2015 PCA Main Event Day 4: Eugenio Mattar Busts Ronaldo, Bags Chip Lead with 24 Left
Fifty-seven players navigated their way to Day 4 of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, and five levels later, 24 remain. Eugenio Mattar will open the heaviest bag, containing 2.673 million when Day 5 begins on Tuesday. Mattar has no recorded live cashes, but it's doubtful any money jumps will faze him, as the Brazilian business owner appears on Forbes' list of the richest people in Brazil at no. 72.
Emrah Cakmak (2.037 million), Chance Kornuth (2.026 million), Andreas Samuelsson (1.628 million), Pratyush Buddiga (1.624 million), Shyam Srinivasan (1.31 million), Maurice Hawkins (962,000), Jim Collopy (799,000), Rami Boukai (769,000), Dylan Linde (709,000), and Noah Schwartz (238,000) are among those joining Mattar for Day 5.
Day 4 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eugenio Mattar | 2,673,000 |
| 2 | Emrah Cakmak | 2,037,000 |
| 3 | Chance Kornuth | 2,026,000 |
| 4 | Andreas Samuelsson | 1,628,000 |
| 5 | Pratyush Buddiga | 1,624,000 |
| 6 | Ratharam Sivagnanam | 1,341,000 |
| 7 | Niklas Hambitzer | 1,317,000 |
| 8 | Shyam Srinivasan | 1,310,000 |
| 9 | Diego Ventura | 1,154,000 |
| 10 | Juan Martin Pastor | 1,085,000 |
A chunk of Mattar's chips came at the expense of retired Brazilian football legend Ronaldo. The PokerStars SportStar spent the entire day at the featured table, where he was able to hold his own until the last half hour or so of Level 23 (10,000/20,000/2,000), the last of the night. That's when he opened from middle position with K♦10♦ to 80,000, saw Mattar three-bet to 200,000, and jammed all in. Mattar called for 536,000 total with Q♦Q♠, and a 5♣J♣9♠8♣J♥ runout left the Brazilian superstar all smiles as he shook hands with his former opponents.
If Srinivasan's name doesn't jump off the page, his online alias "s_dot111" should, as the Canadian has claimed more than $7.5 million in online cashes. Last year, he ran deep in this very event and ultimately finished sixth for $328,020, his first six-figure live score. He followed it with a solid slate of live tournaments and said the experience is paying dividends.
"I feel a lot more comfortable," he said. "Last year was my first real deep run in a live poker tournament but I feel so much better now."
He's confident he'll be able to make sound decisions as the field winds down and the pressure increases.
"I'm just going to take every situation as it comes," he said. "I've played so many hands of poker that I know what to do."
Among those who headed to the payout desk and left with fatter wallets today were Mario Puccini (57th), Alex Venovski (52nd), PokerStars Team Online pro Naoya Kihara (50th), Global Poker Index leader Ole Schemion (45th), former Main Event champ Jonathan Duhamel (42nd), PokerStars Team Pro Jason Mercier (41st), Olivier Busquet (39th), and Shannon Shorr (35th).
The tournament resumes at noon on Tuesday, so come right back to PokerNews for more live coverage. In the meantime, check out our interview with high roller Bryn Kenney.
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