Main Event
Day 4 Completed
2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona
Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€9,365,350
Entries
1,931
Level
36
Blinds
2,500,000 / 500,000
Ante
500,000
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour €5,300 Main Event is one step closer to crowning a champion in the record-breaking 1931-entry strong field, as just 13 hopefuls bagged up chips after six levels of 90 minutes each on Day 4. Portugal's Pedro Marques leads the field, but he faces some tough competition for the coveted trophy and first-place payout of €1,611,500.
Marques bagged up 9,150,000 and he is closely followed by Brazil's Fabiano Kovalski (8,745,000). There is a bigger gap between the duo atop the counts, as Rodrigo Carmo (5,330,000), Matthias Tikerpe (5,200,000) and Haoxiang Wang (4,655,000) complete the top five overnight.
Two former champions are in contention to join the only two-time champion Vicky Coren in lifting the trophy for the second time: Ognyan Dimov (3,100,000) won the title in Deauville in 2015 and John Juanda (1,980,000) emerged victorious in the same year right here at Casino Barcelona. Both were sat next to each other at the end of the day over on the feature table.
Mark Buckley advanced with a stack of 4,400,000 and his fellow countryman Patrick Clarke, who finished 4th on home soil at the 2016 EPT Dublin Main Event, will return with 3,550,000. The remaining hopefuls include Georges Hannes (3,770,000), Piotr Nurzynski (3,570,000), Danny Tang (2,435,000) and Ben Heath (2,030,000).
Among those to bust throughout the day were such notables as Anthony Chimkovitch, Stefan Jedlicka, Kalidou Sow, Michael Chi Zhang, Rifat Palevic, Benjamin Pollak, Victor Chong, Stefan Jedlicka, Tom Alner and Upeshka De Silva. All remaining 13 players will return to the tables on Saturday, September 1st, 2018, as of 12.00 p.m. local time and the action resumes with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and a big blind ante of 80,000.
Day 5 Seat Assignments
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ben Heath | UK | 2,030,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 2 | Georges Hanna | Lebanon | 3,770,000 | 47 |
| 1 | 3 | Danny Tang | UK | 2,435,000 | 30 |
| 1 | 4 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | 3,100,000 | 39 |
| 1 | 5 | John Juanda | Indonesia | 1,988,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 7 | Pedro Marques | Portugal | 9,150,000 | 114 |
| 1 | 8 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | 3,570,000 | 45 |
| 2 | 2 | Rodrigo Carmo | Portugal | 5,330,000 | 67 |
| 2 | 3 | Matthias Tikerpe | Estonia | 5,200,000 | 65 |
| 2 | 4 | Haoxiang Wang | China | 4,655,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 5 | Patrick Clarke | Ireland | 3,550,000 | 44 |
| 2 | 6 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | 8,745,000 | 109 |
| 2 | 8 | Mark Buckley | Ireland | 4,400,000 | 55 |
Action of the Day
A total of 56 players returned to their seats and the early eliminations came at a quick pace. Among those to bust were Day 1b chip leader Anthony Chimkovitch, Simon Mattsson, Raul Martinez, Jack Wu and Luke Haward. Alexandre Reard saw his ace-king suited cracked by ace-queen and Kalidou Sow failed to hold up with ace-queen against the ace-nine of Mark Buckley.
Action barely slowed down and the all in showdowns continued to happen very frequently. Rifat Palevic lost a flip with pocket queens against the ace-king of Enrico De Rosa and Oliver Weis bowed out from the feature table in a set-under-set scenario. The French misery continued when Julien Sitbon ran with kings into aces and Brazil's Renato Kaneoya lost a flip with pocket nines against the ace-jack of Rodrigo Carmo.
The remaining 26 players had barely returned to their seats after the second break of the day when the redraw to the final three tables was required after the eliminations of Joel Isla and Jiri Horak. Jamie O'Connor saw his hopes vanish when he got it in with pocket kings against ace-queen and an ace hit on the flop to improve Georges Hanna. World Series of Poker bracelet winner Andres Korn made a pay jump but eventually bowed out in 20th place.
Johan Storaker was among the next casualties after his move with ace-trey in a battle of the blinds was quickly called by Upeshka De Silva with the dominating ace-jack and the kicker problem turned out to be crucial for the Swede. Only a few minutes later, Denys Shafikov ran with pocket eights into the pocket queens of Pedro Marques and the field was reduced to the last 17. The biggest pot of the tournament to date followed and it was Enrico De Rosa, who ended up second-best with king-queen for top pair as Fabiano Kovalski had flopped a set of sevens in a three-way pot.
Down to the last two tables, Kovalski was in the lead and Pedro Marques took over the top spot with the elimination of Marius Conan. The last Frenchman in the field three-bet all in with pocket nines and Marques moved all in over the top behind him with pocket kings. There was no help on a queen-high board and Conan exited in 16th place.
