Marco Bognanni is out in 15th place (€23,000)
Short after we saw Alessandro Longobardi's elimination, another player hit the rails. Marco Bognani was the one who lost all his chips and said “Goodbye title dream”. He shoved with K:d 5:d and Giuseppe announced call with A:d 6:c. Board 2:c 7:s 4:c T:h J:c changed nothing and chipleader scooped the pot with ace high.
Top 10 chipcount:
1 Giuseppe Pantaleo 4,134,000
2 Candido Gonçalves 2,500,000
3 Luis Rufas 2,240,000
4 Kent Lundmark 2,200,000
5 Ognjen Sekularac 2,000,000
6 Shander De Vries 1,520,000
7 Konstantin Puchkov 1,322,000
8 Georgios Skotadis 1,320,000
9 Francesco Notaro 1,310,000
10 Thor Stang 855,000
Only 12 players left in the tournament after two more players hit the rails in the same time. Jani Kristian Rasinen eliminated in 14th place and Zachary Korik went out after him in 13rd place. Both players made €28,000 cash prize.
Jani first. Luis Rufas opened for 100,000 from the under the gun and Jani called from the cut off position. On flop we saw 4:h 6:c 5:h and Rufas checked and Rasinen bet 160,000. Then Rufas announced all-in. Rasinen didn't like this situation but eventually called with pocket 8:h 8:c. Rufas was a little bit better and showed pocket 9:h 9:d. Turn and river saw two queens Q:c and Q:s which didn't make any difference.
Korik had two hands before he hit the rails. First he doubled up Georgios Skotadas when he moved all-in with J:h T:h and Greek called with A:c Q:d. Board Q:c Q:h 8:c 4:d 3:d left nothing to say and Korik had been crippled. Three hands later he pushed with K:s J:s and Jorge Lores called him with A:d 8:h. Korik needed some help to stay but the board 7:c T:d Q:h 8:c 8:d missed both players and ace scooped the pot sending Korik to the rail.
Jorge Lores eliminated in 12th place (€36,000)
That was battle of Spanish players. Rufas and Lores clashed with big pockets. Luis had pocket Kings and Lores pocket queens. Board 3:d 3:h 2:h T:d 3:s channged nothing and Lores is no more in the tournament.
Players left: 11
Average stack: 2,067,273
Giuseppe is still a massive chipleader with over 4,000,000 in chips.
I have more pictures for you, check them out on out flickr account:
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Day 1A
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Day 1B
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Day 2
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Day 3
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Day 4
PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona – Ladies Event
We are back right now with 26th level of blinds 25,000 / 50,000 ante 5000.
In very last hand before the break time Ognjen Sekularac lost all his chips and has been eliminated from the tournament. Francisco Notaro from the cut off raised before the flop to 200,000. It was very strange move because it was five big blinds. Ognjen decided to re-raised him to 519,000 from the small blind. Notaro flat-called. When 7:c 2:c Q:d hit the flop, Sekularac announced all-in and Notaro called without any hesitation with pocket J:d J:c which was better than A:h K:h holding by the opponent. Turn was 9:h, river 5:c and Sekularac has to watch to his whole stack is passing to the Notaro.
Only 10 player left and here is the chipcount:
1 Giuseppe Pantaleo 3,765,000
2 Kent Lundmark 2,885,000
3 Francesco Notaro 2,700,000
4 Georgios Skotadis 2,405,000
5 Konstantin Puchkov 2,230,000
6 Candido Gonçalves 2,220,000
7 Luis Rufas 2,085,000
8 Shander De Vries 1,980,000
9 Thor Stang 1,085,000
10 Jesus Cortes Lizano 875,000
There is no much action at the tables. Many small pot, many hands without showdown and few flops. Giuseppe lost chiplead and now Kent Lundmark is the one with the biggest stack in the tournament but the difference between these two is very small.
1 Kent Lundmark 3,335,000
2 Giuseppe Pantaleo 3,325,000
3 Francesco Notaro 2,500,000
4 Georgios Skotadis 2,405,000
5 Konstantin Puchkov 2,230,000
6 Candido Gonçalves 2,220,000
7 Luis Rufas 2,085,000
8 Shander De Vries 1,980,000
9 Thor Stang 1,300,000
10 Jesus Cortes Lizano 875,000
Gonçalves made river bluff
Candido Gonçalves and Shander De Vries clashed many times in short handed table. In one hand we saw Candido raised from the small blind to 105,000 and De Vries put a pressure increasing the price for seeing the flop to 265,000. After Candido called, flop came 7:d 9:c 5:c De Vries made the continuation bet for 250,000 after Candido checked and got called. When 4:d hit the turn both players slowed down the action and checked. River was 9:s and then Gonçalves shoved all-in. De Vries released the cards and went out, then Gonçalves showded Q:s T:c with pure bluff.
End of Luis Rufas we've reached the last table
Luis Rufas was the one who's been eliminated in 10th place and now players are sitting by the TV table – there is no more table left. Game will continue until 8 players stay alive which will return tomorrow to play final table.
Rufas was very lucky during the tournament and now he lost whole his stack after two big hands. First he clashed with Giuseppe Pantaleo. Three players saw J:s T:s 9:s on flop and action checked around. On the turn K:s hit the board making straight flush very possible. Luis bet, Georgios Skotadis went away and Giuseppe put a raise to 360,000. Rufus just flat-called and we saw 6:c on the river. Luis checked again and then called a massive 880,000 bet from Giuseppe. Pantaleo showed Q:s for the straight flush and Rufus mucked his card. After that he said that he had the A:s.
After that hand, Giuseppe was the chipleader back again and Rufus dropped much to 570,000. A few minutes later Rufus was crippled when he clashed with Konstantin Puchkov, who raised preflop to 200,000 and Rufas went all-in with J:c 8:c, Russian player called him and showed pocket red rockets A:h A:d. When J-3-4 hit the flop, Spanish got some outs to take the rockets down from the sky. In fact, an 8x came on the turn and gave Luis two pair. But he wasn't happy, ha just wanted to see last card on the river and feel the power of J-8. And he saw … an Ace! Rufas had Russian covered but only one chip left to him – 10,000.
In the very next hand he was preflop all-in. Giuseppe Pantaleo made a raise with pocket 9:s 9:d and successfully isolated Spanish, who showed 6:h 3:d. Board Q:s 2:c 9:h T:c J:d was dedicated to Giuseppe and Rufus finished his run in the PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona.
Luis Rufas
Everything is ready to start the battle on the final table bubble. Here is the chipcount:
1 Giuseppe Pantaleo 4,890,000
2 Konstantin Puchkov 4,005,000
3 Kent Lundmark 3,360,000
4 Jesus Cortes Lizano 2,290,000
5 Francesco Notaro 2,020,000
6 Georgios Skotadis 1,754,000
7 Shander De Vries 1,695,000
8 Thor Stang 1,590,000
9 Candido Gonçalves 1,405,000
In the second hand of playing at the last table we saw all-in and call. Shander De Vries raised on the cut off to 120,000 and Francesco Notaro shoved from the Big Blind for 1.6 millions. De Vries was happy and instantly called with pocket queens. Notaro showed A-J and he was dominated but had his opponent covered. Board 3:c K:d 6:c 3:h 6:s changed nothing and De Vries doubled his stack up to 3,500,000. After this hand Notaro left with shortstack.
After loosing most of his stack, Francesco Notaro doubled up. He pushed for 303 000 with A:d Q:d and Georgios Skotadis was the one who made a call with dominated K:c Q:s. On flop we saw 7:c 8:c T:h which means no help to the Greek. But when 9:c hit the turn, things looked very initeresting becauseu Skotadis got the flush draw and a gutshot straight draw but river blanked with 3:h and Notaro doubled his stack up to 726,000.
It is done! The 4th Day of PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona come to the end when we saw Candido Gonçalves preflop all-in and snap call from Jesus Cortes Lizano. Spanish player opened from the cut off to 115,000 and Lizano made a three bet to 275,000. Gonçalves was tanking for a while and finally announced all-in. Lizano snap called and showed pocket K:h K:s. Candido was bad with the J:h 9:h and he needed a miracle to stay alive in the tournament. Flop was 9:s 7:c 8:c and Spanish got some outs. But Q:c and K:h on the river changed nothing and this was the end for him.
Here is the final table set with chipcounts:
1 Giuseppe Pantaleo 5,655,000
2 Konstantin Puchkov 4,160,000
3 Jesus Cortes Lizano 3,800,000
4 Shander De Vries 3,120,000
5 Kent Lundmark 3,025,000
6 Thor Stang 1,290,000
7 Georgios Skotadis 1,105,000
8 Francesco Notaro 174,000
We have the massive chipleader Giuseppe Panteleo and this is the news of the day!
I'm saying you good night and see you tomorrow when we meet the next EPT title holder.
Bye bye!
Hi folks, welcome back from the Gran Casino where the very last day of the PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona is ready to start. We have 8 finalists and now I want to introduce them to you:
Seat 1: Jesus Cortes Lizano, 22, Zaragoza, Spain - 3,800,000 chips
Lizano is a full-time poker pro from Zaragoza. He started playing when he was 18 and now divides his time 60:40 between online and live, usually cash games. He only came to EPT Barcelona to play the cash games, but entered the live satellite on a whim. He says this is by far his best live result. He gained a lot of respect earlier on Day 4 when a mix-up over chip stacks meant he had been given 500,000 too many – and he swiftly alerted the tournament director. He is being railed in Barcelona by two friends from home but a lot more plan to come tomorrow for the final.
Seat 2: Kent Lundmark, 22, Stockholm, Sweden – 3,025,000
Lundmark is an EPT regular who mainly plays tournaments but also some cash games at 3/6, 5/10 levels. He's also a tournament regular in the Krukan cardroom. One of his first EPTs was the PCA last season where he was the longest-lasting Swede - finishing in 29th place for. This is his third EPT cash and his biggest result to date although he has made the final of events in Sweden and Estonia. He started playing poker four years ago after finishing high school. He is also a keen footballer and plays for a team in Sweden’s Fourth Division although he admits that poker takes the most of his time.
