Anthony Ghamrawi Leads the PokerStars.net EPT Vienna Main Event Final Table
With the simple goal of playing from 17 players down to eight, most people estimated that the fifth playing day of the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Vienna Main Event wasn't going to be a long one. Those people were right, as in the end it took only a little over four and a half hours for the Main Event to reach its final table.
In the first hand, it was Mike Adamo who pushed all in from the cutoff position for his final 491,000 in chips. Roman Korenev re-shoved and all other players folded. Adamo's ace-seven was up against Korenev's ace-king, and the best hand held up. With Adamo's departure, the tournament was down to 16 players and immediately there was a redraw. With two tables left, the play was once again full ring. This didn't tighten up the game, though, as there was plenty of action to enjoy.
Patrick Fasching, on the feature table, was next in line to make his exit. He opened ace-jack suited on the button and got a three-bet shove from [Removed:40] in the small blind. Fasching made the call with his 
and was up against the 
. Fasching was the clear underdog but would flop about as good as possible when the 
rolled out. The flop would be his only moment of relief though, as the turn blanked but the 
on the river filled up Vitagliano's straight.
"I knew it! I knew it!" the Italian player repeatedly said, while Fasching headed for the exit in 16th place.
Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden's head would be next on the chopping block. In the two-million chip pot, he couldn't beat pocket eights with his ace-king. An ace hit the flop, but so did an eight and the last Team PokerStars Pro made his exit. It would mark the sixth time Lodden busted with ace-king to a pair, or the other way around, on the final two tables of an EPT Main Event. The Norwegian pro sarcastically tweeted he just needed a few more spots to make for a nice record:
Busto 15'th. Nice to get that one since I allready got 9, 10, 13, 14, 16 and 17! Only need to get 11 and 12. Before I smash it! #EPTViennaFollow @johnnylodden
Short-stacked Sebastian Panny would finish in 14th place. He pushed all in over a raise, but Frei Dilling woke up with jacks behind him. Dilling made the call and beat out on Panny's ace-three to secure everyone a �4,000 pay jump.
Romanian superstar Dan Murariu was having a great day up until this point. He was winning pots left and right and was up to an above-average stack when he got dealt the 
. Murariu opened the cutoff to 60,000 and was three-bet by Dilling on the button who made it 145,000. Both blinds folded, but Murariu put in a four-bet to 345,000. Dilling made the call and they saw a flop in an already huge pot: 
.
Murariu made a 265,000 continuation bet and Dilling called again. The 
on the turn really got things going, as Murariu, with about 750,000 behind, thought for a minute or two and then announced all in. Dilling didn't need much time, though, and while he didn't look like the happiest person in the world, he called.
Dilling was pretty happy a second later, as he saw Murariu turned over the . Murariu had just two outs because Dilling was the proud owner of the 
. Murariu wouldn't hit after the 
landed on the river. This cooler situation eliminated Murariu in 13th place, which was good for a little under �45,000.
[Removed:40], who was so sure he would hit the straight not too long ago, wasn't so sure when he got ace-nine all in against Anthony Ghamrawi's ace-jack. A board full of blanks meant the tournament was now free of Italian players.
Andras Kovacs, not to be confused with the Hungarian movie director, couldn't get things going all day long. Time and time again he had to fold with more than enough action in front of him. Finally, on a hand when it was folded to him on the button, he pushed his remaining 600,000 into the pot. Unfortunately for the Hungarian, EPT regular and World Series of Poker gold bracelet winner Simeon Naydenov was holding ace-king behind him. After the king-high flop, Kovacs was drawing dead on the turn.
With 12 players left in the tournament, Anthony Ghamrawi and Gavin O'Rourke played the biggest pot of the tournament. It started with a raise to 60,000 from Ghamrawi, then a three-bet to 190,000 from O'Rourke, then a four-bet to 465,000 from Ghamrawi, which was followed by a five-bet to 775,000 from O'Rourke. After that came an all-in shove from Ghamrawi and a call from O'Rourke. Just like that, there was 5.5 million in the middle.
O'Rourke had red queens and was up against Ghamrawi's red kings. No queen or any other form of help came for O'Rourke, and he was knocked all the way down to just 620,000.
O'Rourke wasn't the next one to go, though, as Korenev got into a fight with Rumen Nanev on the outer table. In back-to-back hands, Korenev got his stack in holding ace-queen. The first time, he doubled Nanev, who helt ace-ten and hit a ten on the river. The next hand, Nanev had pocket tens and Korenev didn't get any help with his two over cards. Korenev, neatly dressed including a nice jacket and bow tie, was sent home in 10th place for �50,250.
With nine players left the tournament was halted for a short period of time to break down to one table. As per usual on the European Poker Tour, the final table was not set though. The tournament needed to lose one more player to make the final table official.
Because of Korenev's bust out, Irishman O'Rourke secured himself a �10,000 pay jump. He was the one next to go, though, as he got his short stack in with queen-jack suited and was up against Dilling's pocket tens. No help came on the board, and the final table was set.
EPT10 Vienna Main Event Final Table
| Seat | Player | Country | Chips | Position in Chips |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oleksii Khoroshenin | Ukraine | 2,150,000 | 7 |
| 2 | Anthony Ghamrawi | Austria | 5,150,000 | 1 |
| 3 | Marko Neumann | Germany | 1,685,000 | 8 |
| 4 | Simeon Naydenov | Bulgaria | 3,550,000 | 5 |
| 5 | Frei Dilling | Denmark | 4,230,000 | 2 |
| 6 | Rumen Nanev | Bulgaria | 2,765,000 | 6 |
| 7 | Pablo Gordillo | Spain | 4,075,000 | 3 |
| 8 | Timo Pfutzenreuter | Germany | 3,740,000 | 4 |
Play will resume on Saturday at 12 p.m. local time. The live stream and PokerNews.com live reporting will start an hour later, at 1 p.m. local time, with coverage including hole cards. We're in for a long day tomorrow, as the average stack is just over 3.4 million, which translates to more than 85 big blinds.
Here's a look at the payouts from Day 5 and what the remaining contenders are playing for:
| Position | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | �816,000 | ||
| 2 | �497,900 | ||
| 3 | �349,100 | ||
| 4 | �262,150 | ||
| 5 | �203,900 | ||
| 6 | �151,000 | ||
| 7 | �108,100 | ||
| 8 | �77,000 | ||
| 9 | Gavin O'Rourke | Ireland | �60,800 |
| 10 | Roman Korenev | Russia | �50,250 |
| 11 | Andras Kovacs | Hungary | �50,250 |
| 12 | [Removed:40] | Italy | �44,950 |
| 13 | Dan Murariu | Romania | �44,950 |
| 14 | Sebastian Panny | Austria | �40,550 |
| 15 | Johnny Lodden | Norway | �40,550 |
| 16 | Patrick Fasching | Austria | �36,150 |
| 17 | Mike Adamo | Turks & Caicos Islands | �36,150 |
We'll see you on Saturday for the completion of this amazing event!