Two further players busted in the final level of the night and those happened to be Tom Alner and Upeshka De Silva. Alner lost a flip with ace-jack against the pocket eights of Patrick Clarke, who regained the lead with a straight on the river. For De Silva, it was a disappointing end to the day after he went from second in chips to out in 13th after a series of unfortunate hands. First he lost a bigger pot without showdown against Fabiano Kovalski, then paid off the second nut flush of Rodrigo Carmo and his pocket kings were cracked by the ace-queen of Mark Buckley. In the final hand of the night, De Silva got it in with pocket nines and Kovalski sigh-called with ace-seven to hit an ace in the window.
The penultimate day of the €5,300 Main Event will play down to the final six for the big showdown on Sunday and the PokerNews live reporting team will be back to provide all the action.
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
The final 13 players have bagged up and a recap of today's action is to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
9,150,000
-135,000
|
-135,000 |
|
||
|
8,745,000 | |
|
5,330,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
|
5,200,000
-700,000
|
-700,000 |
|
4,655,000
1,715,000
|
1,715,000 |
|
||
|
4,400,000
-200,000
|
-200,000 |
|
||
|
3,770,000
320,000
|
320,000 |
|
3,570,000
650,000
|
650,000 |
|
|
||
|
3,550,000
410,000
|
410,000 |
|
3,100,000 | |
|
|
||
|
2,435,000
-560,000
|
-560,000 |
|
2,030,000 | |
|
1,980,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
|
||
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Fabiano Kovalski started the action with a raise from the button for 125,000. Mark Buckley folded the small blind and Upeshka de Silva tossed a few stacks of chips in front of him for a raise worth 1,270,000, leaving him only with 175,000 behind. Kovalski announced all in and De Silva called.
Upeshka De Silva: 
Fabiano Kovalski: 
De Silva had the best hand a flop 
gave Kovalski a pair of aces and the turn
and river 
fell to eliminate De Silva at the 14th place on the very last minute of the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,745,000
795,000
|
795,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
John Juanda open-shoved out of the under-the-gun position with 
and action folded to Ognyan Dimov in the big blind held the 
. Dimov asked for a count on the shove, which was for 1.75 million, and folded his hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000
-255,000
|
-255,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,900,000
-140,000
|
-140,000 |
|
|
||
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
In a battle of the blinds, Pedro Marques with 
and Piotr Nurzynski with 
headed to the 
turn and Marques checked. Nurzynski bet 300,000 into a pot of 330,000 and Marques called.
The 
appeared on the river and Marques checked once more. Nurzynski bet 650,000 and Marques used one time bank, double checked his cards and moved all in. Nurzynski laid down his trips and asked to see the cards of Marques.
"You will see it later," the Portuguese said with a big grin on the face.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
9,285,000
1,515,000
|
1,515,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,920,000
-1,780,000
|
-1,780,000 |
|
|
||
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Mark Buckley opened to 125,000 under the gun and Upeshka De Silva three-bet to 385,000 from one seat over. It folded back to Buckley who moved all in for a stack worth 2,260,000. De Silva snap-called to show 
.
Buckley, holding 
, had to hit the board, which he did on the flop . The turn and river 
didn't change anything and De Silva fell down to 1,550,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,600,000
2,200,000
|
2,200,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
1,550,000
-2,050,000
|
-2,050,000 |
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Pedro Marques raised to 130,000 with the 
in the hijack and Ben Heath called on the button with 
. The flop came 
and both players checked to see the turn. Marques bet 125,000 and Heath called.
The 
on the river was checked by Marques and Heath's bet of 225,000 forced an instant fold from Marques.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
7,770,000
-255,000
|
-255,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
2,030,000
250,000
|
250,000 |
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
Patrick Clarke raised to 135,000 in middle position and Tom Alner moved all in from the hijack for what appeared to be 1.05 million. Clarke used one time bank and eventually called.
Tom Alner:
Patrick Clarke: 
The 
flop gave Alner top pair, but Clarke had an additional gutshot straight draw. The 
turn was a blank, but Clarke got there with the 
on the river. Alner was eliminated in 15th place for €78,800 and Clarke was visibly relieved and said "I can't lose every flip."
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,140,000
1,455,000
|
1,455,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 27
: 30,000/60,000, 60,000 ante
John Juanda raised to 135,000 with the in the hijack and Marius Conan in the cutoff used one time bank with the . Conan then moved all in for 2.065 million and Pedro Marques quickly reshoved on the button with the .
Nurzynski had in the small blind and used a time bank and folded, Juanda confirmed in table chat he folded ace-queen.
Conan was in need of help, but found none on the board of 
. The young Frenchman was eliminated in 16th place and takes home €69,340.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
8,025,000
2,775,000
|
2,775,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |