Main Event
Day 4 Completed
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Main Event
Day: 4
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2017 PokerStars Championship Prague
Buy-in
€5,300
Prize Pool
€4,146,750
Entries
855
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
20,000
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Day 4 of the last-ever PokerStars Championship started in Hilton Hotel Prague with still 49 players remaining. Paul Michaelis started out as chip leader for the second day in a row, closely followed by local hero Michal Mrakes. The former had a terrible day and busted halfway through, the latter had a much better day and crushed start to finish. Mrakes ended the day with a massive 4,945,000 in chips, by far the biggest stack in the room.
The tournament hadn't even properly started or Walter Oaquim was already out the door. He got it in with top set against a bare flush draw and saw his opponent hit one of his outs on the turn. As the river bricked, Oaquim had to leave the tournament area but not before he snapped a picture of his misfortune.
He would be the first of many as the tournament lost players in rapid succession. Marcin Horecki, one of just two PokerStars Team Pros remaining, departed not much later. He got it in with jacks against ace-king and saw his opponent hit a king on the turn.
Xixiang Luo was next to go, busting in a massive pot with a failed bluff with ace-five. His opponent, Russian Ivan Soshnikov, had kings and that hand held up.
Around this time, Paul Michaelis started losing more and more pots. He first got sucked out on when he got it in with top pair and top kicker against Colin Robinson who held an inferior top pair. Robinson paired his kicker on the river to take some chips from the player that started as chip leader. While the German was still at ease at the table it seemed, it was the start of his downfall it would turn out. Michaelis still played some great poker, but he had run out of luck on Day 4 of the event. In the penultimate level of the day, having dwindled to the lower regions of the standings, he shoved on his countryman Robert Heidorn. It turned out to be an ill-advised bluff as Heidorn had rivered trips and wasn't folding. Michaelis showed nothing but a missed gutshot and bowed out in 28th place for €18,900 after some great days of poker.
Mrakes, who had just busted Anatolii Zyrin with king-nine against ace-queen all in before the flop, would end up in a massive pot again not much later. It would turn out to be one of those hands they'll replay on the live streams for the foreseeable future, as it was some great poker at display. In the hand, Michal Mrakes ended up out of position in a three-bet pot against Hon Cheong Lee. The latter ended up firing three bullets on 
, 
, 
with smaller bets on the flop and turn, and a big shove on the river. Mrakes was a non-believer and check-called all the way with nothing but ace-high. It turned out he was right, as Lee showed queen-seven suited for a failed attempt at a colossal bluff.
Three players departed in rapid succession; James Mitchell finished 23rd running ace-five into ace-queen, Dmitry Ponomarev finished 22nd losing ace-king to nine-seven, and Lawrence Bayley exited in 21st place losing jacks to ace-king.
The next players to go all had their exits on display for the world to see as they busted on the live streamed final table. Nir Levy lost with nines to ace-king, Alessio Isaia with jack-ten to king-queen.
Fatima Moreira de Melo, who had been at the feature table for several days straight and had led for some time, was next in line at the payout desk. Getting to the middle of the pack stack-wise, she four-bet shoved with ace-king against the hyper-aggressive chip leader Mrakes. Mrakes called with pocket tens, and Moreira de Melo failed to hit, bowing out in 18th place for €30,000.
"I'm proud of how I played, and it was fun," Moreira de Melo told the television crew. On shoving in the final hand: "I had ace-king and the chip leader, who was the most aggressive player, three-bet me. I'd do it again and again and again. This is tournament poker and you play to win."
Down to 17 players, just one last had to bust for the tournament would be done for the day. In the end, two players would bust in the same hand on different tables. Ivan Soshnikov fell in 17th place running jacks into aces. At the same time, Diego Zeiter failed to improve with ace-ten against threes. Just like that, the tournament was down to 15 players and play was stopped.
The 15 players return to action on Day 5 of the event with the goal of playing down to the final six. Besides the aforementioned players, some great talent remains hopeful for the last PokerStars Championship trophy. Jason Wheeler, Kalidou Sow and Alex Foxen are just some of the recognizable names still in. There's just under an hour left in Level 24 (15,000/30,000, ante 5,000). PokerNews will once again be present to bring you all the updates one can ask for, the best photos, and interviews with all the big stars.
Seat Draw Day 5
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Matas Cimbolas | Lithuania | 1,615,000 | 54 |
| 1 | 2 | Navot Golan | Israel | 1,955,000 | 65 |
| 1 | 3 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | Ukraine | 3,225,000 | 108 |
| 1 | 5 | Colin Robinson | USA | 2,085,000 | 70 |
| 1 | 6 | Harry Lodge | UK | 1,360,000 | 45 |
| 1 | 7 | Thomas Lentrodt | Germany | 1,520,000 | 51 |
| 1 | 8 | Jason Wheeler | USA | 2,400,000 | 80 |
| 2 | 1 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 900,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 2 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 4,945,000 | 165 |
| 2 | 3 | Gabriele Lepore | Italy | 580,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 2,485,000 | 83 |
| 2 | 5 | Kalidou Sow | France | 640,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | Serhii Popovych | Ukraine | 710,000 | 24 |
| 2 | 7 | Aleksandr Mordvinov | Russia | 820,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 8 | Alex Foxen | USA | 470,000 | 16 |
![[user194452]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Poker Pro Bryan Paris has just finished commentating at the WSOPE in Rozvadov. He's also a famous streamer on Twitch, as well as playing a lot of online poker. He chats to Laura about balancing his poker with his family life.
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
| Table | Seat | Name | Country | Chips | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Matas Cimbolas | Lithuania | 1,615,000 | 54 |
| 1 | 2 | Navot Golan | Israel | 1,955,000 | 65 |
| 1 | 3 | Valentyn Shabelnyk | Ukraine | 3,225,000 | 108 |
| 1 | 5 | Colin Robinson | USA | 2,085,000 | 70 |
| 1 | 6 | Harry Lodge | UK | 1,360,000 | 45 |
| 1 | 7 | Thomas Lentrodt | Germany | 1,520,000 | 51 |
| 1 | 8 | Jason Wheeler | USA | 2,400,000 | 80 |
| 2 | 1 | Pierre Calamusa | France | 900,000 | 30 |
| 2 | 2 | Michal Mrakes | Czech Republic | 4,945,000 | 165 |
| 2 | 3 | Gabriele Lepore | Italy | 580,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 4 | Robert Heidorn | Germany | 2,485,000 | 83 |
| 2 | 5 | Kalidou Sow | France | 640,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 6 | Serhii Popovych | Ukraine | 710,000 | 24 |
| 2 | 7 | Aleksandr Mordvinov | Russia | 820,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 8 | Alex Foxen | USA | 470,000 | 16 |
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
4,945,000 | |
|
||
|
3,225,000 | |
|
2,485,000
495,000
|
495,000 |
|
2,400,000
200,000
|
200,000 |
|
||
|
2,085,000
835,000
|
835,000 |
|
|
||
|
1,955,000
-320,000
|
-320,000 |
|
1,615,000
715,000
|
715,000 |
|
||
|
1,520,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
|
1,360,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
|
||
|
900,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
|
||
|
820,000
-80,000
|
-80,000 |
|
710,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
640,000
-560,000
|
-560,000 |
|
||
|
580,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
|
470,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
||
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
With just 15 players remaining, play is done for the day. We'll be back with you shortly with the end-of-day chip counts and a recap of today's action.
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
There was just one last hand to be played for the day, as a player on the outer table had already busted.
Valentyn Shabelnyk opened the button for 80,000 and small blind Navot Golan called. Michal Mrakes squeezed from the big blind for 325,000. Shabelnyk tanked for quite some time before he eventually four-bet to 780,000. Golan folded right away and action was back on Mrakes. The chip leader folded and said "Show the bluff!"
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
4,945,000 | |
|
|
||
|
|
3,225,000 | |
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
The elimination of Ivan Soshnikov signaled the end of play, but the neighboring table had already begun the shuffle, so a final hand was dealt. Diego Zeiter tanked and completed the blind and then immediately called off when Robert Heidorn set him in from the big.
Zeiter: 
Heidorn: 
The flop, turn and river came 
, keeping the threes a winner.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
While Diego Zeiter was doubling, Ivan Soshnikov got it all in with 
for about 600,000 at the other table but was up against the 
of Colin Robinson. They each flopped sets on the 
runout, but the aces stood as best to eliminate Soshnikov.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted |
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Action folded to the small blind, where Serhii Popovych shoved and Diego Zeiter snap-called.
Zeiter:
Popovych: 
No sweat for Zeiter as it ran out clean and he doubled to about 650,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
715,000
-435,000
|
-435,000 |
|
|
650,000
240,000
|
240,000 |
Level 23
: 12,000/24,000, 4,000 ante
Fatima Moreira De Melo opened for 70,000 under the gun plus one. Michal Mrakes three-bet again, this time making it 215,000 from the button.
The blinds folded and the action was back on Moreira de Melo who shoved her remaining million in without much hesitation. Mrakes called just about right away.
Michal Mrakes: 
Fatima Moreira De Melo: 
The board came 
and just like that, Moreira de Melo made her exit after playing on the feature table for days in a row.
"Pff, that sucks!" she was heard saying when she departed.
17 players remain, just one more player to lose before the tournament halts for the day.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
Busted | |
|
||