As Day 5 of the 2016 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final €5,300 Main Event is about to start, the tournament is down to its final 28 players, spread out over 4 tables.
The goal is to play down to the point where only 6 players remain on this penultimate day, or till the end of level 29, whichever comes faster. The end of level 29 means only five 90-minute levels are scheduled for today, meaning the day should be done around 9pm local time as there won't be a dinner break. That's on the schedule at least, the tournament director can always decide to play on if they feel that's the better choice.
Leading the pack is Adrien Allain with 3,900,000 in chips. The WPT Amneville and APT Macau champion from France is followed by Portuguese pro Joao Vieira who's bringing 2,710,000 to the table today after being down to 2/3rd a big blind on Day 3. We predicted the comeback of the century, he would make a worthy successor to Pieter de Korver who was down to one big blind on the final table of this very event a couple of years back.
The field is packed with recognizable names and incredibly talented newcomers. The likes of EPT Season 9 Player of the Year Jan Bendik (2,447,000), November Niner Antoine Saout (2,147,000) and PokerStars Team Pro Vanessa Selbst (389,000) are all still in contention.
Sit back, relax, and follow our coverage for the entire day. The first level on the schedule is 15,000/30,000 with a 4,000 ante.
Dario Sammartino just raised in early position and Paul-Francois Tedeschi moved all in for right around 500,000. Sammartino called right away, creating the following showdown.
Sammartino:
Tedeschi:
The board ran out and Sammartino knocked out the French pro to get the tournament down to its final three tables.
"Barry Greenstein every time," Jan Bendik said as Tedeschi was knocked out by the ace on the river.
On the feature table the action folded to Mohamed Aissani who raised it up, and Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst moved all in from the big blind for 450,000. Aissani tanked for a bit before making the call.
Selbst rolled her eyes upon seeing the hand of her opponent and said, "Nice hand."
The showdown went as follows.
Aissani:
Selbst:
The board ran out and Selbst was knocked out as the last remaining Team PokerStars Pro on this season of the EPT.
From the cutoff Dario Sammartino raised to 62,000 and Benajmin Pollak three-bet to 145,000 with 465,000 left behind. The action folded back to Sammartino, and he moved all in.
Pollak snap-called.
Sammartino:
Pollak:
The flop brought out and the players at the table cried out a collective, "WOW!"
The turn brought the , keeping Pollak ahead, and the river brought the , giving Sammartino a winning two-pair combination.
Erwann Pecheux was down to his last 460,000 and moved those in from the cutoff. Action folded to big blind Adrien Allain and he had no real decision. He instantly called and had his cards face up before Peheux even had the chance to.
Adrien Allain:
Erwann Pecheux:
The flop came , giving Pecheux a pair. The on the turn and on the river failed to improve him, and the Frenchman hit the rail in 18th place, netting him €37,330. The remaining 17 players are guaranteed €42,650 from here on out.
Fabio Sperling raised his button and was soon facing a three-bet from small blind Pierre Calamusa. The big blind folded and Sperling shoved for about 750,000. Calamusa called.
Fabio Sperling:
Pierre Calamusa:
The flop came , making Sperling on the lookout for a king or running fives for a chop to stay alive.
The on the turn left him just two outs, and neither would pop up on the river as the completed the board.
Antoine Saout was first to act and made it 95,000. Action folded around pretty quickly to big blind Andy Andrejevic. The last standing American shoved all in for what appeared to be just under 800,000. Saout called.
Andy Andrejevic:
Antoine Saout:
The didn't do anything for anyone really, but the on the turn gave Andrejevic some additional outs. The on the river was a blank though, and Andrejevic made his exit.
Thi Xoa Nguyen just moved all in for her last 490,000 chips and Ben Philipps made the call.
Nguyen:
Philipps:
The board ran out and Nguyen was knocked out in 14th place. Nguyen was the last woman standing in the tournament, and 13 men remain to battle for the EPT Grand Final title.
and Sammartino knocked out the French pro to get the tournament down to its final three tables.
and Selbst was knocked out as the last remaining Team PokerStars Pro on this season of the EPT.
and the players at the table cried out a collective, "WOW!"
, keeping Pollak ahead, and the river brought the 
, giving Sammartino a winning two-pair combination.
hit. Calamusa bet 330,000 and after some thinking Radzivonau moved all in for 800,000.
, and Radzivonau was in a lot of trouble with 
and Radzivonau was knocked out, putting Calamusa on 2.3 million chips.
, giving Pecheux a pair. The 
on the river failed to improve him, and the Frenchman hit the rail in 18th place, netting him €37,330. The remaining 17 players are guaranteed €42,650 from here on out.
on the turn left him just two outs, and neither would pop up on the river as the 
completed the board.
. Celestino check-called a bet of 100,000.
and now Celestino checked, only to see that Saout put him all in for about 400,000. 
for two pair. Celestino showed his 
didn't do anything for anyone really, but the 
