The 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

Main Event
Day: 5
Event Info

The 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
108
Prize
€1,224,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€10,000
Prize Pool
€5,310,000
Entries
531
Level Info
Level
29
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000

Main Event

Day 5 Completed

O'Dwyer Leads Four Team Pros at the Official Final Table

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Steve O'Dwyer - Chip leader
Steve O'Dwyer - Chip leader

On Saturday, the PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final Main Event continued with the fifth and penultimate day, and the final 16 players were whittled down to an official final table of eight. Leading the final table is Steve O’Dwyer, who bagged 4,452,000 chips. Right behind him is Matchbook CEO Andrew Pantling with 4,180,000, and joining them at the final table are Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu, Jake Cody, Jason Mercier, and Johnny Lodden, Noah Schwartz, and Grant Levy.

Combined, the eight players have over $39 million in career live tournament earnings, and the only player without a million dollars is Pantling, who was once a feared member of the online nosebleeds.

With a win, Mercier or Cody would become the first player to win two EPT Main events. Negreanu would become the newest member of the Triple Crown club.

SeatPlayerCountryChips
1Jake CodyUK1,633,000
2Jason MercierUSA824,000
3Andrew PantlingCanada4,180,000
4Grant LevyAustralia786,000
5Steve O’DwyerIreland4,452,000
6Daniel NegreanuCanada1,581,000
7Noah SchwartzUSA1,068,000
8Johnny LoddenNorway1,402,000

Day 5 began with back-to-back brutal eliminations. Dutchman Mateusz Moolhuizen was eliminated in 16th place when he three-bet shoved over a raise and a call with two kings. Levy, who called the initial raise, called the all in with ace-jack, and flopped a pair of aces. A few hands later on, the same table, O’Dwyer five-bet shoved into Goran Mandic, who snap-called with two jacks. O’Dwyer was very far behind with two threes, but flopped a backdoor straight draw and went perfect-perfect to make said straight.

Both Moolhuizen and Mandic earned €37,000, while O’Dwyer ascended into the chip lead with 2,370,000.

American Andrew Lichtenberger was the next player to exit. Lichtenberger check-raised all in on a very connected, three-club board against Negreanu, who tank-called with the nut-straight. Lichtenberger turned over two black aces, and was unable to make a flush on the river. He was eliminated in 14th place, earning €47,000.

Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin couldn’t get much going on the feature table, and was eventually eliminated in 13th place. He open-shoved from early position with two black nines, only to be called by Schwartz who had two kings. Schwartz made quads for kicks and giggles, and Ramdin was off to the cage to collect €60,000.

Clyde Tjauw Foe also struggled to get things going on the feature table, and eventually jammed from under the gun with four-three off suit. Negreanu called with ace-king in the cutoff, held, and eliminated Foe in 12th place (€60,000).

John Juanda took a hit in Level 23 when Levy doubled through him with ace-king against Juanda’s kings, and in Level 25 the Indonesian five-time World Series of Bracelet winner was eliminated. Juanda four-bet shoved for 1.1 million with ace-king, and O’Dwyer called with two red tens. The tens held, and Juanda was out in 11th place, earning €60,000.

After Juanda’s elimination, O’Dwyer, Lodden, and Vasili Firsau played without a doubt the most remarkable pot of the tournament. With the blinds at 15,000/30,000/4,000, Firsau opened to 125,000 in the cutoff, leaving about 60,000 behind. Lodden moved all in for around 800,000 from the small blind, O’Dwyer called, and Firsau committed his remaining chips.

Firsau: {a-Spades}{5-Diamonds}
Lodden: {a-Hearts}{q-Diamonds}
O’Dwyer: {9-Diamonds}{9-Spades}

The dealer fanned {9-Clubs}{5-Clubs}{2-Spades}, and Mercier jumped out of his chair to tell the feature table that there had been a double bust-out on the secondary table. Little did he know that the turn and river would come {4-Diamonds}, {3-Diamonds} respectively, giving both Lodden and Firsau the wheel.

“Oh my God! Is that real?” Mercier said. “I’m a percentage guy, when I see ninety-nine percent I just think that’s going to win.”

