€5,000 EPT Kyiv Main Event Day 4 | 2009 PokerStars.net EPT Kyiv

08-22-2009 11:47 UTC+3

Day 4 Approaches

[user66118]

We're back at the Kyiv Sport Palace in scenic Ukraine for the continuation of the PokerStars.net EPT season opener.

Over the course of four days of action -- including two Day 1 flights -- the field of 296 runners has been slimmed down to the final 32. Of those, 24 are destined for the walk of shame today as this Day 4 run will see us play all the way down to the final table of eight.

Max Lykov is once again atop the leader board to start the day, the second consecutive day that starts with him in front. His 31 fellow competitors will be gunning hard for him today, and we expect to see a lot of action at the outset from the short stacks as they look for an early double up to bolster their shot at the final table.

Play is set to resume at noon, just about 15 minutes from now. We'll be back shortly with the shuffle up and deal.

08-22-2009 12:04 UTC+3

Almost Ready

[user66118]

The players are mostly in their seats, and the chip bags have just been opened. It'll be about another 10 minutes before we get going, it appears.

Level: 17

Blinds: 3,000/6,000

Ante: 500

08-22-2009 12:28 UTC+3

Let's Get it On!

[user66118]

We've got action out on the tournament floor. The cards are in the air, and Day 4 is underway! There are 51 minutes remaining in Level 17.

08-22-2009 12:28 UTC+3

Chip Counts at the Start of Day 4

Shamus

Maxim Lykov (Russia) -- 636,000
Vadim Markushevski (Belarus) -- 631,500
Vitaly Tolokonnikov (Russia) -- 613,500
Jonas Kronwitter (Germany) -- 550,000
Joram Voelklein (Germany) -- 520,500
Adrian Schaap (Holland) -- 520,000
Igor Dubinsky (Ukraine) -- 517,000
Waldemar Kopyl (Germany) -- 378,000
Nikita Lebedev (Russia) -- 346,000
Kirill Boydachenko (Russia) -- 345,500

Alexander Dovzhenko (Ukraine) -- 317,500
Michele Limongi (Italy) -- 301,000
Anatoly Zharnitsky (Canada) -- 294,500
Nikita Nikolaev (Russia) -- 254,500
Michael Naletov (Russia) -- 254,000
Michael Meyburg (Germany) -- 240,500
Arthur Simonyan (Russia) -- 215,500
Alexey Maslov (Russia) -- 197,000
Oleksander Vaserfirer (Ukraine) -- 189,500
Alexander Fitzgerald (USA) -- 185,000

Andrew Malott (USA) -- 183,000
Torsten Tent (Germany) -- 179,500
Volodymyr Zakharov (Ukraine) -- 167,500
Lucasz Plichta (Poland) -- 150,000
Iliya Gorodetskiy (Russia) -- 145,000
Grigory Zima (Belarus) -- 137,000
David Jaoui (France) -- 108,000
Bernard Boutboul (France) -- 98,500
Eduard Dombovsky (Ukraine) -- 83,500
Menno Mulder (Holland) -- 69,500

Volodymyr Pilyavskyy (Ukraine) -- 57,000
Artem Litvinov (Russia) -- 34,500

08-22-2009 12:28 UTC+3

EPT Live

[user66118]

As play wound down yesterday evening, the television crew was hard at work building the eye-catching set up on the big stage along the side of the room. That set is being put to use today as eight players are seated up there under the bright lights. Because the table is surrounded by cameras, we'll not have much access to cover the action up there.

Good news though, poker fans. The featured table is being streamed on EPT Live today, so head over there to peek on the action.

08-22-2009 12:32 UTC+3

Fitzgerald Takes the First Bite

[user66118]

In the first hand of action on the featured table, Kirill Boydachenko opened with a raise to 16,500 before Alex Fitzgerald re-raised to 43,000. The table passed back around, and Boydachenko came along with the call.

Heads up, the flop brought {3-Hearts}

, and Boydachenko checked. Fitzgerald instantly announced that he was all in for 141,000, and his opponent would let his hand go.

Boydachenko - 302,000
Fitzgerald - 240,000

08-22-2009 12:43 UTC+3

Poker Transcends Language Barriers

Shamus

We've seen several all-ins here in the early going, though no takers so far. Nikita Nikolaev, Menno Mulder, and Igor Dubinsky have all made all-in shoves here in the early going, but none elicited a call.

In Dubinsky's hand, he was reraising from the big blind after Andrew Malott had opened with a raise from the cutoff.

"All in," said Dubinsky. "So you do know English," said Malott. Dubinsky explained (in Ukrainian) that he knew three terms: "'Call', 'All in', and 'Raise'".

"The universal language of poker," laughed Malott as he folded.

08-22-2009 12:51 UTC+3

Get Yer Doubles

[user66118]

We just had three simultaneous all-in-and-call situations, one on each of the tables down on the main floor.

*****

First, Torsten Tent opened with a raise to 16,000 before Michele Limongi re-raised to 79,000. Tent quickly moved all in, and Limongi tanked for a few minutes and called.

Tent tabled {J-Hearts}

, in good shape versus the {9-Diamonds}

of Limongi. The board ran out {2-Spades}

to hold his overpair, doubling him up and leaving Limongi with just over 20,000 left to play with.

*****

Andrew Malott and Michael Meyburg got it all in on a flop showing {3-Spades}

. Neither player had a pair as Malott showed {A-Hearts}

to Meyburg's {2-Clubs}

. The

on the turn secured the double up for Malott with the nut flush, drawing a big fist pump from the gregarious Malott.

*****

In a battle of the blinds, two men saw a flop come down {K-Spades}

. Joram Voelklein checked, allowing Alexander Dovzhenko to bet 30,000 before check-raising all in. Dovzhenko quickly called, turning over {K-Diamonds}

. Voelklein was drawing to the flush as he showed {J-Spades}

. A blank

on the turn and {9-Diamonds}

on the river failed to get him there, and he will double up the big blind.

That's three all ins, three double ups out there on the side tables.

08-22-2009 13:01 UTC+3

Artem Litvinov Eliminated in 32nd Place (€8,600); Michele Limongi Eliminated in 31st Place (€8,600)

Shamus

After being crippled in that earlier hand versus Torsten Tent, Michele Limongi pushed all in from early position with his last 31,500. Nikita Lebedov called from the hijack seat, then Artem Litvinov called all in with his last 21,500 from the button. The blinds got out, and the players' cards were revealed.

Limongi {A-Diamonds}

Lebedov

Litvinov

The flop was {K-Hearts}

and turn

, at which point Litvinov's tens were still best. But the river brought the {9-Hearts}

, giving the big stack Lebedeov the heart flush and knocking out two players at once.

Both Limongi and Litvinov earn €8,600, with Limongi fishing a spot higher because he had more chips than Litvinov before that hand began. Lebedov is now up to 395,000.