The European Poker Tour (EPT) Prague Main Event rolled along Monday as the remaining 61 players took their seats for Day 4. With the money bubble having burst the previous day, the goal for the players Monday was to move up the payout ladder and creep closer to the final table. Britain’s Max Silver separated himself from the rest of the field by the end of the night, leading the final 22 with nearly 4 million chips.
Silver has a solid live tournament resume, even if it does not stand out as being elite. He has just shy of $900,000 in lifetime earnings, mostly via “small-ish” cashes. He does not have a major event title, but did come close a couple times, making two final tables at the 2011 World Series of Poker Europe.
The chip counts are quite spread out at the top of the leaderboard going into Day 5. Silver is almost a million ahead of Julian Track, who just eeked over 3 million chips. After Track, there is a 300,000 chip drop to Ole Schemion, who himself is about 600,000 ahead of Stephen Chidwick. Nobody else has more than 1.8 million chips.
Silver grew much of his lead towards the end of the final level. In one hand, Silver opened the betting pre-flop to 52,000 and both Chidwick and Piotr Pietrzak called. On the flop of A♣-2♠-4♥, Pietrzak checked, Silver bet 66,000, and Chidwick called. Pietrzak then moved all-in for 369,000, Silver called, and Chidwick got out of the way. Both players had an Ace in their hands, but Silver had a Ten kick versus Pietrzak’s Nine. Two Fives were produced on the turn and river, giving Silver the hand and eliminating Pietrzak from the competition.
A little bit later, Schemion raised pre-flop and Silver called from the big blind. Silver check-called a 65,000 bet on the J♥-5♥-7♣ flop. Silver changed the pace when the J♣ was dealt on the turn, betting 108,000. Schemion raised to 255,000 and Silver called. Both men checked the 9♥ on the river; Silver revealed J♦-4♦ for trips, prompting Schemion to muck his hand.
On Tuesday, the field of the EPT Prague Main Event will be narrowed to the final table, at which point everyone will be guaranteed at least €66,050.
2013 European Poker Tour Prague Main Event – Day 4 Chip Leaders
1. Max Silver – 3,987,000
2. Julian Track – 3,010,000
3. Ole Schemion – 2,700,000
4. Stephen Chidwick – 2,084,000
5. Ori Hasson – 1,758,000
6. Tapio Vihakas – 1,574,000
7. Jorma Nuutinen – 1,508,000
8. Ka Kwan Lau – 1,350,000
9. Sigurd Eskeland – 1,264,000
10. Radek Stockner – 1,246,000
