Having lost a small portion of his stack against Razvan Belea with a minor kicker problem, Sergei Petrushevskii jammed in the cutoff for around 580,000 soon after. The action folded to Johan Schultz-Pedersen in the big blind, who instantly called.
Sergei Petrushevskii:
Johan Schultz-Pedersen:
The flop gave Petrushevskii a gutshot but he found no help on the turn and river to finish in 20th place for €43,100.
Following a raise to 85,000 from Mehdi Chaoui in the hijack, Kenny Hallaert moved all in for 590,000 on the button. When action folded back to Chaoui, he called to put Hallaert at risk.
Kenny Hallaert:
Mehdi Chaoui:
Hallaert's ace was dominated, but he did get help with the flop which brought him a flush draw.
However, the was no help, nor was the river, ending Hallaert's day in 19th place.
Following a raise to 100,000 by Razvan Belea on the button, Manig Loeser three-bet all in for approximately 700,000 and was called by Belea.
Manig Loeser:
Razvan Belea:
The 2019 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event champ would need some help if he was to survive and it started coming with the flop, adding a gutshot draw to Broadway to his potential outs.
The on the turn gave him an added flush draw, but it may have been the old adage of 'too many outs', as the fell on the river, bringing Loeser no further help and sending him to the rail in 18th place.
Johan Schultz-Pedersen raised from under the gun and Frederik Brink called out of the big blind, which led to the flop. Brink opted to check-call a bet of 175,000 and the followed on the turn.
Another check by Brink let to a second barrel worth 200,000 of Schultz-Pedersen with his fellow countryman coming along. The river then paired the board and completed a potential flush draw.
Brink checked the third street in a row for Schultz-Pedersen to move all in with the superior stack. With some 1.5 million behind, Brink immediately spread his time bank extensions in front of the stack and used three of them eventually before he made the call.
Schultz-Pedersen rolled over the and Brink nodded, then exposed his before heading to the payout desk.
The remaining 16 players will redraw for seats at the final two tables.
With a two-table redraw on the horizon following with the elimination of Frederik Brink on the feature table, another potential elimination was brewing at the outer table.
After Arthur Conan raised to 100,000 under the gun, Malo Latinois moved all in for 755,000 in the cutoff. Harry Lodge then called that bet in the small blind and Conan folded.
Malo Latinois:
Harry Lodge:
The flop paired both players, but the on the turn and on the river brought no further help to Latinois, who fell in 16th place as the final 15 players are shuffled around to the last two tables.
Brian Delaney raised to 100,000 from early position and Peter Jorgne three-bet to 350,000 from late position. Harry Lodge made it 850,000 from the small blind and Delaney got out of the way before Jorgne went into the tank. After a few moments of thought, Jorgne called to see a flop.
The flop was and Lodge bet 550,000. Jorgne shoved 1,710,000 and Lodge called.
Peter Jorgne:
Harry Lodge:
Lodge was ahead with two pair, but the turn was to give Jorgne the straight. The river was a blank for Lodge and Jorgne secured the double.
Konstantin Held opened to 100,000 under the gun and got three-bet by Henri Kasper to 260,000 from the hijack.
With action now on Arthur Conan in the cutoff, he tossed a time bank forward needing time for his decision.
After approaching 60 seconds, he decided to four-bet all in for 1,220,000.
Held quickly folded, but Kasper needed to use a time bank of his own. After his own 60 seconds, he opted to fold as well, as Conan added over 500,000 chips to his stack without confrontation.
Henri Kasper raised to 100,000 in the hijack and was called by Henri Kasper in the cutoff, Mathieu Di Meglio also came along from the big blind as well. The flop was checked to Held and he continued for 125,000, picking up calls from both opponents.
After the turn, Di Meglio checked and Held fired a second barrel for 500,000. This time, only Kasper called and that led to the on the river. Held used one time bank card to then push forward a stack worth 200,000 for Kasper to snap-call all-in.
The of Held were a move at the wrong time, as Kasper held the nuts with to double for 1,265,000.
A day that started with 47 hopefuls eyeing the bulk of the remaining €7,708,800 prize pool has been thinned to the final 15 in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Paris 2023 Main Event, led by Razvan Belea of Romania.
While Belea’s 7,285,000 chips hold the lead, the PokerStars online qualifier is far from a runaway chip leader, with Johan Schultz-Pedersen of Denmark (6,620,000) and Denzel Spekman of the Netherlands (5,440,000) within striking distance heading to Saturday’s fifth day of play.
Besides those players at the top of the chip counts, there is plenty of star power remaining in the field as well. Harry Lodge (2,325,000), Fabrice Bigot (1,940,000), and Niklas Astedt (1,415,000) are all still in the final 15.
The remaining players have all locked up a guaranteed €59,300 in prize money, but the big prize of €1,170,000 and the prestigious EPT Main Event champion's trophy still await the winner on Sunday.
Top Ten Chip Counts After Day 4
Position
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Razvan Belea
Romania
7,285,000
121
2
Johan Schultz-Pedersen
Denmark
6,620,000
110
3
Denzel Spekman
Netherlands
5,440,000
91
4
Peter Jorgne
Sweden
4,815,000
80
5
Henri Kasper
Estonia
4,790,000
80
6
Konstantin Held
Germany
2,640,000
44
7
Brian Delaney
United Kingdom
2,355,000
39
8
Harry Lodge
United Kingdom
2,325,000
39
9
Sven Stok
Netherlands
2,100,000
35
10
Mathieu Di Meglio
France
2,000,000
33
The Day’s Action
Belea built his stack steadily Friday, but really started causing trouble for the rest of the field later in the day when he racked up a couple of eliminations. His oustings of Mark Roovers in 24th place (€32,600) and Alex Kulev in 22nd place (€37,450) boosted him over five million chips and he was suddenly hot on the heels of the chip leader entering the day, Konstantin Held.
Held remained one of the largest stacks throughout the day, but a bluff gone wrong near the end of the night versus Henri Kasper dropped him down to 6th place by night’s end and solidified Belea’s place atop the counts.
Earlier in the day, it didn’t take long for the field to begin thinning, as nine players were sent packing before the first break including Stefan Schillhabel in 46th place (€21,450) and Teun Mulder in 43rd place (€21,450).
The final two women in the field were eliminated soon after as Hala Karam, who picked up her largest career tournament score, fell in 40th place for €21,450 and French star Gaelle Baumann busted in 33rd for €24,650.
From there, it was the former EPT Main Event champions’ turn to fall, as 2018 EPT Barcelona winner Piotr Nurzynski went out in 30th place for €28,350, 2019 EPT Monte Carlo champ Manig Loeser in 18th place, (€43,100), and 2012 EPT Madrid champion Frederik Brink in 17th place (€49,550), meaning a first-time champion is now guaranteed.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,170,000
10-11
€85,400
2
€780,100
12-13
€71,150
3
€535,850
14-15
€59,300
4
€412,200
5
€317,050
6
€244,000
7
€187,650
8
€144,300
9
€111,000
Day 5 Lies Ahead
That new champion will be one step closer to being crowned on Saturday as the remaining 15 will return to the Hyatt Regency Paris Etoile at noon local time for the final levels leading up to Sunday’s official final table of six. Blinds will start at 30,000/60,000 with a 60,000 big blind ante.
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