At this point, they can probably smell the multi-colored banknotes. After Day 4 of the European Poker Tour (EPT) San Remo Main Event, just 24 players remain out of the original 837 and the final table is just a day away. Continuing his dominance from the previous day, Christopher McClung remains the chip leader, sitting pretty with 3,148,000 chips.
While McClung’s entire stack could disappear in two or three hands, it would be a major upset at this point if he does not at least make the final table. He is currently more than a million chips ahead of Daniel Neilson, his nearest competitor, and about two million ahead of the ninth place player, a position of importance as EPT final tables are eight-handed.
McClung, as mentioned already, began Day 4 as the chip leader with 1,202,000 chips and he continued to hammer away at the opposition throughout the day. There was one hand, though, that launched his stack into orbit. During the final hour, Mustapha Kanit raised pre-flop to 41,000 and McClung followed that up with a re-raise to 104,000. In the cutoff, Joseph Cheong, the chip leader after Day 2, four-bet to 220,000. Kanit wanted nothing of the raises and folded, but McClung moved all-in. Cheong, with a million chips left behind, instantly called, putting himself all-in.
McClung was caught with his hand in the cookie jar, holding just Qh-7h. Cheong flipped over pocket Kings, which put him in a fantastic position. But poker wouldn’t be any fun if the player with the best hand pre-flop always won, would it? The board ran out 4h-Jh-2c-Kh-9s, giving McClung a flush and eliminating Cheong from the tournament in 31st place. That pot took McClung’s stack up to 3,500,000.
The confusing hand of the day happened about an hour before McClung’s, as what would normally be a rather simple (and exciting) three-way all-in turned odd. Elio Fox was on the button and when the action folded to him pre-flop, he shoved. Etienne Archambeaud, the next to act, asked the dealer to count Fox’s chips. The dealer counted and said that Fox was all-in for 208,000. At that, Archambeaud also moved all-in. Finally, the big blind, Richard Loth, who had more chips than either player, called both. Fox had T-8, Archambeaud had him dominated with A-8, and Loth had Archambeaud dominated with A-K. As luck would have it, Fox hit a Ten on the river to triple up. Strangely, though, while Loth beat Archambeaud and had him covered, Archambeaud still had 40,000 chips left after the dealer sorted out the main and side pots.
As it turned out, Fox had actually had 248,000 chips when the hand started; the dealer had miscounted. Tournament officials were summoned and a rule book was consulted. According to the rules, because the dealer had declared Fox’s all-in to be for 208,000, that’s what it was. Both of his opponents were only responsible for covering that much, not 248,000. Two questions still remained: why, if Archambeaud had said he was all-in, is he not eliminated, since Loth had him covered and beat him? And why did tournament officials tell Fox that he still would have been eliminated had he lost?
Reading the rule further, it stated that it only applies to the callers, not the original all-in player. Thus, even though Archambeaud had gone all-in, he is really just considered a caller of a 208,000 bet. Therefore, the dealer’s error saved him 40,000 chips. So, Fox, almost tripled up, Archambeaud had 40,000 chips left, and Loth a little over 200,000.
Play will resume Wednesday at 2:00pm as the tournament plays down to the final table.
2011 European Poker Tour San Remo Main Event – End of Day 4 Chip Counts
1. Chris McClung – 3,148,000
2. Daniel Neilson – 2,011,000
3. Mustapha Kanit – 1,761,000
4. Alessio Isaia – 1,524,000
5. Kevin MacPhee – 1,441,000
6. Barny Boatman – 1,257,000
7. Johnny Lodden – 1,227,000
8. Jan Bendik – 1,211,000
9. Andrey Pateychuk – 1,200,000
10. Dimitar Danchev – 1,196,000
11. Gianluca Cedolia – 1,084,000
12. Andreas Samuelsson – 1,070,000
13. Yorane Kerignard – 1,018,000
14. Lex Veldhuis – 877,000
15. Cristiano Guerra – 824,000
16. Angelo Tarallo – 798,000
17. Jon Spinks – 788,000
18. Rocco Palumbo – 594,000
19. Patrick Gastaldi – 539,000
20. Joni Mattila – 470,000
21. Elio Fox – 377,000
22. Mike McDonald – 292,000
23. Daniele Vesco – 248,000
24. Eli Bohbot – 186,000
