Simon Wiciak raised to 160,000 with A♦A♣ from early position and Pedro Lopes three-bet 480,000 from the cutoff with K♠5♠.
Mathias Duarte looked down at A♥K♥ on the button and four-bet to A♥K♥.
Wiciak used a time bank to consider what to do with pocket aces before he shoved his big stack of 9,340,000. Lopes folded and and Duarte called. Action was heads up with Duarte at risk.
Mathias Duarte: A♥K♥
Simon Wiciak: A♦A♣
The board ran out 6♥10♠Q♣7♦6♦ and the aces held to send Duarte to the rail in 21st place for €45,800.
Sandor Hadnagy raised to 170,000 from under the gun as action folded to Daniyar Aubakirov in the big blind who three-bet to 440,000. Hadnagy then shoved all in and Aubakirov snap-called.
Sandor Hadnagy: 7♠7♦
Daniyar Aubakirov: A♥K♥
Aubakirov took the lead on the K♠2♠J♠ flop with top pair, while Hadnagy had a flush draw. The 3♥ turn was no help, while the 2♦ river sealed the pot for Aubakirov.
The stacks were counted down and Aubakirov had 2,930,000 remaining and Hadnagy 2,925,000. Aubakirov had him covered by just 5,000 and Hadnagy was sent to the rail.
Action folded to Samuel Fournier in the small blind who limped in. Carl Shaw then raised to 300,000 and Fournier reraised to 800,000.
Shaw called and they saw a flop of 2♣J♥A♥. Fournier led out for 275,000 and Shaw quickly called.
The turn came the K♦ and Fournier moved all in for around 1,900,000. Shaw practically beat him into the pot and turned over A♣A♦ for top set. Fournier was caught bluffing with Q♠8♦ and needed to hit a ten on the river to stay alive with a straight.
The dealer instead turned over the 7♠ and Fournier's tournament came to a sudden end.
Simon Wiciak raised to 160,000 with 7♠6♠ from early position before Pedro Lopes three-bet to 420,000 from the button with K♦9♦. Wiciak called and the flop was 5♣7♥9♥.
Wiciak checked the flop and Lopes bet all but 60,000. Wiciak raised and all the chips were in the middle.
Pedro Lopes: K♦9♦
Simon Wiciak: 7♠6♠
The board finished up 7♦J♣ and Wiciak turned a third seven to send Lopes to the rail in 18th place for €55,000.
Carl Shaw opened to 160,000 from the cutoff and Markku Koplimaa moved all in from the small blind for 750,000. Shaw made the call to put Koplimaa at risk.
Markku Koplimaa: 9♥9♠
Carl Shaw: Q♦5♦
Koplimaa was in great shape to double up and remained so on the K♠5♠8♦ flop. Shaw picked up additional outs on the 2♦ turn but the A♥ river was clean for Koplimaa, who received a full double up as a result.
Mihai Niste moved all in for 940,000 from under the gun and Santiago Plante called in the small blind. Khazret Nebezhev, who had a significant portion of his remaining stack invested in the big blind, open-folded A♣7♣.
Mihai Niste: A♥J♥
Santiago Plante: 9♣9♦
Niste spiked top pair on the 2♥J♣7♦ flop, and secured yet another double up as the board ran out 5♠3♠.
Curtis Knight raised to 160,000 under the gun and Khazret Nebezhev threw in his last 240,000 from the cutoff. Joao Sydenstricker called in the big blind, but Knight only had to announce a reraise before Sydenstricker folded.
Khazret Nebezhev: 2♦2♠
Curtis Knight: A♥K♥
Nebezhev was racing for his tournament life and saw the bad news on the 9♠K♣5♣ flop as Knight hit top pair. The board ran out 7♣4♣ and Nebezhev was sent to the rail in 17th place, bringing Day 5 to a close.
The remaining 16 players are now bagging up their chips for the night.
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 Aubakirovmade quads to crack the pocket-aces of Lucas Scafini and score the first elimination of the day. Shortly afterward, Ka Kwan Laulost a flip to Curtis Knight to become the second casualty of the day.
Curtis Knight
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 Barsegyanwould 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.
Andre Akkari - Moving onto Day 6
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 Marcuscalled 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.
