PokerStars.com EPT London Live Updates

Michael Tureniec has grinded his way back close to even through a series of aggressive plays Michael Martin has been reluctant to put a stop to thus far.

Tureniec has raised every button and come over the top of any Martin button raises, getting it up to $2.9 million, within a couple hundred thousand of Martin's $3.1 million.

It's anybody's game now, headed into a short break!

In a little more Michael-on-Michael crime, Martin has taken more than $1 million in chips from Tureniec.

After Martin limped the button, Tureniec check-called bets on the Q♣ 7♣ 4♠ flop and 2♥ river until a $1 million pot sat in front of them.

The 9♥ river brought another check from Tureniec and another bet from Martin, who made it $655,000. Tureniec asked if Martin had a queen, and found out he definitely did when he made the call and saw his queen-deuce.

Tureniec mucked, dropping down to $1.6 million to Martin's $4.3 million. 

Don't look now, but Michael Tureniec has doubled through Michael Martin to tighten things up.

He got it in racing with A♣ J♥ against Martin's 7♠ 7♣, but the A-mazing A♥ A♦ 2♣ flop put Tureniec in awesome shape to double.

After the K♣ 3♥ turn and river fell, he was back to $2.5 million versus Martin's $3.5 million.

We're heads-up now after Marcin Horecki has gone out third in one of those suck/re-suck debacles the crowds love so much.

He open-shoved the button with K♥ 8♦ and got picked off by chip boss Michael Martin with K♠ J♥. Martin stayed in dominating position after the Q♠ 6♠ 3♣ flop, but the Polack would suck out of that on the 8♥ turn.

Not to be outdone, Martin found the J♠ on the river to re-suck and rail the Team PokerStars Pro member.

Martin will now head into heads-up with a dominating chip lead, on about $4 million to Michael Tureniec's $1.2 million, while Horecki heads to the cage to cash £303,439.

Michael Martin just padded his lead, taking a better than $800k pot off Team PokerStars Pro's Marcin Horecki.

We picked up the hand on the turn with Horecki betting $130k into an A♣ T♥ 3♥ 8♣ board. Martin called and we were treated to the T♠ river. This time Horecki checked and Martin took control, betting out $260k.

Horecki pondered his options for a moment and made the call. Martin showed the Doyle with T♣ 2♣ and raked the chips as the PokerStars pro mucked.

He now has over $3 million, and Horecki is hovering around $1 million.

Eric Liu is out fourth after shoving his stack into the Michael Martin machine. His T♥ J♠ was no match for Martin's A♣ 9♠, a situation not helped at all by the A♥ K♠ 5♣ flop.

It only got worse for Liu on the A♠ turn, and he headed to the cage to grab £234,920 following the 7♠ river.

It was a nice run for the CardRunners kid, who will no doubt be back.

Three-handed now, the American Martin has $2.8 million while TeamPokerStars Pro's Marcin Horecki and Swede Michael Tureniec sit on $1.6 million each.

Michael Martin just tripled up through Michael Tureniec and Marcin Horecki when they called his pre-flop shove, then checked down a K♦ 6♦ 2♠ K♠ 4♥ board.

Martin's eights were good there against a bunch of overs, but the very next hand he was all-in again. This time his nines led against Tureniec K♠ 7♠ until the K♥ J♣ 7♦ flop. 

Martin looked ready to go when the 7♠ turned, filling Tureniec up. But needing a nine and only a nine to survive, Martin spiked the 9♥ on the river and was magically up $700k.

The miracles would not end for Martin there though. He got all-in again the very next hand and, once again, Tureniec made the call. This time Martin had woken up with aces, and the Swede only held Q♠ J♥ with which to try and crack them.

Martin flopped a set and was suddenly back up to $1.4 million when Tureniec's turned gut-shot missed.

Swede Michael Tureniec doubled through Eric Liu to vault into the chip lead and send Liu down to the $500,000 range.

Liu made a move with A♣ 6♣ into his raise, but was in bad shape when Tureniec called all-in behind with A♠ A♦.

The board ran J♠ 7♦ 5♠ 7♠ T♠ and with it went most of Liu's chips.

But just two hands later he got it all-in with A♠ T♦ against Michael Martin's 2♠ 2♦, flopping broadway to get right back to $1 million.

Play resumes with the four horsemen fed, watered and ready for a run at EPT Glory and the £1 million first-place prize.

