Day 3 of EPT Vienna was notable for a lot of big names crashing out, including Sam Trickett and Viktor Blom, but it was Gus Hansen’s exit in 71st place (his first EPT cash for a decade) that brought about the biggest talking point. The exit hand was a confrontation with Adrian Bussman, where Hansen raised under the gun with 10♥-10♦ and called Bussman’s three-bet. Hansen led out on the 2♥-3♥-6♥ flop and was met with an all-in from Bussman which sent the Great Dane into the tank.
Hansen had only been thinking for about two and a half minutes when another player, Jan Bendik, called the clock on him. The EPT floor was called and after a quick discussion with the dealer Hansen was awarded more time. After about another minute the clock was put on Hansen who eventually made the call. Hansen had made a good read that Bussman wanted to end the hand there and then, and that his 10♥-10♦ had decent equity even if he was behind to an overpair. It turned out he was. Bussman tabled Queens and was a 57% favourite to win the pot. The turn and river bricked and Hansen departed.
After the hand Bendik seemed to argue that Hansen had received preferential treatment by the floor, something that was swiftly denied. It’s another talking point in the debate about stalling and dwelling at the table, something that has prompted players to call for a shot clock. In this instance though, Hansen had a huge decision to make for his tournament life. The two stacks were fairly equal and the pot was for close to the chip lead. Hansen had been in the tank for under three minutes when Bendik – who wasn’t even in the hand – called the clock. It seemed unnecessary, and this was backed up by the floor who opted to give Hansen extra time. You can watch the hand below – the action starts at 4min40secs.
With Hansen’s exit EPT Vienna is short on star power, but Johnny Lodden, Marcel Luske and the UK’s Stephen Chidwick are still in with a shot at the €816k first prize. Pablo Gordillo is the end of Day 3 chip leader with over two million, and Bendik is still in if you want a villain to boo! You can watch the live stream of Day 4 now in the top right corner of the screen – Johnny Lodden is currently on the feature table. If you’ve nothing else to do flick it into full screen and settle back for some top poker action and superb commentary from James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton.
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