Vincent Meli opened to 100,000 from under the gun with K♦Q♠, and Serge Chechin called from the cutoff with 5♥5♣. Grigorii Rodin looked down at A♦10♦ from the small blind and made it 400,000. Meli got out of the way while Chechin stuck around.
On the A♠7♠7♦ flop, Rodin continued for 225,000 and Chechin snap-called. Rodin improved to aces and tens on the 10♠ turn and checked. Chechin took the bait and fired out 475,000. Rodin called.
The 4♦ completed the board, and action checked through to showdown, with Rodin having the winner.
Cheng Zhao opened the action with pocket queens and raised from early position, but he received no action as the rest of the table folded.
The hand after, Vincent Meli opened to 80,000 with A♣K♦ from early position before Serge Chechin made it 250,000 with 8♦7♦ from the button. Meli four-bet to 650,000, and Chechin called.
On the Q♦10♣3♠ flop, Meli checked, and Chechin fired out 295,000 with his eight-high. Meli called.
The Q♥ turn paired the board, and Meli checked once more. Chechin sized up to 540,000 and folded out the better hand.
Action folded to Padraig O'Neill who limped in from the small blind. Jon Kyte then raised to 130,000 in the big blind and O'Neill called.
The flop came 5♣Q♠3♠ and Kyte bet 80,000. O'Neill stuck around and called.
The turn was the A♥ and O'Neill checked to Kyte again, who this time bet 480,000. O'Neill called once more and the 7♦ fell on the river.
Kyte then slid forward a tower of red 100,000 chips for a total bet of around 2,200,000, covering O'Neill's remaining 2,000,000. O'Neill tanked for only around 20 seconds before folding.
"Show the bluff. Show the bluff," Max Neugebauer began chanting, but Kyte returned his cards face down.
At the start of the tournament, when the wintery wonderland that is Prague saw a record-setting field of 1,285 players descend on the Czech capital for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Main Event, making the final table seemed only like a distant dream. But for the 16 players who have made it to Day 5, it suddenly seems like a reality.
Norway’s Jon Kyte leads the way when action resumes at noon local time inside the Hilton Prague. Kyte went on an incredible run at the end of yesterday’s action, spiking a three-outer on the river to double up then winning two massive coin flips to accumulate a stack of 6,515,000. He leads his closest challenger, Russia’s Grigorii Rodin (4,025,000), by just shy of 2,500,000. Cheng Zhao of China (3,740,000) and two Frenchmen, Serge Chechin (2,980,000) and Vincent Meli (2,920,000), give the top five an international flavor.
Day 5 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jon Kyte
Norway
6,515,000
130
2
Grigorii Rodin
Russia
4,025,000
81
3
Cheng Zhao
China
3,740,000
75
4
Serge Chechin
France
2,980,000
60
5
Vincent Meli
France
2,920,000
58
6
Padraig O'Neill
Ireland
2,700,000
54
7
Niall Farrell
United Kingdom
2,695,000
54
8
Dejan Jakovljevic
Netherlands
2,285,000
46
9
Marle Spragg
United States
2,080,000
42
10
Adam Wagner
Czech Republic
1,930,000
39
11
Umberto Ruggeri
Italy
1,470,000
29
12
Jiri Kocab
Czech Republic
1,325,000
27
13
Preben Stokkan
Norway
1,185,000
24
14
Max Neugebauer
Austria
1,090,000
22
15
Govert Metaal
Netherlands
930,000
19
16
Mark Helou
Lebanon
540,000
11
Two players left in the field are not only chasing the EPT trophy and €1,030,000 top prize but also a place in the EPT record books. Niall Farrell, champion of EPT Malta in 2015, would become only the fourth player with multiple EPT titles. He enters Day 5 in seventh place with 2,695,000.
Niall Farrell
Marle Spragg, the popular poker content creator and better half of PokerStars Team Pro Benjamin Spragg, finds herself just inside the top 10 with 2,080,000. Just 15 opponents separate her from joining the small list of women to win an EPT Main Event that currently has only four other names on it.
Other notables still in the hunt include Padraig O’Neill (2,700,000), Dejan Jakovljevic (2,285,000), Preben Stokkan (1,185,000), Max Neugebauer (1,090,000), and Govert Metaal (930,000). Adam Wagner (1,930,000) and Jiri Kocab (1,325,000) are the only two left flying the flag for the local Czech contingent.
The action resumes with just over three minutes remaining on Level 25 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante. The blinds then increase to 25,000/50,000. The 16 players have already locked up €42,320, with a final table appearance guaranteeing €123,600. The plan for today is to play down to the final six players who then return tomorrow to determine a champion. All the action will be streamed by PokerStars TV on a 30-minute delay with commentary from James Hartigan and Joe Stapleton.
Stay tuned throughout the day as PokerNews provides all the live updates as this record field plays down to a final table.