Seat 3: Konstantin Puchkov, 58, Moscow, Russia - 4,160,000
As amateurs go Konstantion Puchkov has a pretty impressive record. The Russian has notched up $771,606 in tournament winnings including a second place finish in the €5,000 six-max side event at the 2009 EPT Grand Final and a bracelet-winning victory in this year’s $1,500 World Series H.O.R.S..E. event. By sheer brilliant coincidence Puchkov lists his profession as a horse breeder and trainer. Puchkov has been playing poker since 1999 and while he prefers playing tournaments, he isn’t afraid of a bit of $10/$25 action in the side games. Puchkov has been an active player throughout the tournament and enters the final table second in chips. ‘Today was the hardest day because I was all-in with aces and was drawing to seven outs,’ recalled Puchkov who had Ah Ad against Luis Rufas’ Js 8c on a Jc-flop. Rufas caught an eight on the turn before Puchkov rivered an ace. ‘It was the first time that I was really at risk all tournament.
Seat 4: Shander De Vries, 26, Groningen, Netherlands - PokerStars player – 3,120,000 chips
Shander started playing poker four years ago and built his bankroll playing the $4.40 180-player Sit & Gos on PokerStars. He later specialized in MTTs with good results. Making the EPT Barcelona final is by far his best result although he has previously cashed at the 2008 WSOP and EPT Prague in Season 5 when he finished 27th for € 11,000. After graduating (in economics) in December, he plans to travel and, if he wins the EPT, buy himself a nice apartment. Shander is being cheered on in Barcelona by his girlfriend and another friend.
Seat 5: Giuseppe Pantaleo, 22, Bielefeld, Germany, PokerStars qualifier – 5,655,000 chips
Pantaleo is a whole and international trade specialist and has been playing poker for three years . He usually plays tournaments. In July he finished the PokerStars Sunday Warm-up in fourth place and won it a month later. EPT Barcelona is his third EPT cash after last season’s EPT Berlin (142nd) and San Remo (37th). He says he sometimes plays cash games as well “but actually I’m bad in cash games!” Giuseppe was born and raised in Germany but both his parents and all his siblings were born in Italy and he says “my heart is Italian!”
Seat 6: Francesco "cecho1977" Notaro, 33, Galatina, Italy, PokerStars qualifier – 745,000
He played playing poker 15 years ago and now plays regularly on PokerStars.it. He started competing in live events in 2006 in tournaments organized by Team PokerStars Pro Luca Pagano and his family at Casino Sanremo. Francesco is the owner of a betting agency and used to have a poker club before Italian law prohibited it. Notaro loves live tournaments even though he originally started playing online. In 2009 he was runner-up the Sunday Special. His nickname is "cecho1977" on PokerStars.it.
Seat 7: Thor Stang, 27, Bergen, Norway – 1,290,000 chips
Student Stang has been playing poker for four years and mainly plays cash games. He said “I don’t really like tournaments that much. In cash games, you can reload if you get short but here I’ve been short-stacked all day! I came into Day 4 third in chips but then ran queens into Kings and since then I’ve never had more than 25 big blinds all day. It’s very frustrating but on the other hand, tournaments are exciting.” This is Stang’s best live result to date.
Seat 8: Georgios "NickDandolos” Skotadis, 35, Greece – PokerStars qualifier – 1,105,000 chips
Although he was born and raised in Dusseldorf in Germany, sports bar owner Georgios Skotadis definitely considers himself a Greek first. He is engaged to an Irish girl – Aisling- who he’s been dating for 12 years. At EPT Barcelona, Skotadis is not only playing his first EPT, but also his first major live event. Online, he won the Sunday Million three weeks for $195,000. He started playing poker two years ago in local poker rooms, tourneys and cash games. He said: "I’m living the month of my life - and it's not over yet!"
Yesterday Thorsten was playing in €1,100 no-limit Hold'em side event. Total 220 players registered and they generate the €220,000 proze pool. I have very good news for you about Thorsten. He reached the final table and made 4th place for €16,500. He was very unlucky because his pocket Q-Q lost against K-3 but this is very nice result! Congratulations Thorsten!
Thorsten
Only few minutes left and we will hear the magic “shuffle up and deal”. Now the tournament director introduce the players. The TV final table is restricted and closed area. The Press can't stay there, we can't make pictures at all but I've sneaked inside and make some shots for your pleasure 
Francesco Notaro eliminated in 8th place - €70,000
In very next hand after Francesco Notaro doubled his stack, he lost everything! That was sick situation. Notaro went all-in with A:s K:d and found an action from Lizano who showed A:c Q:s. To the turn when board showed T:c 5:s 2:c 6:h Notaro was good but the Q:d on the river gave Lizano a pair and sent Notaro to the rail!
We have another elimination. In the very next hand after Notaro hit the rail, Greek player Georgios Skotadis has been eliminated from the tournament after he moved all-in with pocket T:d T:s and Thor Stang called him with pocket J:c J:d. Board 2:d 9:d Q:s Q:h 7:s brought no help to the Greek and he is out in 7th place with €90,000 money prize.
