Jeff Sarwer Eliminated in 3rd Place (€156,170)
"Flush draw?" he asked. There was no response from Matias. Sarwer was clearly struggling with a tough decision, and it would take another several minutes of debate before he acted. "Do you have a really big hand?" he tried again. "If I had a pair of nines, would that be good?"
Matias broke a little bit. "Maybe. Maybe not," he said, looking awfully relaxed. "You'll have to find out."
Sarwer put his hands behind his chips as if ready to shove them in, but he took pause to glance around the rail and consider his decision one more time. "You're running so hot, it's like..." Sarwer was trailing off, but it seems he'd made up his mind. Finally, with a reluctant, "All right," he moved his chips in, all in and at risk.
Showdown
Sarwer:
Matias:
The news was not good for Sarwer as he was well behind and in danger of elimination. "Red nine!" yelled Ricky Fohrenbach from the rail.
The turn wasn't a red nine, but it was a fine sight for Sarwer. The peeled off to improve him to two pair and put him one card from a double up. "Come on, fade the eight-outer!" yelled another railbird, John Aguiar.
But Sarwer could not. The hit the river, and Matias re-improved to tens up, earning the pot and knocking off Sarwer in 3rd place. After another fine EPT run, Sarwer's been checkmated.
After mulling around the rail for a little while, Sarwer thanked the audience and said goodbye. He was shown off to a hearty ovation, heading to the cage to pick up a check for more than €150,000.
Photo courtesy of PokerStars and Neil Stoddart