To Contend or Not To Contend
The title of this introduction post, going into the fourth day of the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour in Vienna, says exactly what today will be about. We will not yet crown a champion, but surviving today's ever increasing blinds and antes will make sure you are a real contender for trophy, a SLIDE watch and the �816,000 first-place prize.
All of the remaining 50 players are guaranteed to take home at least �14,600, but that is not something they look forward to taking home. Chip leader Pablo Gordillo (2,111,000) must be dreaming of bigger prizes already, and that's fair, as he's so far the only player with more than two-million chips. Gordillo's lead going into the fourth day of play is very substantial as his nearest rival, Anatoly Filatov (1,500,000), has more than a full average stack less than the Spanish leader.
Among the remaining players we're seeing plenty of super stars including World Series of Poker bracelet winner Simeon Naydenov (1,040,000), Team PokerStars Pros Marcel Luske (512,000) and Johnny Lodden (477,000), WPT winner Jonathan Roy (423,000) and the only two-time Unibet Open winner Dan Murariu (508,000).
The plan for today will be as following: All levels are 90 minutes and play will stop when we reach the Final 16. If this is not the case before the end of the fifth level of the day play will halt as well and continue with however many are left for the penultimate day on Friday.