The four remaining players have headed off on a one-hour dinner break with Team PokerStars Pro's Marcin Horecki ($2.1 million) grabbing the lead after American Eric Liu ($1.6 million) dropped some chips to Swede Michael Tureniec ($1.3 million).

Michael Martin ($860,000) will return with the other three in 60 minutes. 

Team PokerStars Pro's Marcin Horecki has doubled through chip boss Eric Liu, knocking him back down to size.

Horecki finally stood up to one of Liu's many table-controlling pre-flop raises, making a $120k call. The K♣ 8♥ 7♦ flop was checked by both before the Q♥ turn and another tap on the table from Horecki.

Liu then wasted little time making it $200k before Horecki pounced, check-raising all-in for $750k more.

Liu counted it out, thought for a while and decided to gamble with A♥ T♥, having picked up the combo gutter-flush draw on the turn.

Horecki had checked a king twice only to check-raise the turn with K♥ T♣ and it held when the 5♣ came rolling down on the river.

The two are now neck and neck for the lead.

We're four-handed now that Phillippe D'Auteuil is out. The young French-Canadian shipped it with two black eights and knew he was beat when Team PokerStars Pro Marcin Horecki re-shipped behind.

It was two red kings for the Polack and after the A♣ 7♠ 7♥ 4♥ 5♥ board never really helped D'Auteuil at all, he was gone.

D'Auteuil wrote on his bio that he was going to bail out a buddy from jail with the prize money and £195,766 should do at least that.

"I think the structure sucks because everyone is so short," he said in his exit interview with EPT hostess Kara Scott, before making a questionable, racially insensitive joke about the fact he felt Eric Liu was going to win, cutting the interview rather short.

"Do you think I'm raising light?" Eric Liu said, one hand after min-raising his way to yet another theft of the blinds and antes.

No one answered, and no one answered the call when he did it a third time moments ago, again with the min-raise. He's got the big stack and is stealing this thing away from the other four, daring them to take him on.

We almost forgot Alan Smurfit was here in London, and now he's left us. Smurfit played so few hands over the last while he became invisible, and he disappeared altogether moments ago, shoving his short stack in with A♠ 4♥.

Michael Martin looked him up with J♥ J♦ and Smurfit was all but done after the K♦ J♣ 3♦ flop. He picked up a gutter on the 5♣ turn, but the 5♥ river killed him off.

Smurfit will take £153,351 for sixth, and then there were five.

As expected, D'Auteuil shoved soon after taking the massive hit described below and a few hands after getting a chop with A-9 vs. A-9,  he sucked out to double up.

This time it Michael Tureniec who called the D'Auteuil push, and he was in good shape to rail the French-Canadian sixth with K♥ J♦ against 7♦ 6♦.

He even flopped two pair when the K♦ J♠ 4♦ fell, but a closer look showed a flush draw for  D'Auteuil.

The 3♣ turn removed just one diamond from D'Auteuil's outs, but the 3♦ river wasn't it, and he doubled back close to half a million in chips, causing five of his French-Canadian buddies to screech like schoolgirls.

Philippe D'Auteuil made the wrong move at the wrong time and is now crippled after doubling up Team PokerStars Pro's Marcin Horecki.

He shoved with A♣ 9♥ facing a smallish raise from Horecki and got picked off. Horecki had A♦ K♦ and is now on $1.3 million after the T♠ 7♣ 6♣ 5♦ 6♦ board brought no suck-out for the French-Canadian.

We're still six-handed, but D'Auteuil has just $165k and will need to double quick or face extinction.

One hand after Marcin Horecki doubled through him sucking out a jack on the river against his ace high, Johannes Strassmann is out.

He finished seventh after getting it all-in good with J♠ J♥ against Michael Martin's K♦ Q♥ and failing to prevent Martin from flopping a queen.

Strassmann's third EPT final table without a win ends, but the German will find a check for £120,723 waiting for him at the cage.

Johannes Strassmann just coin-flipped for his tournament life against chip leader Eric Liu and managed to survive despite a huge sweat.

Liu made the call following a Strassman three-bet shove and his A♣ Q♠ was basically 50-50 against Strassmann's tens. The T♥ J♥ 4♠ flop made Strassmann a set, but the 8♥ turn turned Liu's gut-shot into an open-ended straight draw.

Strassmann doubled to $800k on the A♦ river and although Liu remains in the lead, he's been cut down to $1.6 million.

