Our thanks to EPT Media Coordinator Mad Harper for this heart warming tale of brotherly love and support for Sotirios Koutoupas.
At midnight last night Sotirios' friend Apostolis Tsakridis rings Sotirios' younger brother Fortis, 19, and says "Shall we go to Deauville?" Neither of them has ever been to France. At 6.30am they set off, they drive 20 minutes to Thessaloniki airport, catch a flight from Thessaloniki to Athens and then catch another flight to Charles de Gaulle. They rent a car and head to Deauville, which takes just over two hours and arrive Deauville at 2pm. Apostolis says: "I went to Prague too, when Sotirios made the final last season. The drive to Prague took 19 hours so this was easy!!!" They have joined Sotirios' good friend Konstantinos Nanos (3rd at EPT7 Vienna) on the rail.
Eugene Katchalov with chips is a very different proposition and he just pushed chip leader Sotirios Koutoupas off the best hand.
Pre-flop Harry Law made it 160,000 to go from the cut-off with , Katchalov called from the button with and Koutoupas did likewise from the big blind with .
On the flop it was checked to Katchalov, he took over the betting lead with a wager of 200,000 and Koutoupas was the only caller. On the turn Katchalov bet again, roughly half pot as he pushed 500,000 over the line. "He seems to know exactly where he's at," said Joe Stapleton in the booth. Koutoupas took a look back at his hand and ruefully threw it into the muck.
Katchalov now has some more of these 100,000 plaques
Harry Law opened the small blind to 180,000 with . "Ow, this can get messy" said co commentator Marc Convey as the graphics revealed Eugene Katchalov had in the big blind.
Katchalov made it 450,000 and action was back on Law. He announced all in, Katchalov double checked his cards and called. Law frowned on getting such a quick call. He might have expected to maybe be dominated, but probably was ok seeing he had a coinflip situation.
The flop was no harm for Katchalov. Law had some backdoor outs but the on the turn ensured he needed to hit an ace or jack to win it.
The on the river was a blank and Katchalov doubled up into second place.
Now that he had 2,100,000 Eugene Katchalov could actually open a pot rather than just move in and the Team PokerStars Pro elected to make it 160,000 under-the-gun with . He picked up calls from Sotirios Koutoupas on the button with and Harry Law in the big blind with .
On the flop the action was checked to Koutoupas, he bet 230,000 but folded when Katchalov moved all-in for 1,890,000.
Eli Heath just flopped a straight but couldn't get any action...
He defended from the big blind with against Oliver Price's 160,000 open with , The flop connected rather nicely with Heath's hand, he checked it to Price, who checked right behind. On the turn Heath led for 250,000 and Price instantly folded.
Another shove from Eugene Katchalov and another chopped pot, although on this occasion he was glad of the chop as he had to sweat the river card.
Pre-flop Katchalov moved all-in for 1,195,000 (roughly 15 big blinds) with , it folded to Oliver Price in the big blind and he peaked down at . He took about 15 seconds to think it over and then announced call.
The flop meant that only Price could win the pot outright. The turn meant that any club on the river would eliminate Katchalov and end his Triple Crown bid. The dealer revealed the and Katchalov breathed a sigh of relief.
Eugene Katchalov shoved from the button for 855,000 wuth . Eli Heath folded pocket deuces but Sotirios Koutoupas made the call from the big blind holding .
Katchalov was well ahead but wouldn't get the 1.8 million pot. The flop was of no danger but did make for some split pot outs for Koutoupas. The on the turn was no direct heat, but the made it a split pot.
The hand after Katchalov shoved again, this time with deuces. Katchalov got no callers and worked his stack up to above the million mark.
It's a long road to an EPT final table during which most players will enjoy and endure swings up and down. The PokerStars blog plots the path of the eight final table players here and finds it's been an easier route for some than others. Click and compare the final tablists' tourney journeys.
![[user265690]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
, Katchalov called from the button with 
and Koutoupas did likewise from the big blind with 
.
flop it was checked to Katchalov, he took over the betting lead with a wager of 200,000 and Koutoupas was the only caller. On the 
turn Katchalov bet again, roughly half pot as he pushed 500,000 over the line. "He seems to know exactly where he's at," said Joe Stapleton in the booth. Koutoupas took a look back at his hand and ruefully threw it into the muck.
. "Ow, this can get messy" said co commentator Marc Convey as the graphics revealed Eugene Katchalov had 
in the big blind.
flop was no harm for Katchalov. Law had some backdoor outs but the 
on the turn ensured he needed to hit an ace or jack to win it.
on the river was a blank and Katchalov doubled up into second place.
. He picked up calls from Sotirios Koutoupas on the button with 
and Harry Law in the big blind with 
flop the action was checked to Koutoupas, he bet 230,000 but folded when Katchalov moved all-in for 1,890,000.
against Oliver Price's 160,000 open with 
flop connected rather nicely with Heath's hand, he checked it to Price, who checked right behind. On the 
turn Heath led for 250,000 and Price instantly folded.
. Oliver Price folded his small blind but Harry Law had more creative plans in the big blind.
he thought for some time, and then made it 425,000.
turn meant that any club on the river would eliminate Katchalov and end his Triple Crown bid. The dealer revealed the 
.
flop was of no danger but did make for some split pot outs for Koutoupas. The 
on the turn was no direct heat, but the 
