Monte-Carlo Champion Raffaele Sorrentino Leads Last Six in Barcelona; PokerStars Team Pro Andre Akkari in Contention
After five tournament days, the six-handed final table of the 2017 PokerStars Championship Barcelona �5,300 Main Event is set and the lion's share of the �8,157,700 prize pool is still up for grabs. All six finalists out of a 1,682-entry strong field at the Casino Barcelona already have �252,000 locked up, but the elusive golden trophy and payday of �1,410,000 awaits for the eventual champion on Sunday August 28th 2017.
Six different nationalities will be represented when cards-up live coverage kicks off the next day at 1 p.m. local time on a security delay of one hour, and it will be Raffaele Sorrentino who holds the chip lead going into the final day. The Italian, who took down the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino back in April for �466,714, soared into the top spot at the end of the night and bagged up 15,500,000.
Sorrentino is followed by Lachezar Plamenov Petkov from Bulgaria with 10,325,000 while PokerStars Team Pro Andre Akkari is in third place with 8,150,000. The other contenders for the title in Barcelona include Brian Kaufman Esposito (6,475,000), Sebastian Sorensson (6,125,000) and Usman Siddique (3,875,000). Remarkably, Akkari returned for the final level of Day 5 as far shortest stack before eventually sending Aeragan Arunan to the rail in 7th place. The Brazilian rail including former November Niner Bruno Politano[/B] exploded and the chips were bagged up right after.
Final Table Seat Assignments
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Usman Siddique | United Kingdom | 3,875,000 | 19 |
| 2 | Sebastian Sorensson | Sweden | 6,125,000 | 31 |
| 3 | Brian Kaufman Esposito | Uruguay | 6,475,000 | 32 |
| 4 | Raffaele Sorrentino | Italy | 15,500,000 | 78 |
| 5 | Lachezar Plamenov Petkov | Bulgaria | 10,325,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Andre Akkari | Brazil | 8,150,000 | 41 |
Action of Day 5
Only three hands were played until the first player was sent to the rail. Yaron Zeev Malki raised out of the big blind over a limp by Albert Daher and called all in with ace-nine when the Lebanese moved all in. Daher showed pocket eights and held up on a king-high board. Three further hopes came to an end in the first level of the day.
Sebastian Sorensson limped in from under the gun, Andrew Hedley shoved with ace-jack and Sorensson called with pocket jacks to dodge the over card and gutshot for a straight. Next to fall was Day 2 chip leader Mauricio Salazar Sanchez. The Colombian three-bet shoved his short stack with ace-king and Alex Difelice called with jack-nine suited and spiked a jack on the flop. Last but not least, Rens Feenstra had to settle for 13th place. The Dutchman had a flip with ace-queen suited against the pocket nines of [Removed:146] and failed to get there.
PokerStars qualifier Tsugunari Toma suffered a massive setback when he four-bet all in with pocket tens and Lachezar Plamenov Petkov called with queens. The Japanese never recovered from that and got it in with ace-seven, again it was Petkov that looked him up with king-jack and the Bulgarian got there thanks to a king on the river.
Alex Difelice hit a royal flush on Day 5, but the run good of the Canadian stopped right after. However, it was Donald Duarte Sierra who bowed out next. Raffaele Sorrentino raised and called the shove of Duarte with pocket jacks, the player from Nicaragua only had ace-seven suited and was drawing dead on the turn. Difelice was left short after losing a big pot against Lachezar Plamenov Petkov and found himself in a cooler spot, running with pocket queens into pocket aces of Aeragan Arunan to miss out on the unofficial final table.
Once all nine players combined to one table, the chip lead changed several times and a big three-way clash after the dinner break let the tournament area erupt in celebration. Albert Daher raised, Raffaele Sorrentino called and [Removed:146] moved all in with pocket threes. Daher moved all in over the top with ace-queen and Sorrentino called with pocket jacks. While Daher flopped best with two queens to improve to trips, Sorrentino got there with a king and nine on turn and river to knock out both opponents with a straight.
PokerStars Team Pro Andre Akkari was down to just over five big blinds when the last level of the night kicked off and he doubled up with kings versus nines right away. After chipping up further, Akkari isolated against the shove of Aeragan Arunan with ace-queen and the Brit only showed king-queen. The board ran out jack-high and Arunan had to settle for a consolation prize of �193,000.
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize (EUR) |
|---|---|
| 1 | �1,410,000 |
| 2 | �790,500 |
| 3 | �554,000 |
| 4 | �402,000 |
| 5 | �317,960 |
| 6 | �252,000 |
The action will resume at 12 p.m. local time with 23 minutes left at blinds of 100,000/200,000 with a running ante of 25,000 and continue until the next PokerStars Championship Main Event winner is crowned. The PokerNews live reporting team will provide hand-for-hand coverage until the last river card is dealt, so make sure to tune back in and find out who lifts the trophy.