Just six players remain in the WSOPE Main Event in Berlin after the penultimate day played out in dramatic fashion today.
AmericanKevin MacPhee dominated the tournament for the whole day and finished with an immense chip lead – he’s holding more than half of all the chips in play.
He cemented his lead and eliminated Erik Seidel in a particularly painful hand to end the day at the final table bubble.
He's accompanied in the final six by Andrew Lichtenberger, JC Alvarado, Spaniard David Lopez, Kilian Kramer from Germany and Felix Bleiker from Switzerland.
WSOPE Berlin Main Event Quick Stats
- Players: 6 / 313
- Buy-In: €9,800 + €650
- Prize Pool: €3,067,400
- Chipleader: Kevin MacPhee
- First Prize: €883,000
Berlin suits MacPhee
Chip Counts and Final Table Payouts
- 1. Kevin MacPhee (USA): 5,015,000
- 2. Andrew Lichtenberger (USA): 2,135,000
- 3. JC Alvarado (Mexico): 1,070,000
- 4. David Lopez Llacer (Spain): 520,000
- 5. Kilian Kramer (Germany): 435,000
- 6. Felix Bleiker (Switzerland): 215,000
- 1. €883,000
- 2. €475,000
- 3. €315,000
- 4. €225,000
- 5. €175,000
- 6. €130,000
Nitsche, Urbanovich Out Early
At the start of Day 4 21 players from a starting field of 313 were still in contention. The bubble had already burst and all remaining players were to receive at least €23,500.
The eventual winner will take home almost 40 times that amount.
Exit x2
Within the first hour five players busted including 888poker Pro Dominik Nitsche. He started the day with very few chips, got it all-in with J♣ T♣ against A♣ Q♥, lost the hand and headed over to the €25k High Roller.
There he busted not very much later.
Another player to bust early enough to still join the High Roller was Dzmitry Urbanovich. The young Polish player, who dominated Day 2 of this event, ultimately ran out of steam and shoved all-in with ace-nine from the button.
He was called by Erik Seidel with ace-king, lost the hand, took his winnings and paid the buy-in for the High Roller. There Urbanovich lasted less than one level and coincidentally busted with the very same hand: ace-nine.
Here Mustapha Kanit was his nemesis; he out flopped the Pole with king-queen.
Disastrous Final Table Bubble for Erik Seidel
The most brutal hand of the day was certainly the last one which saw Erik Seidel leave the tourney.
Coolered.
Seidel was third in chips with seven players left and two players severely short stacked when he found A♠ K♠ in the big blind.
In front of him David Lopez opened from the button and MacPhee 3-bet from the small blind. Seidel answered with a 4-bet and after Lopez got out of the way MacPhee 5-bet to put more than half of Seidel's stack on the line.
After a minute of deliberation Seidel moved all-in for 50 big blinds. MacPhee called instantly, showed A♥ A♦ and won the hand after the board fell 7♦ 5♥ 2♥ 8♠ Xx.
Despite his almost uncatchable lead, making the final table in the Main Event proved to be a minor inconvenience for MacPhee. He had already a flight to Malta scheduled and had to move apartments in Berlin during the tournament today as his was only leased until today.
The money he’s going to make at the final table will certainly more than compensate this tiny cumbersomeness.
Final-Table Bios
Kevin MacPhee; 5,015,000 chips (35 years old)
MacPhee started the day as chip leader and is looking to take down his second big title in this city. Five years ago he won the EPT Berlin main event and took home €1m.
But 2015 could be his most successful year ever. He already won a bracelet in Vegas ($5k NLH) and finished 4th in another bracelet event ($1.5k NLH).
MacPhee's total career tournament winnings exceed $10.5m (including over $6.5m won online). He's primed to add another €883,000 this Saturday.
Andrew Lichtenberger: 2,135,000 chips (28 years old)
For quite some time now Andrew “luckychewy” Lichtenberger has been a regular on the international tournament scene. With career winnings of almost $10m (including $2.9m online) he's already accumulated lots of fantastic results.
He won the WPT Alpha8 Las Vegas last December for more than $1.7m and has 29 WSOP cashes to his name. He’s just missing the bracelet.
