€1,100 EPT National
Day 1c Completed
€1,100 EPT National
Day 1c Completed
When the cards went in the air at noon local time at Casino Barcelona for the third of four starting days in the 2019 PokerStars EPT Barcelona €1,100 EPT National, more than 1,200 players were already registered and it was a sign of things to come as a new attendance record was set after the registration for Day 1c and Day 1d had closed.
As expected, the penultimate starting day would end up as the biggest, as Day 1c gathered a staggering 1,872 entries to more than double the field size of the previous two days combined. Along with the additional 864 entries in the turbo heat 1c with levels of 20 minutes, a total field size of 4,682 entries has emerged.
Two years ago, the previous record for the EPT National Main Event was set right here in Barcelona when Pedro Cairat topped a field of 4,557 entries to claim the trophy and a payday of €432,178. Cairat may still add a second title in Barcelona to his resume after bagging up on Day 1a, but will be below the average when the cards for Day 2 go back in the air at noon local time on Friday, August 23rd, 2019.
The 2019 EPT National Barcelona in Numbers
Flight | Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 1c | Day 1d | Day 2 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Entries | 1,240 | 606 | 1,872 | 964 | 4,682 |
Survivors | 185 | 91 | 281 | 145 | 702 |
Frenchman Jonathan Therme vaulted into the Day 1c chip lead in the last levels of the night and claimed 757,000 to his name. Sorin Flutur follows in second place with 672,000 and Navot Golan advanced with 660,000. Other big stacks and notables among the Day 1c survivors include Ajay Gnanasambanthan (582,000), Ivan Gabrieli (556,000), Alexandre Mantovani (540,000), Vojtech Ruzicka (531,000), and Vadzim Lipauka (525,000).
PokerStars ambassador Kalidou Sow also had a strong showing in the third starting day and ended the night with a very respectable stack of 400,000, narrowly ahead of fellow countryman and two-time WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout (396,000) and Fernando Pons (329,000). Nicolas Dumont (253,000), Adrian Mateos (190,000), Harry Lodge (179,000), Michael Soyza (162,000), and Kitty Kuo (145,000) are just some of many notables that all made it through as well.
Antoine Cros ended up as the bubble boy when he failed to hold up with pocket kings against ace-deuce, as Gregor Prizmic Martini immediately spiked an ace on the flop. Cros still had outs with a gutshot and the two remaining kings in the deck, but turn and river bricked to let the bubble on Day 1c burst without going hand for hand.
Plenty of other big names fell in the 18 levels of play and among the earliest casualties was Johan Guilbert, who ran with tens into queens at the end of the first level. He was joined on the rail by Martin Jacobson, the PokerStars ambassadors Maria Konnikova and Steve Enriquez, 2017 WSOPE Main Event champion Marti Roca de Torres, Walter Treccarichi, Russell Thomas, Michael Tureniec, Ari Engel, Sebastian Malec, Pavel Plesuv and Guillaume Diaz to name just a few.
Treccarichi flopped a flush with ten-nine suited but was left drawing dead as Henrik Tellving held the unbeatable eight-high straight flush. Soon after, Jacobson was left with a chip and a chair when Ivan Zhechev turned a full house with jack-ten suited and got full value on the river.
Stefano Schiano was aiming for a second EPT National title in the current year after emerging victorious in Monte-Carlo, but his bid came to an end in level ten when he lost a flip with pocket sevens against the ace-queen oof Vincent Li.
While many of the casualties of the first three starting days tried their luck one more time in the turbo heat 1c, only a fraction of them secured their portion of the seven-figure prize pool. Just over 700 players have chips at their disposal and will be back in their seats for Day 2 at noon local time.
Day 2 will kick off where the fastest starting day burst the bubble and for the remainder of the tournament, the level duration will increase to 60 minutes each. The PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all the action until a champion is crowned in the days to come.
