€5,300 Main Event
Day 4 Completed
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€3,157,350
Entries
651
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
10,000
Alexander Ivarsson Leads After Day 4; Jaka & Timex Fall
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
'The Fast & The Furious' is a hugely popular action movie series, but we might as well use it to describe Day 4 of the 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Malta Main Event. The day started with just 40 players and the goal to either get to 16 or play five levels. In the end, it took just three and a half levels to get to the final two tables of the tournament.
Dutch pro Paul Berende was the first to go. He tried to time bank himself into the early pay jump but ended up busting in 40th place anyway when his pocket sevens couldn't hold up against Nabil Cardoso's ace-queen. The fact Cardoso had already exposed his cards by accident, didn't factor too much into Berende's decision.
It was a bonanza of bustouts in the early minutes of the day as Enrico Camisci (tens to ace-queen), Marcin Wydrowski (eights to ace-five), Hani Bahna (king-four to queen-seven) and many more hit the rail before even the first level was over.
Several big names didn't make it through either, sometimes with bad beats, sometimes in cooler situations, and sometimes both, like Bryn Kenney busting out with kings against Erik Scheidt's ace-king all in preflop. The ace on the flop made it so that Kenney had just a single out, but he didn't hit it.
Shannon Shorr hit a one outer yesterday, but his run good didn't continue on Day 4 as he ran his treys into Gianluva Escobar's aces to bust.
From there, Thomas Muehloecker lost with king-ten to king-three preflop all in, Ivan Luca couldn't beat tens with ace-queen, and Mike "Timex" McDonald's ace-king needed help when he got his chips in with top pair and top kicker against Ferdinand Le Pichon's two pair with four-five suited. A blank on the river ended McDonald's tournament, and like many others, he hopped straight into the €10,000 High Roller.
The last PokerStars Team Pro in the tournament, Johnny Lodden, got it all in three way with ten-eight suited against queens and aces. Despite flopping an open-ended straight draw, he hit the rail when the turn and river both blanked.
Natasha Barbour, the girlfriend of Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, lost with jacks to queens, and Faraz Jaka joined her on the rail a short time later. Jaka first folded jacks in a big pot against the very aggressive Alexander Ivarsson, and got the last of his chips in with ace-king against Jaroslaw Sikora's queens. The king on the flop likely filled Jaka's heart with joy, but that was gone when a queen hit the turn to leave him drawing dead.
After Michael Ho (sevens into aces) and Le Pichon (ace-jack into ace-king) busted in 18th and 17th place respectivley, the tournament was down to 16 players and play was stopped. With 41 minutes and 46 seconds left on the clock in the fourth level of play of the day (10,000/20,000 /3,000), the dust settled and the final 16 players were redrawn into the final two tables.
While a lot of big names fell prematurely, some familiar faces are still alive and kicking. Kitty Kuo won a flip early on to bust Andreas Chalkiadakis, but lost some chips in smaller pots. Luckily for her she doubled with fours against pocket sevens all in preflop after hitting a four on the flop.
Rainer Kempe is still on track to make back-to-back final tables. After finishing fifth in the EPT Barcelona Main Event not too long ago, he's bringing 1,726,000 in chips to Day 5 of the EPT Malta Main Event.
Topping the counts is Ivarsson, who gave a master class on using your stack to gather more chips. He was involved in just about every other pot, not backing down by dangerous flops or scary turns. With a poker face only a Scandanavian player can have, he bossed around anyone that got in his way. He finished the day with 2,418,000.
Tomorrow's Day 5 will see the field of 16 diminish to the final six, or at least that's the plan. PokerNews will again be your source for live updates from the tournament floor. Until then, check out our coverage of the €10,000 High Roller and watch Sarah Herring catch up with Alen Bilic, who's also still alive in the Main Event.
Remko Report Episode #25: November Nine Chip Leader Joe McKeehen
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
November Nine chip leader Joe McKeehen joins Remko RInkema to discuss how he amassed his chip lead, how he is preparing for the final table, and more.
You can subscribe to the entire PokerNews Podcast Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.
