Anil Ozdemir Leads Ahead of PokerStars Festival Bucharest Main Event Final Day
By the time play had concluded at the end of Day 3 of the PokerStars Festival Bucharest Main Event, just seven players remained from the 58 that started the day.
The chipleader ahead of the final day is Anil Ozdemir who was the chipleader at the start of the unofficial official final table also. He eliminated several players on his way to bagging the chip lead and 9,350,000 in chips.
| Seat | Name | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Johann Eclapier | 875,000 | 15 |
| 2 | Patrick Bueno | 835,000 | 14 |
| 3 | Empty | ||
| 4 | Daniel Nietrzebka | 2,255,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Empty | ||
| 6 | Traian Bostan | 735,000 | 12 |
| 7 | Sam Grafton | 6,690,000 | 112 |
| 8 | Fahredin Mustafov | 2,300,000 | 38 |
| 9 | Anil Olgun Ozdemir | 9,350,000 | 156 |
"It's crazy," said Ozdemir after bagging, "It's my first live tournament final table.
"Well, my second. I made one in Rozvadov. But that was a small tournament. This is a big tournament for me.
"My strategy is pretty aggressive I think, and having the chip lead is the biggest weapon for me.
"It's great here in Bucharest. I have been to a lot of PokerStars tournaments like Monte Carlo and Lille."
Closely behind him is well-known British Pro Sam Grafton.
"It's an action-packed day. Very exciting. Right up until the final table. There's been a lot of big pots. I'm excited to be where I am.
"Obviously, Anil [Ozdemir] has the chiplead and he's the favourite but I'm in a strong position and I'm looking forward to playing tomorrow."
The day started with a bang with both Day 1b chipleader Stefan Fabian and Day 1a chipleader Tamas Kabatnic busting within the first level. Such was the ferocity of the action at the tables here in Bucharest, that a whopping 24 players were eliminated over the course of the first two levels of the day.
Traian Bostan soared into the chiplead midway through the day, thanks to a stunning hand against start of day chipleader. Nandor Solyom. Solyom three-bet from the small blind and Bostan cold four-bet jammed with Aces. The initial raiser folded and Solyom called with Kings! The pot was worth 2.7m and boosted Bostan to the top of the charts.
Day 2 chipleader Solyom had a difficult time thereafter, dealing with a short stack and despite doubling again, he got his remaining chips in with Aces only for them to be cracked by the Jack-Eight suited of Fahredin Mustafov.
Despite the average stack size rising to over 50 big blinds, there was no let-up in the pace of bustouts from the last two tables until the very end of the night, which means players will be returning with an average stack of 52 big blinds.
Join us tomorrow from 1 p.m. when the final seven players return to battle it out to see who takes home the €133,400 in prize money and the title of PokerStars Festival Bucharest Main Event Champion.