Siebert Still Ahead as WPT Montreal reaches Final Table

Sylvain Siebert retained the chip lead at the end of WPT Montreal Main Event Day 4 after several players had held the chip advantage throughout the day.

Day 4 of the PartyPoker WPT Montreal Main Event was a day full of bad calls, bad beats and bad tempers. Nobody seemed to be exempt from the animosity that surrounded the tables but, at the end of the day, the player who had entered Day 4 of the tournament with the chip lead emerged as the favourite to take down the tournament.

Eighteen players returned for the penultimate day of the PartyPoker WPT Montreal Main Event and, with more than ½ million dollars up top for the winner, Day 4 was always going to be highly-charged. Of the eighteen players, just six survived – headed by Sylvain Siebert – and they will contest the climax of the tournament at the Playground Casino later today.

Lead Changes Hands Twice in First Level

Sylvain Siebert went into Day 4 of the PartyPoker WPT Montreal Main Event with a narrow chip lead after he and Derrick Rosenbarger had threatened to run away with the tournament on Day 3; but Siebert got off to the worst possible start when calling Alexandre Lavigne´s (K♣ 10♦) river bet on a four-club board, and shipping 600,000 chips to Lavinge – who temporarily took over at the top of the leaderboard.

However, by the end of Level 24 (blinds 12,000/24,000 – ante 4,000) Antoine Berube was the overall leader, having slow-rolled his pocket Aces against Lily Kiletto´s pocket Threes – an action that did not go down well with Kiletto and was just one of a number of times when Berube and Kiletto clashed throughout the day.

Siebert Survives and Kiletto Kicks Off

Sylvain Siebert seemed to lose control of his game as the blinds increased to 15,000/30,000 (ante 5,000) in Level 25. He was lucky not to lose even more of his chips when his pocket Queens were coming second to Jonathan Little´s 6♥ 5♥ on a flop and turn of 6♠ 4♥ 3♣ / 7♠ before the 5♦ appeared on the River to chop the pot; and he could have been out of the WPT Montreal Main Event in the next hand – one which saw internal temperatures rise even higher.

Following the flop of 7♠ 4♦ 8♦, Sylvain Siebert had raised to Antoine Berube´s post flop bet to 300,000 chips. Berube went into the tank for several minutes before making the call, and both players took their time to check through the 4♠ on the Turn. Following the 5♠ on the River, Siebert put in a bet of 1 million chips and after only 40 seconds of consideration, Lily Kiletto called the clock on Berube.

Berube was visibly annoyed by Kiletto´s action, and shoved his stack into the middle after a further 30 seconds. Siebert folded under the pressure of losing his tournament life; but after the hand Berube and Kiletto got into a heated discussion about why she called the clock so soon. Kiletto argued that Berube was taking too long over every decision and Jonathan Little defended Kiletto by saying “If you wouldn’t take so long for every small decision nobody would ever call the clock on you when you have a big decision.”

Players Stars to Fall and Siebert Starts Recovery

As players started to be eliminated from the WPT Montreal Main Event, the chip lead changed again. Marco Cannizzaro moved to the top of the leaderboard after busting out Hauke Gerde 7♦ 7♥ > K♣ J♣, and then extended his lead when his A♣ J♥ found an Ace on the flop to cripple Patrick Eskandar.

Sylvain Siebert eliminated Jonathan Little K♥ J♦ > K♦ 9♠ to improve his now average stack, and then came from behind with Q♥ 10♦ against Antoine Berube´s A♣ J♦ on a flop of 8♣ J♠ 6♥ when the Turn (10♥) and River (Q♠) gave him a runner-runner two pair. Cannizzaro lost the chip lead when his flopped Full House (Fours over Kings) was bested by Mukul Pahuja´s Kings over Nines and, as the field was reduced to thirteen players, Derrick Rosenbarger had moved back to the top of the leaderboard.

Aces are Good – But Bad Beats Abound

The ten-handed “unofficial” final table was set after three players had bust to pocket Aces. Antoine Berube thought long and hard (again) about calling Thomas Giorgi´s pre-flop shove with 4♣ 4♦ before turning over A♣ A♥, Ludovic Lacay bust David Paredes in twelfth A♣ A♠ > J♠ 10♥ and Sylvain Siebert rivered a Club flush with A♥ A♣ against Griffin Benger (7♣ 7♠) who had flopped a set of Sevens before moving all-in. Benger´s bad beat sent him to the rail in eleventh place, while Sylvain Siebert moved back to the top of the chip counts.

As ten-handed play settled down, Mukul Pahuja flopped a Full House to take another stack of chips from Marco Cannizzaro, and Serge Cantin flopped a set of Threes and took three streets of value from Pahuja to improve his position. Pahuja recovered by eliminating Antoine Berube in an incredible hand (K♥ K♠ > Q♦ 9♦) in which Berube had flopped two pairs and thought for a long while about moving all-in. Mukul Pahuja made the call and hit a set of Kings on the River – much to Lily Kiletto´s delight.

Bad Beats and Bad Calls as the Field is Reduced to Six

The bad beats continued as the field was reduced from nine players to six. Ludovic Lacay was eliminated after moving all-in on a flop and Turn of 10♠ 6♠ 3♠ / J♥ with two pairs J♣ 10♣. Sylvain Siebert made the call with K♠ K♥, and the 6♣ on the River gave Siebert a better two pairs to send Lacay to the rail in ninth place.

Supporters of Marco Cannizzaro will spend many a long night wondering why he chose to move all-in with A♠ K♥ on a flop of J♣ 10♥ 8♦. Serge Cantin made the call with J♠ 10♠ for two pairs and, following the 3♣ on the Turn and 5♥ on the River, Cannizzaro was out in eighth – Cantin temporarily the new chip leader.

Whether Amir Babakhani´s departure in seventh was a bad beat or a bad call is open to debate. Babakhani moved all-in following the flop of A♦ 8♦ 7♦ with A♣ Q♦ and Sylvain Siebert was waiting for him with A♥ 8♥. With no diamonds or Queens on the Turn or River, Babakhani was out in seventh – an Ace-Queen combination again being responsible for a player busting from the WPT Montreal Main Event.

Looking Ahead to the WPT Montreal Main Event Final Table

With Babakhani´s elimination, the final table was set. The six players returning to the Playground Casino this afternoon will be facing blinds of 30,000/60,000 (ante 10,000), so it is extremely unlikely that the tournament will witness its first female winner in an open WPT Main Event, as short-stack Lily Kiletto only has six Big Blinds to play with, and chip leader Sylvain Siebert will have position on her.