Left with only a few chips after he lost a pot against Fournier, Mehdi Chaoui went amost all in from the cutoff, as he kept a single blue chip worth 5,000 in front of him. On the button, Ka Kwan Lau called, as well as another player in the blinds. But on the flop 6♣J♦6♦, Lau bet and made his opponent fold.
Mehdi Chaoui: A♦K♣
Ka Kwan Lau: 9♠9♦
Chaoui still had a few outs to triple up, but the 2♠ and the 3♦ completed the board. Already 9th of EPT Paris this year, he finished 52nd here in Barcelona.
Alan Ferraro opened 50,000 in middle position and Stephen Song flatted the small blind before Wouter Beltz came along in the big blind.
The dealer spread a flop of Q♣9♦8♠ and all three players checked to the 9♠ turn. Song checked and Beltz bet 105.000. Ferraro called before Song put in the check-raise all-in for 300,000. Beltz moved all-in as well forcing Ferraro out of the pot and both hands were tossed on their backs.
"I have a boat," said Beltz as he whipped his cards over.
Stephen Song: A♥A♣
Wouter Beltz: 8♥8♣
Song was unable to catch one of the remaining aces as the 3♣ rolled off on the river, eliminating him from the tournament.
Khazret Nebezhev opened from early position to 55,000 chips. He then saw Alessandro Pichierri three-bet to 150,000 from the hijack. The other players folded, and Nebezhev called.
The dealer revealed a flop of 3♣2♥6♦, where Pichierri made a continuation bet of 65,000 chips. However, Nebezhev chose not to call; instead, he opted for a check-raise to 165,000 chips. Pichierri waited a few seconds, then shoved for approximately 550,000 chips. Nebezhev quickly called.
Alessandro Pichierri: A♠K♣
Khazret Nebezhev: 8♥8♠
Pichierri attempted to bluff, but it didn't work out. He still had a straight draw with the 4♠ on the turn. But the 7♥ on the river didn't complete it. Nebezhev celebrated with a "Si!" while Pichierri left the table.
Benjamin Gros opened to 50,000 from early position and was called by João Sydenstricker on the button and Wouter Beltz in the big blind.
Beltz checked to Gros on the 8♦Q♥9♥ flop and he continued for 40,000. Sydenstricker folded, but Gros then check-raised to 205,000. Gros called.
Beltz fired 415,000 into the middle on the 10♣ turn and Gros again called.
The 2♦ completed the board and Beltz checked over to Gros, who bet 450,000. Beltz called rather quickly and Gros turned over A♥6♥ for a whiffed flush draw. Betlz tabled J♣10♥ for a flopped straight and the large pot was sent his way.
Simon Wiciak opened 60,000 in middle position and Hubert Matuszewski came along in the big blind.
When the 6♣4♠2♠ flop hit the felt, Matuszewski check-raised all in for about 400,000 against the continuation bet of 70,000 and Wiciak snap-called.
Hubert Matuszewski: 9♦6♦
Simon Wiciak: 8♦8♠
Matuszewski flopped top pair but was no good against the overpair of Wiciak and the A♣ turn and Q♣ river changed nothing, soaring Wiciak to the top of the leaderboard.
João Sydenstricker opened to 60,000 from under the gun, and was called by Curtis Knight in the hijack. From the cutoff, Benjamin Gros three-bet to 315,000, keeping only 105,000 with him.
The button and the blinds folded, so the action came back to Sydenstricker who said "580,000" to four-bet. Knight looked at him, and announced all in for 3,900,000 chips. Gros threw his last chips in front of him, and Sydenstricker snap-called.
Benjamin Gros: Q♠Q♦
João Sydenstricker: A♠A♣
Curtis Knight: A♥K♦
Knight made a face when he discovered Sydenstricker's hand. He hit a pair on the river on 9♣9♥2♣6♦K♣, but it wasn't enough to beat Sydenstricker's aces. With the queens and the shortest stack, Gros was eliminated, while Sydenstricker doubled up to 3,850,000 chips.
Santiago Plante raised to 60,000 from early position and Pedro Lopes called from the button before Felipe Morelli shoved 640,000 from the blinds. Plante spent a time bank before he eventually called and Lopes got out of the way while showing 10x10x.
Felipe Morelli: A♦K♣
Santiago Plante: 7♥7♦
The board ran out 10♥K♥A♥9♣4♦ and Morelli flopped two pair before dodging another heart to secure the double.
Another day of the €5,300 Main Event has been played to completion here at the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona with Simon Wiciak emerging as the Day 4 chip leader after amassing 4,515,000 in chips. In a distant second is Daniyar Aubakirov, who bagged up 3,855,000.
Wiciak has a modest $101,000 in live tournament earnings, including a 344th place finish from this year's World Series of Poker Main Event for $44,700. Wiciak is now in pole position to not only secure his largest cash to date, but to also make a run at the €1,488,000 first-place prize, which represents the lion's share of the €10,282,000 prize pool (resulting from a field of 2,120 — the second largest for an EPT main event).
Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
Rank
Name
Country
Chips
Day 5 Big Blinds
1
Simon Wiciak
France
4,515,000
113
2
Daniyar Aubakirov
Kazakhstan
3,855,000
96
3
João Sydenstricker
Brazil
3,745,000
94
4
Carl Shaw
United Kingdom
3,595,000
90
5
Mathias Duarte
Uruguay
3,525,000
88
6
Pedro Lopes
Brazil
3,405,000
85
7
Mohamad El Rais
Switzerland
3,200,000
80
8
Santiago Plante
Canada
2,940,000
74
9
Curtis Knight
Canada
2,865,000
72
10
Jose Rodriguez Zurita
Mexico
2,820,000
71
Daniyar Aubakirov
Day 4 Highlights
Day 4 got off to a dynamic start, with Pedro Lopesscoring a big double up while several others hit the rail, including PokerStars Power Path Gold Pass winner Paul Jurcuta, who was eliminated after Simon Wiciak rivered a straight against Jurcuta's two pair.
Andre Akkari, the last remaining PokerStars Team Pro, was able to navigate his way through the day after being on the brink of elimination early on. After hitting his two-outer to double up, Akkari would later spike quads to eliminate Agostino Ascone during his fortunate run. Akkari, who is dead-last in the chip counts, will bring 435,000 into Day 5 in his pursuit of his first EPT title.
Poker legend Patrik Antonius, who spent much of his day on the feature table, was unable to build any momentum and was eliminated in 54th place during the second level of the day after losing a flip with king-queen to Wouter Beltz's pocket deuces.
Stephen Song entered Day 4 with just nine big blinds but was able to nurse his short stack for quite some time before hitting the rail in 47th place as a result of a slow play gone wrong.
Wiciak started the day with a middling stack, but was able to steadily increase his count throughout the day en route to becoming the chip leader. Wiciak got a big boost to his stack after eliminating Hubert Matuszewski late in the day and was able to hang onto his chip lead from that point on.
The final elimination of the day occurred when Lauri Saaskilahti made a stand with pocket fours but ran into Curtis Knight's pocket kings and failed to improve. With that, the field was reduced to 32 and play was halted for the day at the end of Level 24.
Patrik Antonius
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,488,000
10-11
€105,900
2
€931,250
12-13
€88,200
3
€664,750
14-15
€73,500
4
€511,300
16-17
€63,250
5
€393,300
18-20
€55,000
6
€302,500
21-23
€47,800
7
€232,700
24-27
€41,550
8
€179,000
28-31
€36,100
9
€137,700
32
€31,250
The final 32 players will return on September 1 at noon local time to play an additional five levels. Play will begin on Level 25, which features blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. The tournament will also be streamed via YouTube and Twitch on the PokerStars channel.
Be sure to stick with PokerNews as we continue to bring you all the action right here at Casino Barcelona leading to the next EPT Main Event champion!
