Kolkowicz Back in Front as Kitai Bubbles Final table
On a very swingy day that saw a number of players take the chip lead, end-of-Day-3 leader Michael Kolkowicz found himself back atop the counts when the final six competitors bagged up for the official final table of PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® €5,300 Main Event.
The French player spent most of his day in the middle of the counts, but a huge — and very lucky — hand just before the night ended allowed him to bag the lead. Kolkowicz got himself in a nasty spot after he saw a three-way flop of jack-six-queen out of the small blind and opted to check-raise with king-nine after a continuation-bet from start-of-day leader Romain Nardin. Nardin had aces and got his stack in, and a pot-committed Kolkowicz called and found a ten on the turn to bust his countryman.
Meanwhile, Day 5 headliners Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier and Davidi Kitai all fell short, the latter on the bubble in seventh place.
Kitai seemingly grinded the entire 10-hour day under 20 big blinds. He was lucky to be in after winning with ace-nine when an ace hit the river against pocket jacks, but his luck ran out when he executed a stop-and-go with bottom pair against Maxim Panyak. The Russian wasn't thrilled about calling but had two live overcards and paired one on the river.
Grospellier the last PokerStars Team Pro in the field, was seeking to break a long dry spell of big tournament results. The French legend hadn't made a major final table since the €100K Super High Roller right here in Monaco way back in 2012, when he finished third for over €800,000.
"ElkY" played tight with a short stack and ended up losing a flip to Panyak to go out 12th. It was clear how much he wanted this one, as he was visibly pained when the final card off the deck paired Panyak to change Grospellier's fortunes in an instant from doubling to busted.
Andreas Klatt also made his way to the final table, continuing what's been an outstanding series for him here at the PokerStars Championship. In the PokerStars National Championship here, Klatt navigated through a 1,252-player field to win the tournament for a career-best €151,445.
No matter what happens on the final day, Klatt is sure to go into the second leg of the MonteDam Swing with a huge points lead on the MonteDam scoreboard, all but assured of scoring one of the juicy prizes.
The final six players will reconvene for the final day of play at 1 p.m. on Friday with 43:36 left at 40,000/80,000/10,000. The cards-up live stream gets under way at 2 p.m. Here's a look at the seating chart and chip situation as it will stand when the first card flies off the deck:
| Seat | Player | Stack |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Andrey Bondar | 4,350,000 |
| 2 | Andreas Klatt | 3,580,000 |
| 3 | Diego Zeiter | 1,780,000 |
| 4 | Raffaele Sorrentino | 4,160,000 |
| 5 | Michael Kolkowicz | 4,600,000 |
| 6 | Maxim Panyak | 3,345,000 |
Come back to PokerNews for hand-for-hand coverage of the official final table.
on the flop, Kitai shoved for 270,000. Panyak asked for a count prompting a smile by Kitai who seemed happy his opponent didn't snap call. Panyak did call eventually.
on the turn was a blank but the 
on the river wasn't. Panyak paired up, beating Kitai's flopped pair of threes. 
, and he bet 260,000. Small blind Michael Kolkowicz made it 860,000, and Nardin shoved. It was only 510,000 more, but Kolkowicz thought awhile before deciding to call.
.
river, Sorrentino announced he was all in. Dietrich tanked for more than four minutes before announcing a call for his remaining 660,000.
for a boat, and Dietrich mucked his 
.
gave him a small amount of hope as he could now find one of the last two tens for a miracle double. The 
hit the turn and the 
the river though, and the rest of the players are now drawing new seats for the unofficial final table.
hit the turn. Nardin wasn't backing down, betting 370,000. Klatt came along again, growing the pot to 1.4 million.
.
flop was relatively safe for Papazian, but the 
on the turn was a scare card. The 
on the river paired Papazian but it gave Zeiter the winning straight. Double up for the Argentian.
flop. Kolkowicz bet 225,000, and only Sorrentino called. Both checked the 
