Ludovic Lacay came back to finish the job on the last remaining Italian player, Angelo Recchia.
Jason Lavalle opened to 250,000 from under the gun before Recchia moved all in for 3,495,000 from the button. Lacay was in the big blind and moved all in also. The action was back on Lavallee and he made a quick and disciplined fold with ace-king.
Recchia:
Lacay:
The board ran to safely see Lacay's jacks hold up. Yet again Italy's dream of having a home-grown champion is over for another season.
Angelo Recchia raised to 270,000 from the button and Ludovic Lacay called from the big blind.
The flop was and both players checked to see the hit fourth street. Lacay checked and Recchia fired 225,000. Lacay wasted little time pushing out a raise to 600,000 and Recchia called.
A relatively safe river fell - the - prompting Lacay to bet 800,000. Recchia snap called but mucked after Lacay showed for top two pair. With this pot Lacay is back in the chip lead.
Artem Litvinov opened for 250,000 under the gun with only to have Ludovic Lacay three-bet to 525,000 from the button holding . When action reached Angelo Recchia in the big blind, he put in a cold four-bet to 1.065 million with , Litvinov got out of the way, and Lacay opted to make the call.
When the flop came down , Recchia led out for 750,000 and Lacay responded by moving all in. Recchia snap-folded and Lacay took down the healthy pot.
Jason Lavallee has jumped back into the chip lead after he got lucky to double through Ludovic Lacay.
The two players got involved in a pre flop raising war that saw Lavallee five-bet all in and Lacay make a big, and correct, call. Lacay was at the table when two days ago when Lavallee seven-bet shoved with , so this might have factored in him making this call.
Action folded to Artem Litvinov who shoved all in from the button. Jason Tompkins called from the big blind and was at risk as he was the shorter stack.
Litvinov:
Tompkins:
Tompkins was looking for an ace to take the lead but instead paired his lower card on the flop. Tompkins had five outs going to fourth street but the was not one of them. The completed the board and Tompkins was forced to settle for a fifth place finish.
Jason Tompkins moved all in under the gun for 2.02 million with and watched action fold to Artem Litvinov in the small blind. Litvinov snap-called off his remaining 1.11 million after looking fown at , making him a huge favorite.
Not one to sit still, Litvinov was up out of his chair as he watched the board run out . With that, Litvinov became a force while Tompkins was left with just 910,000.
The two Team PokerStars Pros kicked off their poker careers with a bang here in Italy. PokerStars.tv got the pair to interview each other about their experiences at the final table and beyond.
Click through to PokerStars Blog to watch the video.