WSOPE Event #12: No-Limit Hold'em MAIN EVENT

It was an incredible Day 4 of action here at the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event at the King's Casino and Resort in Rozvadov, Czech Republic, as 42 hopefuls came into the day dreaming of the €1,380,129 top prize, the illustrious gold bracelet and the title of WSOP Europe Main Event champion.

At the end of a long day, only eight will play tomorrow on the televised final table, with play to kick off 2 p.m. local time with the official stream on a one-hour delay, with live reporting from start to finish.

When the players bagged and the chips were officially counted, it was Omar Eljach (pictured) that tops the final table leaderboard as he heads into the final day with an incredible 19,480,000 after dominating the side table for the later parts of the day. Not far behind is fan favorite and five-time WSOP bracelet winner Shaun Deeb (pictured), who crushed the TV table and heads into the fifth and final day of play with 16,580,000.

 Here's how the final table stacks up:

1st: Omar Eljach - 19,480,000
2nd: Shaun Deeb - 16,580,000
3rd: Jonathan Pastore - 9,925,000
4th: Paul Covaciu - 9,125,000
5th: Barny Boatman - 7,730,000
6th: Vladas Tamasauskas - 5,950,000
7th: Alexandre Reard - 5,300,000
8th: Armin Rezaei - 2,205,000

The eight remaining players have all locked up an unbelievable payday of €138,702.

Final Table Payouts

1st - €1,380,129
2nd - €852,949
3rd - €607,531
4th - €438,978
5th - €321,838
6th - €239,466
7th - €180,867
8th - €138,702

The day began with 42 players remaining from the record-setting field of 763 entries, all of whom were already in the money having locked up €29,562, with most of the €7,248,500 still to play for.

Notably, husband-and-wife duo Gab Yong Kim and Youngshin Im were both going strong into Day 4. Unfortunately for the two, it wouldn't be a fairytale meeting at the final table as they finished in 11th and 35th place for €85,461 and €33,820, respectively.

Tobias Peters was the first player eliminated on the day and was followed by fellow notables Simone Andrian (39th, €33,820), Tom-Aksel Bedell (34th, €33,820), Boris Kolev (26th, €39,368), Danut Chisu (25th, €39,368), and Saar Wilf (14th, €56,124). Familiar face Timothy Adams (9th, €108,024) was the last player to get knocked out after reaching the unofficial final table. 

Onur Unsal found himself on the ropes very early on in the day but hit runner-runner jacks to make quads and stay in the tournament despite only having a 3.5% chance of survival on the flop. Within the next two orbits, Unsal was able to find himself a fortunate river two more times. He would ride this momentum all the way to a very respectable 12th finish and made €68,698 for his efforts.

Patrik Zidek also could have been eliminated during the beginning stages of Day 4 but found a three outer on the river with ace-ten against the pocket queens of Boris Kolev to score a huge early double-up. He then eliminated Ioannis Chaitas in 22nd place, finding a two-outer on the turn. It wasn't all luck for Zidek as he made fantastic bluffs at the right time and went on to finish in 10th place for a cool €85,461.

Barny Boatman is a name many know who's made the last eight after being one of the chip leaders throughout the first half of the day. During the unofficial final table, Boatman was all in with pocket tens against the ace-queen of Timothy Adams. Despite Adams landing an ace on the flop, Boatman would find a two-outer on the river to double up to nearly eight million while Adams was left with dust. The Canadian wouldn't be able to recover and finished in ninth while Boatman goes into Wednesday with a fifth-place stack. 

Despite a number of fantastic storylines, it was the aforementioned Deeb and Eljach who stole the show all day at the King's Casino and Resort. Deeb's skills were on full display throughout the day, captivating the audience watching from around the world as he dominated the TV table. In fact, with about 12 players remaining in the tournament, Deeb had just about as many chips in his stack as the rest of the table did combined. A combination of methodical big-stack play plus picking up late-stage premium hands has the Troy, New York native in second place heading into the final day.

However, Eljach leads the final eight having also led the way at the two-table redraw. Eljach was able to gain separation from the group slowly chipping up from 10 million to 14 million before winning a pair of major hands against Paul Covaciu, who comes into the final day in fourth place. On the side table, Eljach was able to bluff Covaciu off trip jacks in a huge three-way pot shortly before rivering a full house against the Romanian to take his stack to a peak of about 21,500,000. 

Final Day

The final eight players will begin play at 2 p.m. local time on Wednesday, playing 90-minute levels until a champion is crowned. Play will continue on with Level 29 at 100,000/200,000 blinds with a 200,000 ante. There will be a 15-minute break at the end of each level, with a dinner break to be taken at the discretion of the Tournament Director. 

The official livestream is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. on a one-hour delay.

A link to the seat draw, with chip counts included, can be found in REPORTS.

Timothy Adams raised to 400,000 with    from the cutoff and Barny Boatman three-bet to 1.1 million with    from the big blind. Adams moved all in for 4.4 million and Boatman called for 3.8 million.

It was a coin flip for Boatman's tournament life, and he needed to hold in order to remain in the tournament and move on to Day 5.

The flop came     and Adams out-flopped Boatman after pairing his ace. The turn was the   but the   was just what Boatman needed to survive, leaving Adams with just a few big blinds.

Barny Boatman - 7,800,000
Timothy Adams - 610,000

Patrik Zidek moved all in for 705,000 from the cutoff with    and Shaun Deeb called from the small blind with   .

Zidek was the player at risk but was ahead for the time being. He needed to hold or he would be the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event final table bubble boy.

The dealer put out the     flop and Deeb flopped the nuts with Broadway. Zidek paired his king, but the   turn left him drawing dead to the   river, sending him to the rail on the final table bubble.

Shaun Deeb - 15,930,000
Patrik Zidek - Eliminated in 10th place (€85,461)

Paul Covaciu opened to 325,000 in the cutoff and Armin Rezaei shoved over the top. Covaciu let out a big sigh and then called off for 3,780,000 total.

Paul Covaciu:   
Armin Rezaei:   

Covaciu was well ahead and the     flop improved him to top set but gave Rezaei a straight drw.

The   and   completed the board, improving Covaciu to a full house and giving him a huge double up.

Paul Covaciu - 7,800,000
Armin Rezaei - 2,200,000

Gab Yong Kim limped from the small blind with the   . From the big blind, Vladas Tamasauskas three-bet to 500,000 with the   , Kim four-bet jammed for about 3,400,000 and Tamasauskas called.

The board ran out       and Kim was left with just 300,000. 

Vladas Tamasauskas - 6,400,000
Gab Yong Kim - 300,000

 Hand #1:

Paul Covaciu raised on the button and Alexandre Reard defended the big blind. The flop came    . Covaciu bet 250,000 and Reard called.

The turn was the  . Covacoi bet 650,000 and Reard called once again. The river came the  . Covaciu fired again, this time for 1,500,000 and this time Reard decided to fold.

 Hand #2:

Omar Eljach raised on the button and Alexandre Reard called in the small blind. The flop came    . Eljach bet 350,000, Reard called. The turn was the  . Eljach bet 900,000 and Reard folded to lose a few more chips.

Hand #3:

Reard raised to 325,000 from the button. Jonathan Pastore three-bet to 1,075,000 from the big blind and Reard called.

The flop came    . Pastore led for 600,000, Reard called. The turn was the  , Reard called a 1,000,000 lead from Pastore.

The river was the  . Pastore jammed all in and Reard snap-folded as he his string of rough hands extended to three consecutive.

Alexandre Reard - 4,250,000
Omar Eljach - 17,350,000
Jonathan Pastore - 10,900,000

Hand 1: Barny Boatman opened to 325,000 from the hijack and Omar Eljach three-bet to 900,000 from the cutoff. Alexandre Reard then four-bet to 1,650,000 from the button and was able to get Boatman and Eljach to fold.

Hand 2: The very next hand, Paul Covaciu opened to 325,000 from under the gun and Alexandre Reard three-bet to 975,000. Covaciu would lay it down.

Alexandre Reard - 8,200,000
Paul Covaciu - 7,600,000
Omar Eljach - 14,000,000
Barny Boatman - 7,800,000

Onur Unsal raised to 440,000 from under the gun with   , leaving 5,000 behind. Patrik Zidek called with   . 

The flop came     and Zidek bet 100,000. Unsal stood up, clearly looking at the other table and eventually called. Unsal was facing an uphill battle but had some hope with backdoors.

The turn was the   and Unsal picked up a flush draw, but the river was the   and he was eliminated.

Patrik Zidek - 1,800,000
Onur Unsal - Eliminated in 12th Place (€68,698)