Assorted counts from Day 1c can be found below. The full counts will be published when PokerNews receives them and a recap of today's action is to follow.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Jonathan Therme |
757,000
622,000
|
622,000 |
|
||
Sorin Flutur |
672,000
472,000
|
472,000 |
Navot Golan |
660,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Gregor Prizmic Martini | 652,000 | |
Thierry Mesquida |
638,000
-32,000
|
-32,000 |
Jonas Ten Cate |
594,000
314,000
|
314,000 |
Ajay Gnanasambanthan |
582,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
Vincenzo Basile |
566,000
566,000
|
566,000 |
Ivan Gabrieli |
556,000
556,000
|
556,000 |
Alexandre Mantovani |
540,000
100,000
|
100,000 |
Vojtech Ruzicka |
531,000
41,000
|
41,000 |
Vadzim Lipauka |
525,000
265,000
|
265,000 |
Ramiro Petrone |
524,000
524,000
|
524,000 |
Luis Mata |
507,000
507,000
|
507,000 |
Tristan Forge |
501,000
501,000
|
501,000 |
Leonardo Patacconi |
494,000
184,000
|
184,000 |
Deborah Haddad |
485,000
-45,000
|
-45,000 |
Junior Desire |
476,000
76,000
|
76,000 |
Xu Aiguo
|
475,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
Benjamin Gera Fantone |
460,000
460,000
|
460,000 |
Michael Liang |
442,000
320,000
|
320,000 |
Louis Nyberg |
442,000
442,000
|
442,000 |
Ruben Garcia Blancas |
437,000
437,000
|
437,000 |
Alessio Sabatini |
420,000
420,000
|
420,000 |
Azedine Habbas |
415,000
415,000
|
415,000 |
The remaning 281 players have bagged and tagged for the day. End-of-day chip counts and a recap will follow shortly.
Similar to Day 1a, no hand for hand on the money bubble was needed as another player ended up all in and at risk. This happened to be Antoine Cros, who saw his stack reduced to just a few big blinds and he picked up a call by big stack Gregor Prizmic Martini.
Antoine Cros:
Gregor Prizmic Martini:
Martini flopped best on to leave Cros with six outs. Nothing changed on the turn and the river let the bubble on Day 1c burst with 281 players bagging up shortly.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Gregor Prizmic Martini |
652,000
652,000
|
652,000 |
Antoine Cros
|
Busted |
The money bubble is looming as three players were eliminated to reduce the field to the last 282 hopefuls.
Among them was Oleksandr Shcherbak, who lost a flip to Navot Golan when he three-bet shoved for around 125,000 and picked up a reluctant call by Golan.
Oleksandr Shcherbak:
Navot Golan:
The board came and the queen on the flop spelled the end for Shcherbak.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Navot Golan |
640,000
640,000
|
640,000 |
Oleksandr Shcherbak | Busted |
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Angelos Pettas |
295,000
95,000
|
95,000 |
Ruslan Maiseyenka | 140,000 | |
Robson Kozan
|
130,000 | |
Osman Aksu | 120,000 | |
Zhong Chen |
80,000
80,000
|
80,000 |
Peter Horvath |
75,000
-25,000
|
-25,000 |
Michel D'Vallade |
70,000
-175,000
|
-175,000 |
Mohamed Lahlou | 43,000 |
Thierry Mesquida raised to 20,000 on the button and Ivaylo Panev jammed for 63,000 total from the small blind.
Mesquida reluctantly called with the and Panev was ahead with the . The board came and Panev was denied a double. Mesquida still appears to be among the biggest stacks right now as 285 players remain.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Thierry Mesquida |
670,000
-40,000
|
-40,000 |
Ivaylo Panev |
70,000
-100,000
|
-100,000 |
Level: 18
Blinds: 4,000/8,000
Ante: 8,000
Niculae Eremia moved all in from middle position for about 45,000 and Junior Desire made the call from the big blind.
Niculae Eremia:
Junior Desire:
Eremia was ahead but Desire hit a good flop of . The turn and river filled up the board and Desire took down the pot and sent Eremia to the exit.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Junior Desire | 400,000 | |
Niculae Eremia | Busted |