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 blinds are up people - get with the program!

With all the action of the short-stack doubles and our first elimination going on around him, it seems like Eric Liu is winning every other pot available.

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.