2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona

€10,300 EPT High Roller
Day: 1
Event Info

2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
1010
Prize
€600,924
Event Info
Buy-in
€10,300
Prize Pool
€4,258,300
Entries
439
Level Info
Level
31
Blinds
100,000 / 200,000
Ante
200,000

€10,300 EPT High Roller

Day 1 Completed

Justin Ligeri Bags the Day 1 Chip Lead

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Justin Ligeri
Justin Ligeri

Day 1 of the €10,300 EPT High Roller has come to its conclusion after nearly 12 hours of poker with 151 players progressing to Day 2. The entrants total hit 419 players, but late registration will remain open until the Day 2 action begins.

Justin Ligeri bagged 375,000 to take the chip lead and is closely followed by Gianluca Speranza (373,500), Marc MacDonnell (365,000) and Daniel Neilson (358,000).

Other familiar faces who will be back for Day 2 include this week's €50,000 Single-Day High Roller champion Andras Nemeth (290,500), Adrian Mateos (238,500), Benny Spindler (204,000), Will Kassouf (188,000) and Team PokerStars pro Jeff Gross (187,500).

Niall Farrell (154,000), Byron Kaverman (142,000), Byrn Kenney (140,000), Paul Newey (135,000), Stephen Chidwick (130,000) and Max Silver (110,000) will also be in action.

Action of the day

James Chen lasted just 15-minutes in the opening level when he lost his stack to Xixiang Luo who had hit a straight with six-four on a seven-deuce-eight-five-jack board with Chen holding pocket sevens for a set.

Jean-Noel Thorel, who made several deep runs in the EPT Barcelona High Roller events over the course of the last ten days, started well and doubled his chip stack but was unable to carry on his momentum and exited before the dinner break.

Later on in the day, the action got fast and furious with the 30-second shot clock putting more pressure on the players to make the right call.

Will Kassouf was one of the most vocal players in the room throughout the day but also fell victim to the pace of the shot clock. After Kassouf was check-raised by Daniel Neilson from the big blind with the flop down king-six-five, the former called, and the turn was the eight of hearts. Neilson bet 80,000 with seconds left to act and Kassouf, who had earlier told Neilson his hand was pocket aces with the ace of clubs, needed to use his final time bank to think.

Kassouf was still talking to Neilson but as the seconds ran down he was unable to make a decision, and his hand was declared dead when the shot clock hit zero.

Kassouf was true to his word and tabled the ace of clubs and the ace of spades, and told Neilson he believed he wasn't betting with a bluff.

Players who came and went throughout the day included Team PokerStars Pros Maria Konnikova and Leo Fernandez, Maria Lampropulos, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, professional golfer Sergio Garcia and this event's 2015 champion Mustapha Kanit.

PokerNews will be back at 12:30 pm local time on Saturday, September, 1 to provide all the Day 2 action as the High Rollers return to the Casino Barcelona.

Tags: Adrian MateosAndras NemethBenny SpindlerByron KavermanDaniel NeilsonGianluca SperanzaJames ChenJeff GrossJustin LigeriMarc MacDonnellMax SilverMustapha KanitNiall FarrellSergio GarciaStephen ChidwickWill Kassouf

End of Day Chip Counts (full)

