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

05-18-2023 17:00 UTC+2

Welcome to Day 1b of the 888LIVE Barcelona Main Event

Lewis Powell

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 continues today with Day 1b after 17 players bagged last night at the end of 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.

It was Juan Jose Garcia who bagged biggest yesterday as he managed to gather over five starting stacks with 152,400. He was closely followed by Harcharan Dogra (140,700) as well as online qualifier Nils Lecher (126,000).

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

Cards will be in the air from 6 p.m. local time with ten levels being played. This tournament features unlimited reentries and all players who bag will advance to Day 2. There will be an 60-minute dinner break after Level 6 and there will be a 15-minute break after Level 3.

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: Alessandro Mordano Harcharan Dogra Ivan Repin Jeremy Lyons Juan Jose Garcia Jurgen Resch Michael Falcon Nils Lechner Pekka Ikonen

05-18-2023 21:42 UTC+2

Simpson Eliminates Opponent

Lewis Powell

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

A player from early position raised to 800 and Ian Simpson called in middle position. Action folded around to the big blind who moved all in for 8,700. The player in early position folded and Simpson thought through his decision before deciding to call.

Big Blind: A♠Q♦
Ian Simpson: J♣10♣

Simpson was behind but had his opponent covered and had two live cards. The river was drama free as it came 8♦7♥2♣. However the turn put Simpson way out in front went it came the 10♦ and the river of the K♥ ensured his opponent was eliminated.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ian Simpson	65,000	29,000

Tags: Ian Simpson

05-18-2023 22:18 UTC+2

Xia Wins Huge Pot With Boat

Lewis Powell

Level 5 : Blinds 200/400, 400 ante

Action was three ways on the turn with 11,500 in the pot.

The board read Q♣10♣10♦4♥. Lin Xia was in the big blind against a player in early position and the cutoff. Action checked to the cutoff who bet 40,000. Xia instantly called for less sliding his chips messily over the betting line. The player in early position went into the tank before calling.

Lin Xia: 10♠4♠
Early Position: A♥A♦
Cutoff: K♠10♥

Lin Xia was set to scoop a huge pot as his full house had his opponents dominated. The river was a brick Xx which gave Xia the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lin Xia	84,000	84,000

Tags: Lin Xia

05-19-2023 00:21 UTC+2

Saliba Enters the Fray

Lewis Powell

Level 7 : Blinds 300/600, 600 ante

888Poker ambassador Vivian Saliba has entered Day 1b after the dinner break. Saliba is coming straight off final tabling the €2,200 high roller yesterday.

Player	Chips	Progress
Vivian Saliba	26,000

Tags: Vivian Saliba

05-19-2023 01:49 UTC+2

Navarro In Action

Lewis Powell

Level 9 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante

888Poker Ambassador Lucia Navarro is also in action on Day 1b of the 888Poker Barcelona Main Event.

Player	Chips	Progress
Lucia Navarro	46,000

Tags: Lucia Navarro

05-19-2023 02:37 UTC+2

Navarro Lucky to Survive

Lewis Powell

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

Action was three ways to a flop with 8,000 in the pot.

The flop came J♣10♦3♣ and action checked to Fabio Peluso in early position who bet 2,500. The button called before Lucia Navarro moved all in for 16,300 in the big blind.

Peluso called and the button quickly folded.

Lucia Navarro: J♠5♠
Fabio Peluso: A♥A♦

Navarro saw the bad news as her top pair was dominated by Peluso's aces. The turn was a blank when it came the Q♦ however the river saved Navarro as it came the J♥ to give her trips to double up in the last level of the day.

Player	Chips	Progress
Fabio Peluso	156,500	14,500
Lucia Navarro	43,100	-2,900

Tags: Fabio Peluso Lucia Navarro

05-19-2023 04:09 UTC+2

Kristian Larsson Leads 32 Survivors at the End of Day 1b

Lewis Powell

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

Norwegian Kristian Larsson leads the pack heading into Day 2 of the 888 LIVE Barcelona Main Event at the gorgeous beachside Barcelona©Casino as he bagged big at the end of Day 1b after ten levels of play.

The day lasted eight hours and of the 77 entrants, 32 players bagged and will join the 17 survivors from yesterday for Day 2 on Saturday 20th May 2023.

It was a head to head race between Nuno Duarte and Fabio Peluso who both had built up huge stacks throughout the day, however Larsson came out of nowhere to steamroll into the chip lead after he eliminated Chaofei Wang in a huge flip, with Larsson's ace king defeating Wang's pocket queens. Larsson managed to bag 206,200 while Duarte and Peluso bagged 187,400 and 151,700 respectively.

Top 10 Chip Counts After Day 1b

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds Day 2
1	Kristian Larsson	Norway	206,200	172
2	Nuno Duarte	Portugal	187,400	156
3	Fabio Peluso	Italy	151,700	126
4	Matteo Ferrara	Italy	123,200	103
5	Remi Castaignon	France	101,000	84
6	Lin Xia	Spain	99,000	83
7	Lauri Saaskilahti	Finland	92,700	77
8	Juri Nereu	Spain	88,000	73
9	Gordon Paterson	South Africa	84,800	71
10	Cedric Garcia	Spain	83,000	69

Key highlights throughout the day included 888Poker ambassador Ian Simpson being eliminated after the dinner break when he jammed his combo draw into Matteo Ferrara's top pair on the turn. Simpson's draw didn't get there which ensured his elimination.

However fellow 888Poker ambassadors Vivian Saliba (61,000) and Lucia Navarro (45,400) managed to secure a bag after joining the action after the dinner break.

Navarro was fortunate to survive the day as she check raised her top pair all in on the flop in a three-way hand only to run into Peluso's pocket aces butNavarro managed to find a jack on the river to improve to trips to double up late in the day.

Other big hands included Lin Xia almost tripling up when he got his full house all in against trips and an overpair on the turn to scoop a huge pot before the dinner break. Xia managed to ride the momentum to end the day with a top ten chip stack.

Earlier in the day Wang enjoyed a good moment when he bluffed Simpson in a four bet pot with king high. The board ran out ace high and Wang put Simpson all in on the river. Simpson folded and Wang showed the Brit the king jack offsuit as he scooped in the pot from the dealer.

PokerNews will be back tomorrow with coverage of Day 1c which kicks off 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.

Tags: Cedric Garcia Chaofei Wang Fabio Peluso Gordon Paterson Ian Simpson Juri Nereu Kristian Larsson Lauri Saaskilahti Lin Xia Lucia Navarro Matteo Ferrara Nuno Duarte Remi Castaignon Vivian Saliba