Joseph El Khoury will be the first to admit he is one of the tightest players at the table but it is working for him as he is guaranteed more than $65,000 so far; plus his image is helping him win some pots when he moves all in.
Victor Paraschiv opened to 160,000 under the gun only to see Marvin Rettenmaier three-bet to 390,000 next to act. The next two players folded but El Khoury moved all-in for 1,500,000. After a little "Hollywooding" both Paraschiv and Rettenmaier folded.
The next hand Artur Voskanyan opened to 180,000 from the cutoff and quickly folded when El Khoury three-bet all-in! Could this be a sign of things to come or has El Khoury had aces and kings back-to-back?
Victor Paraschiv opened to 160,000 from under the gun and when Marvin Rettenmaier and Artur Voskanyan folded, Ran Azor three-bet to 290,000. Paraschiv called and it was heads up to the flop.
After the preflop action we expected fireworks on that flop but both players slowed down and checked. The on the turn saw Azor bet 450,000 prompting Paraschiv to ask, "You got like 700,000?"
The answer was yes and Paraschiv made the call. The fifth and final community card was the and Azor turned his seat away from the table and checked. Paraschiv reluctantly checked behind.
Paraschiv:
Azor:
Paraschiv looked towards the heavens when he saw Azor had paired his eight on the river. Azor just stacked his chips.
Well, it's all about Victor Paraschiv over the last few hands.
He made it 180,000 in a blind on blind battle against Marvin Rettenmaier, the latter called then folded to a 200,000 bet on the flop.
Next hand he won the blinds and antes with a min-raise from the button.
Finally he opened the cutoff as well with Ran Azor defending his big blind as usual. Both players checked the flop before Azor led for 225,000 on the turn. Paraschiv called to see the river and Azor checked, Paraschiv now bet 230,000 and Azor let out a loud sigh, eventually folding.
We had a small power cut and by small we actually man for less than 10 seconds but it has knocked out the television crew's equipment and it now needs rebooting. We will be back with the coverage momentarily.
Nobody wanted to be involved in the hand until the action got to Marvin Rettenmaier in the small blind and the young German raised to 135,000. Artur Voskanyan was the big blind and he three-bet to 265,000, forcing Rettenmaier out of the pot.
Marvin Rettenmaier was seated under the gun and he made it his standard opening raise of 125,000. The next two players folded but Joseph El Khoury made the call from the small blind. Romania's Victor Paraschiv was the big blind and after taking a few moments he announced he was all in.
Rettenmaier asked for a count of Paraschiv's stack and was told it was 1,240,000; which was ultimate too much for either opponent to call and Paraschiv took down the pot.