LIVE EVENTS

The heads-up battle has been going on for quite some time. Stacks had been quite equal at the start of the battle. A few key hands have taken place along the way.

In the first of many hands that would see chips move back and forth, Paulin raised pre-flop, and was met by a 3-bet by Yoon. Pierre responded with a 4-bet shove for 37,200,000. Yoon called.

Paulin:
Yoon:

Yoon had Paulin dominated and just needed a clean runout.

The board ran out , and Paulin had to ship 37,200,000 over to Yoon.

It seemed like this would propel Yoon to a fast win but that’s not how things went.

A few hands later, Paulin limped in, Yoon raised it up to 1,500,000, and Paulin re-popped it to 5,000,000. Paulin then announced that he was all-in, and Yoon made the call.

Paulin:
Yoon:

It seemed like Yoon was going to win the match on this hand, but as fate would have it, Paulin had the flop that he needed.

Flop: to make trips. Yoon however had the nut flush draw so their was some tension on the table.

Turn: , giving Paulin quad 4’s. The on the river didn’t change anything and Yoon sent 24,700,000 back to Paulin.

Then, hand by hand, Paulin started to win many pots and to chip up nicely. The hands were kind of standard, with Yoon turning two pair against Paulin who may have hit top pair on the flop, or maybe on the turn.

The battle continues with Brain Yoon in the lead.

The players went on break and we had a chance to update the chip counts. They are playing for $300,000 up top, and $185,000 for second place.

Filatov was down to 5,025,000 when he decided to move all-in. Yoon asked for a count, mentioning that he is probably going to be calling. Once the dealer confirmed the amount, Brian Yoon threw in a chip to make the call.

Filatov:
Yoon:

Flop: and Yoon picked up the the nut flush draw. The turn and river didn’t help out Filatov and Yoon scooped in the pot while congratulating Filatov on his third place finish.

Third place, Anatolly Filatov, $129,400

Brian Yoon scoops the pot

The players have just gone on another break and we had a chance to count the stacks. Yoon and Paulin are sitting close to each other, with Filatov in third with about half as many chips.

Maria Ho was getting very short and moved in with , and Yoon made the call with .

The flop came , giving Maria top pair, but unfortunately for her, Yoon made a set of nines.  The on the turn and   on the river gave her no help, and she headed to the tournament desk to collect her payout slip for $95,000.

Fourth place, Maria Ho, $95,000

Pierre-Paul Paulin continues with his run good. Louis Boutin moved in with and once again, Paulin woke up with a hand to make the call.

Paulin:
Boutin:

Board:

Paulin made two pair and Louis Boutin, known to make many super deep runs in high roller events here at Playground as well as around the world, finishes in fifth place for $70,000.

Fifthe place, Louis Boutin, $70,000

We missed the hand but understand that Aleksandr Merzhinskii picked up a monster hand, KK, but his timing could not have been worse as Brian Yoon was holding AA. Although the pocket rockets were good enough to stay out in front, Yoon made a flush on the river to send Merzhinskii packing.

Although Merzhinskii ended up re-entering two times on Day 1, he picks up $55,000 for his sixth place finish to still give him some +EV.

Sixth place, Aleksandr Merzhinskii, $55,000

As Machon’s stack was dropping rapidly, he decided to get it in with and was called by Pierre-Paul Paulin who has been crushing in this tournament. Paulin was holding and on a simple board, he took it down with A high.

Bartolomiej Machon played a great game and goes home with a payout of $45,000.

Seventh place, Bartolomiej Machon, $45,000 

After David Lopez’ elimination in 8th position – $35,000 – play was rather smooth, although one all-in card did fly. Maria Ho, who had dwindled down a bit, managed to survive after fully investing against Anatolly Filatov. Both players had great hands on the flop:

Maria Ho:
Filatov:

Board:

Players took their 2nd break of the day and resume play now. Here are the current counts:

With Lander Lijo’s elimination in 10th place – $25,000 – the High Roller moved to the final table, where every elimination spells a pay jump. Paulin has slowed down a little, as he now has to cope with a full table and some potentially dangerous stacks.

Shortly after the final was formed, Charles LB found a flop that he couldn’t get away from. He was allowed to peek at it holding . The flop came , and an all-in ensued. Bartolomiej Machon’s held up nicely and Charles made his way out, but not before cashing the last of the $25,000 prizes.

See below the seating chart. It does not include the counts, but very little movement other than the hand aforementioned took place.

Players in the High Roller just took a short break, happy to make the money. Bertrand “Elky” Grospellier fell on the bubble in a spectacular 3-way all-in pot.

Maria Ho:
Elky:
Anatolly:

Board:

Maria Ho, who came into the hand with under 2M chips, managed to complete a flush to scoop the main pot, stay alive and make the payouts. Shortly after, Diogo Veiga finished 11th, earning $25,000.

Here are the updated stacks: