Wiciak Leads the Final 16 Players in EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event
Day 5 of the €5,300 Main Event at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT Barcelona) has reached its conclusion. Day 4 chip leader Simon Wiciak has bagged the chip lead for the second day in a row with an impressive stack of 15,705,000. Wiciak finished the day far ahead of the rest of the field, with his closest competitors being Carl Shaw (6,680,000) and Curtis Knight (6,045,000). Wiciak remained in control for virtually the entire day today, picking up many pots without showdown while avoiding putting his stack at risk.
Day 5 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 6 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Simon Wiciak | France | 15,705,000 | 196 |
| 2 | Carl Shaw | United Kingdom | 6,680,000 | 84 |
| 3 | Curtis Knight | Canada | 6,045,000 | 76 |
| 4 | Daniyar Aubakirov | Kazakhstan | 5,845,000 | 73 |
| 5 | Ezequiel Waigel | Argentina | 5,130,000 | 64 |
| 6 | Robin Ylitalo | Sweden | 4,785,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Joao Sydenstricker | Brazil | 3,565,000 | 45 |
| 8 | Oshri Lahmani | Israel | 3,070,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Van Marcus | Australia | 2,470,000 | 31 |
| 10 | Mohamad El Rais | Switzerland | 2,150,000 | 27 |
Day 5 Highlights
Day 5 began at a fast pace with two players being eliminated in the very first hands at their respective tables. First, Daniyar Aubakirov made quads to crack the pocket-aces of Lucas Scafini and score the first elimination of the day. Shortly afterward, Ka Kwan Lau lost a flip to Curtis Knight to become the second casualty of the day.
Knight continued to rise through the chip counts in the early parts of the day, winning a huge flip early on to eliminate Wouter Beltz to take the chip lead at the time. Other players to hit the rail early in Day 5 included Ramin Hajiyev, Alexander Wahl, Pablo Melogno, and Gaetan Balleur.
Thomas Boivin was next to fall when he failed to win a preflop flip against Ezequiel Waigel, setting the way for the final three tables.
The action slowed down considerably after the first level, with the field remaining at 24 players for roughly two hours. Eventually, Eduard Barsegyan would be the next one eliminated when he ran an ace-high flush into the full house of Wiciak to bow out in 24th. He would be followed out the door by Felipe Morelli who lost a flip against Samuel Fournier, and Brandon Mifsud who ran pocket-sevens into Waigel’s pocket-tens.
Mathias Duarte came into the day with a top five stack but had to settle for 21st when he was on the wrong side of a cooler after running ace-king suited into Wiciak’s pocket-aces. Sandor Hadnagy would then be eliminated a few hands later after losing a flip with pocket-sevens against Aubakirov’s ace-king.
Fournier had a roller-coaster Day 5, at one point losing a big hand against trips only to win everything back the next hand with queen-high at showdown. His run finally came to an end in 19th place when he was caught bluffing with a gutshot against Shaw’s pocket-aces and failed to hit his draw by the river.
Pedro Lopes stayed in contention for most of the day today despite being forced to fold in several big pots. He won a big flip versus Waigel midway through the day to pick up some momentum but ultimately busted in 18th after Wiciak turned trip sevens against his top pair.
Khazret Nebezhev was the final casualty of the day. Nebezhev was involved in several big pots throughout Day 5 and at one point doubled up through João Sydenstricker with the nut-flush before Sydenstricker returned the favor in a set over set collision that left Nebezhev with under three big blinds. Nebezhev did an admiral job hanging on after that, doubling up multiple times before finally losing a flip with pocket-twos against Shaw’s ace-king.
Other notable players advancing to Day 6 include Day 3 chip leader Santiago Plante (1,240,000) and PokerStars Team Pro Andre Akkari (685,000). Plante had a somewhat rough day at the tables, doubling up several different players throughout the day including one notable hand where his opponent Van Marcus called for the ace of diamonds after getting all in versus Plante's pocket queens and received exactly what he asked for on the turn.
Meanwhile, Akkari found himself dead last in chip counts by the end of the day, for the second day in a row. Akkari seemed to be on the verge of elimination at several times throughout the day but his opponents were never able to finish him off. Akkari doubled through several players at different points during the day, perhaps most notably against Knight after getting it in with king-queen versus Knight's ace-queen only to river a straight to preserve his tournament life.
The final 16 players will return on September 2nd at 12 p.m. local time with the intention of playing down to the last six players. Action will begin with 13 minutes left on level 28 with blinds at 40,000/80,000 and an 80,000 big blind ante. The tournament will also be streamed via YouTube and Twitch on the PokerStars channel.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the action for the remainder of this and every other event here at the 2023 EPT Barcelona.