There are still 36 players in the hunt for the the title and over €1.4 million in the biggest EPT ever held, and among them two former champions. Oleksii Khoroshenin (EPT 10 Vienna) and Frederik Jensen (EPT 8 Madrid) both take serious stacks into Day 5, as they are in the top six as of right now. Two-time EPT finalist Peter Eichhardt leads the way with a staggering 4.3 million-chip stack, as he looks to make his first final table since Baden Season 3.
While the finish line is in sight, it's still not within reach. With 36 players still alive the fifth day of play will prove to be a very long one. It is a custom on the EPT to play down to a final table of eight, but even that seems far away as of right now.
Among the contenders we've also spotted Team PokerStars Pros Matthias De Meulder and Andre Akkari, and the number 10 on the global all-time money list, John Juanda. Juanda is a poker legend in his own right and with $16 million in live tournament earnings, $852,000 of which he won for finishing second in EPT 7 London, and he'll look to battle back from the bottom of the counts.
Stay tuned for all your EPT Barcelona coverage here on PokerNews.com, as we will bring you all the updates throughout the final two days of this event.
Jude Ainsworth shoved all in for 440,000 from the cutoff and his neighbor Frederik Jensen on the button made the call. Both blinds folded and it was time to put the cards on their backs.
Jude Ainsworth:
Frederik Jensen:
The board ran out and Jensen eliminated Ainsworth.
Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari was one of the fan favorites still left in the Main Event, but his run just ended in 32nd place.
On his final hand Akkari moved all in for right around 400,000 chips and Rainer Kempe called from the button. Both blinds folded and the showdown went as following.
Canadian pro Pascal LeFrancois just raised to 80,000 after which his fellow countryman Daniel Dvoress moved all in for about 615,000. The action folded back to LeFrancois, and he quickly made the call.
Dvoress:
LeFrancois:
The board ran out and Dvoress exited the tournament in 31st place.
The stack sizes were very similar, but Belgian pro Jonathan Abdellatif was just all in for his tournament life against John Juanda in pot worth one-million chips.
Abdellatif:
Juanda:
The board ran out and Abdellatif hit the rail in 30th place for €32,125.
Shyam Srinivasan just ended up all in before the flop on the feature table and he was up against the big stack of Amir Touma. The Canadian pro was all in for 675,000 chips and the showdown went as following.
Team PokerStars Pro Matthias De Meulder just raised to 90,000 from the hijack and Pascal LeFrancois proceeded to three-bet from the button to 210,000. The action folded back to De Meulder, and he moved all in for right around 800,000. LeFrancois called, creating the following showdown.
LeFrancois:
DeMeulder:
The board ran out and De Meulder hit the rail.
"What can you do, that's poker," De Meulder said with a smile, seemingly unfazed by his elimination. De Meulder was the last Team PokerStars Pro remaining in the field.
Dominykas Karmazinas just raked in another double up, making it three in a row through the player on his left, Pascal LeFrancois. In a blind battle Karmazinas ended up all in for 995,000 and the showdown went as following.
Karmazinas:
LeFrancois:
The board ran out and Karmazinas doubled up once more, yelling, "Now we can play, boys!"
On the last hand before the break the action folded to Scott Margereson in the small blind and he moved all in for about 800,000 chips. Frederik Jensen called from the big blind, and the showdown went as following.
Jensen:
Margereson:
The board ran out and Margereson found himself on the rail while Jensen is back to his peak stack at 3.4 million.
Mikhail Petrov had just doubled his stack when he ended up all in again, but this time it played out differently. The Russian player moved all in for 1,040,000 from the cutoff and Mario Sanchez Cano looked him up from the button.