Now we’re down to the nitty gritty. Day 4 has wrapped up at the European Poker Tour (EPT) London with just 24 players – three tables – remaining and the title is virtually anyone’s for the taking at this point. There is a virtual three-way tie for the top spot between Mattias Bergstrom (1,838,000 chips), Adria Balaguer (1,828,000), and Pascal Hartmann (1,800,000). And not far behind them are Jeremy Kottler (1,693,000) and the ever-present Benny Spindler (1,421,000). Day 5 should be very interesting to start out, as both Bergstrom and Hartmann are at Table 2 and Balaguer and Kottler are at Table 1. Of course, with only three tables of players remaining, there will naturally be clashes of the big stacks, but it’s always fun to get them together right off the bat.
Like James Mitchell’s huge hand during Day 3, there was a gigantic pot on Tuesday that went a long way towards shaping the leaderboard. Benny Spindler, who has been the chip leader or close to it for most of the tournament, moved all-in on the river with the board showing 7s-Th-3s-6d-5s and Sam McDonald made what appeared to be the rare insta-crying call. Spindler flipped over Ks-Js for the second nut flush, while McDonald made his hand on the river, as well, but it was just a 9-high straight. The 1,300,000 chip pot set up Spindler for the rest of the day, while McDonald fell to just below one million.
While his chip stack was still in good shape, McDonald never really recovered from that point. About an hour and a half later, he got all-in on a flop of Jc-8c-2d with Qc-Js, giving him top pair. Martins Adeniya called him with Ac-2c, for bottom pair and the nut flush draw. An Ace fell on the turn, giving Adeniya two pair and the pot, eliminating McDonald.
The 24 players remaining are a true cross section of the poker community. Thirteen countries are represented with the home country of the United Kingdom having the most players – four – still in the field. The United States, Germany, and Sweden are next with three each, while Spain and Portugal each have two.
Play will resume at noon in London on Wednesday and will end for the night when the final table is determined.
2011 European Poker Tour London – Day 4 Chip Counts
1. Mattias Bergstrom – 1,838,000
2. Adria Balaguer — 1,828,000
3. Pascal Hartmann – 1,800,000
4. Jeremy Kottler — 1,693,000
5. Benny Spindler — 1,421,000
6. Andre Klebanov – 1,337,000
7. Kevin Iacofano – 1,112,000
8. Basile Yaiche – 1,105,000
9. Juan Manuel Pastor – 960,000
10. Anatoly Gurtovoy – 873,000
11. James Mitchell – 869,000
12. Stephen O’Dwyer – 792,000
13. Martins Adeniya – 764,000
14. Ben Jenkins – 760,000
15. Joao Barbosa – 601,000
16. Hugo Loureiro – 564,000
17. Justas Semaska – 488,000
18. Per Hildebrand – 398,000
19. Miroslav Benes – 377,000
20. Aadam Daya – 372,000
21. Ioannis Beris – 311,000
22. Andries Swart – 254,000
23. Fowzi Baroukh – 133,000
24. Sebastian Blom – 59,000
