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6pm: Jonathan Schuman wins Marbella Festival for €96,159; Bob Janssens wins €101,238 for second place
Level 31 - Blinds 100,000/200,000 (30,000 ante)
The closing stages of the PokerStars Marbella Festival was defined by huge hands matching up so it came as no surprise to that the last hand of the tournament was a bit of a cooler.
Jonathan Schuman raised to 700,000 from the button and made an immediate call after Bob Janssens three-bet all-in for 7.6 million.
Janssens: [ad][jd]
Schuman: [ah][kh]
Schuman's friends on the rail stormed through the barriers to stream the action to friends and family back home, full commentary included, kind of.
The board ran [ac][4h][6s][7d][9c] to see the Schuman's hand hold up.
Congratulation to Schuman for an amazing performance. He got the extra €10,000 from the deal meaning he'll take home €96,159. Hard luck, but also congratulations to everyone who made the final table a fun experience today. A full wrap of the day's play will be up on the blog shortly. -- MC
5:48pm: Tit for tat
Level 31 - Blinds 100,000/200,000 (30,000 ante)
The players decided not to take the break and went straight into Level 32. Since then neither player has grabbed the advantage.
In one hand, both players had made it to the river where a [5d][jc][7d][ts][qd] board rested. Jonathan Schuman bet 1.5 million and opened [ac][kd] for a rivered straight when called. Bob Janssens mucked.
The only big hand in the first 20 minutes of the level saw Schuman raise to 700,000 before Janssen three-bet to 2 million straight. Schuman called but flded to a 1.6 million c-bet on an [8d][4c][6h] flop. --MC
5:20pm: Early momentum with Janssens
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
The early heads-up momentum is with Bob Janssens and the Dutchman now leads 11,300,000 to 9,500,000.
In the single biggest hand of heads-up play Janssens opened to 360,000 and Jonathan Schuman smooth called. On the [4h][Tc][4s] flop Janssens c-bet 325,000 and Schuman stuck around. Neither player bet the [5d] turn and the [Qs] completed the board.
Schuman slid out a bet of 1,200,000 but mucked when Janssens made the call. -- NW
5:10pm: Rodrigo Strong eliminated in third place (€110,653)
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
There was to be no come back for start of day chips leader Rodrigo Strong, and it was another bad beat.
Jonathan Schuman opened to 320,000 from the button and tank called after Strong three-bet all in for around 1.8 million.
Strong: [kh][kc]
Schuman: [as][5d]
The board ran [ad][4h][td][3d][7h] to hand the pot and the scalp to Schuman.
Heads up chip counts:
Janssens - 9.5 million
Schuman - 11.4 million
--MC
4:55pm: Huge double for Schuman
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
This game's a bit mad isn't it? Jonathan Schuman was the recent beneficiary of a double up in a cooler.
Bob Janssens limped in from the button and Rodrigo Strong called but Jonathan Schuman shoved for 4,220,000 from the big blind. Janssens then immediately shoved behind and that folded out Strong.
Schuman: [js][jc]
Janssens: [ah][as]
The board ran [jh][3h][2c][4h][2d] to make the Londoner a full house. Considering Janssens had an 80% chance of having all but 11 big blinds of the chips in play, he took the beat very well. -- MC
4:40pm: Huge double for Janssens
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
Sometimes a deal can actually make play tighter but not on this occasion. On the first hand after the deal we had a 14,760,000 chip pot.
Rodrigo Strong opened to 400,000, Bob Janssens three-bet to 1,000,000 total and after eyeing up Janssens stack he moved all-in and Janssens snap called, he was the shorter stack of the two with 7,310,000.
Janssens: [Ac][Kd]
Strong: [Jc][7c]
The [As][Kh][5h][Ad][Jd] board meant Janssens made a full-house to double to 14,760,000 whilst Strong is down to 1,825,000 and suddenly finds himself as the short stack. --NW
4:35pm: A deal has been struck
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
The clock was paused after the players said they wanted to look at numbers. Luca Vivaldi came over and gave the players chip chop and ICM numbers, and recommended €10,000 be left to play for. The players agreed on the chip chop numbers with the €10,000 added to whoever finishes first.
Strong now guaranteed €110,653.
