Day 1b of the 888Live Festival Main Event here in Barcelona saw another 172 entries added to Day 1a’s 104 registrations and when the play concluded, it was Samuel Hernandez who led the way with 247,600 chips.
Day 1b welcomed several of 888Poker’s stable of stars into the Main Event, but it was one of the biggest names in the field who would bust early. Cate Hall was gone in Level 2 when she called all-in for her tournament life when she hit her flush on the river, only for that card to give her opponent a full house. She was not the only one heading for an early trip around Barcelona’s many hotspots. Oleg Egorov lost when his two-pair was flushed on the river. High Roller crusher Catalin Pop saw his bubble burst when his ballsy shove with ace-high was called by Tomas Fara, who rivered a full house for good measure.
If the early losers defined the first forays, Tomas Fara dominated the latter levels. We saw William Kassouf come and go very quickly. We witnessed Daragh Davey’s incisive pinning of Thierry Gogniat to rake in a decent stack. But the Czech player Fara was always accumulating chips in the background.
Coming back from the dinner break with an above average 54,000, Fara’s biggest hand took place when he flopped two-pair against a king-high flush draw for Gregor Waltermann. The pair were all-in on the flop and after surviving turn and river, Fara had 200,000 and the chip lead in the room. He would end the day marginally higher on 207,100.
In the end, it was Samuel Hernandez who would take the biggest stack of into Day 2 from Day 1b. There are plenty of talented names in his rear-view, however. Oscar Romero (236,700), Jose Manuel Cesepims (196,100), Jose Manuel Henriques (190,100) and [Removed:312] (188,800) will all feel like they have a great chance of overtaking the chip leader when Day 2 takes place.
Before that, of course, there is tomorrow’s Day 1c, which kicks off at the earlier time of 3.00pm local time. That’s gone down very well with players who took today off, but the efforts of those deep into the night here on Day 1b may see a flurry of late registrations as those who ran out of luck late in the day catch up on some much needed sleep as recourse for a gruelling first day at the felt.
The Pokernews team will be back in action to bring you every bink, bust-out or blow-up from 3pm tomorrow afternoon as we find out which players will make Day 2 and if the €500,000 guarantee is exceeded.
On the flop of , Marco Regonaschi checked and Oscar Romero bet 16,000. Regonaschi check-raised big to 72,000 for most of his stack and Romero gave it a long time before moving all in for 84,000 in total. Regonaschi called it off and the showdown was as follows.
Oscar Romero:
Marco Regonaschi:
The turn and river were both blanks and Regonaschi was left with dust. He doubled up once and was then all in again shortly after.
Hand 2
Regonaschi three-bet shoved into the raise of Samuel Hernandez and the latter quickly called.
Samuel Hernandez:
Marco Regonaschi:
The Italian had a huge sweat on the board , but ultimately fell short and was sent to the rail while Hernandez and Romero are contenders for the overnight lead.
Gregor Waltermann raised to 3,700 from under the gun and was called by Francisco Jose Garcia Martin, Alexey Antokhin and Sergio Alonso Camunas in the small blind. Tomas Fara was priced in from the big blind and also came along for the ride.
The flop fell and the action checked to Waltermann, who bet 11,000. All opponents but Fara folded and the Czech then moved all in via check-raise. Waltermann quickly called and Fara asked "do you have jacks?" Waltermann shook his head and simply said "I have a draw."
Tomas Fara:
Gregor Waltermann:
The turn and river blanked and Waltermann, who had around 70,000 after the flop, was eliminated. Fara took over the lead as [Removed:312] lost an expensive flip with ace-king against pocket queens.
[Removed:312] opened to 3,200 from the cutoff and Yana Pinchuk called on the button, as did big stack Jose Manuel Henriques in the big blind. The flop fell and the action checked to [Removed:313], who bet 4,200. Only Pinchuk called and the appeared on the turn.
[Removed:313] didn't slow down, but fired another 8,200, which Pinchuk called. After the river, [Removed:313] checked and Pinchuk made it 15,000 to go. It took some consideration and [Removed:313] called, Pinchuk showed for a busted straight and flush draw and [Removed:313] won the pot with . Only a few minutes later, the seat of Pinchuk was empty and she has been eliminated.
A big pot was building from the flop over on the outer table in the Main Event here on Day 1b in Barcelona's 888Live Festival.
On a flop showing , the initial raiser made a c-bet of 2,000 from the big blind and was called by Thierry Gogniat in the next seat as well as two others including Daragh Davey in middle position. The turn card of saw Gogniat take over the betting lead when checked to, as he fired out 2,700. this time, only Davey called.
On the river of , Gogniat made it 7,800, but when Davey moved all-in for a shade over 20,000 chips, Gogniat went into the tank, emerging only to find that he had to fold to preserve the 25,600 chips he still had behind. Davey had won a fine pot, and without going to showdown to boot. The Irishman is on the charge.
Catalin Pop will have to re-enter in order to defend his 888Live Main Event title from Rozvadov, as he has just been eliminated by Tomas Fara. The Czech was among four players to see a flop of with Pop in the big blind and Fara on the button.
The action checked to Fara, who bet 1,600 and Pop check-raised to 3,500. Only Fara called and the appeared on the turn. Pop checked and Fara bet 3,300, before he called off the shove of Pop for just 2,000 more.
Tomas Fara:
Catalin Pop:
The river gave Fara a full house and Pop headed out of the tournament area, for now at least.
