Nick Palma opened to 50,000 from the hijack and was three-bet to 125,000 by Stephen Song on the button. Jorge Artiga-Pacheco used a time bank in the big blind before moving all in for 375,000.
Palma used a time bank of his own before folding, but Song called to put Pacheco at risk.
"This is a Stephen Song special," chirped Palma as the cards were revealed.
Jorge Artiga-Pacheco: A?K?
Stephen Song: 7?6?
The board came 10?4?2?9?K? as Pacheco rivered a pair of kings to score the double-up.
Defending champion Simon Wiciak was all-in and at risk for around 900,000 against Andrew Hulme.
Simon Wiciak: A?K?
Andrew Hulme: Q?Q?
Wiciak took a big lead on the flop of 8?2?A? and the 4? turn didn't change anything. But the dealer then put down the Q? river and those at the table groaned as Hulme improved to put a tough beat on the Frenchman.
Sriharsha Doddapaneni opened to 50,000 from the hijack and David Coleman three-bet to 225,000 out of the small blind. Marc Foggin was in the big blind and made it 550,000, which left him with just 25,000 behind. Doddapaneni folded, and Coleman shoved. Foggin still had chips behind but Coleman revealed his hand not realizing that fact, then eventually Foggin made the call.
Marc Foggin: J?J?
David Coleman: A?K?
It was a classic poker coinflip to kick off Day 5 of the Main Event and after the flop it was Coleman's to lose as he paired his king when the dealer fanned K?10?6?. Foggin found a great card on the A? turn as he picked up both flush and straight draws, but the 9? river didn't deliver what he needed to survive, which meant he was the first player of the day to be eliminated.
Mike PatrickCan Rania Nasreddine continue her comeback toward another EPT final table?
On Friday, the final 40 players in the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona return to the Casino Barcelona ballroom to begin playing for the meat of the €9,578,750 prize pool with someone taking home €1,512,000 on Sunday, along with the most prestigious trophy in European poker.
After a shortened Day 4, play will resume with 48:27 minutes left in Level 23 with blinds of 10,000/25,000, and Stephen Song leading the pack with 4,130,000 chips, good for 165 big blinds.
Stephen Song
Not far behind him is fellow American David Coleman with 3,900,000, and lurking at the base of the top ten is EPT Monte Carlo third-place finisher Rania Nasreddine, who finished with 2,005,000 after battling back from being on the wrong end of a massive queens versus aces cooler early in the day.
Top 10 Start of Day 5 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Stephen Song
United States
4,130,000
165
2
David Coleman
United States
3,900,000
156
3
Harry Lodge
United Kingdom
3,450,000
138
4
Jianwei Lin
China
2,835,000
113
5
Sriharsha Doddapaneni
India
2,730,000
109
6
Pablo Beltran
Spain
2,640,000
106
7
Yurii Zabrodotsky
Ukraine
2,635,000
105
8
Timothy Chung
Hong Kong
2,525,000
101
9
Jack Kiriakus
Sweden
2,005,000
80
10
Rania Nasreddine
United States
2,005,000
80
Simon Wiciak
Not to mention, defending EPT Barcelona champion Simon Wiciak is still in the hunt, returning with 1,300,000 chips and positioned in the top half of the leaderboard.
As noted earlier, the payouts will significantly increase on Friday, with all returning players guaranteed at least €23,350. There's also an immediate pay jump to €26,900 at 39th place.
Remaining Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,512,000
10-11
€107,450
40
€23,350
2
€944,000
12-13
€89,550
3
€674,150
14-15
€74,600
4
€518,600
16-17
€62,150
5
€398,950
18-20
€51,800
6
€306,900
21-23
€43,200
7
€236,100
24-27
€36,000
8
€181,600
28-31
€30,950
9
€139,750
32-39
€26,900
Play resumes at noon local time with streamed coverage on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels available on a delay of 30 minutes. While a firm plan for the day has yet to be announced, the 2023 edition of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, which was the first to play seven days before crowning a champion, saw its Day 5 play down to 16 players.
David Coleman
Be sure to keep your browsers here on PokerNews for continuing coverage as our team of live reporters will bring you all the action from the tournament floor as the 20th anniversary season of the European Poker Tour continues from Casino Barcelona.
