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With the first eliminations from the EPT10 Deauville Main Event final table, Eugene Katchalov draws ever closer to the possible Triple Crown of poker, although he now has a lot of work to do to get there. He has a WPT win and a WSOP bracelet, and only last an EPT title to join just five others in the Triple Crown club as the PokerStars blog explains.
Although he had a chip and chair there would be no miracle comeback for Rustem Muratov.
He did manage to quadruple up with pocket kings against Harry Law's . The next hand he moved all-in for 40,000 with , Oliver Price raised the button with and got calls from Harry Law with and Eugene Katchalov with .
On the flop Price bet 125,000 and Katchalov was the only caller. The turn improved Price to trips but both players checked, then the hit the river. Katchalov checked to Price who bet 320,000. Jon Spinks thought that Price's bet was too big to get paid off, but Katchalov called and saw the bad news.
So Muratov is gone in sixth, whilst Katchalov is now the shortest stack of the five remaining players.
Hand Analysis
With Rustem Muratov all in, an interesting dynamic was created as Oliver Price and Eugene Katchalov found themselves vying for what became a considerable side pot. Read more about the strategy involved in this hand on Learn.PokerNews in "Lessons from EPT10 Deauville: Side Pot Action After All In."
Eli Heath opened the cut off to 100,000 holding . Behind him sat the last qualifier Rustem Muratov with and he shoved all in for a little over 1.5 million. Muratov wouldn't find his foe in Heath though, Oliver Price was behind him holding and called all in.
Heath folded and the show down was there. Heath would have out flopped both of them: . The on the turn and on the river were no good for Muratov and he had just 20,000 left. 10,000 of that he had to invest as ante in the next hand.
Harry Law has definitely got the better of Eugene Katchalov at the final table so far and just won another pot against the Team PokerStars Pro. He opened to 100,000 with from the hijack and picked up calls from Katchalov with from the cut-off and Sotirios Koutoupas with from the big blind.
On the flop Law continuation bet 145,000 and Katchalov was the only caller. The fell on the turn giving Law a straight. "If I were Law I'd slow down on this card," said Jon Spinks in the commentary booth. And Law did just that, checking to Katchalov, but the Ukrainian elected to check behind. The completed the board, Law bet 235,000 and Katchalov folded.
Oliver Price opened for 100,000 with in the cutoff. Eli Heath made the call from the big blind holding .
Heath was dominated pre flop but dominated himself post flop: . Heath check called a 110,000 bet and the hit the turn. Guest commentator Jon Spinks on the live stream was confused as Heath bet 180,000 himself now. Spinks wanted to start telling how Price would fold hands like the one he had... but then Price called all of the sudden.
The river was the and both players checked. Heath tabled the best hand and took it down.
A big move by Rustem Muratov has boosted him to the relative heights of 30 big blinds, he's still the short stack though, but Eli Heath is now second shortest after losing the following hand.
Muratov opened to 135,000 with from under-the-gun, Heath flat called with and the flop came , Heath checked, Muratov bet 110,000 only for Heath to check-raise to 255,000 total.
Muratov wasn't done though, he moved all-in for 925,000 with just jack high, Heath took a rueful look at his cards and threw them in the muck. Pot to Muratov.
Sotirios Koutoupas has been by far the most aggressive player at the final table so far and it paid off in a pot against Eli Heath.
Heath opened to 100,000 from the button with [10s and called when Koutoupas three-bet to 225,000 from the big blind with . The flop contained two overcards to Heath's pair and a continuation bet of 210,000 from Koutoupas was enough to win the pot.