Moritz Dietrich holds the chiplead after Day 3 of the partypokerLIVE Millions Main Event
After four days of heated poker action at the Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham, only 45 players remain in the hunt for the winner of the 2017 partypokerLIVE Millions Main Event.
Yesterday's action saw Austrian Moritz Dietrich surge to the top of the leaderboard as he bagged up 78,115,000 chips, but he is closely trailed by the £550 Phase 1 Online qualifier Katie Swift. Swift managed to end the night in 74,040,000 and will be in good shape to make a deep run for the title in one of the biggest live tournaments the UK has ever seen.
The plan for today is to play down to a final table, which shouldn't be more than eight levels of play. With the hectic pace of eliminations yesterday, the remaining players are expected to settle in for the night no later than midnight.
Day 4 Level structure
Level
Clock
Small Blind
Big Blind
Ante
46
75
400,000
800,000
80,000
47
75
500,000
1,000,000
100,000
48
75
600,000
1,200,000
100,000
49
75
800,000
1,600,000
150,000
50
75
1,000,000
2,000,000
200,000
51
75
1,200,000
2,400,000
250,000
52
75
1,500,000
3,000,000
300,000
53
75
2,000,000
4,000,000
400,000
The remaining 45 players have locked up £20,000 for their efforts, but with a cool million pound sterling for the winner, every single player is hoping to make it to the elusive final table on Sunday afternoon.
Action will be back underway at 1 pm local time, and as always the PokerNews live reporting team will be bringing you every bit of the action from the floor at the Dusk Till Dawn. Settle in for another epic day of tournament poker.
Stephen Chidwick pictured during Day 3. He already has double what he started with on Day 4.
Stephen Chidwick was down to fresh air just two hands ago, now the legendary British High Roller is back amongst the counts with 25 big blinds.
All the money went in pre-flop, and it wasn't just from Chidwick. Ben Farrell was shortest with just six million chips, and he committed all of them with . Chidwick was all-in with and both those players were at risk of elimination from Jeremy Pantin, who had the leading hand with .
The flop of saw Pantin maintain his lead and leave Farrell chasing a minor miracle. Chidwick still had outs, but they weren't helped by the river. Only an ace or king would do, but one of those six available cards came on the river. Farrell was out of the door, but Chidwick suddenly has just under 20 million chips from nowhere.
The first of five golden chip contenders has been eliminated and it was Thomas Boivin who joined the rail. Boivin shoved for around 13 big blinds on the button and Ben Morrison reshoved from the small blind to get Sergio Castelluccio out of the way. "Same hand, will be split pot again," Castelluccio joked.
Thomas Boivin:
Ben Morrison:
The flop took some outs away from Boivin, and he was drawing dead on the turn, making the river a formality.
Jonas Lauck and Grzegorz Grochulski both have to settle for a payout of £20,000, but especially for the German it means he misses out on the chance to score £100,000 as part of the last longer competition. What had happened?
Lauck shoved for around 10M from the button and Stephen Chidwick reshoved the small blind. Grochulski called all in from the big blind for around 18M and the cards were tabled.
Jonas Lauck:
Grzegorz Grochulski:
Stephen Chidwick:
The board ran out and the double elimination vaulted Chidwick's stack above the average after starting Day 4 as far shortest stack.
David Peters made it 2.2 million to go from the cutoff and Jake Cody shipped it in for 23 million and change. Back on Peters, then, and he made the call with , way ahead of the Cody held.
Peters kept the lead on the flop and the turn, but as the dealer turned over the on the river, Peters was forced out of his chair and to the cashier, leaving Cody behind to stack his new-found wealth.
Vicente Delgado crashes out to massive chip leader Jacob Mulhern
Vicente Delgado moved all-in pre-flop from late position for around 22 million chips and Jacob Mulhern called after opening the action.
Vicente Delgado:
Jacob Mulhern:
The board of gave Delgado a massive sweat from the flop, but ultimately disappointed him and left him out of the reckoning for that million-dollar top prize. At present, Jacob Mulhern is in pole position for both the tournament win and of course that magical £100,000 Golden Chip last longer.
Stephen Chidwick and Katie Swift have been at each other for much of the day, with both players chipping up in other pots all day.
Every pot they've subsequently shared has been of greater and greater importance.
In their latest clash, a standard open preflop to 3.7 million from Chidwick was called by Swift, who maintains position on her highly-decorated foe. The flop of saw Swift checked to and so she bet 6.7 million. Chidwick called.
The turn of saw both players check, but on the river of , Chidwick bet 8.25 million.
While Swift took her time, she eventually called, and was shown the winning hand, Chidwick's . Swift mucked her cards and paid an amount that cracked Chidwick's six-figure stack and drew close to Swift's stack in size.
Just how important could that pot be come tomorrow evening?
On one of the two outer tables, Moritz Dietrich faced the open raise to 4m by Jacob Mulhern and the call by Katie Swift on the button. Dietrich then three-bet to 27.5m with some 6M behind out of the small blind and Mulhern moved all in. Swift quickly folded, but Dietrich needed more time.
It was as much time that Stephen Chidwick called the clock on him, and the one minute of consideration ran down to just six seconds before the Austrian called all in.
Moritz Dietrich:
Jacob Mulhern:
The board ran out and Dietrich was drawing dead on the turn already. Dietrich, eliminated in 17th place, earns £25,000 and the remaining 16 players have a minimum of £30,000 locked up.
Mateusz Rypulak on the button made it 4.5 million to go and Mark Gardner made a shove for around 25 million out of the small blind. Rypulak made the call with , and the Pole was in great shape against the of Gardner.
The gave Gardner a flush draw, but it was not to be for the Brit, as the board was completed by the and the .
Gardner is out in 16th but still takes home £30,000.
. Chidwick was all-in with 
and both those players were at risk of elimination from Jeremy Pantin, who had the leading hand with 
. 
saw Pantin maintain his lead and leave Farrell chasing a minor miracle. Chidwick still had outs, but they weren't helped by the 
river. Only an ace or king would do, but one of those six available cards came on the 
river. Farrell was out of the door, but Chidwick suddenly has just under 20 million chips from nowhere.
flop took some outs away from Boivin, and he was drawing dead on the 
turn, making the 
Cody held.
turn, but as the dealer turned over the 
on the river, Peters was forced out of his chair and to the cashier, leaving Cody behind to stack his new-found wealth.
gave Delgado a massive sweat from the flop, but ultimately disappointed him and left him out of the reckoning for that million-dollar top prize. At present, Jacob Mulhern is in pole position for both the tournament win and of course that magical £100,000 Golden Chip last longer.
, Chidwick bet 8.25 million. 
. Swift mucked her cards and paid an amount that cracked Chidwick's six-figure stack and drew close to Swift's stack in size. 
of Gardner.
gave Gardner a flush draw, but it was not to be for the Brit, as the board was completed by the 
