Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic Day 4: Vasvenszki Leads the Final Six
The final 18 players returned to the Merit Crystal Cove in beautiful Cyprus on Tuesday to battle it out on Day 4 of the Full Tilt Poker Merit Cyprus Classic. It took about eight hours, but the televised final table of six was reached, setting the stage for Wednesday. After eliminating 33 percent of the the Day 4 bustees, Zsolt Vasvenszki catapulted to the head of the counts and will be the chip leader at the televised final table, ending the day with 1,885,000.
Vasvenszki got off to a nice start on Day 4, eliminating Kfir Yamin when he called Yamin's three-bet shove from the big blind with A♣10♦. Yamin was in a bad spot with A♥3♠ and failed to catch up after Vasvenszki turned a ten. Jeff "YoungSupremacy" Hakim was the next to feel Vasvenszki's wrath, losing with pocket deuces to Vasvenszki's K♥Q♠ all-in preflop when the K♠ spiked on the river. Another preflop all-in race went Vasvenszki's way, eliminating Chris Karagulleyan to bring the field down to the final table of ten. Karagulleyan's A♥K♣ were no match for Vasvenszki's 8♣8♥ when a third eight locked it up on the turn.
After surrendering the chip lead briefly, Vasvenszki reclaimed it on the final hand of the night. From the small blind, Nanos Koustantinos completed with the blinds at 12,000/24,000. Vasvenszki was in the big blind and raised to 59,000. Koustantinos reraised all-in for 413,000 and Vasvenszki made the call. Koustantinos was all-in and at risk with the A♥Q♠ while Vasvenszki held the K♥J♥. The flop fell Q♠8♠2♦ and Koustantinos picked up a pair of queens to pull even further in front. There wasn't much there for Vasvenszki, but the 9♥ on the turn did give him a gutshot straight draw along with his overcard. Sure enough, the 10♠ spiked on the river to give Vasvenszki a straight.
Second in chips heading into Day 5 is Full Tilt Red Pro Van Marcus. After making several big folds with two tables to go, Marcus was finally rewarded for his steady and patient play with some big pairs at the final table. First, Kari Somer three-bet all in with J♣J♦, but ran smack into Marcus' K♠K♥. The cowboys held and Marcus hit the million chip mark. About an hour and a half later, it was a similar story. Marcus opened the pot with a raise and Georges Hanna three-bet all-in with with J♠J♦. Marcus snap-called once again, this time showing A♦A♥. The board came out safe for Marcus and he is in great shape for Day 5 with 1,436,000.
Among those who did not make it through to Day 5, but still cashed, were David Benyamine, Kelly Kim, and Eric Mizrachi. Kim has cashed in this event two years in row while Benyamine followed up his final table in the High Roller event with a deep run in the Main Event. As for those that are still in, here is how it looks for tomorrow.
| Name | Chip Count | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| Zsolt Vasvenszki | 1,885,000 | 32.5% |
| Van Marcus | 1,436,000 | 24.8% |
| Average | 966,000 | |
| Mathieu Clavet | 940,000 | 16.2% |
| Andreas Krause | 849,000 | 14.6% |
| Ahmet Ucali | 420,000 | 7.3% |
| Hakan Dalokay | 266,000 | 4.6% |
We'll be back at 2 p.m. local time for the televised final table so stay tuned to PokerNews for all the live coverage from Cyprus to see what will happen!
This event may be about to end but right now you can qualify for Late Night Poker, the Poker Million, the Masters Series and the Full Tilt Series Espana exclusively at Full Tilt Poker.
