PokerStars.com EPT Polish Open - Live Updates

Nico Behling is struggling to regain parity with Joao Barbosa but at present his efforts aren't bearing fruit.

His latest effort involved limping on the button before facing a raise to $70k by Barbosa from the big blind.

Behling called and they went to a flop of K♦ 2♦ 8♠.

Barbosa led for $85k, only for Behling to pop it up to $170k.

Barbosa held his head before moving all-in. Behling sighed and passed quickly.

He's down to $350k now and with the blinds set to resume at $12k/$24k when we return, he'll be forced to ship it in pretty quickly when they sit down again.

Yes, it's cat and mouse out there as the tense endgame is played out, with neither player willing to budge an inch.

Much of the play has consisted of uncontested pre-flop raises or bets on the flop getting through when people have raised, meaning showdowns are scarce.

A moment ago an interesting hand played out between the two, though.

Joao Barbosa made a button raise to $42,000, which Nico Behring called from the small blind.

Both players checked the 7♠ 5♠ 7♥ flop, only for Behring to fire out $55k on the T♥ turn.

Having none of it, Barbosa now repopped to $190,000, and Nico studied him cautiously before spinning his cards over the line, allowing the Portuguese player to collect the pot.

Despite that hand Nico has made a few inroads into Barbosa's stack, though he is still at a chip deficit, Barbosa sitting on roughly $1.3 million to Nico's $750k ...

 

He came into the final as the chip leader and with a point to prove following his previous EPT near misses, but Dario wasn't able to go all the way to the title.

He's been nursing a relative short stack three-handed for some time, looking for a spot, and let out a cry of anguish when he was given a walk with jacks in the big blind the hand previously.

So when Dario saw Barbosa make a standard raise on the button to $44k and looked down at sevens, he was happy to ship his stack into the middle.

He was in trouble, though, as Barbosa held nines and the little Italian needed some help if he was to stay in the tournament.

Well, it didn't arrive: the board ran out Q♣ 3♥ 3♠ 8♦ 4♦, and a disappointed-looking Dario got up from the table to a round of applause with the promise of 455,700 PLN the reward for his third-place finish.

He may have picked up a first bracelet in the summer's WSOP but he will have to put thoughts of an EPT triumph on ice for now.

Dario's elimination leaves Joao Barbosa and Nico Belling duking it out for the top spot.

Who will it be?!

The dinner break is over after an extended pause, and the final table of the PokerStars EPT5 Polish Open is back in action in the dungeon of the Hyatt Regency in Warsaw. Three players remain in contention for that 1.4 million PLN first prize and Joao Barbosa holds a commanding lead. Keep it locked right here for the thrilling conclusion to this epic event!

Nico gives an object lesson in the art of the resteal, watching Barbosa raise on the button to $33,000 before cutting out a large chunk of yellow chips and making it $110,000.

Barbosa blinks several times before throwing his hand away, only for Nico to turn over 7♠ 2♠, much to Dario's amusement.

"Very nice!" the Italian complimented him.

Chip counts as we stand:

Dario Minieri -  $300,000

Nico Behling -  $650,000

Joao Barbosa- $1,200,000

Atanas Gueorguiev raises to $34,000 from under the gun and Joao Barbosa makes the call on the button. Dario Minieri and Nico Behling fold out as Barbosa asks his rival how much he has behind. $197,000 is the answer, and we're heads-up going to the flop.

The flop comes K♦ 4♠ 3♣ and Gueorguiev checks. Barbosa bets out $35,000 and, after a moment's thought, Gueorguiev moves all-in over the top. Barbosa quickly calls, tabling K♠ Q♠, but finds himself behind Gueorguiev's A♣ K♣.

The turn is the 9♥ and Gueorguiev needs to dodge a queen to double up, but the river is the craptacular Q♥, giving Barbosa the pot and sending Gueorguiev packing in fourth place, a finish good for 325,500 PLN from the prize pool.

Arnaud will be having nightmares about the eight card after it spelled disaster for him yet again.

After doubling up Atanas, he picked up some more chips before getting involved in another pre-flop war with Joao Barbosa.

With Arnaud finding himself all-in, he held a sizable advantage with pocket tens versus the eights of Barbosa, but for the second big hand in a row an eight on the turn turned Arnaud's dominance on its head and when the river blanked, Mattern was forced to shelve any hopes of a second EPT title, for now at least.

The small "mattern" of 269,080 PLN, Arnaud's reward for fifth place, will be of some consolation to the Frenchman. Play continues four-handed for the title.