On the button, Sebastian Langrock raised to 400 and Oleg Egorov defended his big blind to see the flop come . Egorov checked, Langrock bet 300 and faced a check-raise to 1,000. Langrock clicked to 2,800 and called the shove of Egorov for some 13,000 and change.
Oleg Egorov:
Sebastian Langrock:
The on the turn instantly gave Langrock a flush, and the river was no ace or ten to eliminate Egorov. The Russian immediately re-entered and was seated two tables over with a fresh stack.
Cate Hall raised from under the gun and picked up one caller before Sergio Alonso Camunas three-bet to 2,200. Both Hall and the cold-caller came along and the three-way flop showed . It was checked to Alonso Camunas, who bet 3,500 and just Hall called.
Both players checked the on the turn and Hall then announced a bet of 4,800 in Spanish after the river. Hall only had 12,500 in total and immediately sighed when Alonso Camunas moved all in.
"Do you have ace-ten or ace-jack?" Alonso Camunas asked and Hall replied "no, I have a flush. Do you have a flush?" After some consideration, Hall called it off and Alonso Camunas announced a full house before rolling over right away. Hall tabled for a flush and left the table with a "see you tomorrow, you can keep this," handing her drink voucher over to Mladen Ivanov.
According to Sebastian Langrock, who witnessed the action, big pot played over on his table. Philippe Noble four-bet to 1,000 and picked up a single caller in Rozanna Ketting-Olivier. On the flop, Ketting-Olivier check-raised to 2,500 and was quickly called by Noble before betting the turn for 4,000. Noble called and the river completed the board.
Ketting-Olivier bet another 4,000 and Noble was about to move his stack forward when the Dutchman seemingly beat him into the pot, yet no chips had crossed the line yet. Noble saw that reaction and pulled back the chips, and eventually folded.
In two hours from now as of 6 p.m. local time, Casino Barcelona once again welcomes poker enthusiasts from near and far for the second of three starting days of the 2017 888Live Poker Festival Barcelona €1,100 Main Event. Yesterday's first flight attracted a field of 104 entries, and 34 players made it through to Day 2 on Sunday with Lucia Martinez holding the lead on 268,000.
A total of 12 levels of 45 minutes each will be played with a break every three levels and a 60-minute dinner break after the end of level six. It will be a long night at the poker tables, as bagging and tagging take place at approximately 4.30 a.m. local time.
Most of the more than 200 888poker qualifiers are yet to take their seat in the flagship event of the festival, and the same also applies for the team of 888poker ambassadors such as Dominik Nitsche, Kara Scott, Bruno Politano, Nicolau Villa-Lobos and Natalie Hof.
All participants in the Main Event will receive 30,000 in chips and re-entries are available until the start of Day 2, the registration closes as soon as the first card is dealt on Sunday as of 2 p.m. local time. A guaranteed prize pool of €500,000 awaits to all those that take part in the event, and that number may well be eclipsed based on the strong participation throughout the Side Events at Casino Barcelona thus far.
Day 1 Level Structure
Level
Ante
Small Blind
Big Blind
1
50
100
2
75
150
3
25
100
200
4
50
150
300
5
75
200
400
6
75
250
500
7
100
300
600
8
100
400
800
9
100
500
1,000
10
200
600
1,200
11
200
800
1,600
12
200
1,000
2,000
A €100+10 Super Satellite for Day 1b kicked off one hour ago with levels of 15 minutes each and a stack of 10,000, five seats for the €1,100 Main Event are guaranteed. Furthermore, the €165 "The Mega Knockout" Side Event kicks off at 9 p.m. local time and will offer bounties worth €50 for each player eliminated. The starting stack is 25,000 chips, and the levels last 25 minutes each with eight levels of late registration and two re-entries allowed.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide updates from the festival in sunny Spain until a winner is crowned next Monday, and as of Day 2 there will also be a feature table with live stream available as well.
, Marco Regonaschi checked and Oscar Romero bet 16,000. Regonaschi check-raised big to 72,000 for most of his stack and Romero gave it a long time before moving all in for 84,000 in total. Regonaschi called it off and the showdown was as follows.
turn and 
river were both blanks and Regonaschi was left with dust. He doubled up once and was then all in again shortly after.
and the action checked to Waltermann, who bet 11,000. All opponents but Fara folded and the Czech then moved all in via check-raise. Waltermann quickly called and Fara asked "do you have jacks?" Waltermann shook his head and simply said "I have a draw."
turn and 
river blanked and Waltermann, who had around 70,000 after the flop, was eliminated. Fara took over the lead as [Removed:312] lost an expensive flip with ace-king against pocket queens.
and the action checked to [Removed:313], who bet 4,200. Only Pinchuk called and the 
appeared on the turn.
for a busted straight and flush draw and [Removed:313] won the pot with 
, Gogniat made it 7,800, but when Davey moved all-in for a shade over 20,000 chips, Gogniat went into the tank, emerging only to find that he had to fold to preserve the 25,600 chips he still had behind. Davey had won a fine pot, and without going to showdown to boot. The Irishman is on the charge.
appeared on the turn. Pop checked and Fara bet 3,300, before he called off the shove of Pop for just 2,000 more.
river gave Fara a full house and Pop headed out of the tournament area, for now at least.
on the turn instantly gave Langrock a flush, and the river was no ace or ten to eliminate Egorov. The Russian immediately re-entered and was seated two tables over with a fresh stack.
flop, Ketting-Olivier check-raised to 2,500 and was quickly called by Noble before betting the 
turn for 4,000. Noble called and the 
