Chris McClung Holds Lead at EPT San Remo

Last Updated on

Day 4 of the European Poker Tour’s San Remo event featured some crazy hands, and had some very good play overall.  One player stood out above the rest though, as Chris McClung ended with the chip lead with 3.14 million chips.  What’s even more impressive about McClung’s chip stack, is the fact that his closest opponent has 2.01 million chips, giving McClung a very favorable lead in terms of chips going into Day 5.  He got quite a few of these chips from a huge hand against Joseph Cheong, and one that probably changed the tournament.

The hand happened late in Day 4, and saw Mustapha Kanit open up to 41k, with McClung three betting to 104k.  The action didn’t stop there though as Cheong then went ahead and four bet, which led to a fold from Kanit, and McClung shoving over the top for right around a million additional chips.  But what’s mind blowing about this hand, is that Cheong called and turned over his pocket King’s, and was a huge favorite against the Queen-Seven of hearts that McClung held.  McClung was able to hit the flush on the turn, and take the massive chip stack.

This leaves the event with 24 players remaining out of the 837 who started the event, with many big names still remaining as well.  A few of the well-known remaining players feature the likes of Elio Fox with 377k, Kanit (mentioned above) with 1.76 million chips, Alessio Isaia with 1.52 million chips, Kevin MacPhee with 1.44 million chips, Barry Boatman with 1.25 million chips, and Johnny Lodden with 1.22 million chips.  Mike McDonald is also currently in the event with 292k, and the same goes for Lex Veldhuis with 877k.

As far as the players who were eliminated on Day 4, big time players like Vanessa Selbst, David Bach, Tyler Bonkowski, and John Duthie were all sent to the rail with Cheong.

The play tomorrow will feature these 24 players playing down until the final table of eight players is decided, and could potentially feature a star-studded final table by the end of the day.  We’ll keep you updated on the action once the final table is set.