Jon Kyte Soars to the Top on Day 4 of the EPT Prague Main Event
Jon Kyte was pulling all the right strings on Day 4 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague Main Event.
Kyte, who began the day as chip leader, finished back atop the leaderboard with 6,515,000 as 16 players made it through with their dreams of making the final table still intact. But Kyte encountered some turbulent wind on his way to taking back a commanding lead.
Kyte was all in with king-jack on a jack-high board against Alexandru Lupuleac’s ace-jack. One card away from elimination, Kyte spiked a king on the river to double up off a stunned Lupuleac. Kyte was also on the right side of two massive coin flips, besting Cesar Garcia with two queens against ace-king and then eliminating Marius Kudzmanas near the end of the night in what turned out to be the biggest pot of Day 4.
The Norwegian pro already has more than $1.2 million in live earnings, but this is his deepest run yet in an EPT Main Event. He finished 87th at EPT London last October, although he did win side events at both EPT Monte Carlo and EPT Barcelona earlier this year.
Grigorii Rodin (4,025,000) is Kyte’s closest challenger, followed by Cheng Zhao (3,740,000), Serge Chechin (2,980,000), and Vincent Meli (2,920,000).
Day 4 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 6,515,000 | 130 |
| 2 | Grigorii Rodin | Russia | 4,025,000 | 81 |
| 3 | Cheng Zhao | China | 3,740,000 | 75 |
| 4 | Serge Chechin | France | 2,980,000 | 60 |
| 5 | Vincent Meli | France | 2,920,000 | 58 |
| 6 | Padraig O'Neill | Ireland | 2,700,000 | 54 |
| 7 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 2,695,000 | 54 |
| 8 | Dejan Jakovljevic | Netherlands | 2,285,000 | 46 |
| 9 | Marle Spragg | United States | 2,080,000 | 42 |
| 10 | Adam Wagner | Czech Republic | 1,930,000 | 39 |
| 11 | Umberto Ruggeri | Italy | 1,470,000 | 29 |
| 12 | Jiri Kocab | Czech Republic | 1,325,000 | 27 |
| 13 | Preben Stokkan | Norway | 1,185,000 | 24 |
| 14 | Max Neugebauer | Austria | 1,090,000 | 22 |
| 15 | Govert Metaal | Netherlands | 930,000 | 19 |
| 16 | Mark Helou | Lebanon | 540,000 | 11 |
The two players who will be in the spotlight tomorrow with a chance to make history, however, are further down the leaderboard.
Niall Farrell ended up in seventh place with 2,695,000. The champion of EPT Malta in 2015 will have a chance to join Vicky Coren Mitchell, Mikalai Pobal, and Mike Watson as the only two-time EPT champions.
Marle Spragg also remains in contention. She found aces to triple up and keep her EPT dreams alive heading into Day 5 as she looks to become the fifth woman to win on the EPT, along with Coren Mitchell, Liv Boeree, Maria Lampropulos, and Sandra Naujoks.
Other players who will also be returning include Padraig O’Neill (2,700,000), WSOP Europe champion Max Neugebauer (1,090,000), and Govert Metaal (930,000). Metaal is the grizzled veteran left in the field. The Dutch pro first cashed in an EPT Main Event back in 2010 and has 15 career cashes. He’s one spot away from matching his best finish in Monte Carlo in 2019.
Day 4 Action
Day 4 began with 46 players remaining out of a record-setting starting field of 1,285. Leo Margets was the first player eliminated, running into the aces of Farrell. Omar Eljach also fell victim to Farrell, losing a race with eights against Farrell’s ace-nine when Farrell hit a straight on the river.
Lampropulos, the 2018 PCA champion, was busted in 33rd place by Kudzmanas holding a pair of nines. Steve O’Dwyer, another past EPT champion from Monte Carlo in 2013, began the day second in chips but his hopes of another run at a title took a big hit when he five-bet shoved with ace-queen but Lupuleac called with two queens to double up, dropping O’Dwyer to a short stack.
Lupuleac joined the ranks of the chip leaders with that pot, but nothing went right for him after that. After losing to the calamitous king on the river against Kyte, he lost a race with ace-queen to Chechin’s pocket tens to finish in 26th place.
Anton Bergstrom (24th), Ran Ilani (23rd), Garcia (22nd), and Adria Diaz (21st) followed him to the payout desk once the field redrew for the final three tables.
PokerStars Ambassador and inaugural PSPC champion Ramon Colillas was still in contention up to this point and cruising toward another final table before putting in his last 1,710,000 in a three-way all in against Spragg and Kudzmanas. Colillas showed ace-king, but he was practically drawing dead already as Kudzmanas had kings and Spragg two aces. Spragg took the main pot to triple up, while Kudzmanas busted Colillas in the massive side pot in 20th place.
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O’Dwyer never recovered from losing the pot to Lupuleac and ended up all in for 440,000 with deuces against Umberto Ruggeri’s pocket fives as he busted in 19th place. Then came the pot that catapulted Kyte into the upper atmosphere. Kudzmanas raised to 110,000 before Kyte three-bet to 390,000. Kudzmanas four-bet to 750,000, Kyte five-bet jammed, and Kudzmanas called for his 2,480,000 with ace-king. Kyte had two jacks as the two players raced for the 5,000,000 chip pot and the tournament chip lead. Whatever suspense was left in the hand, however, was completely eroded on the flop as Kyte hit a full house. Kudzmanas’ tournament came to a crashing halt in 18th place.
Teun Mulder was the last player who failed to make it through the day. Seeking a chance at redemption after letting the trophy slip through his grasp last March, Mulder shoved for his last three big blinds but Zhao ended up with a full house to eliminate him in 17th place.
The remaining 16 players have already locked up €42,320 for navigating their way this far. Tomorrow they’ll play down to a final table and try to guarantee themselves €123,600. Then all that’s left to play for is the EPT gold-plated trophy and €1,030,000.
The action resumes tomorrow with 3:37 left in Level 25 with blinds of 20,000-40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. The stacks remain deep and the stakes are high. It’s already been a long road to get to this point, but the journey to being crowned an EPT champion still has a long way to go.
PokerNews will follow along tomorrow as the final table of the largest EPT Prague Main Event in history is set.