Action folded to Rocco Palumbo in the small blind and he raised to 6,200. Big blind Bart Lybaert called to see a flop in position.
Palumbo bet 6,000 on and Lybaert called. Palumbo then checked the on the turn, and called Lybaert's 11,500-bet.
The river saw Palumbo check. Lybaert shoved all in to put Palumbo to the test for his last 37,400 in chips. Palumbo tanked long and hard and eventually called.
Lybaert showed for the nut low, the pot went to Palumbo who tabled for third-pair.
Lybaert never recovered from that blow, he busted not much later with up against .
With the bubble looming, a four-way action flop featuring Robert Pankowski and Aleksei Istomin resulted in the latter being left short on the bubble.
It was Hossein Ensan who opened the action on the flop with a bet of 9,600. The player to his left folded, Istomin called but Pankowski had different plans. He raised all in for 72,100, putting both opponents to the test.
Ensan got out of the way but Istomin called it off to put Pankowski at risk.
Robert Pankowski:
Aleksei Istomin:
Pankowski was a mathematical underdog against Istomin's flush outs and overcards, but his pocket nines held up after the turn and river.
Usman Siddique got his last 46,400 in with the and Jean Koja had the superior stack and a flip with . The board came and Siddique doubled.
Less fortunate were the likes of Robert Haigh, Isaac Haxton, Matthew Hopkins and Levan Karamanishvili. The former two were gone for some time, while the latter two just ran out of chips recently. There are 147 players remaining, and the money bubble is looming with 143 players remaining.
Isabel Baltazar raised to 10,000 and Iliodoros Kamatakis three-bet from the button before Baltazar then shoved for 61,100. Kamatakis called and Baltazar turned over aces, but would still have a big sweat close to the money.
Isabel Baltazar:
Iliodoros Kamatakis:
The board came and Baltazar dodged the flush draw to double.
Only one hand later, Kamatakis in the cutoff and Vicente Delgado in the big blind got into a big raising war and it was Delgado that ended up at risk for massive 139,600.
Iliodoros Kamatakis:
Vicente Delgado:
The board came and Kamatakis took an even bigger hit to the stack.
Jean Koja got his last chips in from the hijack and found an opponent in small blind Nick Petrangelo. Petrangelo, probably the biggest stack in the room already, had a massive hand with . Koja had to do with .
The board ran out and Koja was heading for the rail.
With his departure, the tournament is now on the official bubble as just 144 players remain.
Right after Koja departed in 145th place, the cameramen, interested players and reporters moved over to Maria Ho's table. With the bubble now officially on, she was all in and at risk to go out without any money earned.
The board was already out and Ho soon revealed to have the nuts. With on the table, she had nothing to fear with her . Her opponent turned over and doubled up Ho.
Tom-Aksel Bedell raised to 7,000 and then called a three-bet to 20,000 by Nicolas Fuentes Vidal from one seat over. On the flop, both players checked and Bedell then bet the turn for 22,000. Vidal called and faced a bet worth 61,500 on the river.
The cameras rushed to the action as it was the last table still running in hand-for-hand mode on the money bubble, and Vidal eventually called. Bedell showed for a busted straight draw, and Vidal claimed the big pot with the .
Over on the feature table, Salvatore Candido Graziano moved all in for his last 28,100 from the small blind after an open to 6,000 by Patrik Antonius and Davidi Kitai called in the big blind, Antonius folded. Graziano pondered around the table, waiting for all other tables to complete.
Once all tables were done, the cards were turned over and it was the most classic flip in the history of poker.
Salvatore Candido Graziano:
Davidi Kitai:
The flop improved Kitai to a pair of aces, and the turn and river changed nothing whatsoever to let the bubble burst.
and Lybaert called. Palumbo then checked the 
on the turn, and called Lybaert's 11,500-bet.
river saw Palumbo check. Lybaert shoved all in to put Palumbo to the test for his last 37,400 in chips. Palumbo tanked long and hard and eventually called. 
for the nut low, the pot went to Palumbo who tabled 
for third-pair.
up against 
flop with a bet of 9,600. The player to his left folded, Istomin called but Pankowski had different plans. He raised all in for 72,100, putting both opponents to the test.
turn and 
river.
and Jean Koja had the superior stack and a flip with 
. The board came 
and Kamatakis took an even bigger hit to the stack.
on the turn gave Alkalay additional outs with the spade draw, which was met by a loud "oooooh" from Kamatakis.
.
.
flop improved Kitai to a pair of aces, and the 
river changed nothing whatsoever to let the bubble burst.
