EPT10 Grand Final Day 4: Hicks Leads Final 17; Salter Goes From Short Stack to Third in Chips
The plan for Day 4 of the 2014 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event was to play down from 41 to the final two tables. That didn’t happen though, and after five 90-minute levels of play, action has been halted with 17 players remaining.
Leading the way is Kenny Hicks, the man responsible for bursting the money bubble back on Day 3. Hicks’ rise to the top came late in the night and was due in no small part to a lucky flop against Conor Shelly. Hicks’ 
found a third to crack his opponent’s pocket kings, and he went on to bag the lead with 2,499,000 while Shelly finished 18th for €49,350.
Hicks’ rise to the top was impressive, but another story unfolded on Day 4. Jack Salter, who was recently the subject of a PokerNews feature, began the day as the second shortest stack, but thanks to some early doubles he managed to climb back into contention. Not only that, he even took over the chip lead at one point!
“I didn’t think about how many chips I may be bagging up, but I really go for the positive thinking, I honestly thought I was going to spin it up, I really believe it was going to happen,” Salter said after play concluded for the night and he bagged up 1.75 million. When asked if it was his time, he responded: “I hope so, why not? Why not me? I have chips, there’s 17 people left, I don’t see any reason it can’t be me.”
Salter earned a good portion of his chips early on in Level 20 (5,000/10,000/1,000) in a pot against Day 2 chip leader, Vladimir Troyanovskiy. It began when the Russian opened for 21,000 under the gun and was met by a three-bet to 50,000 from Salter. The blinds both folded and Troyanovskiy clicked it back for 120,000. Salter moved all in for 376,000 total and Troyanovskiy made the call.
Salter: 
Troyanovskiy: 
Salter had the goods, but Troyanovskiy picked up a sweat when the flop came down 
. Much to Salter's relief, neither the 
turn nor 
river proved harmful, and he doubled yet again. Meanwhile, Troyanovskiy would fall in 37th place in the very next hand.
Others who exited on Day 4 were Grzegorz Wyraz (35th - €28,300), Noah Boeken (33rd - €28,300), Yulius Sepman (30th - €32,200), Emil Patel (28th - €32,200), Ville Wahlbeck (26th - €36,700), Christoph “Tight-Man1” Vogelsang (25th - €36,700), and David Williams (24th - €36,700).
Williams was the last Team PokerStars Pro in the field, but he never stood much of a chance as he nursed a short stack all afternoon long. In Level 23 (10,000/20,000/3,000), Williams got his stack of 285,000 all in preflop and received a call from Dani Stern.
Williams: 
Stern: 
It was a classic flip, but not after the flop came down 
. Stern flopped a set and became a massive favorite. When the appeared on the turn, Williams was drawing dead. The Team Pro immediately exited the stage and didn't even stick around to see the river, which of course was a meaningless card.
Stern would eventually fall in 21st place for €42,850, and then Scott Clements and [Removed:17] followed him out the door in 20th and 19th place respectively, both good for €49,350.
While 24 players fell, 17 survived including Martins Seilis (1,767,000), Antonio Buonanno (1,623,000), Mayu Roca (1,500,000), Malte Moennig (1,450,000), Vasili Firsau and (1,002,000). Also joining them is the last former EPT champ remaining in the field, Mark Teltscher (802,000); EPT10 Prague High Roller winner Ivan Soshnikov (731,000), PokerStars.fr TV Stars’ Miroslav Alilovic; and inaugural World Poker Tour Alpha8 champ Steven Silverman (436,000).
The final 17 players, who are each guaranteed a payday of at least €55,850, will return at Noon local time on Thursday to play down to the final table of eight. Who will make a run at the €1,240,000 first-place prize? Join us then to find out.
In the meantime, check out this video where Jennifer Robles catches up with the first two-time EPT champ, Victoria Coren Mitchell: