Road to the Trophy Runs Through Fernando Santa Maria on the Final Day of the EAPT Barcelona Main Event
The Eurasian Poker Tour (EAPT) began in 2013 when Marvin Rettenmaier won the first-ever event. Today, a decade later, another player gets to follow in that tradition when a champion is crowned on the final day of the EAPT Barcelona €560 Main Event.
Just 18 players out of a starting field of 357 are still in the hunt for the trophy when Day 3 begins at 12:30 p.m. local time. Fernando Santa Maria finds himself in the same position he was in back on the first day, atop the leaderboard with 1,590,000. The convivial Ariel Galactico is right behind him with 1,545,000, and the two chip leaders will get a good feel for each other today as they are seated side-by-side at the final two tables.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Santa Maria | Spain | 1,590,000 | 80 |
| 2 | Ariel Galactico | Spain | 1,545,000 | 77 |
| 3 | Christopher Arpal | Spain | 1,260,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Teddy Kamel | Lebanon | 1,170,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Antonio Pagliuca | Italy | 1,035,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Mark Buckley | Ireland | 950,000 | 48 |
| 7 | Carlos Esquerdo | Spain | 865,000 | 43 |
| 8 | David Carballas | Spain | 825,000 | 41 |
| 9 | Jaskirat Singh Bindra | India | 650,000 | 33 |
| 10 | Jose Rodriguez | Spain | 645,000 | 32 |
Christopher Arpal (1,260,000), Teddy Kamel (1,170,000), and Antonio Pagliuca (1,035,000) round out the top five. Further down the leaderboard are Mark Buckley (950,000), Carlos Esquerdo (865,000), and Andre Carvalho (610,000). Esquerdo will be looking for his second trophy at Casino Barcelona after taking down the EAPT Cup earlier this week.
The action picks up with 17 minutes remaining in Level 20 with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a 20,000 big blind ante. Levels will now be 60 minutes long. Players already have €1,900 locked up for making it this far, but they’ll all be chasing the €39,300 top prize and trophy today. The feature table will be streamed on the EAPT’s official YouTube channel as they play down to a winner.
It’s already been an action-packed week here in Barcelona, and it all concludes today with one player hoisting up the trophy. PokerNews will be providing updates throughout the day until a new champion is crowned.