Janssens now guaranteed €101,238
Schuman now guaranteed €86,159
The players signed the paperwork and play resumed. --MC
4:12pm: Chip counts
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
Here's how the final three stack up:
| Name | Country | Status | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo Strong | Brazil | 9,000,000 | |
| Bob Janssens | Netherlands | PokerStars Player | 7,900,000 |
| Jonathan Schuman | United Kingdom | 4,200,000 |
4:10pm: Schuman shoves
Level 31 - Blinds 80,000/160,000 (20,000 ante)
Jonathan Schuman limped the button - a tactic we'd not yet seen at this final table - Bob Janssens folded the small blind and Rodrigo Strong checked his option.
On the [Td][8s][5c] flop Schuman fired out a bet of 350,000 and Strong stuck around. The [9c] fell on the turn and Strong elected to lead, betting 550,000. Schuman cut down his chips and then announced he was all-in, his shove totalled 3,735,000.
Strong got a count but decided to release his hand. Pot to Schuman. --NW
4:05pm: Family pots
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
There have been a number of family pots. In the only one that went to showdown Rodrigo Strong was the pre-flop aggressor, making it 300,000 to go on the button. It checked all the way to the river of a [Tc][9s][8d][3c][6h] board at which point Strong bet 400,000. Bob Janssens looked him up with [4d][3d] and bested the Brazilian's [As][4c].
3:55pm: Alexander Voytko eliminated in fourth place (€48,610)
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
And then there were three.
The action folded around to Rodrigo Strong in the small blind and he looked at Alexander Voytko's stack, then to the clock, back to his opponent before he moved all-in. Voytko took one look at his cards and called all-in for about 1.8million.
Strong: [kh][qh]
Voytko: [9h][9s]
The board ran [qc][tc][4h][2d][ad] to make the Brazilian a pair and put him back up to 9.7 million. Voytko didn't say a word as he got up from his seat and shook the remaining players' hands. It was a bit eerie but respectful, like a person leaving a wake where nothing more can be said to the relatives. -- MC
3:35pm: Jonathan Schuman doubles through Rodrigo Strong
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
Jonathan Schuman has been reasonably passive at this final table but he just played his biggest pot of the final table so far.
Rodrigo Strong opened to 275,000 from the button, Schuman shoved for 1,935,000 from the big blind and Strong instantly called.
Strong: [Ad][Qs]
Schuman: [Jh][Jc]
The [5c][Js][2c][8s][Ah] board kept Schuman in front and he's up to 4,000,000 now whilst Strong slips to about 8,000,000. --NW
3:30pm: Strong using his chips well
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
Rodrigo Strong is utilising his position as chip leader to perfection by forcing the shorter stacks to make tough decisions. Jonathan Schuman opened to 260,000 from the button and was flat called by Bob Janssens.
Strong took a look at their stacks and then raised it up to 780,000. Both players folded. Schuman is down to about 1,950,000 now and is the shortest of the four stacks. Strong has roughly 10,000,000, Janssens around 6,800,000 and Alexander Voytko about 2,200,000. --NW
3:20pm: Milos Skrbic eliminated in fifth place (€38,320)
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
Oh how a tournament can change over the course of two hands.
Milos Skrbic, who was the player who changed his mind over the deal, doubled up in one hand and then busted the very next hand. Bob Janssens, lost the chip lead and Rodrigo Strong reclaimed the dominant position he had before.
The action folded around to Janssens in the small blind and he set Skrbic all-in for his last 2,190,000. Call.
Janssens: [kc][jh]
Skrbic: [as][tc]
The board ran [9h][jd][ah][4d][5s]. Skrbic offered to look at numbers after that but all his opponents ignored his request.
Moments later that didn't matter. Skrbic limped in from the small blind and then moved all-in after Rodrigo Strong raised to 400,000 from the big blind. Snap call. Skrbic had aces the last time these two battled like this in the blinds; the shoe was on the other foot this time though.
Skrbic: [as][7s]
Strong: [ac][ad]
The board ran [5h][4h][qd][th][tc] and after a count of the stacks, Skrbic was confirmed out and Strong rose to 9.7 million. --MC
3:05pm: No deal
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
No deal for now. One of the players changed his mind. Cards are back in the air. --NW
3pm: Deal talk
Level 30 - Blinds 60,000/120,000 (20,000 ante)
The players are back but they've paused the clock to look at numbers for a potential deal. --NW
2:40pm: Break time
The players are on a break, here's how they stack up:
| Name | Country | Status | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bob Janssens | Netherlands | PokerStars Player | 8,530,000 |
| Rodrigo Strong | Brazil | 4,750,000 | |
| Jonathan Schuman | United Kingdom | 2,815,000 | |
| Milos Skrbic | Serbia | PokerStars Qualifier | 2,740,000 |
| Alexander Voytko | Israel | 2,025,000 |
2:35pm: Janssens stretches his lead
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante)
Big hands, big pot.
