Day 4 at the 2009 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona main event began at 12:30 p.m. CEST (3:30 a.m. PDT) today when the final 23 players took their seats. The next 10 hours saw the field shrink down to a final table of eight players, which will be held tomorrow. At the start of the day, five different players had a shot at becoming the first player to win two EPT main-event titles. Those five players were Team PokerStars pro Bertrand Grospellier, Michael Mcdonald, Roland de Wolfe, Jens Kyllonen, and Jan Boubli (pictured right). By the end of the night, each and every one of those players was eliminated, and the final table of eight will produce a brand-new EPT champion who will take home €850,000.
Day 4 was especially tough for two of the toughest professional players left in the field. Grospellier took a bad beat after making a good call against Kyllonen. The young Scandinavian moved all in preflop, and ElkY called him down with pocket fours. Kyllonen held Q-3, and after a queen hit on the flop, Kyllonen doubled up, and Grospellier was knocked down to 100,000. Grospellier was eliminated shortly thereafter in 19th place.
Patrick Bueno came into the day as the chip leader at his table, but a series of unfortunate events destroyed his chip stack. He was eliminated in 17th place. One of the players who profited from Bueno’s demise was Julien Nuitjen (pictured left), who won multiple hands against the Frenchman. (Read about Nuitjen’s experiences playing against Bueno in this event in the Poker Tournament Trail — Julien Nuitjen posted earlier today.) Nuitjen met a bit of his own bad luck by the end of the night. He was the final-table bubble boy, falling in ninth place.
American Carter Phillips heads into the final table with the chip lead. He holds 4,377,000, and his next closest competitor, Marc Goodwin, holds 3,072,000.
The final table will begin at 2 p.m. CEST (5 a.m. PDT) tomorrow. Card Player’s tournament reporting team will be there to bring you all of the action in live updates, chip counts, and photos. You can also watch all of the action on the EPT Live video feed.
Here is a look at the results from day 4:
9 — Julien Nuijten, Netherlands, €50,000
10 — Anonymous, €50,000
11 — Mike McDonald, USA, €40,000
12 — Jens Kyllonen, Finland, €40,000
13 — Michael Greco, UK, €35,000
14 — Ari Kolpanitzki, Israel, €35,000
15 — Roland de Wolfe, UK, €30,000
16 — Oleksandr Vaserfirer, Ukraine, €30,000
17 — Patrick Bueno, France, €26,000
18 — Jan Boubli, France, €26,000
19 — Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Team PokerStars Pro, €26,000
20 — Joram Volklein, Germany, €26,000
21 — Jose Carreres, Spain, €26,000
22 — David Robinson, USA, PokerStars qualifier, €26,000
23 — Adam Markovitz, Hungary, PokerStars qualifier, €26,000
Here is a look at the final table seating chart for tomorrow (with chip counts):
Carter Phillips — 4,377,000
Marc Goodwin — 3,072,000
Matt Lapossie — 2,938,000
Asa Smith — 1,376,000
Georgios Kapalas — 818,000
Toni Ojala — 750,000
Santiago Terrazas — 542,000
Anonymous — 406,000
Here are the highlights from day 4, as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
ElkY Takes a Big Hit
Jens Kyllonen moved all in preflop, and Team PokerStars pro Bertrand Grospellier (pictured right) made the call. Their cards:
Kyllonen: Q
3
Grospellier: 4 4
Board: A Q
8 10 K
Kyllonen won the hand to double up, and Grospellier watched his stack fall down to the 100,000 range.
Roland de Wolfe is Falling Down
Roland de Wolfe (pictured left) just took a fairly big hit when his aces battled anonymous’ kings on a board which brought a king for the very first card. It came K
7 5 8 J.
Bertrand Grospellier Eliminated in 19th Place
Oleksandr Vaserfirer moved all in for 145,000, and ElkY called for his last 125,000. He turned over K J, while Vaserfirer showed A 3.
The board came 7 5 2 2 Q, and Elky was eliminated in 19th place, which was good for €26,000.
A Bad Day for Bueno
Patrick Bueno (pictured right) started the day among the chip leaders, but hand after hand has proven to be a disaster for the Frenchman. The young German player to his right, Julien Nuijten, has made a comeback largely through Bueno, and appears to be getting more and more dangerous as he builds his stack.
In the latest hand, Bueno’s stack was absolutely slaughtered by Finn Toni Ojala:
Ojala was all in for 294,000 and Bueno called for more than half of his stack.
Bueno: A Q
Ojala: 9 9
The tension mounted as Bueno moved ahead on the flop: K Q 5. The turn was the 2, but, amazingly, Ojala spiked a 9 on the river and doubled up. Bueno is now down to 187,000.
Patrick Bueno Eliminated in 17th Place
Patrick Bueno was all in for 151,000, and Julien Nuijten called, flipping over A-K.
Bueno sadly showed J-7, and he was put out of his misery when the board came K 10 4 Q 7.
He started the day as one of the chip leaders but, as poker goes, is now out. He goes home in 17th place for €26,000.
Jens Kyllonen Eliminated in 12th Place
Jens Kyllonen (pictured right) and Carter Philips just tangoed and Philips got the best of it.
Kyllonen kicked off the betting from the button, Philips raised, Kyllonen shoved, and Philips called. They turned over their cards:
Kyllonen: J J
Philips: K K
Board: 10 6 6 5 x
Kyllonen hit the rail in 12th place for €40,000, and we lose another former EPT champion.
Mike Mcdonald Eliminated in 11th Place
Mike McDonald (pictured left) was the first player to go after dinner break. Mcdonald moved all in from under the gun for 400,000 preflop, and Carter Phillips made the call from the small blind. Their cards:
Mcdonald: K Q
Phillips: 6 6
Board: A 4 3 5 7
Another EPT champ hits the rail. His prize money of €40,000 is some consolation for busting so near the final table.
Tick Tock Tilt
Carter Phillips raised 95,000, Matt Lapossie called, and Marc Goodwin (pictured right) reraised it to 330,000. The atmosphere burst as Phillips reraised it to 620,000. It’s 295,000 for Goodwin to call.
The pot is now 1,136,000.
Goodwin called and the pot increased to 1,431,000.
The flop was Q 10 9 and both players checked.
The turn was the A and Phillips bet 700,000. The pot burst at the seams at 2,131,000 in chips.
Goodwin went into the tank and it looked like it could be a call or shove.
One or two minutes go by and Santiago Terrazas called the clock, much to the amazement of everyone watching, and those seated at the table. Within seconds Goodwin folded and showed A-K.
Phillips showed 8 6 and scooped in his chips.
Goodwin looked crushed and lost 620,000.
Julien Nuitjen Eliminated in Ninth Place
Julien Nuijten was all in for 750,000 and Marc Goodwin made the call.
Nuijten showed A K and Goodwin flipped over A Q.
For the last hand of the evening the board could not fall any more dramatically:
A Q 6 7 5
Goodwin took it down and moved up to 3,072,000 in chips.
Nuijten was unlucky and left in ninth place on the final table bubble with €50,000.
