EPT: Barcelona Open Day 3The Final Table of Eight Emerges - Jason Mercier Attempts to Win a Historic Second EPT Final Table |
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Day 3 at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Open was relatively tame compared to the carnage that saw 167 players fly out the door of the Gran Casino on day 2. The order of the day was to shrink 36 players down to the final eight, and every hopeful competitor dug in to face off with their opponents. The march to the rail was steady, with no major lulls or rushes in the action, just a consistent march to the inevitable. That was until just one player had to bust out before the final table was set, and it took almost 3.5 hours for it to happen.
Three players fell early on day 3, and among them was the last Team PokerStars pro in the field, Chad Brown. Here is the hand Brown went down on, pulled from CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
Chad Brown and Daniele Mazzia got all of their chips in preflop, and Brown had his tournament life on the line. Here are their cards:
Brown: J-J
Mazzia: K-Q
Board: Q
8
3
9
4
Brown was eliminated in 34th place, and he took home €17,300 in prize money.
Brown was followed to the rail by the notable eliminations of young American Joe Pelton, who finished in 27th place (€19,800), and German World Series of Poker bracelet winner Michael Keiner, who finished in 25th place (€19,800). EPT stalwart Ramzi Jelassi finished in 20th place and scored €24,700 for what was surprisingly his largest cash ever on the EPT.
Two players were looking to make a little bit of Barcelona Open history as the day advanced. It was the second year in a row that Davidi Kitai was poised to make a deep run to the final two tables in Barcelona. Last year, he finished in 11th place and took home $61,180 in prize money. Voitto Rintala was also looking to make the final two tables once again here at the Gran Casino, he finished in 13th place last year and took home $44,488 in prize money.
When day 3 came to a close, Rintala missed making this goal by the closest of margins. The Finnish star busted in 17th place and earned €24,700 when he finished one spot shy of the final two tables of eight players. The Belgium WSOP bracelet winner Kitai not only met this goal, he exceeded it by advancing to the final table tomorrow. He enters the final table with 600,000.
One surprising elimination that came late in the day was that of Jonas Klausen. The young Danish star looked unstoppable at early points of the tournament, and he started day 3 with 237,000. Day 3 did not go according to plan, though, and he hit the rail in 11th place. Here is the hand from CardPlayer.com’s live updates:
Jonas Klausen moved all in preflop on a short stack with A-4, and he was called down by Dren Ukella, who held pocket jacks. The board was dealt Q-10-2-2-4, and Klausen was eliminated in 11th place. He took home €49,600 in prize money.
The final-table bubble boy ended up being Mikael Lundell, who busted just before 4 a.m. local time to bring day 3 to a close. During the 3.5 hours it took for the final-table bubble to burst, Kitai doubled up twice, Samuel Chartier doubled up once, and Sebastian Ruthenberg doubled up once, as well. It was the second double up by Kitai that spelled doom for Lundell. Here is how the action went down in CardPlayer.com's live updates:
The Penultimiate Hand of the Penultimate Day in the Tournament
Davidi Kitai got all of his chips into the middle preflop, and Mikael Lundell called him down. Their cards:
Kitai: Q
7
Lundell: A
4
Board: Q J
2 10 8
Kitai doubled up on the hand, and Lundell was crippled, with just 20,000 remaining.
Day 3 Ends
Mikael Lundell was all in on the very next hand, and it was Sebastian Ruthenberg that called him down preflop. Their cards:
Lundell: 10 9
Ruthenberg: 8 8
Board: J 6 2 A 4
Lundell was eliminated on the hand in ninth place, and he took home €74,400 in prize money.
Notable players at the final table include Kitai, the young German WSOP bracelet winner Ruthenberg, and young American Jason Mercier. Mercier is the season four champion of EPT San Remo, and this is the second EPT final table he has made in the last three EPT tournaments. If Mercier wins here in Barcelona tomorrow, he will become the first player in history to win two EPT events. He'll start the day with 526,000.
Card Player will provide live updates, chip counts, and photos from the final table beginning at 4 p.m. local time tomorrow (7 a.m. PDT). Also, be sure to check out the EPT Live video feed from the final table, which will broadcast the entire final table live onto CardPlayer.com.
Here is the final table seating chart with chip counts:
Seat 1: Martin Nielsen (Denmark) -- 1,229,000
Seat 2: Davidi Kitai (Belgium) -- 600,000
Seat 3: Dren Ukella (Germany) -- 734,000
Seat 4: Jason Mercier (USA) -- 526,000
Seat 5: Samuel Chartier (Canada) -- 879,000
Seat 6: Daniele Mazzia (Italy) -- 359,000
Seat 7: Fintan Gavin (Ireland) -- 701,000
Seat 8: Sebastian Ruthenberg (Germany) -- 1,204,000
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