Rania Nasreddine Leads the Charge for Back-to-Back EPT Final Tables, Tops Final 16 in Barcelona
As the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona moves toward its conclusion, the €5,300 Main Event edged closer to crowning a champion after an enthralling day. Action on the felt at Casino Barcelona left just sixteen players in contention for one of the most prestigious titles in the poker realm.
Rania Nasreddine finds herself on top of the leaderboard with a stack of 7,200,000 — good for ninety big blinds when play resumes on Day 6. Nasreddine finished third in the Main Event at EPT (European Poker Tour) Monte Carlo just a few months ago and has the incredible achievement of back-to-back Main Event final tables in her sights.
Nasreddine started the day strong by eliminating Piero Alioto when her pocket jacks were too good for the Italian player's pocket nines. A spectacular ace-high call set the tone for the day which was sweetened even further when she eliminated the UK's Jack Sinclair. Greece's Panagiotis Mavritsakis also felt the full force of Nasreddine as his two pair fell short to a bigger two pair of the American player, which left him out in 24th place.
End of Day 5 Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rania Nasreddine | United States | 7,200,000 | 90 |
| 2 | Stephen Song | United States | 6,725,000 | 84 |
| 3 | Boris Kuzmanovic | Croatia | 6,565,000 | 82 |
| 4 | Fabiano Kovalski | Brazil | 5,550,000 | 69 |
| 5 | Jianwei Lin | China | 5,500,000 | 69 |
| 6 | Harry Lodge | United Kingdom | 4,165,000 | 52 |
| 7 | David Coleman | United States | 3,570,000 | 45 |
| 8 | Sriharsha Doddapaneni | India | 3,210,000 | 40 |
| 9 | Jelle Moene | Netherlands | 3,165,000 | 40 |
| 10 | Yurii Zabrodotskyi | Ukraine | 3,100,000 | 39 |
Stephen Song converted his Day 4 chip lead into the second-biggest stack of 6,725,000 by the time Day 5 closed its curtains. Despite losing some chips early on, poker's ultimate cooler went Song's way as his pocket aces crushed the pocket kings of Timothy Chung, which sent the Canadian to the rail in the early goings. The rest of Song's day was quite straightforward as he held the chip lead for almost the day's entirety, and only relinquished it to Nasreddine in the final levels.
Fabiano Kovalski occupies fourth spot on the leaderboard with 5,550,000, which coincidentally is where he finished in the Main Event back at the 2022 edition of EPT Barcelona. The Brazilian player started his rise up the counts when his rivered full house bettered the straight of Spain's Pablo Beltran, then he turned Broadway, which put an end to Vladimir Erceg's run. Kovalski didn't stop there, as he went on an elimination frenzy and sent Beltran, Firoz Mangroe, and Jack Kiriakus to the sidelines.
When play began, all eyes were on the reigning champion as Simon Wiciak looked to become the only human being in existence to successfully defend an EPT Main Event title. That feat was soon shot down in brutal fashion when Wiciak got his ace-king into the middle and was put at risk by the pocket queens of Andrew Hulme. An ace on the flop gave Wiciak the lead and a clean turn left him one card away from a double-up, but a queen on the river improved Hulme to a set and ended Wiciak's run.
David Coleman again finds himself within reach of a major title, sitting seventh on the leaderboard with a stack of 3,570,000. The American player got off to a flying start as his ace-king won a flip against the pocket jacks of Marc Foggin, which made the British player the first casualty of the day.
Aliaksandr Shylko (33rd), Nick Palma (28th), Lauri Varonen (25th), Luka Sorainen (20th), and Javey Timmer (18th) all fell short of the penultimate day. Gal Bar (17th) was the last player to be eliminated when his ace-jack couldn't win a flip against the pocket tens of Alexandre Fournier just as Level 28 got underway.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Payout | Place | Payout |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,512,000 | 8 | €181,600 |
| 2 | €944,000 | 9 | €139,750 |
| 3 | €674,150 | 10-11 | €107,450 |
| 4 | €518,600 | 12-13 | €89,550 |
| 5 | €398,950 | 14-15 | €74,600 |
| 6 | €306,900 | 16 | €62,150 |
| 7 | €236,100 |
Day 6 will begin at 12 p.m. on Saturday, September 7, with 84:58 left in Level 28 — 40,000/80,000, with an 80,000 big blind ante. Each of the players have already locked up a payday of at least €62,150, but all eyes are firmly locked on that top prize of €1,512,000. The plan for Day 6 is to play until just six players remain, with the finalists then returning on Sunday, September 8, to play down to a winner.
As always, keep it right here with PokerNews as we bring you expert coverage of the remainder of the EPT Main Event here at Casino Barcelona.