Day 1a Completed!
Well that's all folks, as Day 1a of EPT Barcelona, brought to you by PokerStars, draws to a close and the weary looking poker players make their way from the casino after a gruelling 12 hour shift at the tables someone has to give you a quick recap of today's action and that someone is me.
A total of 263 players passed through the doors of the Casino de Barcelona and over the course of the day they were whittled down until the board showed 141 players still had chips remaining, though that number may change when the official counts are in overnight.
No less than thirteen Team PokerStars took to the felt today, though a lot less than that will be returning for Day 2 on Wednesday. Darus Suharto was the first of them to be eliminated, first running his pocket kings straight into a set of queens, then moving the rest of his stack in with a pair of fives and running into a pair of jacks.
The 2009 EPT Barcelona winner, Carter Phillips started brightly but will not comoing back for more after bluffing off the majority of his stack with a gutshot straight draw whilst Team PokerStars Germany Michael Keiner was sat there with a set.
With Phillips unable to retain his title it is up to another young gun to step up to the plate and that young man could be Frenchman Loic Sa, who appeared from nowhere to become our overnight chipleader with a massive stack of 217,700 chips!
We will return to the Casino de Barcelona at 1200 noon local time for Day 1b of the 2010 EPT Barcelona. We are expecting a bumper crowd that includes the likes of PokerStars pros Daniel Negreanu and Liv Boeree along with a whole host of poker's greats. make sure you do not miss a thing by tuning into PokerNews.
Until then, goodnight from Spain. Catch you all tomorrow!