In the hand after busting Arni Gunnarsson, Claudio Di Giacomo open-shoved from the small blind. Yunsheng Sun called all in for around 3 million from the big blind.
Claudio Di Giacomo:
Yunsheng Sun:
The flop gave Di Giacomo some more outs and he added the clubs as well on the turn. The on the river left nothing to the imagination and Sun had to part ways in 11th place. The man from China received €44,350 for his deep run.
Giovanni Gallo raised all in for 1.3m from the hijack and only Alberto Ah Line called before the blinds folded.
Giovanni Gallo:
Alberto Ah Line:
Board:
There was a glimmer of hope for Gallo on the flop when he paired his five, but no further help came from the turn or river as he was eliminated just minutes after the restart in level 34.
Gallo walks away with €44,350 for his 10th place finish in EPT Barcelona National.
The action folded around to Jerome L'Hostis on the button, and he moved all in. The two players in the blinds were the short stacks of Jan Dentler and Roger Taieb. Dentler folded but Taieb called for his last ten big blinds, and the hands were turned on their backs.
Jerome L'Hostis:
Roger Taieb:
Board:
Taieb was in good shape to secure a double up with L'Hostis having only one over card. But that card hit on the flop when the queen of diamonds was revealed. Frenchman Taieb was unable to get back into the lead as the board completed and was the first player to be eliminated from the final table in 9th place for €53,410.
The action folded around to table chipleader Julien Martini on the button, and he raised to 650,000. After Jan Teunis folded in the small blind, Mariano Leandro Hyon proceeded to move all in for 7.9m. Martini needed time to think and was unsure of his decision but eventually made the call.
Mariano Leandro Hyon:
Julien Martini:
Board:
The flop was safe for Leandro Hyon who had his opponents hand dominated, but the nine of hearts hit the turn to give Martini two pair, and there was no saving queen on the river for Leandro Hyon.
Julien Martini raised to 1,300,000 from under the gun and everyone folded to Jean-René Fontaine in the big blind. In one fell swoop, Fontaine picked up all his blue T-500,000 chips and flung them in the middle for a bet worth 5,900,000, and Martini called.
The flop was and Fontaine snap-checked. Martini didn't waste too much time before checking behind.
On the turn, Fontaine acted instantly again and took one of his three stacks of black T-100,000 chips, which he put into the pot with a loud thud. It was 2,300,000 total, which Martini called within ten seconds.
The river was the and Fontaine instantly checked this time. Martini took around ten to fifteen seconds before announcing all in. It was around 5 million to call for Fontaine, who sat back in his chair. Then, after about twenty seconds, he picked up one of his stacks of black and put it in the middle.
Knowing he was beaten, Martini showed for the whiffed king-high with the nut blocker. Fontaine stood up, clapped his hands and smashed a mere open on the felt. The sharp call launched him to 27 million as Martini slipped to 21 million.
Julien Martini raised from under the gun to 1.2m, and Jan Dentler moved all in for 5.5m from the cutoff. The rest of the table folded and Martini called.
Julien Martini:
Jan Dentler:
Board:
Dentler saw his hand was dominated and he would be eliminated unless the board came to his rescue. There was no sign of help on the flop, and the ten of spades on the turn only cemented the pot to Martini.
Dentler missed out on a place at the table on the final day and walked away in 7th place for €91,220.
The play has now been concluded for the day, and the players will return tomorrow at noon.
The full chip counts will be posted shortly and a recap of the day's action will follow later.
After nearly nine hours of play, 49 players have been whittled down to the EPT National final six with Jean-René Fontaine returning as the chipleader at noon on Sunday, August, 26.
Fontaine bagged a stack worth 42,500,000 and will be joined by Julien Martini, Jerome L'Hostis, Alberto Ah-Line, Jan 'The Wolf' Teunis, and Claudio Di Giacomo.
The EPT National started back on Wednesday, August,22 as the curtain raiser for the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona and has seen four days worth of packed poker action so far at the Casino Barcelona.
Final Day Seating and Chip Counts
Seat
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Jean-René Fontaine
France
42,500,000
85
2
Julien Martini
France
38,775,000
78
3
Jan Teunis
Netherlands
8,950,000
18
4
Jerome L'Hostis
France
19,775,000
40
5
Claudio Di Giacomo
Italy
7,700,000
15
6
Alberto Ah-Line
France
12,300,000
25
Payouts
Place
Payout
1
€547,000
2
€323,000
3
€242,000
4
€197,000
5
€155,000
6
€123,000
Action of the Day
The play got off to a fast start with all-ins, double up and eliminations a regular occurrence. The field had been reduced to 18 within the first four levels, and at that point, the play slowed down a little.
Before that point, defending champion, Pedro Cairat was eliminated in 34th place for €11,950 after he ran pocket fives into pocket sixes to end his dream of back-to-back titles.
Ludovic Geilich started the day among the big stacks but took a huge knock when he saw his pocket aces lose to Claudio Di Giacomo's pocket nines. Geilich was able to rebuild and even saw his ace-two hit runner runner nut flush, but not long after the final three tables were drawn he departed in 24th place after he ran ace-queen into ace-king and found no help from the board.
Joris Ruijs had quite the battle with Day 3 chipleader Valentin Cristea with the two players regularly exchanging large amounts of their stacks. Ruijs got the better of Cristea on the first occasion when his ace-king hit a flush against pocket aces to secure a vital double-up, but later on, it was Cristea who won the battle when he survived against Ruijs with pocket eights against king-jack. However, both players were unable to reach the final table with Ruijs taking 14th place shortly after Cristea exited in 16th.
Arni Gunnarsson (12th place - €39,150), Yunsheng Sun (11th place - €44,350), and Giovanni Gallo (10th place - €44,350) departed before the final table of nine came together.
Roger Taieb was the first player to depart after he got his last ten big blinds into the middle with pocket jacks, only to see Jerome L'Hostis win the pot after he hit a higher pair with queen-ten on the queen-king-six-four-deuce board.
And there was to be another unfortunate exit after Mariano Leandro Hyon saw his ace-queen lose to Julien Martini's ace-nine after the two of them got all their chips into the middle. Martini paired his nine to send Leandro Hyon to the rail in 8th place for €64,800.
With just one more elimination required before the final six came back for the last day, the play tightened up for most of the player except Jean-René Fontaine who managed to flip Martini's big chip lead into his own. Fontaine made an amazing call with pocket tens on an ace-jack-eight-four-six board, and further increased his stack when he got paid with a full house against Jan Teunis.
Jan Dentler was the final player to miss out on a spot in the final day after he saw his three-bet shove with ace-nine called by Julien Martini who held ace-ten. Martini's dominating ace held and Dentler was confirmed as the 7th place finisher for €91,220.
PokerNews will be back with all the action at noon as the EPT National crown's its 2018 champion.