Jonathan Khalifa opened to 380,000 on the button and Ruben Garcia Blancas called in the small blind. Ivaylo Sivinov was in the big blind and three-bet to 1,065,000. Sivinov had previously three-bet Khalifa's opening raises multiple times, which Khalifa folded every time.
However, Khalifa had enough, and this time he four-bet shoved all in. Blancas quickly got out of the way and Sivinov looked back at his cards before folding as well. Khalifa turned over to show he was not going to be bullied anymore.
While Makarios Avramidis has not played any hand yet today to drop a portion of his stack.
Over on the other table, [Removed:35] raised to 350,000 on the button and Roman Motovsky called from the big blind. The flop of was checked to Lucina and his bet of 215,000 won the pot without further resistance.
Jonathan Khalifa raised to 375,000 from the cutoff and Ivaylo Sivinov moved all in from the small blind.
"Can I get a count please?" Khalifa asked and the shove was for 3.3 million.
"I have a big hand, a really big hand," Khalifa added. "Not sure if I want to flip against you for 3.3 million, that's 40% of my stack." After taking off his jacket and spending another minute in the think tank, Khalifa asked his opponent "You are good?" and Sivinov smiled back and said "I think so," the only reply he gave to the Frenchman.
Khalifa called the clock on himself and a ten second countdown ended with no decision, his hand was declared dead. "I show you if you show me," Sivinov added and Khalifa replied "I can't," sending his cards into the muck.
Down to 1,345,000, Gaetan Cauchy moved all in from the cutoff and Roman Motovsky in the big blind gave it plenty of consideration. He motioned for the stack to be counted, tanked for another minute and called.
Gaetan Cauchy:
Roman Motovsky:
After the flop, Cauchy let out a loud "ohhhhh crap" in French and turned away from the table. He didn't immediately return to his seat or he would have seen the turn already that locked up his double. By the time the fell on the river, Cauchy was back and celebrated, then took out his smart phone to take a picture of the board.
Gaetan Cauchy opened to 365,000 from the cutoff and Matous Skorepa called from the small blind. On the flop, Skorepa checked and called a bet of 305,000 by Cauchy before the duo checked through the turn and river. Skorepa flashed and won the pot.
Florian Fuchs, who had shoved earlier, then three-bet all in against a raise by Skorepa for 340,000. "I should have around 2.4 million now," the Austrian said. The stack was counted for 2,460,000 and Skorepa engaged in some table chat. "I have deuces. I think you have ace-ten," he said and Fuchs replied "then you are ahead." Skorepa folded after some more consideration and only two hands went past the preflop all in and call stage thus far.
Philipp Lutkemeier came into the day as the short stack and shoved all in from under the gun for just under 900,000. The action folded around to Ivaylo Sivinov in the big blind who looked down at his cards and quickly made the call.
Lutkemeier:
Sivinov:
The flop came giving Sivinov a set of eights and leaving Lutkemeier drawing slim. The turn was the and the river landed the . Lutkemeier became the first casualty of the day while Sivinov is in the process of building up a stack.
The action is set to resume at 2:00 P.M. local time inside the Poker Arena at King's Casino for the final day of Event #5: THE COLOSSUS €550 No-Limit Hold'em. There will be 12 players returning after a long Day 2 that saw the field dwindle from 256 players.
One of those that will be in search of the title and a WSOP gold bracelet is Makarios Avramidis who comes into the day second in chips with 5,775,000. Making the final table will be no stranger to Avramidis, as he won the €2,200 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Max event two years ago in Berlin where the WSOP Europe was held. He also has nearly $500,000 in career earnings, making him the most experienced of those remaining.
Jonathan Khalifa will hold the chip lead after bagging 6,915,000 to end Day 2. The two players are seated at the same table for the time being and would be no surprise if they were to engage in some large pots. Roman Matovsky (5,625,000) and Matous Skorepa (5,010,000), two local Czech players, are also in contention with some of the larger stacks.
When play gets underway, the blinds will change to 80,000/160,000 with a 20,000 ante. That doesn't leave a lot of room for the short stacks to manoeuvre and eliminations could happen quickly. The returning players are all guaranteed to take home a prize of €18,324 but will be battling for the first-place prize of €270,015.
After three more eliminations, the official final table will be moved to the feature table and will be live-streamed. The PokerNews coverage will continue on a 30-minute delay to be in sync with the live stream.