Maybe that missing bracelet changes here in Berlin. Coincidentally Berlin has a district called “Lichtenberg” not too far away from the Casino. Could be a good omen.
JC Alvarado: 1,070,000 chips; (30 years old)
Juan Carlos (JC) Alvarado from Mexico has played poker for more than 11 years now and has accumulated more than $3.4m in tournament winnings (including $600k online). He started with online cash games but switched to online and live tournaments quite some time ago.
While Alvarado has already had plenty of success at the poker tables he still lacks a WSOP bracelet. The closest he got in this regard was a fifth place in the $10k Pot Limit Hold’em event in 2009.
David Lopez: 520,000 chips
Spaniard David Lopez is a rather new face on the poker scene. He qualified for the PCA this year and promptly cashed for $24,000 and in a small side event.
Here in Berlin Lopez finished 20th in the €3,250 NLH event and now made it to the final table. There he is guaranteed a payment of at least €130,000 and he could become the 3rd Spanish player after Carlos Mortensen and Adrian Mateos to win a bracelet.
Kilian Kramer: 435,000 chips (25 years old)
German hopeful Kilian Kramer rose to fame this summer when he made it to the 7th day of the WSOP Main Event in Vegas. There he finished 18th (he busted against future November Niner Max Steinberg) and took home $325,000.
Here in Berlin Kramer is the only German at the final table and with only 435,000 chips (18 big blinds) he's rather short stacked.
Felix Bleiker: 215,000 chips (27 years old)
Hailing from Switzerland, Felix Bleiker is one of the lesser known players at this final table. But he’s been playing for many years already, mostly online.
He started playing more live tournaments in 2015 and already managed a deep run here in Berlin at the €550 Oktoberfest where he finished 18th.
No matter which position he finishes in the Main Event though, the prize money will exceed all his live poker winnings combined – $76,000 so far.
Pause on Friday, Final Table on Saturday, No Stream
This Friday the WSOPE Main Event will pause for one day and the players will return on Saturday.
Not every player is too happy with the one-day hiatus, but the Casino Berlin only has one TV table available and the WSOP wants to record both the Main Event and High Roller final table.
Since the final tables are being recorded no streams will be available on Friday or Saturday. ESPN will air both final table performances later this year.
Kanit, Chartier, Holz & Duhamel Highlight €25k Final Table
The €25k High Roller also played down to the final table today. The tournament attracted 64 players, 2 of which entered today (Dominik Nitsche and Dzmitry Urbanovich).
High Roller end boss.
After 10 hours of play only six players remained and Mustapha Kanit leads a pack of well known pros.
With previous ME champion Jonathan Duhamel, Triple Crown Winner Davidi Kitati, Sam Chartier, WCOOP champion Fedor Holz and Christoph Vogelsang in the mix this is certainly the final table with highest celebrity density in recent WSOP history.
Triple bracelet winner Jason Mercier fell one position short of the money. While he busted with ace-queen against Mustapha Kanits aces (they got it all-in on a A♣ 2♣ 2♠ K♦ 4♦ river), he mostly attributed his defeat to Fedor Holz, who – according to Mercier – beat him up really good in way too many spots.
The WSOP POY question was finally settled with Ismael Bojang busting before the bubble. He still had a theoretical chance to overtake Mike Gorodinsky in the race, but to achieve that he needed to win the tournament and Mike not to cash.
Neither happened and thus Mike Gorodinsky is the 2015 WSOP Player of the Year.
WSOPE Berlin €25k High Roller Quick Stats
- Players: 6 / 64
- Buy-In: €24,750 + €850
- Prize Pool: €1,584,000
- Chipleader: Mustapha Kanit
- First Prize: €554,395
Complete Chip Counts and Final Table Payouts
- 1. Mustapha Kanit (Italy): 1,726,000
- 2. Christoph Vogelsang (Germany): 820,000
- 3. Samuel Chartier (Canada): 712,000
- 4. Fedor Holz (Germany): 587,000
- 5. Jonathan Duhamel (Canada): 542,000
- 6. Davidi Kitai (Belgium): 415,000
- 1. €570,240
- 2. €380,160
- 3. €221,760
- 4. €142,560
- 5. €110,880
- 6. €95,040
