Pedro Neves Holds Massive Chip Lead with Seven Left in Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em
Day 4 of Event #38: $1,500 Monster Stack No-Limit Hold'em has concluded here at the Horseshoe Las Vegas. Of the 55 competitors who started the day, the final seven players will return for Day 5, where the tournament will play down to a winner.
The last seven players standing navigated through a mammoth field of 8,704 entrants to arrive at the final table and capture a piece of the $11,619,840 prizepool. They will be competing for the $1,098,220 first-place prize, along with the coveted World Series of Poker (WSOP) gold bracelet.
The overwhelming chip leader heading into the start of Day 5 is Pedro Neves (172,200,000), who is on the hunt for his first WSOP bracelet. Neves, who has had plenty of success and big wins in events outside of the WSOP, has already locked up the biggest WSOP cash of his career. With a first-place finish, he looks to add his second seven-figure score to his resume.
Neves, who was down to less than six big blinds at one point during the first level of the day, started his comeback with a double up against Federico Castaing. He then doubled up again, this time through Noel Eicher. Neves continued to chip up throughout the day as the action played down to the final two tables.
A key turning point in Neves' rise was a hand in which he doubled up through Jonas Christensen, with set over set. Right before the final table, Neves propelled his stack even higher, when he spiked a queen to score a double knockout in which he eliminated two opponents in the same hand.
End of Day 4 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pedro Neves | Portugal | 172,200,000 | 86 |
| 2 | Aaron Johnson (MN) | United States | 101,000,000 | 51 |
| 3 | Brian Roff | United States | 50,800,000 | 25 |
| 4 | Jerry Maher | United States | 29,800,000 | 15 |
| 5 | Tim Reilly | United States | 28,900,000 | 14 |
| 6 | Jose Carlos Brito | Portugal | 27,000,000 | 14 |
| 7 | Guangming Li | United States | 25,500,000 | 13 |
Aaron Johnson, who is also seeking his first piece of gold, will enter Day 5 as the other big stack at the table with 101,000,000. He will begin with double that of Brian Roff (50,800,000), who sits in third.
Day 4 Action
Day 4 set a fast tempo, with the field slimming down to the final three tables quickly. John Duthie (51st - $25,355) made an early exit when his pocket kings were cracked by the ace-jack of Leonel Mendoza. Euan McNicholas (48th - $25,355) was short-stacked and all in with queen-ten and fell to Federico Castaing's ace-nine. Nadya Magnus couldn't find a king against Arnaud Enselme and was eliminated in 34th ($37,689).
Martin Kabrhel's quest for his third bracelet was cut short when he ran into pocket kings and was knocked out in 26th ($46,448). Joao Simao exited shortly after when he ran into queens and aces and was eliminated in 22nd ($46,448). Wayne Harmon (17th - 57,652) suffered a devastating bad beat when he got it all in preflop with pocket kings versus jacks. Fausto Valdez (11th - $90,719) also was a victim of a brutal runout when his aces were cracked by Neves' queens.
With that, the final table was set with only ten players remaining and it wasn't long until just seven prevailed to bag up for the night.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | $1,098,220 |
| 2 | $732,329 |
| 3 | $550,920 |
| 4 | $417,213 |
| 5 | $318,077 |
| 6 | $244,137 |
| 7 | $188,660 |
Action will begin on Day 5 at 12 p.m. local time on Thursday, June 20, at the Horseshoe Las Vegas, where a champion will be crowned.
The tournament will resume at Level 40, with blinds at 1,000,000/2,000,000 with a 2,000,000 big blind ante. The level will resume with 37 minutes and 25 seconds remaining. Levels will be 60 minutes in length, with 15-minute breaks every two levels, and a dinner break to be determined.
Streaming will begin at 1 pm on PokerGO (subject to change), and PokerNews will be providing updates on delay in sync with the stream so as to not spoil any of the tournament as it progresses.
Be sure to follow PokerNews throughout the remainder of this event, as well as future coverage throughout the summer.