Bob Janssens opened to 225,000 from under-the-gun and called when Alexander Voytko three-bet to 650,000 from the small blind.
Voytko bet 350,000 and 750,000 respectively on the [Ks][Kd][Tc] flop and [3d] turn with Janssens calling both bets. Both players then checked the [5h] river with Voytko showing [Ac][Qc] for ace high, whilst Janssens had [Jh][Jd]. He took the pot to climb to 8,520,000 whilst Voytko is down to 2,025,000. --NW
2:30pm: Strong play
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante)
Bob Janssens opened to 225,000 from the cut off, Milos Skrbic then three-bet to 575,000 from a stack of around 2,200,000 only for Rodrigo Strong to four-bet jam for 4,200,000 total. Both players folded and Strong is up to 5,000,000. --NW
2:25pm: Michal Ozimek eliminated in sixth place (€28,680)
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante)
Bob Janssens has stretched further clear at the top of the chips by way of taking out Michal Ozimek in sixth place.
He opened from the cutoff and then snap called after Ozimek three-bet all-in for 1,320,000 from the big blind.
Ozimek: [ad][9d]
Janssens: [ac][qh]
"First time I'm behind," commented Ozimek before he almost got out of it on a board that came [5d][qd][tc][7s][6h]. Janssens' stack rose to around 6.5 million. --MC
2:10pm: Alexander Voytko doubles through Rodrigo Strong
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante)
For the first time since the end of Day 2 Rodrigo Strong isn't the chip leader of this tournament, he's been toppled because he just doubled up Alexander Voytko.
In the hand in question Strong raised to 200,000 with [9d][9s], Voytko moved all-in for 2,190,000 with [Td][Ts] and Strong quickly called the shove.
A [4c][2d][2s][6s][5d] board kept Voytko in front and he doubled to 4,550,000, while Strong is down to 4,600,000. Bob Janssens, who has just over 5,000,000 is now the chip leader. --NW
2:05pm: Janssens above five million
Level 29 - Blinds 50,000/100,000 (10,000 ante)
Bob Janssens is putting some daylight between himself and the rest as he's comfortably the second biggest stack now after winning a hand against Alexander Voytko. Pre-flop Janssens opened to 210,000 and Voytko called out of the big blind.
The [8d][Td][4s] flop checked through and the [9s] fell on fourth street. Voytko bet 250,000, call from Janssens. The [Kh] completed the board and Voytko fired again, this time 450,000 and again Janssens made the call.
The Israeli tapped the table to indicate Janssens had made a good call and showed [Qh][6h]. Unsurprisingly Janssens could top queen high and he opened [Kc][Js] to claim the pot. He's up to 5,100,000 now whilst Voytko drops to 2,200,000. --NW
1:55pm: Armin Zoike eliminated in seventh place (€20,175)
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
Armin Zoike was hoping for the aces his opponents were getting, but the best the poker gods had on offer was kings and they couldn't hold, so he was sent to the rail in seventh.
Bob Janssens opened to 160,000 from the cutoff and then called after his German opponent shoved for 960,000 from the next seat.
Janssens: [qd][jd]
Zoike: [kh][ks]
The board ran [qc][4d][7h][qh][2c] to make the Dutchman trips. Zoike left to a round of applause whereas Janssens spread himself and his 4.6 million stack out a bit. --MC
1:35pm: Huge hand! Strong gets some back
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
Rodrigo Strong is back up to 7,000,000 after winning a big pot against Michal Ozimek. It was a blind on blind battle with Strong raising to 240,000 and Ozimek calling. On the [6h][3d][9d] flop Strong checked, Ozimek bet 275,000 and Strong went into the tank. He stayed there for so long that the clock was called and pretty much as soon as it was he put out the calling chips.
The [8c] turn card checked through and the [9s] completed the board. Again Strong checked and Ozimek counted out a chunky bet of 1,305,000 and slid it into the middle. It was an overbet and Strong took some time to consider his actions. He got eyes on Ozimek's remaining chips (about 1.7m) and then announced all-in.
Ozimek was not expecting that. He leaned back in his chair and began to think through the hand. Much of it was inaudible but I caught snatches of it. "You can't jam 6-7...you don't expect me to fold my hand...all I can fold is queen high."
He then apologised to the table for taking so long. The two players are sat side by side and he turned to Strong and said: "You never shut up normally, you're supposed to be talking to be right now!"
After a bit more tank time he released his hand. Did Strong have it? We'll never know. After the hand had finished there was some talk of a €50 bet between a couple of the players about guessing the two hands that the players had. --NW
1:25pm: Every short stack gets aces at least once
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
The above statement was the quote from Armin Zoike after he witnessed another one of his tablemates doubling up with aces, and again through chip leader Rodrigo Strong.
The action folded to Milos Skrbic in the small blind who completed and then snap called all-in for 1.425 million after Strong shoved from the big blind.
Skrbic: [ah][ac]
Strong: [kd][9d]
The board ran [2d][ac][qs][5d][6c] to see the aces hold up. Strong dropped down to 4.6 million. --MC
1:10pm: Voytko continues to gather chips
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
It's been a great level so far for Alexander Voytko as he's won another couple of decent pots to climb to around 2,500,000.
In the first he re-raised all-in over the top of Armin Zoike's 200,000 chip open. The German had about 1,300,000 back and elected to fold. He's now the short stack.
A couple of hands later Michal Ozimek made it 160,000 to play but he too folded to aggression from Voytko as the Israeli's three-bet to 500,000 was enough to earn him the pot. --NW
12:58pm: Shortie got a double
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
Rodrigo Strong has suffered the first real setback in a long while after he doubled the shortest stacked player at the table, Alexander Voytko.
The Brazilian opened to 160,000 from under the gun and called after Voytko three-bet all-in for 925,000 from two seats along.
Strong: [3d][3c]
Voytko: [as][ad]
The board ran [6h][2h][5d][9c][6d] and Strong dropped to 6.1 million. --MC
12:40pm: Updated chip counts
Level 28 - Blinds 40,000/80,000 (10,000 ante)
As level 28 gets underway here's how the players stack up:
| Name | Country | Status | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rodrigo Strong | Brazil | 7,030,000 | |
| Bob Janssens | Netherlands | PokerStars Player | 3,845,000 |
| Michal Ozimek | Poland | 3,280,000 | |
| Jonathan Schuman | United Kingdom | 2,125,000 | |
| Milos Skrbic | Serbia | PokerStars Qualifier | 1,855,000 |
| Armin Zoike | Germany | PokerStars Qualifier | 1,760,000 |
| Alexander Voytko | Israel | 955,000 |
12:25pm: Take a break
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (10,000 ante)
For some reason the players have been sent on a 15 minute break at the end of level 27. They've only been playing 21 minutes! --NW
12:15pm: Nikola Ristivojevic eliminated in eighth place (€14,180)
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (10,000 ante)
On the fourth hand of final table play we had the first exit. Alexander Voytko opened to 125,000 from the cut off and Nikola Ristivojevic then moved all-in for roughly 800,000 from the button. When action reached Bob Janssens in the big blind the Dutchman didn't even ask for a count before moving all-in and Voytko folded.
Ristivojevic: [Ac][Ts]
Janssens: [9d][9s]
The [Jc][6s][5c][Jd][4c] board kept Janssens in front and he's up to around 3,800,000 whilst Ristivojevic is now on a watching brief as he tries to rail his buddy (Milos Skrbic) to victory. --NW
12:03pm: Shuffle up and deal
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (10,000 ante)
Cards are out for the final day's play. There's still 21 minutes left of level 27 on the clock. Who's your money on? --MC
11:50am: Final day about to begin
Level 27 - Blinds 30,000/60,000 (10,000 ante)
Can you feel the tension in the air? Probably not where you are but there's a little bit here in Marbella where just eight players remain in the biggest Main Event in the four year history of the PokerStars Marbella Festival.
The finalists are here and are having their photos taken before cards will fly into the air around midday. Everyone is now guaranteed €14,180 but the big bucks are up top where the winner will win €151,350 to take home a minimum of Here's a reminder of how'll they'll line up:
1. Bob Janssens, Netherlands - 2,810,000
2. Armin Zoike, Germany - 1,655,000
3. Milos Skrbic, Serbia - 2,090,000
4. Rodrigo Strong, Brazil - 7,235,000
5. Michal Ozimek, Poland - 2,610,000
6. Alexander Voytko, Israel - 1,370,000
7. Nikola Ristivojevic, Serbia - 850,000
8. Jonathan Schuman, United Kingdom - 2,325,000
--MC
PokerStars Blog Reporting Team at UKIPT6 Marbella: Marc Convey and Nick Wright. Photos by Mickey May and Rene Velli. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter: @PokerStarsBlog