Dragan Kostic just took a big pot off Ignat Liviu that has vaulted him up to 240,000 in chips. Kostic has been playing the majority of hands at his table, and, if you couldn't tell by the amount of chips he has, he's been winning all of them.
We first reported on UK Online cash game pro Ryan Spittles, who qualified for this tournament online, at the start of the day winning a pot with three streets of aggression. It seemed to go a bit quiet after that and his stack was dwindling away as the day went on. Just before the dinner break he tweeted; “15k from 30k starting here at #EPTBarcelona....not going to plan but still 50bb!” But since then he has gone on a tear. We joined him for two recent hands he played from the blinds.
Sebastian Langrock from Germany opened for 1,350 and Spittles was his only caller in the big blind. The flop was 
. Spittles checked and called a 1,700 bet from Langrock. The last two cards 
were checked down. “Ace high.” said Spittles and turned over 
. Langrock looked fairly upset that he hadn’t had a stab at it.
Next hand Spittles was in the small blind and was the only caller of a 1,425 bet from Spain’s Cesar Garrido. They saw a flop of 
and both players checked. The appeared on the turn and when Spittles checked Garrido decided to have a stab at it for 1,600. Spittles stabbed him right back to the tune of 4,200. A frustrated Garrido mucked. Spittles has built his stack up to 72,000.
Right now, it looks as though Dragan Kostic has a firm hold on the chip lead. The end of the night is about 40 minutes away, and he's nearly eclipsed the 200,000-chip mark.
Level: 8
Blinds: 300/600
Ante: 75
The players are on their last 20-minute break of the night.
English Pro James “Flushy” Dempsey had been quietly folding for an orbit or two, surveying the action. Dario Amorello from Italy opened the betting for 1,000 from mid position and Dempsey bumped it up to 2,400 from the button. The blinds folded and Amorello called the raise to see a flop of 
. Amorello checked and Dempsey continued for 3,000. He got the call and the turn came 
. Check call again, this time 6,400. The river was the 
and Amorello checked for the final time. Dempsey furrowed his brow, putting together the hand and decided that a check was the wisest course of action. Amorello showed 
and Dempsey mucked.
On the 
flop, Andre Benelli bet 1,200, and Mario Adinolfi called to see the 
land on the turn. Benelli bet 2,900, and Adinolfi called again. The river was the 
, and both players checked.
Benelli mucked when he saw Adinolfi table the 
for two pair, nines and fours. Adinolfi now has 130,000 in chips.
Robert Kokoska, a PokerStars qualifier, led out from the small blind for 2,100 on a board of 
. Lauri Varonen the aggressive Finn asked to see his opponents stack and threw out a chunky raise. It didn’t take much time for Kokoska to shove and for Varonen to call. On their backs Varonen held [ and was plainly crushed to see the 
of Kokoska. The board ran out 
. Kokoska doubled his stack and Varonen was chopped down to under 20,000.
After action checked around on the 
in a three-way pot between Dimitar Danchev, James Dempsey, and Rory Tinlin. The turn was the 
, and Danchev checked before Dempsey also checked. Tinlin didn't check this time, but instead fired 3,875. After Danchev folded, Dempsey called. The river was the , and Dempsey check-called a bet of 9,000 from Tinlin.
Tinlin showed the 
for a full house, kings full of threes. Dempsey showed 
offsuit quickly before mucking his hand with a weaker full house. Tinlin won the pot and moved to over 100,000, while Dempsey and Danchev were left with 50,000 and 70,000, respectively.
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