Barceloooooooona!

Good morning and welcome to the Casino de Barcelona.

Gaudi, Picasso, Dali - all great Catalan artists, but none of them quite so talented when it comes to playing cards. Carter Phillips, on the other hand, proved himself the King of Catalunya last year when he qualified twice for this event and then bested the other 477 runners to take it down for €850,000. Phillips has qualified online again this year, and is one of the folks expected to play today.

Also expected to join him at the felt today are Team PokerStars Pros Ville Wahlbeck, Lex Veldhuis and Arnaud Mattern, Team PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira de Melo and current occupier of the EPT leaderboard Fernando Brito.

Play is due to start at noon local time, in around half an hour, so don't wander too far from your computer screens. We'll be back shortly.