Eric Liu opened for 100,000, Michael Tureniec reraised to 312,000, Liu moved all in and Tureniec called.
Tureniec
Liu
The flop was a sweat-tastic , leaving Tureniec freerolling with his flush draw and Liu's stomach churning. The turn was the and much to Liu's relief, the river fell the . The two men split the pot.
"Wow, that was half the chips in play!" exclaimed Tureniec.
Nothing is worse than being ahead and losing to running cards that gives your opponent a better hand. Of course, if you are Michael Martin that is one instant which you love. He was ahead on the flop, behind on the turn - but that same card which put Strassmann in the lead also gave Martin a gutshot. And then the river was kind to Martin. The shortstack doubled up. Again.
Michael Martin moved all in from the button and Johannes Strassmann called.
Martin
Strassmann
The flop was safe enough for Martin, coming down . The turned, however, giving the lead to Strassmann. Saving Martin's tournament life, though was the on the river, making him a Broadway straight and doubling him up to 666,000. Strassmann was left with 466,000.
Philippe D'Auteuil raised to 100,000, Michael Tureniec moved all in and D'Auteuil elected to pass.
Two hands later, Johannes Strassmann opened for 100,000 and this time it was D'Auteuil's turn to push, putting his head down on the table after doing so. Strassmann gave it up, though and D'Auteuil won the pot.
Eric Liu - 1,989,000
Michael Tureniec - 1,067,000
Philippe D'Auteuil - 876,000
Johannes Strassmann - 861,000
Alan Smurfit - 457,000
Marcin Horecki - 443,000
Michael Martin - 311,000
Marcin Horecki opened for 96,000, Eric Liu called and Johannes Strassmann called from the big blind. The flop was . Liu led out for 140,000, Strassmann quickly folded and the action was on Horecki who went into the tank. Ultimately, he passed and the pot was shipped to Liu, whose stack climbed to 1,989,000.
2005 EPT Deauville Champion Brandon Schaefer is on the rail sweating his buddy Michael Martin. Brandon flew in from the States last night along with Martin's mother and girlfriend. Martin's mother said that her son's girlfriend is so nervous that she might have to leave because she's getting sick! Luckily, Michael Martin is cool as a cat and can hold his cookies, especially under the bright lights of the final table.
While many of his opponents are down to all-in or fold decisions, Eric Liu has begun to run over the table with his big stack, making frequent preflop raises and three-bets that are going uncalled.
In his last hand, Alan Smurfit opened for 80,000 and Liu flat-called. The flop . Smurfit checked, and Liu slid out a 100,000 bet. The Irishman gave it up and Liu took down another pot.
EPT hostess Kara Scott interviewed Philippe D'Auteuil's buddies from Canada who are on the rail sweating him. They mentioned that now matter what, they were going out to celebrate tonight. Of course, if Philippe D'Auteuil wins, they will have something extra special to celebrate.
"We will drink a lot," is what one of Philippe D'Auteuil's friends explained.