ISPT Wembley Main Event Day 4: Alban Juen Leads Final 20; Sam Trickett Busts
It was yet another quick-fire day at the International Stadiums Poker Tour Main Event at Wembley as 78 of the 98 players that came back for Day 4 were eliminated. With the action moved off the field and into the Bobby Moore suite, it was qualifier Alban Juen, who, having led at the start of Day 2 and Day 3, retook the lead right before the day commenced with 20 players remaining.
End-of-Day 4 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alban Juen | 5,265,000 |
| 2 | Nick Hicks | 4,785,000 |
| 3 | Pete Linton | 4,515,000 |
| 3 | Jakub Michalak | 3,475,000 |
| 4 | Xavier el fassy | 2,770,000 |
| 5 | Gweondoline Jant | 2,470,000 |
| 7 | Leigh Wiltshire | 2,310,000 |
| 8 | Florian Hoeller | 2,030,000 |
| 9 | Jean Miguel Lacerda | 1,735,000 |
| 10 | Dave Ulliott | 1,700,000 |
Ole Schemion, who has been on a hot streak for the last year, began the day as chip leader, and Toby Lewis and Sam Trickett were also sitting amongst the biggest stacks. Schemion and Trickett were drawn on the same table and it made for some intriguing early battles, most of which were won by the German. Trickett ended up busting fairly quickly and donated his €3,000 prize money to the dealers before heading straight to the airport for the World Series of Poker. Other big names who didn't make it through were the aforementioned Lewis as well as Mat Frankland, Antoine Saout and former WSOP Main Event winner Peter Eastgate.
Despite the fact that everyone was comfortably in the money, tensions were still running high. The loudest roar in the room came not on the river or even in the biggest pot of the day, but on turn in a hand between Ken Broad and Tom Kugelstadt. Broad ended up exiting quite sheepishly, although Kugelstadt would follow him to the rail just before the end of the day.
It was Trickett's former foes in the Nottingham poker scene, Pete Linton and Nick Hicks, who were at this point vying for the chip lead as Schemion lost several big pots, eventually falling in a flip. It looked as though Hicks would be the overall chip leader after he eliminated Amy Trodd in a 3 million-chip pot with aces against kings, but then Alban's late rally right at the end just pushed the Frenchman in front for Day 5.
Perhaps no one had a day more resembling the trajectory of a yo-yo than Freddy Deeb. First he was up, then he was down, then up again as though he was some sort of oscillating sound wave. Deeb hit a peak high of over 3 million chips late in the day when he eliminated Andre Moreira in a controversial hand where the latter was judged to have called and not raised in a hand. This led to Moreira being eliminated and Deeb joining the chip leaders.
However, the former WPT and WSOP bracelet winner had a very bad last hour, losing two decent pots in quick succession. The second, a nasty cooler where he flopped trips against a full house. However, he'll still be back with just under 1.5 million which will give him plenty of room yet to manoeuvre.
Others who made it through to Day 5 include Praz Bansi, Julian Gardner and Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, all still hoping for that €1 million first prize. PokerNews' Laura Cornelius caught up with Ulliott on Day 4:
Play will resume at 12 p.m. on Tuesday and won't end until a final table is reached. Remember to join the PokerNews Live Reporting Team for all the updates on the penultimate day of the ISPT.
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