Day 4 Ends with Just Nine Players Remaining in the $5,300 Main Event
It was another 12-hour day for the final nine players that bagged up their chips in the partypoker MILLIONS North America $5,300 Main Event. When all was said and done, Anthony Ruberto bagged the top stack with a mind-boggling amount of 409,000,000 chips.
Ruberto was just limping along with around an average stack for the majority of the day until he really turned up the heat in the last two levels. It started when Ruberto flopped two pair against the top pair of his opponent and found himself a double up. That led to Ruberto eliminating Joseph Cheong not long after in 11th place, and then he also picked up a few pots at the unofficial final table. Ruberto has over $2.2 million in career earnings but is well on his way to topping his largest score of $325,928.
Heading into the final day, Ruberto holds a narrow lead over Taylor Black who is currently sitting at 406,000,000 chips. Black will be looking to push his career earnings over the seven-figure mark as he currently sits at over $980,000. Making a deep run in a large-field tournament is something Black may be used to after finishing second in the 2017 WSOP $565 The Colossus III for over $500,000.
Darryll Fish (152,500,000) is probably the most well-known player of the final nine remaining and he can thank his lucky stars to still be alive. Fish had a rollercoaster of a day going from chip leader to the short stack on multiple occasions. Most notably, once the final nine assembled at one table, Fish found himself all in holding pocket tens against the ace-king of two opponents. Fish held on and scored himself a triple up as he put his hands together to pray.
It will be a dogfight for the final nine positions when Day 5 begins, with each and every elimination meaning a significant pay jump for those remaining. Ultimately, everyone will be in search of the top three prizes that are all guaranteed to pay at least $1,000,000 and the winner taking home $1,400,000.
Final Table Payouts
| Place | Prize (CAD) |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,400,000 |
| 2 | $1,200,000 |
| 3 | $1,000,000 |
| 4 | $800,000 |
| 5 | $600,000 |
| 6 | $400,000 |
| 7 | $302,500 |
| 8 | $215,000 |
| 9 | $150,000 |
Day 4 began with 51 players returning to their seats and it didn't take long for the short stacks to start hitting the rail. Ludovic Gielich was eliminated on just the second hand of the day and Antonio Esfandiari wasn't far behind him. Both came into the day with a lot of work ahead of them but were quickly bounced from the tournament. Some other notables to fall short of their ultimate goal today include partypoker Sponsored Pro Richard Dubini, Team Online Pro Renato Nomura, Marvin Rettenmaier, Ema Zajmovic, Kevin Rivest, and Marc-Andre Ladouceur.
Day 5 will kick off at the beginning of level 37 with the blinds at 2,500,000/5,000,000 and a button ante of 5,000,000. The blind levels will continue at 60-minutes in length until heads-up play where they will then become 30-minute levels. The action will continue until a winner is crowned and the PokerNews live reporting team will bring you all of the live updates on a 30-minute delay to remain in sync with the live stream.
Day 5 Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles La Broissonniere | Canada | 45,000,000 | 9 |
| 2 | Demosthenes Kiriopoulos | Canada | 74,000,000 | 15 |
| 3 | George Lagos | Canada | 220,000,000 | 44 |
| 4 | Tommy Nguyen | Canada | 327,000,000 | 65 |
| 5 | Darryll Fish | United States | 152,500,000 | 30 |
| 6 | Guillaume Nolet | Canada | 110,000,000 | 22 |
| 7 | Taylor Black | United States | 406,000,000 | 81 |
| 8 | Anthony Ruberto | United States | 409,000,000 | 82 |
| 9 | Markus Prinz | Germany | 212,000,000 | 42 |
from under the gun and George Lagos shipped all in over the top with 
in the cutoff. 
and Strelitz was left drawing to a chop. The 
on the turn meant Strelitz was drawing dead to the 
on the river.
and Black's straight took down the pot.
and George Lagos three-bet to 23.5 million with 
in the big blind. Obrien announced all in for 83.5 million and Lagos snap-called for his last 81.5 million.
and the Lagos was still ahead with his ace-king. The 
on the turn and the 
and Nguyen's tens were good enough to eliminate Habib.
in the hijack and just flat-called. The rest of the table folded and the two hands were tabled with Chan at risk.
and Taylor still held the lead with his pocket nines. The turn brought the 
. Chan was unable to win the race and was eliminated in 15th place.
and Nolet would need to dodge Gilbert's over cards to get the pot. The 
on the turn and 
on the river did not change anything and Gilbert was eliminated.
. Matthew Volosevich re-raised all in for around 31.0 million with 
and Volosevich was still in the lead although Esfandiari did pick up a straight draw to go with his two overcards. "Come on Mathieu," he could be heard saying to the dealer, encouraging him to work his magic. The turn was the 
and the river landed the 
