Bubble Bursts as EPT London Finale Nears
Thursday, 10 October 2013
Another day saw another group of players fall by the wayside as EPT London's £5,250 Main Event took another step towards a conclusion.
Unlike previous sessions where the early pace had been unrelenting, the pressure of the bubble caused a drop in pace. However, each player's desire to gather enough chips to make it through the day was enough to cut the field from 109 to just 88 within two levels.
With one more elimination until the payouts started a slew of short stacks were busy checking the fortunes of each other's until Steven Lewzey stuck his head above the parapet.
Having skirted on the brink of elimination for a while, Lewzey eventually took his shot at a double-up with Ac Tc. Indeed, with the board showing 9h 9c 6c Lewzey moved all-in against the pocket aces of Ziv Vachar. After missing anything that would revive his tournament life, Lewzey was sent to the rail in 88th place as a round of applause filled the Grand Connaught Rooms.
With the pressure of the bubble lifted the tournament resumed in earnest and first to fall was Gaelle Baumann. The French pro became the first player to pick up a minimum cash of £9,080 as the number of players gradually fell to 45.
Leading the way at the close of the session was Martin Kozlov with 1,351,000 chips. The Australian pro enjoyed a succession of pots towards the end of the session and was able to bag enough chips to finish ahead of Ludovic Geilich (1,219,000) and David Yan (1,046,000).
Also making it through the session was the former chip leader Tudor Purice (825,000) as well as a host of Brits, including: Kuljinder Sidhu (605,00), Steven Warburton (599,000), Andrew Moseley (475,000) and Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott (250,000).
Day 4 kicks off later and when things get under way the final few will be whittled down to around 20 before Saturday's final table is set.
The chip leaders are as follows:
Martin Kozlov 1,351,000
Ludovic Geilich 1,219,000
David Yan 1,046,000
Tudor Purice 825,000
Robin Ylitalo 716,000
Kuljinder Sidhu 605,000
Jeffrey Rossiter 601,000
Steven Warburton 599,000
Javier Etayo 559,000
Ole Nergard 550,000
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