Juanda and Dimov Eye Second EPT Title With 13 Remaining on Day 5
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The penultimate day of the 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 Main Event will see 13 players out of 1,931 entries return to their seats on the final two tables at Casino Barcelona. The lion's share of the €9,365,350 prize pool is still up for grabs and all 13 remaining hopefuls have locked up €88,250 for their efforts. However, all eyes are set on the golden trophy and the first-place prize of €1,611,500 that comes along with it.
Two of the final 13 already know what it feels like to lift the EPT Main Event trophy for the winner shots, as Ognyan Dimov (3,100,000) and John Juanda (1,988,000) remain in contention with 39 and 25 big blinds respectively for the first level on Day 5. Dimov claimed the title back in 2015 in Deauville and Juanda entered the winner's circle right here in Salon Gaudi in the same year.
Leading the field into Day 5 is Portugal's Pedro Marques with 9,150,000 and Fabiano Kovalski is in second place with 8,745,000, Marques' countryman Rodrigo Carmo follows in third 5,330,000. It won't be an easy ride for any of them to reach the final six, as a tough competition awaits. Matthias Tikerpe (5,200,000), Haoxiang Wang (4,655,000), Mark Buckley (4,400,000), Georges Hanna (3,770,000), Piotr Nurzinsky (3,570,000), Patrick Clarke (3,550,000), Danny Tang (2,435,000) and Ben Heath (2,030,000) are all vying for a spot on the final table.
Two of the remaining 13 contenders are also still in the last longer competition for qualifiers that awards a Platinum Pass worth $30,000 for the highly anticipated 2019 PokerStars Players No Limit Hold'em Championship (PSPC), the winner of the Main Event will also receive a Platinum Pass as well.
Action resumes at 12 p.m. local time with blinds of 40,000/80,000 and a big blind ante of 80,000. The feature table live stream with hole cards up coverage will run on a security delay of 30 minutes and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action from right here in Barcelona.
Day 5 Seat Assignments
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Ben Heath | UK | 2,030,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 2 | Georges Hanna | Lebanon | 3,770,000 | 47 |
| 1 | 3 | Danny Tang | UK | 2,435,000 | 30 |
| 1 | 4 | Ognyan Dimov | Bulgaria | 3,100,000 | 39 |
| 1 | 5 | John Juanda | Indonesia | 1,988,000 | 25 |
| 1 | 7 | Pedro Marques | Portugal | 9,150,000 | 114 |
| 1 | 8 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | 3,570,000 | 45 |
| 2 | 2 | Rodrigo Carmo | Portugal | 5,330,000 | 67 |
| 2 | 3 | Matthias Tikerpe | Estonia | 5,200,000 | 65 |
| 2 | 4 | Haoxiang Wang | China | 4,655,000 | 58 |
| 2 | 5 | Patrick Clarke | Ireland | 3,550,000 | 44 |
| 2 | 6 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | 8,745,000 | 109 |
| 2 | 8 | Mark Buckley | Ireland | 4,400,000 | 55 |
. Pedro Marques called in the big blind with 
, and the flop fell 
. Both players checked the turn was the 
. 
gave both players a full house, but it was Dimov who had a lock on the pot. Marques bet 280,000 and Dimov raised to 850,000. Marques went into the tank and needed to use a time bank card to mull over his decision. With his minute nearly up he decided to make a great fold and let his full house go into the muck.
in the cutoff and Pedro Marques called in the big blind with 
. The flop came 
and Marques checked to Tang, who checked behind. On the 
turn, Marques bet 375,000 into a pot of 450,000 and Tang called with 1.18 million behind.
appeared on the river and Marques used one time bank before moving all in. Tang immediately tossed in all his time banks to the middle of the table and the dealer took them one by one for each 30 seconds of Tang in the tank. Eventually, Tang called it off and saw the bad news to be eliminated in 13th place for €88,250.
turn and 
gave Heath two pair and nothing changed with the 
turn. However, the 
flop was safe for Kovalski, but when the turn came the 
, and Juanda checked. Hanna moved all in and the former snap-called. 
turn gave him a straight-flush draw. Hanna also had outs for the chop, but the 
river was no help to him, and his exit in 10th place for €98,900 was confirmed.