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We dropped by Table 21 to see how our Estonian friend Herli Olop was fairing. He has chipped up to 90,000 and shared with us one of the bigger hands along the way. Olop skipped the Battle of Malta in the Spring but was on the final table during the last autumn edition when he took eighth place for €11,240. This time around, Olop came as one of the leaders of a large Estonian contingent to the Battle of Malta.

Olop shared that he opened with 6♠5♠ before two players called including a big stacked player with 120,000 in chips called.

“They usually re-raised,” Olop shared, but this time they just called.

Olop improved to both middle pair and a flush draw on the ace-six-trey flop and he continued for 1,600. One player with a shorter stack with only 20,500 behind raised to 4,500. The bigger stacked player folded while Olop called to see a four on the turn. Olop check-jammed his opponent and he called with big slick.

Olop needed some help but had outs to improve to two pair, trips, or a flush. The two-pair got the job done to eliminate his opponent after a six completed the board on the river.

“No more special hands or big pots so far,” Olop shared.

We wish Olop the best of luck of making the final table the second year in a row. While you certainly can’t win it on Day 1, you can at least put yourself into a good spot. Cheers to Olop and the rest of the Estonian poker community.

Herli Olop