2014 PokerStars EPT Grand Final Main Event Day 5: Jack Salter Leads Final Table
Day 5 of the 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final was the shortest day of the tournament so far as the remaining 17 players were whittled down to the final eight in approximately five hours.
Britain's Jack Salter, who was recently the subject of a feature here on PokerNews, will be going into the final table as the chip leader with 5,170,000 after a remarkable turnaround over the past 48 hours. Salter went into Day 4 as one of the shortest stacks but overtook Mayu Roca in the last hour of play thanks to his unrelenting aggression and frequent cold four-bets which no one else seemed to have an answer to.
Salter leads a table of six different nationalities. As well as Salter representing the UK and Roca being the hope of Colombia, there is also Magnus Karlsson of Sweden, Italy's Antonio Buonanno, and Kenny Hicks from the USA. The trio of Sebastian von Toperczer, Malte Moennig and Sebastian Bredthauer will represent Germany, which has been arguably the most dominant country on the European Poker Tour this season.
Final Table Seat Draw
| Seat | Name | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenny Hicks | 1,875,000 |
| 2 | Jack Salter | 5,170,000 |
| 3 | Sebastian Bredthauer | 755,000 |
| 4 | Mayu Roca | 4,625,000 |
| 5 | Magnus Karlsson | 2,595,000 |
| 6 | Malte Moennig | 1,150,000 |
| 7 | Antonio Buonanno | 2,065,000 |
| 8 | Sebastian von Toperczer | 1,240,000 |
Steven Silverman was the first player to be eliminated on Day 4. He reraised all in with A♥J♥ over the top of a Karlsson open only to find Roca sitting with Q♠Q♦ behind him. A blank board sent Silverman walking to the rail. To make matters worse, registration for the €25,000 High Roller event, which Silverman won last year, had already closed, meaning the American won't have a chance to defend his title.
After the redraw for two tables, Matias Ruzzi was quickly dispatched by Buonanno. Ruzzi's ace-queen having no answer for the Italian's kings. This was followed by the biggest pot of the tournament so far as on the feature table Roca five-bet all in with Q♦Q♠ against Nikita Nikolaev and the Russian called with 10♠10♣ for a pot worth over 3 million chips. Nikolaev was eliminated after Roca managed to spike a third queen on the turn. Roca continued his tear, knocking out Nick Petrangelo next when the Colombian flopped a straight against Petrangelo's two pair and the latter was unable to improve.
Ivan Soshnikov, who won the EPT Prague High Roller event for €382,050 in December, was eliminated in 13th place. He suffered a cooler when he picked up A♠K♣ and went to war against Vasili Firsau but the Belarussian held A♦A♣ and promptly knocked him out. Mark Teltscher, the last remaining former EPT champion, was next out of the door. Shoving with a suited ace-deuce, he ran into von Toperczer's pair of sixes and was drawing dead when the German flopped a set.
Miroslav Alilovic, who a won a €25,000 contract for winning the French Poker Series Season 3 leader board, had to be content with an 11th place finish. Alilovic was crippled when he doubled up Karlsson before having his queens cracked by von Toperczer's lowly eight-five offsuit.
Last year, Firsau finished 10th at the EPT Grand Final for €76,000. This year he finished 10th again for €83,200 – so if nothing else, at least the prize money increased. Firsau three-bet shoved over the top of a Salter raise with A♠10♣ but Salter quickly called with J♣J♠ and faded on a 4♦8♥Q♥6♦K♠ board.
This left the final nine players and it didn't take long for the first showdown. Martins Seilis was the man at risk with a dominating A♠Q♥ against Salter's A♣J♣. The 3♣K♦4♣ gave Salter a flush draw while the 4♥ on the turn gave him some split possibilities but it was the K♣ on the river that spelled doom for the Latvian and guaranteed Salter's position as the chip leader at the final table.
Friday's final table is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. local time but sequestered to be shown on live stream with hole cards face-up beginning at 2 p.m. The PokerNews Live Reporting will be following all the action from then as EPT Season 10 reaches it's thrilling conclusion. Until then, follow our updates from the €25,000 High Roller by clicking here.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | €1,240,000 |
| 2nd | €765,000 |
| 3rd | €547,000 |
| 4th | €419,000 |
| 5th | €332,000 |
| 6th | €258,300 |
| 7th | €188,500 |
| 8th | €128,800 |
Salter started Day 4 of the Main Event 40 of 41 with only ten big blinds. With a bit of luck and some strategic planning he is now the chip leader with only eight left. Jennifer Robles caught up with him after he bagged more than 5 million in chips.
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