€1,100 EPT National
Day 1b Completed
€1,100 EPT National
Day 1b Completed
Day 1b of the 2019 PokerStars EPT Barcelona €1,100 EPT National which was the second of four starting flights came to an end when there were 91 players left out of the 606 entries it attracted in total. Just like on Day 1a, the players were allowed to bag up their chips during the 17th level of the day as only 15% of the field would make it through to Day 2.
Claiming the Day 1b chip lead is Louis Salter with 553,000 in chips. Salter collected a bunch of those chips when he first got Yves Sanchez to give up on his hand with a three-bet. Fadhil Farag who did make the call, also made the check-call on Salter’s continuation-bet but opted to fold when Salter shoved on him. Salter’s brother Jack might be the more familiar name in the family but Louis is no stranger to the poker felt either. With almost $1.4 million in cashes to his own name, he will be looking to add even more to his bankroll.
Salter is followed by another well-known player, France’s Sonny Franco who bagged 546,000. Almost half of those chips used to belong to Nenad Svetomirovic who five-bet shoved his pocket kings into the aces of Franco. Franco’s best-ever result came to him when he finished in second place in the EPT National High Roller in Prague in 2018 for €206,540. Franco is currently sitting in 1,000th place in the all-time money list according to The Hendon Mob and will be trying to climb into the triple digits.
PokerStars Pro Ramon Colillas also made it to through to Day 2 with 258,000 which unfortunately wasn’t the case for his colleagues, Andre Akkari and Steve Enriquez. The defending champion Jean-René Fontaine was eliminated by Manuel Fritz when he failed to win his final all-in with ace-jack. Fritz’s pocket fives held up to send the friendly Fontaine to the rail who will have to try again on Day 1c or 1d. Fritz himself then found his Waterloo when Barak Wisbrod got lucky to hit the river to send Fritz to the rail before being able to bag for Day 2.
In the end, it would be Gianluca Speranza, who you might know from making history by winning back-to-back SCOOP Main Events, who would burst the so-called bubble to take the field down to 91 players. Olof Olofsson held pocket eights while Speranza had ace-jack. Olofsson couldn’t hold and that signaled the end of the day for the rest of the field.
Other notable players making it through include Dario Marinelli, Natalie Teh, Josep Galindo, Alexander Lakhov, and Artur Rudziankov. Less lucky were players like Jean-Noel Thorel, Petar Kalev, Paul Lozano, Javier Zarco, Espen Uhlen Jorstad, Bart Lybaert, Sander van Wesemael, Joao Simao, Carlos Branco, Renato Kaneoya, and many more.
With players falling at the many hurdles the first starting day brought them, the majority of them are expected to return to the felt during Day 1c which starts at noon local time on Thursday, August 22 with 40-minute levels or in the turbo-version of the starting flight which is Day 1d which commences at 7 p.m. local time and features 20-minute blind levels.
No matter what happens, the PokerNews live reporting team will be there to bring you all the action.
The full chip counts and a recap of today's action are to follow.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Louis Salter |
553,000
138,000
|
138,000 |
|
||
Sonny Franco |
546,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
Petru Papuc |
500,000
190,000
|
190,000 |
Gorka Berloso |
480,000
4,000
|
4,000 |
Andrea Salamone |
472,000
472,000
|
472,000 |
Barak Wisbrod |
467,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Oren Rosen | 420,000 | |
Davor Lanini |
406,000
341,000
|
341,000 |
Terence Jordon | 405,000 | |
Abraham Benitez | 362,000 | |
Vytenis Salickas |
354,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
Hans Holst | 352,000 | |
Matthias Nachtigal | 347,000 | |
Ioannis Zachmanidis |
346,000
319,000
|
319,000 |
Olivier Ferrero | 340,000 | |
Marc Dominguez
|
333,000
-2,000
|
-2,000 |
Angel Martinez | 328,000 | |
Serhii Holodiuk | 326,000 | |
Mario Colavita | 324,000 | |
Mario Lopez | 321,000 | |
Carlos Garcia | 303,000 | |
Istvan Birizdo | 301,000 | |
Daniil Kiselev | 294,000 | |
Wim Verhaegen | 293,000 | |
|
||
Yves Sanchez |
289,000
24,000
|
24,000 |
While all action was being completed on the tables before hand-for-hand play could commence, a "seat open" was announced on one of the tables. Olof Olofsson made his way out of the tournament area as his couldn't beat the of Gianluca Speranza.
In the meanwhile, no all-ins were called on the other tables, and with 91 players remaining, they have all bagged up for Day 2 on Friday, August 23.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Gianluca Speranza |
245,000
185,000
|
185,000 |
Olof Olofsson
|
Busted |
The dealers have been instructed to stop dealing as there are 92 players left. Not all action on all tables has been completed yet though.
Jean-René Fontaine has just been eliminated by Manuel Fritz when he ran his into the of Fritz.
Shortly after, Fritz shoved his whole stack in from the button after Barak Wisbrod had raised from under the gun. The blinds quickly folded and Wisbrod called.
Barak Wisbrod:
Manuel Fritz;
The board ran out for Wisbrod to hit the jack on the river to eliminate Fritz as he held the bigger stack.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Gorka Berloso |
476,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
Barak Wisbrod |
437,000
152,000
|
152,000 |
Samir Akhoullou |
140,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Jean-René Fontaine | Busted | |
|
||
Manuel Fritz | Busted |
Tobias Leknes shoved from the button and so did Ramandeep Gujral in the small blind with the bigger stack while Barak Wisbrod quickly folded his big blind.
Tobias Leknes:
Ramandeep Gujral:
The board ran out for Leknes to hit top pair on the flop to eliminate Leknes.
Petar Kalev was also eliminated over on one of the other tables to bring the field down to 103 players.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Barak Wisbrod |
285,000
285,000
|
285,000 |
Ramandeep Gujral |
220,000
220,000
|
220,000 |
Jean-René Fontaine | 70,000 | |
|
||
Tobias Leknes | Busted | |
Petar Kalev | Busted |
Aram Sargsyan raised from the late position and Sergiu Covrig three-bet in the hijack. Action folded back to Sargsyan who shoved and Covrig snap-called with the bigger stack.
Aram Sargsyan:
Sergiu Covrig:
The board ran out for Covrig to hold with the higher kicker to eliminate Sargsyan.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Sergiu Covrig |
335,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
Aram Sargsyan | Busted |
Level: 17
Blinds: 3,000/6,000
Ante: 6,000
With 117 remaining players showing on the clock, they have all been sent for another 20-minute break while the 5,000-value chips will be taken out of play.