunately for O'Kearney, lady luck was on his side as the blanked on the river to give him the double.
Pierre Chevalier opened with a raise from middle position and 2013 PokerStars UKIPT Marbella Main Event champ Ludovic Geilich shoved his short stack — what looked to be approximately 30,000 — from the small blind. Chevalier made the call and after play concluded at all other tables the cards were turned on their back.
Chevalier:
Geilich:
Spectators surrounded the table, and some rumblings reverberated throughout the room when the cards were announced. No one seemed surprised that the short stack got it in with aces, but it sounded like some players were excited over Chevalier's hand, which was some might say is good for cracking aces.
That said, you can imagine the excitement that shot through the room when the flop fell to give Chevalier both an open-ended straight and flush draw. Needless to say, Geilich was not thrilled and his face suggested his days were numbered.
Sure enough, the dealer burned and turned the to give Chevalier the straight and leave Geilich drawing dead. The meaningless was put out on the river, and Geilich left empty handed in 97th place, which sets up the official bubble.
Just one more player needs to go before the money is reach.