Josep Valls Gets Through Step One of Title Defense as 47 Advance From Day 1c of the 888poker Live Barcelona Main Event
Defending champion Josep Valls used a last-second triple up to become one of the 47 players to advance from Day 1c of the 888poker Live Barcelona Main Event.
Valls was all in for his last 70,500 as Bernat Carreras and Panagiotis Mavritsakis both called to put him at risk. Valls ended up flopping top two pair to beat Mavritsakis’ pocket tens and secure the pot, bagging up 246,500 as he tries to go back-to-back in this event.
The third starting flight promised to be the biggest one yet, and it didn’t disappoint. A crowded field of 204 players packed Casino Barcelona today, far more than the first two days combined. Juan Velasco ended up as chip leader with 485,500, followed by Angel Blanco (441,500), Mauro Panto (387,000), and Alfredo Garcia (375,000). Edgar Bermejo earned a massive double up when he made a full house against Sean Neely after both flopped trips on his way to bagging 373,500 and rounding out the top five.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Juan Velasco | Spain | 485,500 | 97 |
| 2 | Angel Blanco | 441,500 | 88 | |
| 3 | Mauro Panto | 387,000 | 77 | |
| 4 | Alfredo Garcia | 375,000 | 75 | |
| 5 | Edgar Bermejo | Spain | 373,500 | 75 |
| 6 | Alexander Sokolovsky | Serbia | 369,000 | 74 |
| 7 | Marcos Thielke | Spain | 355,000 | 71 |
| 8 | Filippos Avramidis | Greece | 345,000 | 69 |
| 9 | Julian Patino | Spain | 328,000 | 66 |
| 10 | Alonso Luis Ramos | 317,000 | 63 |
Other players to advance included Alexander Sokolovsky (369,000), Marcos Thielke (355,000), Abel Aspas (301,000), 888poker Live Madrid runner-up Alvaro Murciano (272,000), and David McConachie (202,000). Gabi Livshitz was cruising along as a top stack until he faced a massive shove on the river from Filippos Avramidis. Livshitz tanked for nearly five minutes before folding, saying he was considering calling with just ace-high. Avramidis told him after the day he had ace-jack and Livshitz would’ve won the pot if he had made the hero-call. “I'm saving my good luck for Vegas this summer,” Livshitz said after he ended the night with 121,500, while Avramidis bagged 345,000.
Among those to fall on Day 1c included 888poker Ambassador Ian Simpson, Jack Hardcastle, David Algarra, and Marius Gicovanu. They still have tomorrow’s Day 1d turbo flight if they want to take a shot at the title, while late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 at 5 p.m. tomorrow.
The 204 entries today brought the field up to 365 through the first three days, with 81 already securing their spots on Day 2. There is still the possibility the field can grow much larger by the time the prize pool is confirmed at the start of Day 2. The action picks up on Level 15 with blinds of 2,500/5,000 and a 5,000 big blind ante.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow following all the action as the field plays down past the money bubble and towards the final table.