€1,100 Main Event Day 1a | 2023 888poker LIVE Barcelona

05-17-2023 17:00 UTC+2

Welcome to Day 1a of 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event

Lewis Powell

Sandro Hauser wins the 2022 888poker LIVE Barcelona €1,100 Main Event

888poker LIVE returns to Spain with its next stop on its 888poker LIVE tour here at Barcelona©Casino in the sunny city of Barcelona. The festival moves on from its previous stop in London, which took place just last month, to land on the beautiful beaches of Barcelona.

The 2023 888Poker LIVE Barcelona Festival €1,100 Main Event kicks off today Wednesday 17th May with Day 1a. PokerNews will bring six days of live coverage to readers with action from four starting flights as well as the final three days until a champion is crowned on Monday 22nd May.

All players start with 30,000 chips and the first three regular starting days will feature a 45-minute clock while the turbo Day 1d flight will offer players a faster-paced game with 20-minute levels. Late Registration will be available for the first two levels of Day 2 on Saturday 20th May.

Last year's champion was Italian Sandro Hauser who came out on top of 334 entrants to take home the first place prize of €56,800 and the 888 LIVE trophy after defeating Alexandre Ventura Bolet heads-up.

Cards will be in the air from 6 p.m. local time with 12 levels being played. This tournament features unlimited reentries and all players who bag will advance to Day 2.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor in Barcelona©Casino to cover all the action from the €1,100 Main Event from start to finish.

Tags: Alexandre Ventura Bolet Sandro Hauser

05-17-2023 19:40 UTC+2

Lechner Raises River

Lewis Powell

Level 2 : Blinds 100/200, 0 ante

There was around 6,500 in the pot. Nils Lechner was in early position against Alex Baena on the button.

The board read Q♥J♥6♠J♠9♥ and Lechner checked to Baena who fired 5,300. Lechner put in the check raise to 15,000. Baena went into the tank before folding.

A player said "King Ten of Hearts" to which Lechner said he had the nut flush. Baena said "I folded king flush" as Lechner collected his chips.

Player	Chips	Progress
Nils Lechner	58,000	58,000
Alex Baena	33,500	-12,500

Tags: Alex Baena Nils Lechner

05-17-2023 20:03 UTC+2

Castro Coolers Opponent

Lewis Powell

Level 3 : Blinds 100/200, 200 ante

There was a raise in early position to 500 and the cutoff called before Christian Castro three-bet to 2,500 on the button. Action folded to the big blind who four-bet to 8,000.

Action folded back around to Castro who moved all in for around 22,000 covering his opponent. The big blind quickly called.

Big Blind: K♥K♦
Christian Castro: A♦A♥

It was a cooler in Castro's favour as he had the pocket rockets against his opponent's two kings. The board ran out clean for Castro when it came 10♠6♠4♥2♣4♣ which ensured the elimination of his opponent.

Player	Chips	Progress
Christian Castro	56,000	26,000

Tags: Christian Castro

05-18-2023 00:37 UTC+2

Baena Five Bet Shoves

Lewis Powell

Level 7 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

A player raised to 1,300 from under the gun before Alex Baena three bet to 3,800 from early position. Action folded around to Thom Giesberts in the small blind who four bet to 9,300.

Action folded back to Baena who paused before moving all in for around 36,000. Giesberts asked for a count while he pondered his decision. Giesberts decided to lay his hand down as the chips went to Baena.

Player	Chips	Progress
Alex Baena	48,000	13,700
Thom Giesberts	37,100	-9,900

Tags: Alex Baena Thom Giesberts

05-18-2023 03:52 UTC+2

17 Players Bag at End of Day 1a of 888 Live Barcelona Main Event

Lewis Powell

Level 10 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

The return to Barcelona for the 888Poker LIVE €1,100 Main Event kicked off with a bang as 17 players managed to secure a bag after ten levels of play. Those 17 will bring their chips into Day 2 on Saturday 20th May here at the beautiful beachside Barcelona©Casino.

It was Juan Jose Garcia who managed to bag biggest as he secured a stack of 152,400 to bring forward to Day 2. However Garcia was closely followed by Harcharan Dogra who secured a healthy 140,700. Online qualifier Nils Lecher(126,000) also bagged big as the German had an above average stack for most of the day to make it to Day 2.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1a

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds Day 2
1	Juan Jose Garcia	Spain	152,400	127
2	Harcharan Dogra	Spain	140,700	117
3	Nils Lecher	Germany	126,000	105
4	Michael Falcon	Denmark	110,000	92
5	Jurgen Resch	Austria	94,400	79
6	Jeremy Lyons	Canada	91,100	76
7	Tevo Lauvila	Spain	83,300	69
8	Alessandro Mordano	Spain	80,800	67
9	Pekka Ikonen	Finland	66,900	56
10	Ivan Repin	Russia	66,800	56

The first flight attracted 44 entries but those who didn't make it will have plenty of chances, as there are still three more starting flights to come in the following days.

Christian Castro started the day off to a flying start as he managed to cooler his opponent early in the day when his pocket aces dominated his opponents pocket kings to eliminate him from the tournament. However Castro didn't manage to secure a bag as he exited the tournament towards the end of the day.

Harcharan Dogra also made a fair few chips with pocket aces as the Spaniard secured a double up post flop against his opponent pocket jacks when all the chips went in the middle on the ten high paired board.

Ryan Dansie also started to build a stack towards the middle of the day when he five bet shoved from the big blind against his opponent from early position to take down a big pot before the flop but couldn't bag a top ten stack as his momentum waned towards the end of the day.

PokerNews will be back tomorrow with coverage of Day 1b which kicks of tomorrow again at 6:00 p.m. local time where ten 45-minute levels will be played.PokerNews will continue live reporting until a champion is crowned on Monday 22nd May 2023.