Paulo Sarmento follows in eighth, winning €4,850

Despite leading the chip count at the dinner break, it is Paulo Sarmento who is next to leave us as his ongoing tussle with Rene Knapp cost him his chance of victory.

The winner has long looked like coming from one of the pair, as they demonstrated their aggressive streaks for all to see - and regularly butted heads across the baize.

Rene had been relentlessly raising pre-flop, taking control of the table in spite of his setback just before the interval, and when the right texture board arrived, neither man hesitated in getting their chips in the middle.

The German player raised from the button holding 10♣8♣, earning a call from Sarmento's K♠Q♦, before the rest was shipped on the 9♣Q♣3 flop♥.

There was a hint of fate about Knapp as the J♣ came on the turn, completing a straight flush and earning him nearly half of the 1.79m chips in play.

"He's definitely the favourite now," said Sarmento immediately after his defeat, "He's the best player at the table and deserves to win it.

"I was happy with how I played the hand because he's so aggressive and he shoves that flop with any draw, so I wasn't surprised it was a coin flip."