End-of-Day 4 Chip Counts and Redraw
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Nabil Cardoso | Spain | 1,175,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Darrell Goh | Ireland | 793,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Jaroslaw Sikora | Poland | 2,300,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Akim Aouine | France | 250,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Antonio Chemi | Italy | 804,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | 910,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Alen Bilic | Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1,000,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Rainer Kempe | Germany | 1,726,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Gianluca Escobar | Italy | 1,537,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Apostolos Bechrakis | Greece | 290,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Kitty Kuo | China | 510,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Daniel Dvoress | Canada | 986,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Alexander Ivarsson | Sweden | 2,418,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Giulio Spampinato | Malta | 1,725,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Bjorn Geissert | Germany | 1,103,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 1,902,000 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,418,000 | -371,000 |
|
2,300,000 | 490,000 |
|
1,902,000 | 193,000 |
|
1,726,000 | 237,000 |
|
1,725,000 | -10,000 |
|
1,537,000 | 297,000 |
|
1,175,000 | 75,000 |
|
1,103,000 | -91,000 |
|
1,000,000 | -51,000 |
|
986,000 | -9,000 |
|
970,000 | -130,000 |
|
804,000 | 212,000 |
|
793,000 | -35,000 |
|
510,000 | -100,000 |
|
290,000 | -50,000 |
|
250,000 | -91,000 |
Ferdinand Le Pichon Eliminated in 17th Place (€27,120)
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
After Gianluca Escobar opened for 42,000 under the gun, action folded to France's Ferdinand Le Pichon in the small blind. He moved all in for his last 168,000, and Escobar called after the big blind folded.
Le Pichon: 
Escobar: 
Le Pichon seemed heartbroken to discover he was dominated, and things got even worse when the 
flop paired Escobar. The 
turn left Le Pichon calling for a queen, but the dealer did not oblige, instead putting out the 
.
Le Pichon exited in 17th place, which means Day 4 has come to an end with 41:46 left in Level 23 (10,000/20,000/3,000). Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action as well as a list of chip counts.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Michael Ho Eliminated in 18th Place (€23,960)
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Nabil Cardoso opened to 42,000 under the gun and two positions down it was Michael Ho who shoved all in from the cutoff. The button and both blinds folded and action was back on Cardoso. He didn't need a count, but he did check his cards one more time and then instantly called.
"Oh shit!" Ho exclaimed, knowing very well he was in trouble after the double check and then snap call.
Michael Ho: 
Nabil Cardoso: 
"You had to double check your cards for that?" Ho asked with a smile. "Just in case" Cardoso apologized.
The flop came 
and that just about ended it for Cardoso. The 
on the turn sealed the deal and the 
on the river was there just for good measures. Michael Ho eliminated in 18th place.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,100,000 | 200,000 |
|
Busted |
Faraz Jaka Eliminated in 19th Place (€23,960)
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Up at the feature table, Faraz Jaka opened with a raise under the gun, how much we're not sure, and Jaroslaw Sikora, who was to Jaka's direct left, three-bet to 105,000. Action folded back to Jaka, and he four-bet to 240,000. Sikora hit the tank for a bit before announcing an all-in five-bet, which prompted Jaka to call off 984,000.
Jaka:
Sikora: 
"The sickest race of them all," Joe Stapleton said on the stream.
Indeed it was, but Jaka needed to improve to stay alive. He did just that too as the 
flop paired his king. However, his lead proved short lived as the dealer burned and turned the to leave Jaka drawing dead. The meaningless was put out on the river for good measure, and Jaka made his way to the payout desk in 19th place to collect €23,960.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
1,810,000 | 804,000 |
|
Busted |
Cardoso Takes from Bechrakis
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
Apostolos Bechrakis raised to 42,000 from the cutoff and Nabil Cardoso called from the button. Both blinds folded and it was heads-up action to the 
flop, which both players checked. When the 
peeled off on the turn, Bechrakis check-called a bet of 51,000 and then checked the 
river.
Cardoso bet 150,000, and Bechrakis called only to muck when his opponent rolled over the 
for a flush.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
900,000 | 250,000 |
|
|
340,000 | -250,000 |
Straight Outta Balcan: Alen Bilic
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
The fans ask, and of course we answer. Alen Bilic!
Feature Table Chip Counts
Level 23
: 10,000/20,000, 3,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,789,000 | 48,000 |
|
|
1,709,000 | -45,000 |
|
|
1,194,000 | -46,000 |
|
|
1,100,000 | -10,000 |
|
|
1,006,000 | -35,000 |
|
|
791,000 | -13,000 |