Firsau was unable to parlay his one-percent survival into a deeper run, however, and exited in tenth place. The Belarusian moved all in with king-queen from the small blind and Levy called in the big blind with ace-nine. Levy flopped a pair of aces, and faded a gut-shot straight draw to send Firsau to the rail in 10th place (€76,000).

At that point, the unofficial final table was set, and it didn’t take long to burst the official final table bubble. Freddy Deeb open-shoved his last nine big blinds with king-queen, and Pantling called in the big blind with jack-ten of spades. Pantling flopped a pair of tens, the turn and river both bricked, and Deeb was off to collect €76,000 for his ninth-place finish.

The final table will begin on Sunday at 13:00 CET, but the coverage will not begin until 14:00 CET because the action is being streamed with hole cards. Be sure to follow the PokerNews Live Reporting Team as they bring you all of the updates from one of the most anticipated EPT final tables of all time.

Tags: Steve O'Dwyer

Freddy Deeb Eliminated in 9th Place (€76,000)

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
Freddy Deeb
Freddy Deeb

Andrew Pantling raised under the gun plus one to 67,000 after which Freddy Deeb moved all in for 266,000 from the button. The action was folded back to Pantling who called after about ten seconds.

Pantling: {J-Spades}{10-Spades}
Deeb: {K-Spades}{Q-Diamonds}

The board ran out {4-Spades}{10-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}{5-Hearts} and Deeb was knocked out. We are down to our final table and Pantling starts tomorrow in second place.

Player Chips Progress
Andrew Pantling ca
Andrew Pantling
4,180,000 343,000
Freddy Deeb lb
Freddy Deeb
Busted

Tags: Andrew PantlingFreddy Deeb

Schwartz's Re-Shove Gets Through

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

Andrew Pantling raised to 67,000 from middle position and Daniel Negreanu called from the button. Noah Schwartz shoved all in from the small blind for 873,000 and both his opponents folded.

Player Chips Progress
Andrew Pantling ca
Andrew Pantling
3,837,000 -2,000
Daniel Negreanu ca
Daniel Negreanu
1,585,000 5,000
Noah Schwartz us
Noah Schwartz
1,069,000 169,000

Tags: Noah SchwartzAndrew PantlingDaniel Negreanu

Levy Shoves; Shows Aces

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

Noah Schwartz opened to 54,000 from early position, Jake Cody three-bet to 132,000 in the hijack seat, and Grant Levy cold four-bet shoved for 544,000 from the small blind. Both Schwartz and Cody mucked, and Levy showed {a-Spades}{a-Diamonds}.

Player Chips Progress
Jake Cody gb
Jake Cody
1,700,000 -187,000
Noah Schwartz us
Noah Schwartz
900,000 -95,000
Grant Levy au
Grant Levy
755,000 246,000

Tags: Noah SchwartzGrant LevyJake Cody

Aces For Negreanu

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante

On the very first hand at the last table Steve O'Dwyer raised under the gun plus one and Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu called to his immediate left. All other players folded and the flop brought out {J-Clubs}{5-Hearts}{Q-Spades}.

O'Dwyer checked to Negreanu who bet 104,000 and the initial raiser decided to let this one go.

Negreanu tabled {A-}{A-} and said, "This is what I was waiting for," as he raked in the small pot.

"Can you pat me on the back?" O'Dwyer said as he lost the minimum on this hand. Negreanu did so while he was probably hoping for a lot more when he initially looked down at his cards.

Player Chips Progress
Steve O'Dwyer ie
Steve O'Dwyer
EPT 1X Winner
4,790,000 -71,000
Daniel Negreanu ca
Daniel Negreanu
1,580,000 83,000

Tags: Daniel NegreanuSteve O'Dwyer

Seat Draw Final Nine

Level 25 : 15,000/30,000, 4,000 ante
SeatNameChip Count
1Jake Cody1,887,000
2Jason Mercier905,000
3Andrew Pantling3,839,000
4Grant Levy509,000
5Steve O'Dwyer4,861,000
6Daniel Negreanu1,497,000
7Noah Schwartz995,000
8Freddy Deeb347,000
9Johnny Lodden1,508,000