In a bizarre turn of events, the two chip leaders here in London got in a pre-flop raising war that eventually saw Full Tilt's Eric Liu shove and Michael Tureniec call all-in for his tournament life.

It was less than climactic when both turned over A-K, but Tureniec picked up a free-rolling club flush draw on the flop.

That flush never came and nothing really changed, begging just one question: why are we bothering to tell you about this hand?

Following one of those Johannes Strassmann gaffs he made famous at two other final-table appearances on the EPT, Michael Martin has doubled up.

Martin all but open-shoved, leaving himself a few chips behind, and the action folded to Strassmann in the big blind.

"Sorry Mike," the nervous looking German said. "I don't see myself folding."

Instead, what Johannes did was call, then expose his K♠ J♣ with Martin not all-in. Strassman was given a warning for the error, and after the T♠ 8♦ 2♠ flop all the money went in.

Martin's A♦ Q♣ was revealed and leading. Suddenly, though, it looked like Martin was as good as out when the K♦ turn came, giving Strassman a pair.

But the J♠ came down on the river, bringing a roar from the crowd and helping Martin re-suck to double up to $600k.

The American online stud and CardRunners instructor is now on $1.7 million, and is separating himself from the carnage all around with every small and uncontested pot he picks up.

Marcin Horecki is the latest short stack to double up after Johannes Strassmann made a loose call, threatening to bad-beat the Team PokerStars Pro member.

Horecki shoved pre-flop with A♥ Q♥, and Strassmann's dominated A♦ 7♦ didn't look very impressive until the K♦ 3♠ 2♥ flop and 3♦ turn gave him all the diamonds left as outs.

In the end, though, the 5♠ fell and Horecki doubled to $600k+. 

Facing a Michael Tureniec raise, billionaire Alan Smurfit shoved his short stack in the middle. Tureniec contemplated the call for quite some time before finally making it.

Of course, his K♠ T♦ was way behind Smurfit's A♦ K♦, but, as always, he had a major sweat when the Q♠ J♣ 5♥ flop gave the Swede an open-ender.

Fortunately for the Irishman, the Q♥ 2♣ turn and river combo kept big slick ahead.

Antony Lellouche entered his third EPT final table in the past 12 months third in chips, but has now become the first player to leave.

Facing an $80k raise from Johannes Strassmann, he looked down at A♦ 9♥ and let fly with his last $180,000. Strassmann made the call and was behind with K♠ J♠ until the K♥ T♠ 6♣ flop put him ahead.

Lellouche started running out of outs on the 7♠ turn and was done in eighth place, grabbing £81,569, when the T♥ river fell.

Johannes Strassmann has now doubled through Antony Lellouche, jumping back into contention while pushing the Frenchman closer to the rail.

Strassmann opened to $80k and Lellouche three-bet, making it $230,000. Needing to shove or fold, Strassmann chose the former, putting his tournament life on the line.

Lellouche made the call, but his pocket sevens were miles away from the German's aces. The 8♦ 5♠ 2♣ flop was no issue and while the 4♣ turn meant any six or seven would crack Johannes' aces, the K♠ river couldn't do it.

Following the hand, Lellouche fell to around $200k, while Strassmann's almost $900k puts him up near the top.

The cards just hit the air here in London and Phillipe D'Auteuil has switched spots with Antony Lellouche on the leaderboard, doubling through the Frenchman in just the first few hands.

The money went in pre-flop with D'Auteuil holding big slick, including the K♣, against Lellouche's fours.

The flop came 8♦ 5♣ 2♣ and Lellouche looked good. He got a bit of sweat when the J♣ turn fell, giving the French-Canadian the club outs, and when the 3♣ came down on the river that sweat was justified, as D'Auteuil had doubled to just under $1 million in chips.

Lellouche was knocked back down to around $500k, and all indications are that this will be an action table.

We're down to just eight at PokerStars.com EPT London and it won't be long before the score is settled and the £1 million first-place prize is handed out.

The cards will hit the air on the final table just 20 minutes from now and PL.com will be on the scene throughout bringing you key-hand live updatery of the finest caliber.

It's British Pokermania at The Vic today with the PokerStars EPT London High Roller Event kicking off and PL.com will be on that as well.

Get your popcorn ready kids; it's about to go off! 

And oh, by the way, here's the chip counts and seating assignments for the elite eight: