Boiled down and stripped of any flashiness, stress or emotion, today's objective for each of the 68 players was simple: survive into the money and then into day four. With the flashiness, stress and emotion stuck back on, that objective became a more complicated light-brigade charge into the unknown until death or double up, or a stealth job, crawling along on your belly, until you reached the money line where you could relax. Then, with that line breached, re-evaluate the situation and play on to 32.

It's hardly surprising that a day like today would pivot around the bubble, a point that took just three levels to reach. Before it, the nervous were looking around for others' misfortune; after it, they were giddy with the delight of a well-earned cash. The unfortunate bubble boy was Serguei Pomerantsev. His bust was the best thing all the others heard today.

It came after a little more than three full levels after a handful of hand-for-hand hands. Pomerantsev, who happened to be in the PokerStars Blog Featured Seat, moved in for 84,500 behind a pre-flop raise from Jonas Kronwitter, from Germany, who wasted no time in calling. After a delay to decide the outcome of a second all-in elsewhere (a double up), Kronwitter flipped over his pocket jacks, racing against the Russian's ace-queen. A flopped jack put his hopes to bed and left everyone else in the money.

With Pomerantsev gone the flood gates of cliché were opened slightly, sluicing away the remaining eight players in the best part of a level.

While the bubble excitement inevitably involved the short stacks, the weightier issue of the chip lead involved the big stacks, behemoth things dwarfing their vulnerable neighbours in the fight for total supremacy. That fight came in the shape of a Russian duel that found Maxim Lykov and day two leader Vitaly Tolokonnikov wrestling for the lead with only Jonas Kronwitter from Germany, and able to keep them in sight.

Ultimately it was Lykov atop the day three podium (there actually is a podium in a corridor nearby), bagging up 636,000 to Tolokonnikov's 613,500 and Jonas Kronwitter on 550,000.

In pursuit of the top echelon are the rear echelon, a formation that includes Joram Voelkein (520,000), Adrian Schaap (520,000) and Igor Dubinsky (517,000), as well as PokerStars qualifiers Michael Naletov (257,000), Michael Meyburg (240,000), Andrew Malott (183,000) and Alex Fitzgerald (185,000). They live on to face television conditions under the lights on day four.

We lost the Kazakhstani qualification miracle man Aleksandr Ivanchenko, Arnaud Mattern and Lika Gerasimova today, as well as the PokerStars qualifiers Priit Turner, Raoul Refos and David Sonelin who, if they return tomorrow, it will only be to watch forlornly from the rail. Vyacheslav Rotach may do the same but the Russian PokerStars qualifier will at least have €7,610 in his back pocket for his 39th place finish.

Today ranks as one of the shortest EPT days. It's an odd sensation, particularly for players far more accustomed to a lawless late night taxi scrum as they try to beat the sunrise to bed. That said, no one is complaining.

Things restart at noon tomorrow, a day that may not be quite so brief but which will produce a final eight to do battle on Sunday. All the minutiae will be here on the blog while tomorrow marks the return of EPT Live, offering the best view of the action along with expert commentary and analysis from all sorts of folk picked out of crowds because they know what they're talking about.

Better than all that it's free and live online all day. EPT Kyiv promised to be a thriller to the wire. Surely the lawn/flat tyre/leaking roof/dinner can wait.

In the meantime if you blinked and missed day three, or just fancy a recap, you can catch up on all the play-by-play at the links below:

Introduction to day three
Level 3
Level 14
Level 15
Level 16

Lest we forget our colleagues: They may speak funny but apparently their words make brilliant sense in German and Russian. You can also find all the videos of the day as well as more interviews and features on the unbeatable PokerStars.tv.

That's it for now. See you tomorrow.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

CLICK HERE FOR PRIZEWINNERS SO FAR

All photographs are (c) Neil Stoddart

Live updates from day 3, level 17 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 500-3,000-6,000.

6.45pm: Bagging for the final four tables
We have now reached our target of 32 players and that's that for the day. A full wrap of the day's action is imminent, as is a full, official, accurate, and all that, chip-count. In the meantime, you don't have to be a prizewinner to bask in the glory of the prizewinners page.

6.40pm: Day is done
Adrian Schaap made it 15,500 pre-flop from mid-position. It's folded to Albert Sungatullin who calls from the big blind. The flop comes [jd][ks][5c] which Sungatullin checks. Schaap makes it 23,000 and Sungatullen moves all-in which Schaap wasted no time in calling. [qh][kd] for Schaap, ahead of Sungatullen's [kh][7h]. The turn [10d] and river [5h]. It's all over. Sungatullen is the last to leave on day three. - SB

Albert Sungatullen

6.30pm: More jijinks from Litvinov
Adrian Schaap has sat next to Artem Litvinov all day, which means he's seen more coin-flips (literally) and more massaging than he's probably seen in his life. Litvinov still has his massage therapist working his neck (she's been there all day) and he is still getting involved in all manner of pots.

Most recently, Schaap and Litvinov joined Albert Sungatullin and Arthur Simonyan in seeing a cheap flop that came down [2s][10d][5d]. It was checked to Schaap, who bet 16,500 and only Litvinov called. The turn was the [kc] and both players checked, Litvinov first having to be reminded that action was on him, to the left of the button. On the river [5s], Litvinov checked that he was first to act, then didn't act until a clock was called. When 10 seconds remained, he bet 15,000 of his 40,000 stack. Schaap took approximately 1.09 nanoseconds to move all in and Litvinov insta-folded. - HS

Live updates from day 3, level 16 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 500-2,500-5,000.

6.10pm: Break time
That's the end of the level and we have 33 players left. Chip-count monkeys are currently doing their bidding, and there work will be on the chip count page almost immediately. The prizewinners to date are on the prizewinners page.

6.05pm: Deeb steam-rolls the high rollers
As all the action was going on during the bubble and the post-bubble period, Shaun Deeb was quietly winning the High Roller event, defeating Andrew Feldman heads up. It's Deeb's first-ever live tournament win, at last adding that feather to his cap already stacked with tournament victories. OK, so there were only three runners, but it's a win. Simple. As. That.

The long-awaited Shaun Deeb tournament winner photo

6.03pm: Viktor vanquished
Viktor Ivanov has bitten the dust, falling victim to coin-flipper Artem Litvinov. Ivanov, who had been pushing from late position, did so again from the button for his last 30,000. Litvinov called and showed [ad][jh], which was considerably better than Ivanov's [ks][4h].

The [jd][3h][7h] flop made life even more uneasy for Ivanov, the [8h] didn't help, and the [jc] twisted the knife even further. He'll have €7,610 to take home this evening. -SY

6pm: Falaschi departs
Luca Falaschi's Ukrainian adventure is over. Nikita Nikolaev raised from the button, as he has been doing from any position and seemingly on every hand. He made it 16,000 and Falaschi moved all in for his last 40,000, with no fold equity.

Nikolaev had to call, did, and meekly showed [qs][4d]. Falaschi was way ahead with his [jc][jd], but one queen came on the flop and another on the river, ending Falaschi's tournament. He takes €7,610, and the good wishes of all. He went round and shook everyone's hand on his elimination, including his vanquisher, to whom he also added, with complete sincerity. "It's OK. Good luck." A classy touch.

5.59pm: Another one for the road
Volodyhyr Sendetskiy just departed in 37th position, his [qs][js] no match against Igor Dubinsky's [ac][tc] on a board of [qh][5c][4c][7d][qc]. -- SB

5.55pm: Mihaylo go go
Mihaylo Demidenko is our 38th place finisher after running into the [ad][ac] of Lucasz Plichta with [qh][th]. The board ran [8d][9s][6d][as][ah]. Quad aces should just about do it I think.

5.50pm: Playing it straight
An all-in and a call. Viktor Ivanov with [qs][qc] against Albert Sungatullin's [ks][5s]. The board looked plain enough but conjured up a straight for Sungatullin; [js][3d][7h][4s][6d]. Sungatullin seemed pleased, Ivanov not so much, down to 36,000. -- SB

5.45pm: Prizewinners
Our prizewinners page really is the only cool place to be right now, especially if you want to get the details of the EPT Kiev prizewinners. Go on, give it a click. - HS

5.40pm: Malott doubles
During all the melee surrounding the Alex Fitzgerald hand, Andrew Malott crept over to reveal that he had doubled up with aces, flopping a set against the "crazy Italian guy" with fours. I think he meant Michele Limongi. - HS

5.35pm: Rotach stamped out
The 39th place finisher is Vyacheslav Rotach. He got it all in pre flop with [js][2s] but his timing was off as chip mountain Maxim Lykov woke up with [ks][qs] in the blinds and made a relatively easy call. The board came [ts][ad][6c][7s][6d]. Neither player improved therefore handing the pot to Lykov at the expense of Rotach's tournament life. - MC

5.30pm: Post-bubble blues for Peisert and Fitzgerald
Some major action after the bubble. Jorg Peisert became the first player to be eliminated. He had a short stack, got it in, and he was out. "Congratulations, sir," said the tournament official. "Fortieth place. It pays a whole lot more than 41st."

Then the Italian player Luca Falaschi was crippled down to his last 5,000 when the following hand took place. Alexey Maslov opened from early position to 10,500 and Falaschi under-called all in. Oleksander Vaserfirer, on the button, re-raised to 35,000. Alex Fitzgerald, in the big blind, went into the tank but emerged with a call and that priced in Maslov. The flop came [2d][2s][5c] and and they checked to Vaserfirer. He only had about 30,000 behind and moved all in.

Fitzgerald then announced that he was all in over the top, for another 187,000. Maslov seemed interested but eventually got out of the way. They showed their hands: Falaschi, involved in a meagre side-pot but for his tournament life, showed [ac][4c] and was rooting for a three. Fitzgerald had [qh][qd] and was rooting for another one because Vaserfirer had [kd][kh].

Alex Fitzgerald

The turn helped no one, but the river was an ace, sending Falaschi delirious and high-fiving all comers, but his was only a quadruple up to about 20,000. Fitzgerald, on the other hand, was forced to slide about 150,000 to Vaserfirer, who took a huge pot. Fitzgerald is down to about 140,000. - HS

5.10pm: PokerStars Blog Featured Seat is the bubble
Serguei Pomerantsev is our unfortunate bubble boy from our PokerStars Blog Featured Seat (table two, seat seven). The action started with Jonas Kronwitter opening with a raise to 15,000 from under-the-gun before Pomerantsev moved all in for 84,500. It was folded around to Kronwitter who made a quick call.

We had to wait for a while to see the cards while action was played out on another table and that caused the tension to build among players who had now crowded around the table. After a few moments Kronwitter turned over [jh][js] and he was flipping against Pomerantsev's [ah][qh]. The board came [7d][jc][9c][5c][tc] to put all remaining players in to the money.

Serguei Pomerantsev

Jonas Kronwitter

The all-in on the other table, which had to be played out first because this had the bigger stack, was slightly less exciting. A straight fight of Waldemar Kopyl's [ah][kd] against Michele Lamongi's [ac][8c]. Nothing dramatic changed anything on the [ks][10d][7s][4h][6c] flop, and Kopyl doubled up to around 450,000.

5pm: Bubble dragging on
Hand-for-hand bubble play continues. Good news for some, less for others. Some hands:

On the action* table, Nikita Nikolaev won a three-way pot, when he, Viktor Ivanov and Adrian Schaap saw a cheap flop of [5h][jc][6h]. Nikolaev bet 17,000 and only Ivanov called. The turn was [jd] and this time Nikolaev check-called Ivanov's 27,000 bet. The river was [2c] and Nikolaev again check-called a 42,000 bet. Ivanov was reluctant to show his complete air: [qc][9d] and Nikolaev's pocket kings were very good.

On the same table, our coin-flipping massage magnet Artem Litvinov was at it again. This time, Nikolaev raised to 12,000 pre-flop and Schaap called. Litvinov flipped and insta-shoved all in, which got both opponents to fold. He showed pocket kings.

On a neighbouring table, Alex Fitzgerald lost a pot to Kirill Boydachenko. They got to the river and the [qc] gave Boydachenko the small pot. He had [qh][7c].

* all things are relative during these sloooow-downs.

4.45pm: High rollers in town
While the bubble continues to refuse to burst, there's another bit of excitement going on in this cavernous tournament room: three players have stumped up $20,000 to play each other in a winner-takes-all battle.

Shaun Deeb, Andrew Feldman and Nikolay Evdakov were the men with the deep pockets. Evdakov has busted, leaving Deeb and Feldman to face each other off. - SY

4.40pm: Play again
Players have returned from their break and continue hand-for-hand. The full counts for the remaining 41 players will be found on the chip count page in the blink of a red hyperlink.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

Live updates from day 3, level 15 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 400-2,000-4,000.

4.25pm: Break Time
Players are on a 15 minute break. Just enough time to discuss bubble strategy.

4.15pm: Bubble Time
It's the second worst place to finish in a tournament and the same feeling all those 5th place athletes must be experiencing in Berlin. The player going through that torment is Ruslan Prydryk who moved all in for somewhere between 50,000 and 60,000. The caller he found was Iliya Gorodetskiy holding [ac][jd]. Prydryk was dominated with [ah][4d] and the board ran [kd][6d][6c][ad][kh]. We're now hand-for-hand until we lose one more player. - MC

4.10pm: Fitzgerald keeps Jaoui in the game
David Jaoui moved all-in with pocket sevens for not much, getting called by Alex Fitzgerald with [jd][6d]. The board did nothing for Fitzgerald but prolonged the tournament life of Jaoui a little more. 42 players remain. -- SB

4.07pm: Chip-leader
Maxim Lykov continues a formidable charge and has probably taken over the chip lead. He now has 760,000. -- HS

4.06pm: Pair of big stacks have one pair each
At the more comfortable end of proceedings, Joram Voelklein and Vitaly Tolokonnikov got involved with their mighty stacks. There was close to 140,000 in the middle by the time the river was out, revealing a full board of [js][6d][5s][ah][qd]. Both players' betting was slow by now, and they checked the river. Tolokonnikov's [ad][8h] bested Voelklein's [ks][qc]. - HS

Vitaly Tolokonnikov

4.05pm: Closing in on the bubble
Vasyl Lagutin became our 43rd place finisher, getting all in with [as][10h] and being called by Iliya Gorodetskiy with [ah][qc] and a bigger stack. The flop came [6d][6h][8c][5c][6c] and the queen played. Lagutin is out and we're getting very close to bubble time. - SB

4.00pm: Not so Fabio
With only 20,400 in front of him Fabio Bianchi was not in a position to hang on and try and make the money so it was understandable him pushing all in with [jh][2s] when folded around to him in the cut off. The big blind looked down and saw [kc][ts] and made the call. The board ran out [ts][8h][td][ts][5d] to move us ever closer to the bubble. - MC

3.59pm: Litvinov flips again
Our professional coin flipper Artem Litvinov has done it again. Facing a 12,000 raise from Volodymyr Pilyavskiy, he got out his trusted coin, flipped it - and moved all in. Call.

Litvinov: [4d][4s]
Pilyavskiy: [ah][9s]

The board ran out [10s][4s][6d][qd][ad] and the flopped set doubled up Litvinov to 65,000.

He enjoyed that so much he cheered a "come on", then turned around and high-fived the girl massaging his back. - SY

3.50pm: Double the excitement
Two all-ins at the same time on two separate tables. It's the kind of excitement most find irresistible, but which one to watch? Iliya Gorodetskiy beat Artem Litvinov to it. On table five Gorodetskiy pushed in for 39,600 then Litvinov did the same on table four for 25,500. But while he found no takers Michele Limongi was all too happy to pay off the Russian who then showed [ad][ah] without even a trace of smugness. "You can still lose," joked Limongi, showing [ac][ks]. "I know," replied Gorodetskiy. But not this time. [6c][3c][6s][qd][5d] on the board. Gorodetskiy up to 80,000. Still 44 players remaining, four away from the money. -- SB

3.45pm: Litvinov flips, wins
Artem Litvinov has been having a massage from the start of the day and is now almost certainly looking at a bill in Euros that's larger than his stack. He's also been performing his coin-flip routine at regular intervals and just did it again. Adrian Schaap called in the cut off and Litvinov pulled out his lucky coin, seemed to say a prayer, and then tossed it aloft, looking at the result and moving all in for 13,100, which was 9,100 more than the 4,000 call from Schaap. Schaap decided to give this one up, revealing [3s][2c] and Litvinov showed [ah][kc]. "You have ace-king. Why did you do the flip?" said Schaap. Litvinov shrugged and continued enjoying the massage. - HS

3.40pm: When folding comes good
Vasyl Lagutin makes it 9,100 pre-flop and it's folded around to Volodyhyr Sendetskiy. He takes one look at his cards, likes what he sees and pushes all-in for 81,800.

Lagutin slumps back in his seat two chair, then leans forward again to interrogate Sendetskiy, who is partly hidden in seat 8 behind the dealer.

"Have you got a pair?" he asks. No response. So he tries it in Russian instead.

"HДVЗ УФЦ GФT Д PДIЯ?"

But that didn't work either. The silence spoke a thousand words to Lagutin, who folded. Sendetskiy then showed [as][kd].

"Oh, I had A-Q," he claimed, to nods of approval. - SY

3.38pm: Falaschi still fighting
On a flop of [jh][4s][2s] Kirill Boydachenko checked to Luca Falaschi who bet 16,000. There's around 30,000 in the pot when Boydachenko asks the Italian, in a deep Russian voice, how much he has left. Falaschi holds up five fingers which can only mean 50,000. Boydachenko calls for a [kd] on the turn. Falaschi moves all-in now. "Will you show if I fold?" asks Boydachenko. "Yes!" replies Falaschi immediately and Boydachenko folds immediately. Falaschi showed [kh][qs] and gets some vital relief in for his stack, now up to 120,000 with 44 players remaining. -- SB

Kirill Boydachenko

3.35pm: Double up for Gorodetskiy
The shortest stack at the recent break, that belonging to Iliya Gorodetskiy, has now doubled in size. He got it all in with [ac][3c] against Igor Dubinsky, who had him crushed with [ad][5d]. The board favoured Gorodetskiy, running out [6s][3h][qs][7h][2s] and that vital three kept Gorodetskiy alive with a stack of 45,000. Gorodetskiy is best known in these parts for his commentary on the Russian version of EPT Live throughout the past EPT season.

Probably a good time to remind you that EPT Live starts tomorrow, in all kinds of lingo. - HS

1.35pm: Bokked by Friend
A short stacked David Sonelin moved all in and managed to steal the blinds. Two hands later he moved all in again for 39,200. It was folded all the way around to the considerably larger stacked Jonas Kronwitter in the big blind who squeezed one card and saw [kc] then squeezed the other card and saw [qs]. After some deliberation he decided to call because he could afford to rather than because he had a price to. Sonelin tabled [ad][8h] and after the flop came [ac][tc][7d] his friend on the rail prematurely celebrated the paired ace not seeing the gutshot opportunity for Kronwitter. Wouldn't you know it, instant service came on the turn in the form of [js] to end the hand and eliminate the quietly spoken Swede.

3.20pm: Chips!
The new, official chip counts are in. If you see red, click it.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

3.18pm: Ups and downs
Maxin Lykov and Mihaylo Demidenkogo at it, betting and calling to the river where Lykov's [2d][2h] are good over Demidenkogo's [ad][js] on a blank board. Demidenkogo on 142,000, Lykov's up to around 440,000. -- SB

3.15pm: Some words about Michael Meyburg
The highest-ranked PokerStars qualifier coming into today was the German Michael Meyburg. Last night he made a massive surge up the leaderboard, sending us off to our trusted friend and resource for some information. There we discovered that he was a former backgammon world champion, but there was precious little about his poker exploits. Today, our German blogger Robin Scherr was dispatched to find out more about him, and as ever did the business.

Meyburg is a 45-year-old former backgammon world champion, who has recently been focusing more on his poker. He won two seats to EPT Kyiv in two 2,500 FPP satellites, essentially qualifying for his first EPT event for absolutely zilch.

Michael Meyburg

Although he doesn't play as much backgammon as he used to, he now teaches a number of young players and instead follows their progress through the major tournaments. With only 45 players left, he still has in the region of 250,000 chips and is looking like turning that nothing into something like cash.

3.10pm: Into the new level
Fitzgerald hands never seen to get further than the re-raise he makes. This time he captures the 10,500 bet from Oleksander Vaserfirer in the cut off, moving all-in from the small blind. -- SB

Live updates from day 3, level 14 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 300-1,500-3,000.

3pm: Refreshments
That's the end of the level. Players are now nipping off for comfort breaks/refreshments/tobacco or all three (though hopefully not at the same time).

New end-of-level chip counts will ZOOM INTO HERE very soon. - SY

2.50pm: Flipping heck - he folded A-K!
It was Cengizcan Ulusu who famously flipped a coin on the final table of EPT Dortmund last season to decide if he should call all-in. He called, turned over K-2... and bust.

Now Artem Litvinov is at it as well. Facing an all-in push for 45,000 from Sergey Antonenko, it was folded around to him on the button. He only had 29,400 behind, less than ten big blinds, and seemed to like his cards. But he could not quite bring himself to call. So he got out his coin, flipped it, and let that decide his fate.

The result was a fold - but not before he showed his hand... A-K. - SY

2.45pm: A bad joke in good pictures

This little collage is called: "Shuffle up and peal". The dreadful pun is mine; the tip-top pictures are Neil Stoddart's. - HS

2.40pm: Tent batons down
Fitzgerald has been getting busy just eight players off the money. After a 7,700 pre-flop bet found no takers he then made it 26,000 from the big blind behind a bet of 10,000 from Bernard Boutboul which was called by Torsten Tent in the small blind. Boutboul passed while Tent moved all-in showing aces when Fitzgerald called with [kd][10c].

"You set me up, nice hand," said Fitzgerald as the board ran out [ad][qh][9h][qs][10h]. Boutboul thumped the table. "What you have, quads?" asked Fitzgerald. "I had a queen," he replied. "But I lose!" Fitzgerald down to 131,000. Tent up to 82,000. -- SB

2.35pm: Priit comes unstuck
Priit "Stick" Turner is out. Turner had [ac][ks] and was up against Joram Voelklein's [qc][qd]. The money went in on a board of [7c][4c][3c], Turn calling Voelklein's shove. Neither the turn nor river was a club, nor an ace, nor a king, and the queens took it, consigning Turner to the scrapheap. The nattily head-banded Estonian is gone. - HS

And here's Turner in moving pictures:

2.30pm; Big stacks do battle
Alex Fitzgerald and Kirill Boydachenko went to war. By the time the turn was dealt, there was at least 180,000 in the middle, this board [kh][7d][5s][kd], and a bet of 82,000 in front of Boydachenko. Fitzgerald counted his own chips then folded, leaving him with about 180,000 and Boydachenko passed 390,000. - HS

2.25: Getting the Maxim
Vyacheslav Rotach opened the pot with a raise to 9,000 from under-the-gun and found a caller in the shape Maxim Lykov in late position before the flop came [6c][9s][qc]. Both players checked to see the [4c] turn where Rotach check called a 11,000 bet from Lykov. The [8s] river prompted a 40,000 bet from Lykov when checked to him and this caused a serious tank session from his opponent. It was at least four minutes before he slid eight yellow chips over the line in a call. The muck was much quicker in coming from him though when he saw Lykov had a straight with [js][tc]. He now becomes our first man to 500,000 chips.

2.22pm: Igor on the up
Igor Dubinsky on table five keeps taking the blinds and antes, literally throwing in raises of 8,000 with no takers. Andrew Malott, wearing the Phoenix colours of former NBA star Kevin Johnson today, just arrived at this table carrying a rack of more than 150,000. -- SB

2.20pm: In the feature seat
Another table breaks leaving just just six tables seating 48 players. Sitting in the PokerStars Blog Feature Seat right now is Serguei Pomerantsev, from Russia, with 137,400. -- SB

2.16pm: No flash for Falaschi
Alex Fitzgerald just added a bit more to a stack that has blossomed on day three. On a flop of [10d][5d][3d] Luca Falaschi made it 12,000 which Fitzgerald raised up to 27,000. The 15,000 more was too rich for Falaschi who folded. "Vamos!" someone shouted from the rail. -- SB

2.15pm: Italians call rail summit
Fabio Bianchi moved his short stack all in pre-flop and Jonas Kronwitter took a small nibble out of his monster stack to call. Bianchi had [ad][qs] and Kronwitter had [10c][9s]. They were going all the way to the river, and the board ran out [5c][3c][4d][6h][7d], putting a straight on the board and splitting the pot. "Lucky," said Kronwitter, which didn't go down well with Bianchi. "You think I'm lucky?" Bianchi said. "Me? Lucky?" There was much gesticulating. "It's better than a nine or a ten," Kronwitter said, but Bianchi had seen enough. He joined the ever-present Italian railbirds, and Francesco Cirianni, who is still in the tournament, for a post-mortem of the hand. There was much more gesticulating. - HS

2.10pm: Short-stack pile up
It's time for desperate moves for those short stacks who want to build up enough momentum to make it to the money and beyond. Three of them just went to war on the same table, all getting their chips in the middle pre-flop. One, Ruslan Prydrk, had just lost a monster pot to Michele Limongi from Italy (who may now be challenging the chip lead) and fancied his chances when the cards were turned over:

Ilya Kainov: A-K
Ruslan Prydryk: Q-Q
Iliya Gorodetskiy: K-J

They all leaned forward to see their fate, and watched as the board ran out [3d][2s][4d][2d][7s], good enough for Prydryk to triple up to 65,000. Kainov took the 2,800 side pot with his A-K, but that left him on just 5,000 or so. Gorodetskiy has 21,000. - SY

2.05pm: Three way inaction
There's at least 50,000 in the middle pre-flop and Maxim Lykov, Vyacheslav Rotach, and Mihaylo Demidenko have cards. The flop comes [kh][3d][2d] and Demidenko checks. Rotach bets 40,000 and Lykov and Demidenko decide to protect their stacks, and fold. Lykov still has way more than 400,000 and is on fire, despite shipping that small pot.

At this point, 49 players remain; nine off the bubble. - HS

2.00pm: Dude moving through the gears
With a stack over 200,000 Alex Fitzgerald seems to be more comfortable with his tournament situation. This coupled with the fact we're eight players off the money means it's a good time to start moving through the gears and it seems the young American is doing just that. He's just raised two hands in a row from the first two positions, got customers both times and managed to take down both pots with bets on the flop and on the turn. This has helped him reach the 250,000 mark.-MC

1.51pm: Ivanov v Sangatullin
Viktor Ivanov made it 13,000 from the big blind and Albert Sungatullin called from the button for a [4s][2d][7c] flop. Both checked for a [4d] turn. Ivanov made it 10,000 at this point which Sungatullin called for a [5d] on the river. Ivanov checked while Sungatullin made it 14,000. Eventually Ivanov called. Sungatullin showed [as][3c] for the straight and a stack of 240,000. Ivanov mucked and is down to 245,000. - SB

1.46pm: Chips!
Full and official chip counts are now available. If a player's name does not appear, they're out.

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

1.45pm: Bianchi in the red
On a board of [10d][3s][8s][7h][9s] and with 75,000 in the middle, David Aslanyan bet 25,000. Italian Fabio Bianchi said: "I have to call," and flung in some chips, followed by a sharp, staccato Biblical name. Aslanyan showed [jc][ad] to Bianchi's [10s][9c]. He's down to 25,000 now as Aslanyan continues a climb to 365,000. -- SB

1.40pm: Back to the action
Players have now returned from the break, and here's a gratuitous photo of a dealer in Kyiv.

Day three at EPT Kyiv and the chairman of a board of directors has drawn up the following agenda:

Item one: Minutes from previous meeting.
Item two: Analyse statistical data. In this case, chip counts.
Item three: Reassemble field of 68 remaining players.
Item four: Set clock to start of tournament level 13. Blinds and antes are: 1,200-2,400 (200).
Item five: Play towards the bubble. Forty players get paid, meaning 28 are going to go home with nothing. (Hope the slowdown before the bubble bursting doesn't last too long.)
Item six: Play down to the final four tables. We will finish today when 32 players remain.
Item seven: Discuss promotional materials for EPT Live, the peerless webcast that will bring you all the action from the featured table from tomorrow, as well as roving coverage from the floor of the Palace of Sports.
Item eight: Any other business.

It really is as simple as that, although it could take any amount of time. The chip leader from yesterday was Vitaly Tolokonnikov, who had more than 370,000 at day's end.

Vitaly Tolokonnikov

Tolokonnikov led a leaderboard heavy in representatives from the CIS countries: there are six Russians, one Ukrainian and one Estonian, with the ever-reliable Germans the only exceptions. Jonas Kronwitter and the PokerStars qualifier Michael Meyburg are those outliers.

There will be more frantic action this afternoon, when we'll find out if anyone can match the exploits of Tolokonnikov from yesterday. He went from 12,000 overnight to chip leader. All the moves, charges and crashing in flames will be covered right here. Stick with us.

Remember the blinking chip count link:

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

And remember you can also follow this in Russian and German.

Live updates from day 3, level 13 of EPT Kyiv Sports Poker Championship brought to you by Stephen Bartley, Marc Convey, Howard Swains and Simon Young.

Click refresh to see the latest updates below, while the latest selected chip counts can be found by clicking right here. Blinds 200-1,200-2,400.

1.25pm: Break time
Players are now taking their first 15 minute break of the day and we're doing a full, official chip count. You know where you'll be able to find that sooner than you can say: "Is that a flashing red link?" - HS

CLICK HERE FOR CHIP COUNTS

1.20pm: Two all ins, no calls
On the last hand before the break, Volodymyr Pilyavskiy called under-the-gun and Adrian Schaap raised from the button, making it 7,100. Artem Litvinov in the small blind called, as did Pilyavskiy, who started this thing. The flop came [4s][4h][3h] and after the two early position players checked, Schaap moved all in for about 60,000. That, decided Pilyavskiy and Litvinov, was too much and they folded. At the same time on a neighbouring table, Iliya Gorodetskiy raised pre-flop, but was reraised all in by Ilya Kainov. Gorodetskiy anguished, then made what seemed to be a difficult fold. Good decision, though, as Kainov showed pocket kings. - HS

1.18pm: Four way pot, led by Kronwitter
A four way pot develops on table two, started and ended by Jonas Kronwitter. He raised to 5,600 which was called by Davis Sonelin on the button, Vadim Markushevski in the big blind and David Aslanyan from under-the-gun. The flop of [6h][8c][9c] was checked by everyone for a [3h] turn. Markushevski checked it, Aslanyan bet 14,200 at it and Kronwitter called it. Now Sonelin raised another 23,100 and sent the action around the table again; Markushevski folding, Aslanyan doing the same after a few minutes thought and Kronwitter calling. Both checked the [qs] on the river before Kronwitter showing [kd][kh] to Sonelin's [jd][jh]. Kronwitter up to 430,000 now and the chip lead. - SB

1.13pm: Kopyl in every hand
Waldemar Kopyl, from Germany, raised three hands pre-flop back to back, each time 6,000. On the first occasion, he took the blinds and antes; on the second occasion, he was reraised to 16,000 by Volodyhyr Sendetskiy, and folded; on the third occasion he got a call from Michele Limongi. They saw a flop of [10c][as][6c] and after Limongi checked, Kopyl bet 7,200 and Limongi quickly folded. - HS

1.10pm: Ask the question, get the answer
There was about 15,000 in the pot and Alex Fitzgerald and David Jaoui still with cards. The flop was out: [8h][10s][5c] and Fitzgerald bet 12,000. Jaoui raised to about 40,000 and Fitzgerald quietly folded. - HS

Alex Fitzgerald

1.06pm: While we wait for the next fascinating update...
...here's a video blog

1.05pm: Russian slips
Vitaly Tolokonnikov started the day as chip leader but has slipped in the first level down to 340,000. That's still a big stack with 55 players left, and he'll use it to his advantage. It won't always work though. He and Lucasz Plichta, from Poland, saw a [10h][jh][2s] flop and Plichta bet out 13,500. Tolokonnikov called, maybe fancying his chances of taking away the pot on the turn.

But on the [6s] Plichta reached for more chips - a meaty 45,000 this time - and that was enough to force a fold by the Russian, who now has 340,000. -- SY

12.58pm: Gerasimova drama
With the action folded to Alexey Maslov on the button he bet out 5,600 before Lika Gerasimova raised to 15,200 from the small blind. While the big blind moved out of the way Maslov pushed all in with [as][4s], getting flash called by Gerasimova showing [kc][kh]. Then the trouble started.

Lika Gerasimova

The board ran out [8h][ac][jh][5d][jd]. Gerasimova, a quiet, diminutive figure at the table, had whimpered when the ace hit but pushed her stack over after the river card, sending chips everywhere before walking away. The dealer cordoned off the spilt chips as Gerasimova returned to her seat and sent a text message. The hand left her with just 35,000 as Maslov survives, up to 140,000. "Can't say nice hand," says Andrew Malott to Maslov. "Nice hit." -- SB

12.56pm: Russia vs Russia
Lika Gerasimova bet 41,500 pre-flop but Vitaly Tolokonnikov pushed in behind with his massive stack. There was no contest from that point and Gerasimova folded. Elsewhere another table breaks leaving just seven. - SB

12.55pm: Not a bad flop for that hand
I approached the table with Alexandru Marin throwing his [qc][qs] into the muck and getting up to leave as I soon saw why. A chirpy Michele Limongi was his opponent holding [ah][jh] and the flop was a pretty looking [2h][8h][9h]. No need to explain this any further except to say Limongi is now on 256,000. The bubble is fast approaching.-MC

12.40pm: Zakharov doubles, Pevzner close to out
Sergei Pevzner found two big hands back to back and yet is now clinging on to his tournament life with less than 30,000. On the first hand Priit Turner opened for 6,000 and Pevzner reraised to 21,000 on the button. Everyone folded, including Turner, and Pevzner flashed two black jacks to the table. Next hand, Pevzner opened one off the button to 7,000 and Volodymyr Zakharov, in the small blind, made it 22,000. Joram Voelklein looked like he was going to make a move, but ended up folding, and Pevzner instantly announced all in.

Zakharov went into the tank, or that's what it looked like, but Jorg Peisert, in the six seat, wondered aloud whether Zakharov actually heard the announcement as he had headphones clamped over his ears. The dealer asked him to remove the headphones, told him that his opponent was all in, and after a quick count down, Zakharov discovered that he was covered, but called.

He showed [qh][qd] against Pevzner's [ad][kh] and the board ran out [jd][7s][9h][jh][4d] to double up Zakharov. He now has close to 230,000; Pevzner has about 20,000 left. - HS

12.40pm: Refos Smoked
I saw Raoul Refos at a table seemingly wishing his friend good luck. Can't be sure as the Dutch language is and probably always will be a mystery to me. Anyway my point is that he wasn't in his own seat so I asked him if he busted and I was disappointed to hear he was. With 50,000 in front of him he found ace-jack on the button and thought it a good spot to re-raise an under-the-gun raiser all-in. The snap call was quick in coming from the larger stacked player who held ace-king that held. - MC

12.32pm: Out of the spotlight
Aleksandr Ivanchenko is out of the Feature Seat. The man from Kazahkstan's remarkable adventure ended after he moved all-in with [ac][ks] before David Sonelin did the same with pocket queens. the board ran out [4s][10d][jd][jc][2s] sending the chips to the Swede. -- SB

Aleksandr Ivanchenko

12.30pm: In the spotlight
Aleksandr Ivanchenko is the first player to occupy the PokerStars Blog Feature Seat, with 95,300. -- SB

12.26pm: Third best wins
A huge hand broke out in the early stage on table three. Oleksander Vaserfirer, Bernard Boutboul and Tore Lukashaugen got all their chips in the middle and it was A-K for Boutboul, A-J for Lukashaugen and A-4 for Vaserfirer. By the end of the hand -- I'm not certain when the money went in as the cards were already exposed on my arrival to the table -- there was also a 2-3-5-6 on the board, filling Vaserfirer's straight. The worst hand pre-flop beat the two dominant hands and Vaserfirer tripled up to about 180,000. Boutboul won the side pot and Lukashaugen was eliminated. - HS

12.25pm: Straight beats set
It was folded around to Igor Dubinsky on the button who raised it up to 6,000 and was called by Sergey Antonenko before Vitaly Tolokonnikov re-raised to 22,500 from the big blind. All three players checked the [th][8c][3s] flop before the turn was revealed as [9h]. Change of guard as Sergey Antonenko led out for 55,000, a bet that only Dubinsky called. The scary looking [7d] on the river slowed things back down as both players checked. It was then a surprise to see Antonenko table [7s][7h] for a set and Dubinsky [6d][7c] for a straight. Dubinsky up to 350,000 now. -MC

12.20pm: Sarwer soured
Jeff Sarwer is out, ending a private hell that started late yesterday when the bottom fell out of his chip lead campaign. His Jack-Nine looked in good shape on an Eight-Ten-Jack ("I'm not getting away from that.") but didn't count on fellow Canadian Anatoly Zharnitsky holding Seven-Nine. -- SB

12.08pm: Mattern matters
Arnaud Mattern doubled up in the first hand, his [ac][qd] beating the [ah][6c] of Andrew Malott on a blank board. Mattern up to 51,000. -- SB

12.07pm: First blood
"Bye bye." The last words of Dmitry Vornovitskiy, out in 1 minute 40 seconds into the level. -- SB

12.05pm: We're off!
Well, we're nearly off. Thomas Kremser is just making a few short announcements to the 68 remaining players before we kick-off day 3.