Samuel Hernandez Leads Day 1b of the 888Live Barcelona Main Event
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.