Patrik Jaros Leads the Final Six into the Finale of the €5,300 Main Event

The record-breaking €5,300 2022 PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour Main Event drew 2,294 runners over two opening flights to generate a €11,125,900 prize pool, of which €1,714,000 will go to the winner of Sunday’s final table.

Just six players remain in the hunt for the top spot and Patrik Jaros holds the lead with 14,975,000. Jaros started the fifth day third in chips and was steadily growing his stack, eventually taking a seat at the unofficial final table with the chip lead. He was responsible for the elimination of Paul Fischill in ninth place to extend his lead, and stayed consistent throughout the rest of the day, putting himself in prime position for the final day.

He is followed closely by Kayhan Mokri with 14,575,000. Mokri started the final table at the bottom of the leaderboard but he fought his way back to the very top within the next level by winning multiple pots, then scoring a massive double through Scott Margereson when he managed to get paid with kings against Margereson’s queens. He will be looking for his first live victory.

Fabiano Kovalski sits in third with 12,925,000. The accomplished Brazilian clearly brought his best game to the tables during this crucial day and made multiple hero calls. He managed to send Michael Pinto to the rail in seventh place to close the day after calling Pinto’s bluff shove with only ace-high.

Giuliano Bendinelli (10,700,000), Neville Mateus (10,550,000), and Jimmy Guerrero (5,100,000) round up the top six.

The remaining players are all guaranteed €334,480 but all eyes will be on the €1,714,000 top prize and on the title.

Here's how the final table looks heading into Day 6:

Seat	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Kayhan Mokri	Norway	14,575,000	58
2	Jimmy Guerrero	France	5,100,000	20
3	Patrik Jaros	Czech Republic	14,975,000	60
4	Fabiano Kovalski	Brazil	12,925,000	52
5	Giuliano Bendinelli	Italy	10,700,000	43
6	Neville Mateus	Brazil	10,550,000	42

Day 5 Action

Day 5 began with 16 players still in the hunt and 10 destined to hit the rail.

The feature table provided the first knockout of the day when short stack Tigran Harutyunyan three-bet jammed on the button with ace-ten but got looked up Guerrero who saw ace-queen in the small blind and stayed ahead.

The next casualty was Jack Salter. He three-bet jammed with queen-ten suited from the small blind only to be snap-called by Jaros’s kings on the button.

Lucas Silva Rocha was sent to the exit in fourteenth place after putting his last crumbs at risk with ace-five suited and couldn’t hit against Guerrero’s pocket threes.

Meanwhile, Peterson Machado couldn’t get much going at the final table and his run came to an end when he put his last chips at risk with a straight draw on the flop against Paul Fischill’s pair and straight draw. Machado couldn’t hit, heading to the rail instead.

Bruno Pega had to settle for twelfth place shortly after. Pega was left with a big blind after losing a flip with ace-jack against Maher Nouira’s tens and headed to the payout desk the very next hand.

The next victim was Maher Nouira. Nouira showed he got heart but bluffed his tournament life away after check-raising all in with pocket nines in a massive pot, only to see a call from Kovalski who had flopped a pair of kings.

The unofficial final table was reached with the elimination of Valentin Cristea. After losing multiple pots in a row, Cristea’s run was over when he three-bet jammed his last few big blinds with king-seven off into Jaros’s ace-six suited. Although, he flopped a king, the turn brought an ace and he took tenth place.

Paul Fischill played a short stack masterfully during the final table, but it was all over when he ran his ace-king into Jaros’s kings and was eliminated.

Next up was the most accomplished player at the final table, Scott Margereson. He started the final table second in chips but it went downhill soon after when he woke up with queens against Mokri’s kings and paid him off. He couldn’t recover from thereon and he lost the rest of his chips when he flopped an open-straight draw against Mokri’s top pair but couldn’t hit.

The seventh place went to Michael Pinto when his bluff with queen-high on a paired board, didn’t get through Kovalski who called him off with ace-high.

That prompted bagging time for the last six.

Cards go in the air for Sunday’s finale at 12:30 p.m. Play will continue with 19 minutes and 28 seconds remaining at Level 33 with blinds of 125,000/250,000 and with a 250,000 ante.

The final table will be streamed with cards-up coverage by PokerStars Live on Twitch and YouTube on a 30-minute delay.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the final table action as it happens until a winner is crowned.