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Ligeri us
Justin Ligeri
375,000
Profile photo of Gianluca Speranza it
Gianluca Speranza
373,500
Profile photo of Marc Macdonnell ie
Marc Macdonnell
365,000
Profile photo of Daniel Neilson au
Daniel Neilson
358,000
Profile photo of Tamon Nakamura jp
Tamon Nakamura
329,000
134,000
134,000
Profile photo of Wael Sarkis lb
Wael Sarkis
328,000
88,000
88,000
Profile photo of Johnny Nedved be
Johnny Nedved
323,500
113,500
113,500
Profile photo of Daniel Erlandsson se
Daniel Erlandsson
319,000
268,000
268,000
Profile photo of Andras Nemeth hu
Andras Nemeth
299,500
9,000
9,000
Profile photo of Felipe Costa br
Felipe Costa
298,000
298,000
298,000
Profile photo of Maciej Rogacki pl
Maciej Rogacki
290,000
290,000
290,000
Profile photo of Jes Bondo dk
Jes Bondo
270,000
270,000
270,000
Profile photo of Lucas Reeves gb
Lucas Reeves
269,000
34,000
34,000
Profile photo of Ivan Luca ar
Ivan Luca
262,500
217,500
217,500
Profile photo of Preben Stokkan no
Preben Stokkan
259,500
-10,500
-10,500
Profile photo of Chan Wai Leong my
Chan Wai Leong
256,000
256,000
256,000
Profile photo of Ming Juen Teoh my
Ming Juen Teoh
251,500
251,500
251,500
Profile photo of Juan Pardo es
Juan Pardo
251,000
251,000
251,000
Profile photo of Fabien Motte fr
Fabien Motte
242,500
242,500
242,500
Profile photo of Murad Akhundov az
Murad Akhundov
241,000
86,000
86,000
Profile photo of Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
238,500
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Kitty Kuo tw
Kitty Kuo
225,000
-15,000
-15,000
Profile photo of Stanley Lee us
Stanley Lee
215,500
215,500
215,500
Profile photo of Jan-Eric Schwippert de
Jan-Eric Schwippert
213,500
Profile photo of Xixiang Luo cn
Xixiang Luo
211,500
96,500
96,500

Read full

Assorted End of Day Chip Counts

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Ligeri us
Justin Ligeri
375,000
25,000
25,000
Profile photo of Gianluca Speranza it
Gianluca Speranza
373,500
271,500
271,500
Profile photo of Marc Macdonnell ie
Marc Macdonnell
365,000
9,000
9,000
Profile photo of Daniel Neilson au
Daniel Neilson
358,000
38,000
38,000
Profile photo of Andras Nemeth hu
Andras Nemeth
290,500
241,500
241,500
Profile photo of Adrian Mateos es
Adrian Mateos
238,500
88,500
88,500
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Jan-Eric Schwippert de
Jan-Eric Schwippert
213,500
Profile photo of Benny Spindler de
Benny Spindler
204,000
87,000
87,000
Profile photo of Will Kassouf
Will Kassouf
188,000
58,000
58,000
Profile photo of Jeff Gross us
Jeff Gross
187,500
137,500
137,500
Raise Your Edge
Profile photo of Kyle Keranen us
Kyle Keranen
186,000
136,000
136,000
Profile photo of Maurice Hawkins us
Maurice Hawkins
168,000
-2,000
-2,000
Profile photo of Niall Farrell gb
Niall Farrell
154,000
4,000
4,000
EPT Main Event Champion
EPT 1X Winner
Profile photo of Byron Kaverman us
Byron Kaverman
142,000
2,000
2,000
Profile photo of Bryn Kenney us
Bryn Kenney
140,000
50,000
50,000
Profile photo of Paul Newey gb
Paul Newey
135,000
-20,000
-20,000
Profile photo of Stephen Chidwick gb
Stephen Chidwick
130,000
81,000
81,000
Profile photo of Max Silver gb
Max Silver
110,000
18,000
18,000
Profile photo of Aymon Hata gb
Aymon Hata
109,500
109,500
109,500
Profile photo of Guillaume Diaz fr
Guillaume Diaz
95,000
67,000
67,000
Profile photo of Orpen Kisacikoglu tr
Orpen Kisacikoglu
74,000
27,000
27,000
Profile photo of Alex Foxen us
Alex Foxen
71,000
21,000
21,000
Chip Leader Coaching
Profile photo of Stefan Huber ch
Stefan Huber
69,000
19,000
19,000
Profile photo of Jack Sinclair gb
Jack Sinclair
69,000
44,000
44,000
Profile photo of Matthias Eibinger at
Matthias Eibinger
4,800
-125,200
-125,200

Kassouf Folds Aces to Neilson

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
William Kassouf
William Kassouf

Will Kassouf raised from middle position preflop, and Daniel Neilson called in the big blind. The flop came down {k-Clubs}{5-Clubs}{6-Hearts}, and Neilson checked before Kassouf bet 12,000.

"I've got aces with the ace of clubs," said Kassouf to Neilson. But that didn't stop Neilson raising to 36,000.

"I've got aces with the ace of clubs," Kassouf repeated.

"I should raise here, but I'll just call" before he did indeed call Neilson's raise.

The turn was the {8-Hearts} and with the shot clock nearly down to zero Neilson announced 80,000 as his bet amount.

"Now we have a situation," said Kassouf, before he went silent for 15 seconds to think.

Kassouf looked at Neilson's stack to see how much he had behind after he requested to look and used his last time bank card to give himself 30 more seconds of thinking time.

"Big blind special is it?" Kassouf questioned.

The clock was running down on Kassouf, and he was yet to make his action, and with no time bank cards remaining the clock hit zero, and his hand was declared dead.

Kassouf said he did not think Neilson was bluffing and revealed {a-Clubs}{a-Spades} to the table as Neilson picked up the pot.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Daniel Neilson au
Daniel Neilson
320,000
20,000
20,000
Profile photo of William Kassouf gb
William Kassouf
130,000
-15,000
-15,000

Tags: Will KassoufDaniel Neilson

Monster Pot as Ligeri Cracks Katz's Queens

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Justin Ligeri
Justin Ligeri

Nan Hong raised to 5,000 from under the gun. Nick Petrangelo was all in for less than an ante and Justin Ligeri and Juha Helppi both called Hong's open.

Cary Katz then three-bet to 17,400 and Hong four-bet all in. Ligeri flat-called and Helppi folded. Katz then used a time extension before five-betting all in.

Ligeri thought for a while. "F*ck it," he said. "I call."

Nan Hong: {9-Spades}{9-Diamonds}
Nick Petrangelo: {a-Diamonds}{j-Diamonds}
Justin Ligeri: {a-Hearts}{4-Hearts}
Cary Katz: {q-Spades}{q-Clubs}

The flop came {a-Clubs}{4-Spades}{3-Hearts} and Ligeri clapped his hands together. "Two pair!"

The turn was the {8-Clubs} and the river the {4-Clubs}. "Full house baby," said Ligeri.

"How do I lose that hand?" bemoaned Katz. "He called it off with ace-four.

"It was suited!" said Ligeri.

"I built up a stack all day..." continued Katz.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Justin Ligeri us
Justin Ligeri
350,000
230,000
230,000
Profile photo of Cary Katz us
Cary Katz
45,000
-105,000
-105,000
$25K Fantasy
Profile photo of Nick Petrangelo us
Nick Petrangelo
Busted
Profile photo of Nan Hong cn
Nan Hong
Busted

Tags: Cary KatzJuha HelppiJustin LigeriNan HongNick Petrangelo

Updated Chip Counts

Level 11 : 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Daniel Neilson au
Daniel Neilson
300,000
70,000
70,000
Profile photo of Preben Stokkan no
Preben Stokkan
270,000
-88,000
-88,000
Profile photo of Kitty Kuo tw
Kitty Kuo
240,000
95,000
95,000
Profile photo of Wael Sarkis lb
Wael Sarkis
240,000
85,000
85,000
Profile photo of Wai Leong Chan my
Wai Leong Chan
215,000
65,000
65,000
Profile photo of Davide Marchi it
Davide Marchi
199,000
14,000
14,000
Profile photo of Norbet Szecsi hu
Norbet Szecsi
180,000
Profile photo of Juha Helppi fi
Juha Helppi
170,000
170,000
170,000
Profile photo of Dan Smith us
Dan Smith
150,000
67,000
67,000
Run It Once
Profile photo of Justin Ligeri us
Justin Ligeri
120,000
-135,000
-135,000

Level: 11

Blinds: 1,000/2,000

Ante: 2,000

Lampropulos Falls To Toma's Kings

Level 10 : 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Maria Lampropoulos
Maria Lampropoulos

Tsugunari Toma raised to 3,500 and Adrian Mateos three-bet to 10,500. Maria Lampropulos then four-bet all in for 34,100. Toma flat-called and Mateos folded.

Tsugunari Toma: {k-Spades}{k-Diamonds}
Maria Lampropulos: {a-Clubs}{k-Clubs}

The board ran out {q-Diamonds}{8-Diamonds}{5-Spades}{2-Clubs}{q-Hearts} giving no help to Lampropulos who was eliminated.

Player Chips Progress
Profile photo of Tsugunari Toma jp
Tsugunari Toma
220,000
30,000
30,000
Profile photo of Maria Lampropulos ar
Maria Lampropulos
Busted

Tags: Adrian MateosMaria LampropulosTsugunari Toma