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U.K .- May 3, 2017 www.zonadeazar.com [2] French amateur poker player Michael Kolkowicz bagged up the chip lead at the end of Day 4 in the PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® Main Event. There are 45 players left in the race for the title and €500,800 first prize.
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Day 4 Seat Draw [4] | Results so far [5] | Players [6] | Schedule [7] | All files from PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo [8]
Kolkowicz crushed today, vaulting to 1,445,000. He’s very familiar with the tournament room Salle des Étoiles, calling it his “lucky room”. Kolkowicz has already celebrated a life-changing moment here but it had no relation to poker. Back in 2007, Kolkowicz married his wife at the very same place where he’s now dominating the PokerStars Championship Main Event. “Winning this tournament would be my second best memory from this room,” he said.
Kolkowicz hails from Paris but lives in Lyon with his family. The 31-year-old real estate agent has three children with his wife, who is now remotely rooting for her husband. Kolkowicz keeps her updated through his journey in the Main Event, messaging her nearly every other minute on Facebook.
Interestingly, Kolkowicz hadn’t planned to enter the Main Event but decided to give it a shot after having a great first night at the cash game tables. His momentum has carried on so far. He was fourth in chips after Day 1, second at the end of Day 2 and moved to the pole position today.
Kolkowicz is just ahead of German poker pro Steffan Schillhabel, who has 1,380,000. Schillhabel first came to attention when he finished fifth in the EPT11 Malta Main Event, earning €260,500. He topped it in March 2016, with a win in the WPT Bay 101 for a massive $1,298,000 payday.
Belgian superstar Davidi Kitai also broke the one-million chip-mark, bagging up 1,087,000. Famous players amongst the top ten include Moritz Dietrich (821,000), Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier (766,000), Sergio Aido (719,000), Hossein Ensan (718,000) and Alexandru Papazian (670,000).
Many notable players are still in contention as the stacked-field comprises of superstars such as Paul-Francois Tedeschi, Jeff Hakim, Sebastian Malec, Vicente Delgado, Manig Loeser, PokerStars National Championship winner Andreas Klatt, EPT12 Grand Final champ Jan Bendik, Remi Castaignon and Dan Smith all made it through today.
Day 4 will start tomorrow at noon, with blinds at 5,000/10,000, ante 1,000. PokerStars TV broadcast will once again prove action throughout the whole session. You can watch the live stream at http://www.pokerstars.tv/en/tv/live/ [9].
Many well-known players exited during Day 3 including Team PokerStars Pros Daniel Negreanu (51st for €12,080), Celina Lin (86th for €9,540) and Liv Boeree (112th for €7,580).
Today’s casualties also featured Bruno Lopes (54th for €12,080), Fabrice Soulier (55th for €12,080), Christoph Vogelsang (65th for €12,080), Romain Lewis (72nd for €9,540), Jason Wheeler (73rd for €9,540), Igor Yaroshevskyy (74th for €9,540), Andreas Hoivold (75th for €9,540), Faraz Jaka (76th for €9,540), Mark Teltscher (77th for €9,540), Patrick Antonius (79th for €9,540), Nick Petrangelo (82nd for €9,540), Martin Jacobson (83rd for €9,540), Daniel Dvoress (89th for €9,540), Luke Schwartz (91st for €9,540), Christopher Frank (93rd for €9,540), Jack Salter (95th for €9,540), Maria Ho (105th fro €7,580) and Rocco Palumbo (121th for €7,580).
The €5,300 PokerStars Championship presented by Monte-Carlo Casino® Main Event drew 727 runners who pushed the total prize pool up to €3,525,950. The last player standing is set to receive the €500,800 first-place prize along with the title. The champion’s name will also be engraved on the spectacular Main Event trophy to accompany former winners Christian Harder, Kenneth Smaron and Elliot Smith.
Editó: @_fonta [10] www.zonadeazar.com [2]