Main Event
Day 5 Completed
Main Event
Day 5 Completed
Wow, now that was a quick finish to a fast-moving day.
We came back with 24 players led by Chilean Nicolas Yunis but the chip leader suffered a disastrous day and his stack only went downwards on the feature table. Brit Rupert Elder jumped into the lead early on when he won a huge pot with aces against Nicola Grieco's ace king to go over the three million mark. From then on Elder never looked back as he gradually chipped on a table of short stacks.
Team PokerStars Pro Joe Cada would briefly overtake Elder as chip leader but the Brit picked off a big bluff from the American to regain the lead. With two tables left, both Joe Cada and EPT Berlin runner-up Max Heinzelmann both got moved to the feature table and it was the German who began to put the rest of the players to the sword. Heinzelmann gradually chipped up to about 8 million including busting former World Champion Cada with jacks vs , fading a flush draw.
Meanwhile on the outer table, Elder was doing much the same and dominated the table as no other player had above an average stack, being forced to play the waiting game. Heinzelmann and Elder are virtually level in chips going to tomorrow's final table and have been seated next to each other which will help to provide an interesting dynamic to the table.
We'll be starting once again at 12pm (CET) and remember the final will be shown on EPT Live.
See you then!
Seat 1: Francesco De Vivo - 1,090,000
Seat 2: Max Lykov - 1,495,000
Seat 3: Rupert Elder - 8,005,000
Seat 4: Max Heinzelmann - 7,885,000
Seat 5: Xuan Liu - 1,740,000
Seat 6: Roberto Spada - 4,775,000
Seat 7: Massimiliano Manigrasso - 2,000,000
Seat 8: Costantino Russo - 2,565,000
This is how you finish a fun filled Day 5 at EPT San Remo.
The final nine players took their seat and we were going to play until one more player was eliminated and we would have our final table. We didn't have to wait long - one hand to be exact!
Costantino Russo opened from under the gun with a 125,000 raise and the action folded around to Luigi Pignataro in the big blind who moved all-in for 850,000 and Russo couldn't call quick enough.
Russo | |
Pignataro |
Board:
And that as they say is that!
There are a few minutes left of this level, and we strongly suspect that they are going to play through. Cards are in the air.
The seat draw has been made and is as follows:
Seat | Naam | Chip count | Country |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Francesco De Vivo | Italy | 1,095,000 |
2 | Max Lykov | Russia | 1,500,000 |
3 | Rupert Elder | United Kingdom | 8,010,000 |
4 | Max Heinzelmann | Germany | 7,890,000 |
5 | Xuan Liu | Canada | 1,745,000 |
6 | Roberto Spada | Italy | 4,780,000 |
7 | Massimiliano Manigrasso | Italy | 2,015,000 |
8 | Costantino Russo | Italy | 1,590,000 |
Max Heinzelmann was understandably delighted to get the seat to the left of the chip leader Rupert Elder, giving him an important advantage which Elder wasn't too happy about.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Rupert Elder
|
8,010,000 | 2,415,000 |
Max Heinzelmann | 7,890,000 | -110,000 |
Roberto Spada
|
4,780,000 | 980,000 |
Massimiliano Manigrasso
|
2,015,000 | -315,000 |
Xuan Liu | 1,745,000 | 845,000 |
Costantino Russo
|
1,590,000 | -340,000 |
Max Lykov | 1,500,000 | -500,000 |
Francesco De Vivo | 1,095,000 | 60,000 |
Luigi Pignataro | 910,000 | -1,130,000 |
We are down to nine players and they are redrawing for the unofficial final table. Back shortly.
When Antonino Venneri was finally eliminated it had to be at the hands of Xuan Liu. The two of them have been at each others poker throats all day with a series of all-ins and calls, but when the end did finally arrive it was under very peculiar circumstances.
Venneri, who had been moving his stack all-in for fun, limped into the pot from first position. It folded around to Francesco de Vivo in the small blind who smelled a rat and folded. Xuan Liu was in the big blind and she checked and we saw a flop.
Flop:
Liu checked to Venneri and he quickly bet 100,000 and Liu called equally as quickly.
Turn:
Another ace and exactly the same modus operandi as the flop. A quick 100,000 check-call by Liu.
River:
Another pair but this time sevens. Liu moved all-in and Venneri snap-called with . Liu turned over to smash Venneri to pieces. The count was close but Liu just had the Italian covered and he was our 10th place finisher.
You see it all of the time in these magnificent tournaments. The chip leaders open wider and always seem to catch flops that were sent down from heaven.
Rupert Elder was absolutely roasting his table mates with a series of raises and c-bets when he tried one more time from the button. The bet was 120,000 and this time Marco Bognanni decided to take a stand. The Italian was in the big blind and he made the call and the heavenly flop was . Bognanni checked to Elder who predictably bet 140,000 and Bognanni called very quickly.
The turn was the and again Bognanni quickly check-called a 285,000 Elder bet. The final card was the and Bognanni changed tact slightly. In the previous two rounds he had checked quickly but on the river he pressed his time button. In the end he did check and Elder told the table he was all-in. It was an incredibly smart move because when you combine it with his previous table action it looked like he was trying to steal one. With Liu and Venneri so short it seemed the right time for a shove. Bognanni must have thought the same thing because he called very quickly and it was a 1.2 million river bet.
Elder flipped over for the straight and Bognanni was devastated. We never got to see what his hand actually was as he walked off to a round of applause without showing.
Elder ~ 8 million.
Constantino Russo opened to 130,000 from the small blind and Rupert Elder asked for an exact count in the big blind of Russo's stack. The Italian had about 1.7 million in total and Elder decided to simply set his opponent all in. With so many players in trouble around him, Russo decided to fold - it's very difficult for him and the other medium stacks to really go to war against the chip leaders such as Elder and Heinzelmann because of the payout jumps now on offer. Expect more big stack bullying.