As if the aggression factor weren't enough already, the rising of the blinds will be an additional pressure on the players as stealing and restealing become premium skills.

Dario has the most experience at this level and could be the man who is best-equipped to survive the sandstorm ahead.

 

Bulgarian Atanas Gueorguiev found himself short with just $128,000, so when he looked down at A♦ 8♠ it looked good enough to shove. Which is exactly what he did.

Arnaud didn't take too long to reshove-isolate with his A-K big slick, and the Frenchman's dominant hand looked in good shape to pick up the pot.

The flop fell J♥ 6♠ 3♥ and nothing had changed, Arnaud looking ever more likely to win, but then disaster struck for the Frenchman as the 8♣ spiked on the turn. He needed a king on the river, but the 4♠ wasn't it.

Antanas doubles and the Frenchman takes a big hit, down to $230,000 or so after that hand.

Since his double-up through Nico Behling, Dario Minieri has taken control of this final table. After Joao Barbosa took down a recent pot from Behling, Minieri raised every hand in a stretch of about six or seven, taking down most uncontested, including a tidy reraise over the top of Arnaud Mattern out of the small blind that got a slow, deliberate fold from the Frenchman.

When he is called pre-flop, Minieri still seems to manage to take down the pots with flop or turn bets, including another hand against Mattern that saw both players check the A♠ T♠ 6♣ flop and the Team PokerStars pro induce a fold with a $29,000 bet on the T♦ turn. 

Minieri is now on roughly $600,000.

And oh by the way, the level is over and the blinds are up. 

Nico Behling raises to $28,000 from under the gun and Joao Barbosa makes the call in the small blind. The flop comes A♦ T♠ 8♦ and Barbosa checks to Behling, who checks behind. The turn is the 5♠ and Barbosa checks again. Behling bets out $40,000 and Barbosa raises to $140,000, getting a quick fold from his rival. As he rakes the pot, Barbosa turns up J♠ 9♠ for the semi-bluff.

Nico Behling just became involved in a war with Dario, though the hand started out innocuously.

Dario limped from the small blind to Nico's big blind and once the German checked, the pair went heads-up to a 8♠ 2♠ 6♥ flop.

Check, check was the riveting action, so the dealer turned the 9♠, and here's where the action went ballistic.

Dario led for $15,000, only to see Behling raise it up to $60,000.

Unperturbed, the Italian now put in the third raise, making it $144,000.

Nico repeatedly checked his cards, considering what to do, before moving all-in and getting an instant call from Dario for his last $120,000.

"Do you have the flush?" asked Dario and Nico answered in the negative by showing 9-6 for two pair.

But that was no good as Dario slammed down T♠ 7♣ for the nut straight with a flush redraw, and with the German needing to fill up to win, the A♦ on the river was of no use.

Dario ran over to his rail and high-fived them joyously as Nico counted out the large dent in his stack that the small Italian had made.

Dario up to over $500,000 now, and the previously unstoppable Nico back to $450,000 or so.

Joao Barbosa opens for $31,000 from the hijack and Sergey Shcherbatskiy moves all-in over the top from the small blind. Action folds back to Barbosa, who makes the call with Q♦ Q♣ and exposes Shcherbatskiy as a liar, as the Russian has A♦ 5♥.

The board runs J♠ T♣ 7♥ K♣ 9♠ and the queens hold, giving Barbosa the pot and sending Shcherbatskiy to the rail in sixth place, a finish for which he'll be remunerated a total of 212,660 zloty, a nice return on his $7.50 initial investment on PokerStars. We're now five-handed.

Mattern has had a tough ride so far on the final, his chip stack dipping from its height of $328k at the start down to a more lowly $250k or so.

He must have been feeling the pressure a little and decided to make his move a few moments ago. Watching Joao Barbosa limp for $8,000 from middle position and Russian Sergey Shcherbatskiy raise to $22,000, Arnaud pushed his stacks of chips into the middle. Barbosa passed but the Russian called!

Arnaud tabled T♣ T♦ and Sergey A♥ K♠, and we had a big race on our hands.

The flop had something for everyone, coming Q♣ 5♣ J♣ to give Sergey a gutshot to go with his overcards, whilst Arnaud's tens held sway as well as picking up a club flush draw.

The turn was the 6♥ and the river was paint, which drew a few gasps from the crowd, but it was blank paint, the Q♥ changing nothing.

That meant Arnaud had survived his first all-in of the final table, doubling through to $500,000, while the Russian's stack was dealt a big, possibly crucial blow.

Joao Barbosa raises from the hijack and Dario Minieri makes it $66,000 to go from the cut-off. Action folds back around to Barbosa, who moves all-in over the top for $140,000 more. Minieri tanks for a minute or two but ultimately decides to make the call, tabling A♦ J♦ to find himself in horrible shape against Barbosa's J♠ J♥.

The board comes T♣ 8♦ 6♠ 3♥ K♠ and Barbosa miraculously manages to dodge an ace, doubling through Minieri near the end of Level 19.

Andrea Benelli was another player to have already secured his biggest live poker score by reaching the final table here, but his journey has drawn to a close in seventh spot.

It was his compatriot Super Dario, a fellow Italian, who did the damage.

Benelli was looking a little short and shipped it in from middle position for $111k, only for Dario to make the call on the button.

Benelli tabled pocket jacks and Dario A♥ Q♥, and we had a big race on our hands ...

The dealer dealt out a board of 8♣ 4♥ 5♥, which must have looked ominous for Benelli as he looked to fade a flush draw and two overs.

The 3♥ on the turn brought in Minieri's flush and left Benelli drawing dead. Once the formality of the river was dealt, Benelli was left to collect his things and visit the cage for the 169,260 PLN he receives for seventh place.

Since eliminating Ludovic Lacay, Nico Behling has taken over the final table, amassing a substantial chip stack and taking down a number of decent pots, including this last:

Sergey Shcherbatskiy limped from under the gun and was joined in the pot by small blind Dario Minieri and big blind Behling. The flop came Q♣ Q♥ T♥ and action checked to Shcherbatskiy, who bet $20,000. Minieri and Behling both called and the turn was the 4♦, prompting checks from all players.

The river was the K♣ and action checked to Behling, who bet out $50,000 and induced folds from both opponents. He's now on over $650,000.

Ludovic Lacay came into the final well placed, but he was surprisingly the second victim of the day, in unfortunate circumstances.

Nico Behling raised it up pre-flop to $17,000, only for Ludovic to reraise from his big blind to $56,000.

Behling thought for a while before flat-calling the additional $39,000.

The board fell 8♥ 7♠ 5♦ and Ludovic considered his options before counting out 15 yellow $5,000 chips and betting out $75,000.

Behling now thought about it before cutting out a reraise to $160,000.

Ludovic had a little more than this and moved all-in, only for Behling to call.

"Do you have a set?" asked a nervous-looking Ludovic, tabling pocket aces.

"Yes," replied the German, showing he had outdrawn Lucay on the flop, turning over 8♣ 8♠.

Anguish was written all over Ludovic's face.

The turn came the 4♣ for a glimmer of hope in the form of a split but the rivered 5♣, making Behling's full house, was enough to send Lacay to the rail.

"You were unlucky," offered a sympathetic Behling.

"I know," said Ludovic regretfully as he departed the arena, a disappointed man, to collect his 121,520 PLN for eighth place.

We have our first elimination of the day and it's no surprise that that dubious honor should fall to the shortest stack coming into the final, Michael Muheim.

The young Swiss online qualifier had already secured his best payday merely by making the final table here, but he was unable to improve on ninth position, good for 78,120 PLN.

His exit was unfortunate. Facing a limp from Russian Sergey Shcherbatskiy in middle position, Muheim looked down at A-9 in the big blind and with his short stack, he elected to shove all-in.

His timing was awry however, as the Russian had been playing possum, and instantly called with aces.

Muheim made a pair on a Q♠ T♠ 9♥ board and had outs to a chop when the J♠ arrived on the turn, but the brick 3♣ on the river was no good, meaning Muheim is the first victim of the final.

The players continue eight-handed.

The opening level has been conducted in quiet, efficient fashion by the players so far, as they circle round each other cautiously, waiting for gaps in one another's defenses to appear.

Arnaud Mattern has been quite busy in the opening stages, raising relatively frequently. Many of his raises have been uncontested, but a few moments ago, he raised to $16,000 on Dario Minieri's big blind.

Dario often watches raises and looks like he is contemplating a reraise, then passes. But this time he followed through, shuffling his chips before repopping Arnaud's raise to $68k.

Arnaud looked studious beneath his opaque shades before picking his cards up and throwing them over the line in submission.

1-0 to Dario there in the battle of the heavyweights.

Ludovic Lucay has also been fairly busy, raising regularly, although he just faced a repop of one of his opening $16,000 raises to $55k by Nico Behling.

He also laid it down ...