€5,300 EPT Main Event
Dia 5 Concluído
€5,300 EPT Main Event
Dia 5 Concluído
A year ago, German poker player Paul Michaelis led the field after two of the first three days of the rebranded PokerStars Championship Prague. He would eventually notch what had to be a bit of a disappointing 28th-place finish for €18,900.
One year later, Michaelis has again positioned himself for a big payday, but this time he's much closer to the big cheddar. Just six players remain out of 1,174 heading into the final day of 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour Prague €5,300 Main Event, and Michaelis has the biggest stack with 10,060,000.
He'll face a tough slate of competitors, including Canadian Twitch star Parker Talbot, who has a shot at making his first huge mark in the live arena after building a following of nearly 100,000 on his popular stream.
Here's how the final table looks heading into Day 6:
Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Paul Michaelis | Germany | 10,060,000 | 84 |
2 | Parker Talbot | Canada | 3,690,000 | 31 |
3 | Alexandr Merzhvinskii | Russia | 7,545,000 | 63 |
4 | Carlos Branco | Portugal | 3,100,000 | 26 |
5 | Laurynas Levinskas | Lithuania | 4,765,000 | 40 |
6 | Artem Kobylynskiy | Ukraine | 6,075,000 | 51 |
Day 5 began with just 16 players remaining and 10 destined to hit the rail. A slow start on a money jump would eventually see former leaders Konstantin Farber and Fionn MacNamara among the runners falling before the unofficial final table.
Michaelis crested at 10.6 million after catching Ugo Faggioli bluffing and then busting him in a sizable flip with sevens over ace-queen to bubble him out of the final nine. He nearly took a hammerlock on the final table when he got sevens in there once more against the pocket fives of Alexandr Merzhvinskii only to see a five on the flop.
Three accomplished players made the final nine but ran dry on chips before the six-player stop was reached.
Former EPT champ Andrey Pateychuk had played a short stack masterfully for most of the latter stages of the tournament. He ran into a nasty spot when he turned top two pair against Merzhvinskii only to run into another set of fives. They got all in on the turn and a brick river busted Pateychuk in ninth.
Diego Zeiter lost most of his chips running tens into the aces of Artem Kobylynskyi and fell in eighth after jamming nines into Merzhvinskii's aces.
Longtime high-stakes cash regular Liviu Ignat looked like perhaps the scariest force in the field when he ran up a stack of about 6 million, contending for the lead early in Day 5. However, he couldn't get anything going at the final table and finally ran his ace-queen into Laurynas Levinskas' kings.
That prompted bagging time for the last six. They'll reconvene at noon local time on Tuesday to determine who will emerge as the final EPT champion for 2018 along with taking hold of €1,020,000. About 15 minutes remain at 60,000/120,000/120,000. Come back to PokerNews on Tuesday to follow the final table action.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
10,060,000
600,000
|
600,000 |
|
||
|
7,545,000
510,000
|
510,000 |
![]() |
6,075,000
575,000
|
575,000 |
![]() |
4,765,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
![]() |
3,690,000
965,000
|
965,000 |
|
||
![]() |
3,100,000
500,000
|
500,000 |
Laurynas Levinskas raised to 250,000 from mid-position and Liviu Ignat shoved from the cutoff. Action folded back to Levinskas who snap-called.
Liviu Ignat:
Laurynas Levinskas:
The flop came to keep Levinskas ahead and give Ignat a straight draw.
The turn was the and Ignat had one more chance to hit a king or ace to stay alive but the river completed the board with the
and that meant Ignat was eliminated as the dealer counted out both stacks and Levinskas had around 100,000 more in the end.
Ignat made his way to the payout desk to collect his cash for €136,720 and with 15:49 minutes left in this level, the clock was stopped. The six remaining players have now bagged for the final day on Tuesday, December 18.
The chip counts and a recap of today's action is to follow.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
4,770,000
2,905,000
|
2,905,000 |
![]() |
Eliminado |
In a three-way limped pot, action checked around on the flop for a board of on fourth. Carlos Branco checked, Laurynas Levinskas bet 280,000 from the big blind and Alexandr Merzhvinskii folded on the button. Branco said he was all in and pushed about 1.9 million forward. Levinskas let him have it.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
2,600,000
340,000
|
340,000 |
![]() |
1,865,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Parker Talbot limped in from mid-position and Artem Kobylynskyi completed his small blind. Liviu Ignat opted to check in the big blind.
The flop came , both Kobylynskyi and Ignat checked, Talbot put in a bet of 150,000 which only Ignat called.
The turn was the , Ignat check-called again but now for 250,000.
The river completed the board with the , Ignat checked for the last time, Talbot put in a stack of 100,000-value chips and Ignat folded almost immediately.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
10,660,000
935,000
|
935,000 |
|
||
![]() |
4,655,000
320,000
|
320,000 |
|
||
![]() |
1,150,000
1,165,000
|
1,165,000 |
Photos by Neil Stoddart.
Laurynas Levinskas min-opened in the cutoff and Paul Michaelis defended big blind. Michaelis check-called 140,000 on the flop, both players checked the
and the river was a
. Michaelis bet 700,000 and earned a fold in short order.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
9,725,000
1,660,000
|
1,660,000 |
|
||
![]() |
1,825,000
1,095,000
|
1,095,000 |
Laurynas Levinskas raised to 275,000 from the cutoff and Artem Kobylynskyi called on the button. The blinds quickly folded so the pair could see the flop.
The dealer spread out , Levinskas continued with a bet of 275,000 which Kobylynskyi called again.
The turn was the , Levinskas fired another bet over the line, now for 450,000 and Kobylynskyi called.
The river completed the board with the , Levinskas now opted to check. Kobylynskyi glimpsed at Levinskas and decided to bet 1,400,000. Levinskas took a few seconds to consider his options but then folded.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
![]() |
6,650,000
605,000
|
605,000 |
![]() |
2,920,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
On the first hand dealt, Diego Zeiter moved in for 1,305,000 from middle position and Alexandr Merzhvinskii called the shove after looking down at his in the big blind. He wished Zeiter luck, and the Argentinian turned over
. The
gave Zeiter a few more outs but the
river didn't do it.
Jogador | Fichas | Oscilação |
---|---|---|
|
8,055,000
1,365,000
|
1,365,000 |
![]() |
Eliminado |