PokerStars EPT London Main Event -- Day 4

Three tables of eight players filled the bottom end of the tournament area at the start of day 4 of the PokerStars.com European Poker Tour London main event.

Although the 24 players were in the money, whereabouts exactly was yet to be determined for 16 of them.

The chip leader going into the day was PokerStars qualifier Michael Berry with 1,837,000 in chips, but everything was about to change for him and many others.

The first to hit the rail was Philip Byers in 24th place. He left at the hands of Martin Gudvangen, and was followed closely by Theo Tran in 23rd, Kenneth Hicks in 22nd, Jonathan Weekes in 21st, and Andrew Lichtenberger in 20th. They all earned the same amount (£17,000) for making it through to early-session day 4. The day was off to a thunderous start, as chips got passed over at lightning speed, and stacks fluctuated wildly.

Before going any further, check out this PokerStars clip all about day 4:

Watch EPT 6 London Day 4: A day to make a fortune on PokerStars.tv

Unfortunately, the next player to exit the event was November Niner Kevin Schaffel [pictured left]. The American had wished to make this his third final table (after making it through to the final nine of the WSOP main event, and then taking down second place at the WPT Legends of Poker), but even though he didn’t get there, he still finished in the impressive 19th place out of 430 entrants, to take home £17,000.

When short-stacked, Schaffel moved in holding pocket deuces and found himself up against pocket sevens. The board made no difference, and Schaffel’s hot streak came to an end, or perhaps just a pause, as his most important final table has yet to be played.

Brit Adam York was next out in 18th place (£17,000), and he was followed by one of the remaining stars in the field, Annette Obrestad [pictured right].

Dominic Cullen raised, Peter Eastgate shoved, Annette Obrestad reraised all in, and Cullen folded. Eastgate held pocket jacks, which held up against Obrestad’s A-10. After this crippling blow, Obrestad got the rest in shortly after with K-Q versus Ivo Donev’s A-K. The board bricked once again, and Obrestad was eliminated in 17th place for £17,000.

Rodrigo Caprioli made the next money bracket. He left in 16th place for £19,000, and Michael Berry, who started the day as chip leader, (after freerolling his way to the event via PokerStars.com) finished 15th for the same amount.

Ivo Donev, who put the final nail in Obrestad’s coffin earlier, took a shot of his own, and shoved for his last 823,000. Martin Gudvangen, on the button, went into the tank, and when he came out the other end, he reraised all in to isolate. Gudvangen held A Q, while Donev was behind with A 10. The board was dealt: 8 5 3 7 K, and he was put out in 14th place for £23,000. Josef Samanek then followed him to the rail as unlucky number 13 (£23,000).

Benny Spindler’s aggressive form on day 3 left many of his opponents confused and frustrated, so coming into day 4, he was largely a threatening presence.

However, Spindler [pictured right] was crippled by Raymond Wu mid-late session, and soon after called an all in from Marty Smyth for the remainder of his stack.

Smyth, who had made it this far after a comeback from 2,500 in chips on his starting day, made a set of queens on the flop, and Spindler’s A-K was left in the dust.

The young German hit the rail in 12th place. He takes home £28,000 for his efforts, as does his fellow native Tobias Reinkemeier for 11th.

Smyth [pictured left] was not to go the whole hog, however, and repeat a similar situation to his Irish Open 2007 final table, where he was also up against Peter Eastgate. He finished just short of the lights and glamor of the final table, in 10th place for £38,000.

Speaking of Peter Eastgate, the young world champion made a mighty comeback throughout the day, eventually finding himself all in versus Vivek Rajkumar on the feature table.

Rajkumar had A-K but Eastgate held pocket aces and the board could not help Rajkumar, leaving him crippled with just 345,000 in chips.

With nine players still remaining and only eight seats reserved for tomorrow’s ultimate battle, the level was over and it was time for a break.

Only seconds back from break and moments into the 28th level, the final table was decided.

Vivek Rajumar bet out, Dominic Cullen shoved all in, and Rajkumar called. Rajkumar flipped over K J and Cullen showed A Q. The board came out loud and clear: A 10 5 8 A.

Rajkumar hit the rail in ninth place as the final-table bubble boy. He gets £38,000 for his efforts, while his eight (previous) opponents will now prepare for their last day in the event tomorrow.

Here are the final table chip counts:

Aaron Gustavson: 7,140,000
Peter Eastgate: 3,535,000
Martin Gudvangen: 3,510,000
Nikolai Senninger: 2,165,000
Dominic Cullen: 2,115,000
Raymond Wu: 1,535,000
Rui Milhomens: 1,095,000
Karim Bennani: 845,000

Only one of the above will go home with £850,000 ($1,354,042) and the title, plus all the honour and glory that goes with it. Can the only American (Aaron Gustavson) retain his lead and withstand a multi-national final table, and what will happen to the one remaining Brit, Dominic Cullen? What about the biggest question of all – can Peter Eastgate make his mark on this side of the pond and take home an EPT title to go with his WSOP achievement? Join us at noon tomorrow (local time) to find out as we begin the last leg of the journey towards finding the new EPT London main event champion.

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