It was nothing short of an explosive Day 4 from start to finish in the European Poker Tour Monte Carlo €5,300 Main Event.
It all began with a flurry of bustouts that saw 14 players hit the rail during the first level of play at Sporting Monte-Carlo. We've seen hero calls, a chip leader emerge from the ashes, and a bluff gone wrong that left one of the remaining 16 players with just a single big blind as chips were bagged and tagged.
The player who thrived the most in the madness was Philipp Wenzelburger, who was down to just 13 big blinds early in the day only to win three huge hands in a row to take the overall chip lead. Wenzelburger returned for only his second EPT Monte Carlo. In his first, at the 2016 EPT Monte Carlo, he gained a huge chip lead in the €1,100 FPS Main Event only to bust in 21st place, earning himself the nickname "German Train".
There looks to be no derailing the train this time. Wenzelburger had 6,545,000 chips at the end of Day 4, a significant lead over second place Jonathan Guedes, who bagged for 3,570,000.
Close behind Guedes is Jovan Kenjic in third with 3,255,000, followed by Natan Chauskin in fourth with 3,180,000, and Canadian crusher Jamil Wakil rounds out the top five with 2,470,000.
Tough competition also sits outside of the top five, including Adrian Mateos (2,405,000), who earned himself nearly a full double up at the end of the day when David Docherty triple-barrel bluffed only to run into Mateos' rivered full house, a confrontation that left Docherty with just a single big blind.
You know what they say... chip and a chair, and all that.
Also among those still in the mix is Niclas Thumm (1,430,000), the streamer known as "Flushii" who mentioned that his friend has caught him talking in his sleep about winning the EPT.
PokerNews caught up with Thumm after the tournament and he's thrilled to be here.
"It feels very warming. I see all the same people around here that make me feel comfortable. It's amazing to be at another PokerStars event."
Here's how the chip counts look at the end of Day 4.
End of Day 4 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Philipp Wenzelburger | Germany | 6,545,000 | 164 |
| 2 | Jonathan Guedes | Brazil | 3,570,000 | 89 |
| 3 | Jovan Kenjic | Serbia | 3,255,000 | 81 |
| 4 | Natan Chauskin | Belarus | 3,180,000 | 80 |
| 5 | Jamil Wakil | Canada | 2,470,000 | 62 |
| 6 | Adrian Mateos | Spain | 2,405,000 | 60 |
| 7 | Boris Angelov | Bulgaria | 2,395,000 | 60 |
| 8 | Rania Nasreddine | USA | 2,135,000 | 53 |
| 9 | Jonathan Pastore | France | 2,060,000 | 52 |
| 10 | Francisco Benitez | Uruguay | 1,845,000 | 46 |
| 11 | Derk van Luijk | Netherlands | 1,660,000 | 42 |
| 12 | Niclas Thumm | Germany | 1,430,000 | 36 |
| 13 | Jozef Cibicek | Slovakia | 1,400,000 | 35 |
| 14 | Javier Caballo | Spain | 1,105,000 | 28 |
| 15 | Nathan Tetart | France | 750,000 | 19 |
| 16 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 40,000 | 1 |
A Flurry of Bustouts
In what was a truly explosive start to Day 4, a total of 14 players hit the rail within the first level of play, many of those falling within the first half an hour.
It all started when Javier Caballo, currently 14th in chips, scored a double knockout in the very first hand of the day, eliminating both short stacked Maxi Lehmanski and not-as-short-stacked Enis Rouissi when his pocket tens held against their ace-x hands.
From there, the bustouts kept on coming. Birger Ohl, Matthias Lipp and Christophe Morbee fell moments later, then Aaron Olechnowicz ran into Jozef Cibicek's pocket queens, all within less than 20 minutes of play.
Bryan Paris then lost a flip and was knocked out by Rania Nasreddine, herself something of a dark horse in the competition who has been pushing around other players with an aggressive style throughout the day.
PokerNews spoke to Nasreddine when her table broke. She usually plays live poker over in the USA and is at only her second stop ever.
"I have to say, there's a class element that EPT brings to an event and it's amazing! It's been an honor to be here."
More and more players fell at the wayside, including Victor Castanedo, who made the first payjump of the day, out in 39th for €20,100.
By the first break, only 35 players remained.
Wenzelburger Rises to the Top
Wenzelburger is already guaranteed to walk away with a cash nearly double his overall live scores, at least €40,600, although it's likely he'll go a lot further.
Not bad for someone who says he is "not a professional poker player" but is "on holiday at the moment."
Speaking of his rise to the top, Wenzelburger said it happened in "a really short time, half an hour, I think, from the basement to the chip lead." He described the experience as an "amazing journey."
In one such hand, Wenzelburger held with his pocket nines to win a flip and knockout Danilo Velasevic, which brought his chip stack up by another million or so following an already hot run.
Of course, his victory is by no means a given, which Wenzelburger himself recognises.
"Everybody wants to be first. That's the problem!"
That Final Hand
David Docherty, who had the year of his life last year when he topped the Irish Open Main Event and went on to win the UKIPT Leaderboard, looked to be in a firm position to challenge his peers for the trophy as Day 4 drew to a close.
He was responsible for knocking out Alexander Seibt, aka "Wolfgang Poker", in 18th place, leaving just one more player to go before the tournament's temporary conclusion.
All eyes were on Table 2 for the final bustout of the night as Kenjic held to knockout Vladimir Troyanovskiy in 17th place, signalling that action was about to stop.
But over on the TV table a hand was still running. Mateos had pocket sixes out of position and was facing multiple barrels from David Docherty, who was running a bluff over several streets.
The river brought Mateos a full house with his sixes and he checked it to Docherty, who moved almost his entire stack into the middle. Mateos looked perplexed, but he'd hit the mother of all bluff catchers and wasn't going anywhere. He made the call, leaving Docherty to return for Day 5 with just a single big blind.
Still, Docherty is one of the 16 players who will return for Day 5, which commences on Friday, May 3rd at 12 p.m. local time. Action will resume with 47 minutes left at Level 25 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante.
The outright winner is set to lock up €1,000,000 and the coveted PokerStars trophy.
PokerNews will be following the action as the Main Event plays down to the final table.
