Day 4 of the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final is set to kick off in 45 minutes or so, and leading the remaining 34 players is Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden. Lodden was the only player to bag more than a million chips at the end of Day 3, and will begin today with 1.232 million. The Norwegian has ninth, 13th, 13th, 17th, and 32nd-place finishes in EPT Main Events, but he has never reached a final table.
Team PokerStars Pros Jake Cody and Jason Mercier, Team PokerStars Online member Mickey Petersen, and Noah Boeken have all made EPT Main Event final tables. In fact, they're all former champions. Cody won EPT6 Deauville, Mercier EPT4 Sanremo, Petersen EPT8 Copenhagen, and Boeken EPT1 Copenhagen. No player has ever repeated as champion in the nine seasons of the European Poker Tour.
Also atop the chip counts are Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, John Juanda, and Noah Schwartz. Negreanu is on a hot streak, coming off of his win in the first ever World Series of Poker Asia-Pacific Main Event, while Juanda and Schwartz recorded major six-figure scores at the end of 2012. Juanda finished runner-up in the 2012 World Series of Poker Europe €50,000 Majestic High Roller, while Schwartz won the World Poker Tour bestbet Fall Series Main Event.
Of the remaining 34 players, seven represent the red spade. Ville Wahlbeck and Victor Ramdin will join their aforementioned peers on the felt today, making the field 20.5% Team PokerStars.
The cards will be in the air at 15:00 CET, so be sure to stay tuned for all of your up-to-the-minute updates here on PokerNews.
Goran Mandic raised to 23,000 and Andreas Eiler, to his immediate left, decided to three-bet to 52,000. The action folded back to Mandic who decided to four-bet to 102,000. Eiler went into the tank for a while after which he shoved all in for right around 630,000 chips. The German did not look happy as Mandic snap-called his huge shove.
Mandic:
Eiler:
The board ran out and Eiler was knocked out in stunning fashion. Mandic's image worked to his advantage as he's now the tournament chip leader.
Over on the feature table was just saw another big all in, this time Oleksii Kovalchuk and Freddy Deeb went at it. Kovalchuk was all in for 379,000 and Deeb had him covered by a huge margin.
Kevin Vandersmissen opened to 22,000 from under the gun, Noah Boeken three-bet all in for 153,000 on the button, and the action folded back to Vandersmissen. The Belgian tanked for over a minute, then called.
Vandersmissen:
Boeken:
The dealer rapped the table, burned a card, then revealed the window card - the . She paused for a brief moment, then ripped the remainder of the flop across, revealing the and the .
The turn and river came , respectively, eliminating Boeken in 26th place.
The action started with Dario Sammartino who raised under the gun plus one to 25,000 after which Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin three-bet to 65,000 from his immediate left. Kevin Vandersmissen called from the button after which Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden four-bet to 188,000 from the big blind.
Sammartino decided to fold after which Ramdin tank-called. Vandersmissen did some tanking of his own before making the call as well.
The flop brought out and Ramdin and Lodden checked to Vandersmissen who bet 140,000. Lodden moved all in right away and Ramdin folded.
"Wow, I don't think I can fold this," Vandersmissen said immediately as he leaned back in his chair. The Belgian pro eventually made the call creating a pot worth almost 1.7 million chips.
Vandersmissen:
Lodden:
The turn brought the and the river the eliminating Vandersmissen in 23rd place. Vandersmissen takes home €30,000 while Lodden takes a massive chip lead!
As the dealer was pitching, Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier was taking a SnapChat video of short stack Luke Schwartz. Schwartz didn't realize until Mercier pulled his phone down, and the Brit began to grin.
"Are you f***ing serious?" he said to Mercier.
Schwartz, who was under the gun, received his second card and moved all in for 74,000. Paul Volpe re-shoved in middle position, and the other players folded.
Schwartz:
Volpe:
"I'd say good luck," Volpe told Schwartz. "But I'd be lying."
Volpe held as the board rolled out , and Schwartz was eliminated in 22nd place.
Ismael Bojang was all in and at risk preflop on the feature table with , and was dominate by Daniel Negreanu's . The board came , and Bojang was eliminated in 21st place.
When Day 4 began in the 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final Main Event, there were four former EPT champions alive looking to become the first player to ever win a second EPT title. Yes, it's never happened, as hard as that may be to believe in the nine seasons of the tour.
Noah Boeken was one of those four still remaining at the start of the day, formerly a winner of EPT Copenhagen back in 2005. He was eliminated early in the day, leaving just three former winners vying for a second EPT title.
Those other three players looking to become the first at title number two are Jason Mercier (EPT Sanremo in 2008), Jake Cody (EPT Deauville in 2010) and Mickey Petersen (EPT Copenhagen in 2012). Each of the three remaining are members of Team PokerStars, making things even more exciting for this event.
While several have come close to achieving this elusive feat, it's now just down to Mercier, Cody or Petersen to complete it prior to Season 9 ending. But first, each must make it through to Day 5 and the final 16 players. That's just a few eliminations away, but the overall victory is still so far.
Be sure to stay right here on PokerNews.com to find out how things go for the rest of the day and to see if any of these three can become the first two-time EPT champion in history.
Clyde Tjauw Foe opened to 32,000 from under the gun, Paul Volpe three-bet to 79,000 from the small blind, and Foe called.
The dealer fanned , Volpe led out for 85,000, and Foe moved all in. Volpe called.
Foe:
Volpe:
Volpe had to avoid an ace, club, or running straight cards to survive. The turned, giving Foe a flush, but because it paired the board Volpe was still drawing live. The bricked off on the river though, and Volpe was eliminated in 20th place.
Jason Mercier opened to 32,000 from early position, Noah Schwartz three-bet shoved for 265,000 on his direct left, and Jake Cody re-shoved from the small blind. Mercier looked at his cards one more time, then half pump faked before chuckling and mucking his cards.
Schwartz:
Cody:
Cody, who is one of the three remaining players who can win their second EPT Main Event, was in great shape to knockout Schwartz when the flop fell , but the spiked on the turn.
The bricked off on the river, and Schwartz doubled.
After the hand, Mercier admitted that he folded an eight.
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
and Eiler was knocked out in stunning fashion. Mandic's image worked to his advantage as he's now the tournament chip leader.
and Kovalchuk was knocked out.
. She paused for a brief moment, then ripped the remainder of the flop across, revealing the 
and the 
.
, 
eliminating Vandersmissen in 23rd place. Vandersmissen takes home €30,000 while Lodden takes a massive chip lead!
, and Schwartz was eliminated in 22nd place.
. The board came 
, and Bojang was eliminated in 21st place.
turned, giving Foe a flush, but because it paired the board Volpe was still drawing live. The 
bricked off on the river though, and Volpe was eliminated in 20th place.
spiked on the turn.
