Michal Mrakes Leads Last-Ever PokerStars Championship Prague Into Day 5
Day 4 of the last-ever PokerStars Championship started in Hilton Hotel Prague with still 49 players remaining. Paul Michaelis started out as chip leader for the second day in a row, closely followed by local hero Michal Mrakes. The former had a terrible day and busted halfway through, the latter had a much better day and crushed start to finish. Mrakes ended the day with a massive 4,945,000 in chips, by far the biggest stack in the room.
The tournament hadn't even properly started or Walter Oaquim was already out the door. He got it in with top set against a bare flush draw and saw his opponent hit one of his outs on the turn. As the river bricked, Oaquim had to leave the tournament area but not before he snapped a picture of his misfortune.
He would be the first of many as the tournament lost players in rapid succession. Marcin Horecki, one of just two PokerStars Team Pros remaining, departed not much later. He got it in with jacks against ace-king and saw his opponent hit a king on the turn.
Xixiang Luo was next to go, busting in a massive pot with a failed bluff with ace-five. His opponent, Russian Ivan Soshnikov, had kings and that hand held up.
Around this time, Paul Michaelis started losing more and more pots. He first got sucked out on when he got it in with top pair and top kicker against Colin Robinson who held an inferior top pair. Robinson paired his kicker on the river to take some chips from the player that started as chip leader. While the German was still at ease at the table it seemed, it was the start of his downfall it would turn out. Michaelis still played some great poker, but he had run out of luck on Day 4 of the event. In the penultimate level of the day, having dwindled to the lower regions of the standings, he shoved on his countryman Robert Heidorn. It turned out to be an ill-advised bluff as Heidorn had rivered trips and wasn't folding. Michaelis showed nothing but a missed gutshot and bowed out in 28th place for €18,900 after some great days of poker.
Mrakes, who had just busted Anatolii Zyrin with king-nine against ace-queen all in before the flop, would end up in a massive pot again not much later. It would turn out to be one of those hands they'll replay on the live streams for the foreseeable future, as it was some great poker at display. In the hand, Michal Mrakes ended up out of position in a three-bet pot against Hon Cheong Lee. The latter ended up firing three bullets on 
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with smaller bets on the flop and turn, and a big shove on the river. Mrakes was a non-believer and check-called all the way with nothing but ace-high. It turned out he was right, as Lee showed queen-seven suited for a failed attempt at a colossal bluff.
Three players departed in rapid succession; James Mitchell finished 23rd running ace-five into ace-queen, Dmitry Ponomarev finished 22nd losing ace-king to nine-seven, and Lawrence Bayley exited in 21st place losing jacks to ace-king.
The next players to go all had their exits on display for the world to see as they busted on the live streamed final table. Nir Levy lost with nines to ace-king, Alessio Isaia with jack-ten to king-queen.
Fatima Moreira de Melo, who had been at the feature table for several days straight and had led for some time, was next in line at the payout desk. Getting to the middle of the pack stack-wise, she four-bet shoved with ace-king against the hyper-aggressive chip leader Mrakes. Mrakes called with pocket tens, and Moreira de Melo failed to hit, bowing out in 18th place for €30,000.
"I'm proud of how I played, and it was fun," Moreira de Melo told the television crew. On shoving in the final hand: "I had ace-king and the chip leader, who was the most aggressive player, three-bet me. I'd do it again and again and again. This is tournament poker and you play to win."
Down to 17 players, just one last had to bust for the tournament would be done for the day. In the end, two players would bust in the same hand on different tables. Ivan Soshnikov fell in 17th place running jacks into aces. At the same time, Diego Zeiter failed to improve with ace-ten against threes. Just like that, the tournament was down to 15 players and play was stopped.
The 15 players return to action on Day 5 of the event with the goal of playing down to the final six. Besides the aforementioned players, some great talent remains hopeful for the last PokerStars Championship trophy. Jason Wheeler, Kalidou Sow and Alex Foxen are just some of the recognizable names still in. There's just under an hour left in Level 24 (15,000/30,000, ante 5,000). PokerNews will once again be present to bring you all the updates one can ask for, the best photos, and interviews with all the big stars.
Seat Draw Day 5
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Matas Cimbolas | Lithuania | 1,615,000 | 54 |
| 1 | 2 | Navot Golan | Israel | 1,955,000 | 65 |
| 1 | 3 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | Ukraine | 3,225,000 | 108 |
| 1 | 5 | Colin Robinson | USA | 2,085,000 | 70 |
| 1 | 6 | Harry Lodge | UK | 1,360,000 | 45 |
| 1 | 7 | Thomas Lentrodt | Germany | 1,520,000 | 51 |
| 1 | 8 | Jason Wheeler | USA | 2,400,000 | 80 |
| 2 | 1 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 900,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 2 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 4,945,000 | 165 |
| 2 | 3 | Gabriele Lepore | Italy | 580,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 2,485,000 | 83 |
| 2 | 5 | Kalidou Sow | France | 640,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | Serhii Popovych | Ukraine | 710,000 | 24 |
| 2 | 7 | Aleksandr Mordvinov | Russia | 820,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 8 | Alex Foxen | USA | 470,000 | 16 |
