With around 155,000 in the pot on a board of 8♠Q♦A♥4♥, Omar Eljach bet 125,000 from the hijack and Cesar Garcia called in the small blind.
The river was the 4♠ and Eljach bet 300,000. Garcia tanked for a moment before calling as Eljach showed J♣10♣ for a missed straight draw. Garcia turned over A♣4♣ for a full house as he took the pot.
"Almost folded," tablemate Niall Farrell said to Eljach after the hand.
Niall Farrell opened to 30,000 from under the gun, and everybody folded to Leo Margets who defended from the big blind.
On a flop of J♥6♥9♦, Farrell continued with a bet of 20,000. Then Margets check-raised all-in for approximately 100,000, and Farrell snap-called.
Leo Margets: 8♥7♦
Niall Farrell: A♣A♥
The turn 6♠ and the river 8♣ didn't complete Margets' straight draw. She is the first eliminated player of the Day, and win €18,260 for her 46th place.
On the fourth straight day of poker action, 46 poker enthusiasts remain in the €5,300 PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event, held at the Hilton Prague. Thus far surviving a record-breaking field of 1,285 entries, the returning hopefuls are battling it out for the lion's share of the €6,101,300 prize pool.
Before an eventual winner is crowned on Day 6, however, many more hands of poker need to be played. The first of these hands will be dealt at noon local time when the players start Day 4 of the iconic poker tournament. Among the players who have secured a seat is PokerStars Ambassador and first-ever PokerStars Players' Championship winnerRamon Colillas, who amassed an above-average stack of 1,015,000 over the course of three days.
Finding himself deep in a PokerStars event is nothing new for the Spaniard, as this year alone he finished 23rd in the PCA Main Event and 32nd in the EPT Monte Carlo Main Event. He will be looking to improve on those performances in Prague but is sure to be facing some stiff competition.
One of his fierce competitors is Norway's Jon Kyte, who comes in as the chip leader on Day 4. Kyte, well-versed in any and every poker variant, will bring a stack of 2,200,000 chips, or 147 big blinds, back to the poker room, making him the only player to start Day 4 with more than two million chips. Kyte's run so far already resulted in his best-ever placing at an EPT Main Event, but he is no stranger to running deep in PokerStars' more local events, having three final tables in UKIPT, Eureka, and Estrellas tours under his belt.
Following Kyte on the leaderboard is poker legend and EPT Monte Carlo 2013 championSteve O'Dwyer with 1,915,000, while Teun Mulder, who has already earned nearly €500,000 during this EPT Prague in various high rollers, continues his dominance with a third-place stack of 1,975,000 chips. Also in the top ten chip counts are poker content creator Marle Spragg (1,395,000), and Sweden's Omar Eljach (1,250,000), who seems to be running deep in every poker tournament he has entered in the latter part of 2023.
Start of Day 4 Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jon Kyte
Norway
2,200,000
147
2
Steve O'Dwyer
Ireland
1,915,000
128
3
Teun Mulder
Netherlands
1,875,000
125
4
Cesar Garcia
Spain
1,660,000
111
5
Marius Kudzmanas
Lithuania
1,630,000
109
6
Padraig O'Neill
Ireland
1,600,000
107
7
Tobias Garp
Sweden
1,595,000
106
8
Marle Spragg
United States
1,395,000
93
9
Omar Eljach
Sweden
1,250,000
83
10
Asaf Groofi
Israel
1,100,000
73
However, there are plenty of other notables still present in the field. Niall Farrell (665,000) joins O'Dwyer as a two-time EPT champion candidate, while 2018 PCA winnerMaria Lampropulos (435,000) is also still in the mix. Poker veterans Govert Metaal (835,000) and Leo Margets (170,000) secured a bag as well, and are sure to be making use of their experience as they navigate the field on Day 4.
All these storylines will converge at noon local time when play in the EPT Prague Main Event resumes. Blind will start in Level 21: 10,000/15,000 with a 15,000 big blind ante, and all levels will be 90 minutes in length. The players will play six levels or down to 16 players, whichever comes first. A 20-minute break will be had after every level, with a 60-minute dinner break after Level 24.
All 46 returning players have secured a payout of €18,260, with the first pay jump of the day happening when seven players have been eliminated. Meanwhile, all eyes will be on the grand sum of €1,030,000 that accompanies the honor of becoming the EPT Prague champion.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,030,000
12-13
€60,960
2
€643,000
14-15
€50,800
3
€459,240
16-17
€42,320
4
€353,240
18-20
€36,780
5
€271,660
21-23
€31,980
6
€209,000
24-27
€27,800
7
€160,750
28-31
€24,180
8
€123,600
32-39
€21,000
9
€95,000
40-46
€18,260
10-11
€73,160
Day 4 of the EPT Prague Main Event is promising to be an exciting one, so make sure to stay tuned to this page as PokerNews will provide all the important updates from the Czech capital.