Anze Smajd was short stacked after losing most of his chips in previous hands. He raised to 160,000 and left just 30,000 behind. Nicolae Paunescu called on the button and Karen Nazarian called in the big blind.
The flop came 5?8?7? and action checked to Paunescu, who bet 80,000. Nazarian called and Smajd put the last of his chips in the middle.
The turn was the 5? and Nazarian checked. Paunescu bet 275,000 and Nazarian called.
The river came the 6? and both players checked to showdown. Nazarian had K?7? for a pair of sevens, Smajd had 10?2? and Paunescu had J?5? for trip fives.
Paunescu won both the main and side pot, while Smajd was eliminated from the tournament in 11th place for $19,800.
Valeriu Rosca open raised from middle position and Aziz Efe moved all in from the button for 650,000. Rosca called to put Efe at risk and players flipped their cards.
Aziz Efe: 8?8?
Valeriu Rosca: A?K?
The flop came 6?5?10? and Efe remained ahead. The Q? turn brought Rosca a few additional outs and the J? river completed his straight. Efe let out a shout of dismay and slammed his fist on the table, then politely waved goodbye to his friend and left.
Efe was eliminated from the tournament in 12th place for $16,490.
Morten Klein moved all in for 715,000 from under the gun. Karen Nazarian, in the big blind, tanked before making the call.
Morten Klein: A?J?
Karen Nazarian: K?Q?
Klein was ahead until the K?3?Q? flop gave Nazarian two pair. Klein still had a gutshot straight draw, but the 2? turn and Q? river only served to improve Nazarian to a full house, sending Klein to the rail.
Boris Kolev open raised from late position and Maroun Jazzar moved all in from the small blind for around 600,000. Kolev called with the bigger stack and players flipped their cards.
Maroun Jazzar: K?10?
Boris Kolev: J?J?
The board ran out 3?Q?8?3?Q? and Kolev held with his pocket jacks, making two pair with the queens on board.
Jazzar was eliminated from the tournament in 14th place for $13,750.
After getting two shoves through in back to back hands, Hadi Khordbin moved all in from middle position for around 820,000. He was called by Valeriu Rosca in the big blind, who had him covered as players turned their cards.
Hadi Khordbin: A?Q?
Valeriu Rosca: A?A?
Khordbin must have felt like he was in good shape picking up ace-queen in a shove spot, but Rosca had woke up with aces. The board ran out 4?4?2?10?2? and Rosca held, making two pair with his aces and the fours on board.
Khordbin was the first to bust on the final day. He was eliminated from the tournament in 15th place for $13,750.
It's time for the final day of the $3,000 Mystery Bounty event, running at the Merit Royal Diamond Hotel Casino & Spa as part of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Cyprus.
A total field of 894 players has now been reduced to the final 15 hopefuls, who will return to contend for the lion's share of the prize pool.
Uladzimir Zhyharau begins the day with a significant chip lead. It wasn't all smooth sailing for Zhyharau, but it was about as close as it gets. He finished Day 1 as the chip leader and built his stack throughout Day 2 to bag for 4,920,000 chips.
Behind him, kicking off Day 3 in second place, is Ryhor Karapanau, who sits on 3,225,000, over 1.5 million chips behind Zhyharau but with all to play for.
Nicolae Paunescu, Marius Kudzmanas and Matthias Lipp round out the top five.
Uladzmir Zhyharau
Start of Day 3 Chip Counts
Position
Player
Country
Chips
Big Blinds
1
Uladzimir Zhyharau
Belarus
4,920,000
98
2
Ryhor Karapanau
Latvia
3,225,000
65
3
Nicolae Paunescu
Romania
3,020,000
60
4
Marius Kudzmanas
Lithuania
2,735,000
55
5
Matthias Lipp
Austria
2,325,000
47
6
Valeriu Rosca
Romania
1,340,000
27
7
Stoyan Obreshkov
Bulgaria
1,295,000
26
8
Karen Nazarian
Russia
1,300,000
26
9
Guoliang Wei
Hong Kong
1,155,000
23
10
Hadi Khordbin
Iran
1,050,000
21
11
Aziz Efe
Turkey
1,005,000
20
12
Boris Kolev
Bulgaria
1,000,000
20
13
Morten Klein
Norway
965,000
19
14
Anze Smajd
Slovenia
905,000
18
15
Maroun Jazzar
Lebanon
490,000
10
Day 3 action resumes at midday local time, with blinds on 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante. There will be a 15-minute break every three levels, but no dinner break is scheduled.
Regarding bounty prizes, the three $75,000 top prizes were pulled on Day 2, along with most of the other appealing envelopes. The top bounty prize available is $5,000 and the rest are $1,000s.
There are still huge prizes up for grabs, with two-thirds of the prize pool, $1,509,072, going to payouts. The eventual winner is set to walk away with $265,972 plus bounties.
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
$265,972
8
$31,990
2
$166,330
9
$24,610
3
$118,810
10 – 11
$19,800
4
$91,390
12 – 13
$16,490
5
$70,310
14 – 15
$13,750
6
$54,090
16
$11,950
7
$41,590
Players return to average stacks of a little over 30 big blinds, and with many of those chips sitting with the current leaders, it could be a rapid affair.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor as the event plays down to a winner on Day 3.
