Thomas Eychenne raised to 25,000 under the gun and picked up calls from Timothy Chung in the cutoff and Bo Jin in the big blind.
Action checked to Chung on the K♦6♠2♦ flop and he bet 30,000. Only Jin called.
The turn was the 5♣ and Chung bet another 160,000. Jin quickly called to see the 6♦ river, where Chung bet another 125,000. Jin used four time banks as he tanked for several minutes before calling. Chung then showed 6♥6♣ for quads and Jin mucked.
Brock Wilson opened to 28,000 from the button and Pablo Beltran three-bet the big blind to 76,000. Wilson called.
A flop of 7♦9♦A♣ saw Beltran make a continuation-bet of 40,000, which Wilson called.
The 10♠ on the turn drew another bet from Beltran, this time to the tune of 115,000. Wilson called again.
Beltran checked the K♣ river and Wilson went into the tank for around two minutes before he bet 245,000, leaving himself just 1,000 behind. Beltran wasted no time in shoving, and Wilson called off his last chip.
Beltran showed A♠7♥ for aces & sevens, and Wilson showed K♦10♦ for a backdoored, smaller two pair, which meant he was eliminated.
Yurii Zabrodotskyi raised to 25,000 on the button and was called by Derk van Luijk in the big blind. On the A♣10♣8♣ flop, Van Luijk checked and Zabrodotskyi bet 25,000.
The 2024 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champ then check-raised all in for about 240,000. Zabrodotskyi called and the PokerStars TV cameras gathered again to record van Luijk's fate.
Derk van Luijk: K♣9♥
Yurii Zabrodotskyi: 10♦10♠
Zabrodotskyi was ahead with his set of tens, but Van Luijk was drawing to a flush.
The Q♦ turn changed nothing and the 9♠ river ended Van Luijk's day just minutes after he had doubled up.
Alexander Seibt got his last 100,000 in the middle in a blind versus blind confrontation against Dominykas Karmazinas.
Alexander Seibt: K♣5♦
Dominykas Karmazinas: 10♣10♥
The flop came 9♦8♣7♦, followed by the 8♥ turn. The river was the 6♣ and Seibt began celebrating after hitting a straight.
"Oh, you have a ten. What a tease," Seibt said after noticing that Karmazinas had also made a straight to win the pot and send "Wolfgang Poker" to the rail.
"At least I made it to double digits. That's pretty cool," Seibt said after making it into the top 100 for the second straight EPT Main Event.
Ramon Colillas jammed all in for 117,000 under the gun and was looked up by Hannes Jeschka in the cutoff.
Ramon Colillas: 8♠8♣
Hannes Jeschka: A♠K♣
The 3♣7♥10♦ flop remained safe for Colillas, but the Q♣ turn gave Jeschka some extra outs. The K♥ river saw him pair up to eliminate the Spanish PokerStars Ambassador early on Day 4.
Eero Rantala raised to 20,000 under the gun, Fabian Niederreiter moved all in for 90,000 in the big blind, and Rantala called.
Fabian Niederreiter: A♦7♦
Eero Rantala: K♠9♠
The Q♠9♥2♠ flop was a disaster for Niederreiter as Rantala not only took the lead with a pair, but he also picked up a flush draw. Rantala improved to two pair on the K♥ turn and Niederreiter was already drawing dead by the 2♦ river and heading for the payout desk.
Yunkyu Song moved all in for 248,000 from early position and was up against Jan Eric Schwippert in the big blind.
Yunkyu Song: Q♠Q♦
Jan Eric Schwippert: J♥J♣
Song had Schwippert dominated with his queens and stayed in the lead through the A♠8♥A♦7♠4♠ board to earn a double up.
At the same time at another table, Marius-Catalin Pertea raised to 25,000 in middle position before Dean Lyall moved all in for 206,000 in the cutoff. Byron Kaverman called in the big blind, while Pertea got out of the way.
Dean Lyall: 10♦10♥
Byron Kaverman: K♥K♦
Kaverman had woken up with kings and was poised for the knockout as the flop came J♦J♠8♠. The turn, though, was the 10♣ and Lyall spiked a full house. The 3♣ fell on the river and Lyall doubled up, leaving Kaverman on an extreme short stack.
Out of the 1,975 entries that were made in the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona €5,300 Main Event, only 113 will return to Casino Barcelona today at noon local time. Among those returning for Day 4 of the Main Event are Simon Wiciak and Derk van Luijk, who are aiming to achieve a unique feat.
PokerStars Ambassador Wiciak was crowned the champion at EPT Barcelona last year and is having a deep run yet again. He bagged 840,000 chips on Day 3, seeing him return with an above-average stack of 84 big blinds today. Were he to defend his title, he would be the first-ever player to do so in an EPT Main Event.
Meanwhile, Van Luijk is the most recent EPT champion, having won the Main Event at EPT Monte Carlo last May. With his stack of 200,000, he is in a significantly worse position than Wiciak but will be looking to spin up his stack in an attempt to be the first person to win two EPT Main Events in a row.
Derk van Luijk
For either player to capture their second title, they will have to navigate through a field full of accomplished poker players. Timothy Chung has racked up lifetime earnings of seven figures throughout his career and already had a deep run in the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event earlier at EPT Barcelona, ultimately finishing in 20th. He will return with a stack of 1,571,000, leading the field.
Also among the top stacks are 2022 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song (1,382,000) and Van Luijk's fellow EPT Monte Carlo final tablist Rania Nasreddine (1,330,000).
Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Timothy Chung
Hong Kong
1,571,000
157
2
Firoz Mangroe
Netherlands
1,476,000
148
3
Pablo Beltran
Spain
1,470,000
147
4
Stephen Song
USA
1,382,000
138
5
Rania Nasreddine
USA
1,330,000
133
6
Jack Kiriakus
Sweden
1,293,000
129
7
Darius Neagoe
Romania
1,266,000
127
8
Bo Jin
China
1,249,000
125
9
Sriharsha Doddapaneni
India
1,192,000
119
10
Jianwei Lin
China
1,155,000
116
Also returning for Day 4 are the likes of EPT Champion Mark Teltscher (542,000), American regulars David Coleman (615,000), Asher Conniff (515,000) Nick Palma (298,000), and Michael Wang (217,000), as well as Wiciak's fellow PokerStars Team Pro Ramon Colillas (127,000).
The majority of the €9,578,750 prize pool has not been divided yet, although all returning players have locked up a share of at least €15,350. However, the top prize of €1,512,000 will be in the minds of all of them as they navigate through the fourth day of the seven-day event.
When Day 4 kicks off at noon local time, the blinds will be at 5,000/10,000 with a 10,000 big blind ante. All levels will be 90 minutes long and a break will be had after every level. Six levels are scheduled for the day with no dinner break, subject to change.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as the live reporting team will provides updates directly from the tournament floor from the start of Day 4 until the very last hand.
