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.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
240,000
42,000
|
42,000 |
|
35,000
39,000
|
39,000 |
More than 500 have come out for today's Day 1a, with more than that expected tomorrow. Each individual player's chance to emerge victorious is slim, but each is nonetheless determined to imagine him or herself as a champion. Not unlike Spain's most famous literary hero, Don Quixote, they're all more than willing to dream the impossible dream. Read more at the PokerStars Blog.
Vanessa Selbst opened for 13,000 under the gun and was raised to 30,000 by Swedish PokerStars online qualifier Johannes Korsar. His temerity was met by a four bet from Selbst to 7,200. Selbst shook her head as Korsar five bet shoved for 29,300 but made the call anyway. What else could he have but the 
of course? Selbst turned over her 
with a look of resignation. No help on the board of 
and her stack was dented while Korsar was quietly happy to double up.
We arrived at the table just in time to see recent World Series of Poker bracelet winner Michael Malm move all in for his last 16,025 on a board of 
. With well over 10,000 already in the pot, Malm's opponent, Heikki Piira, pondered a decision.
Roughly 45 seconds passed before Piira finally came to a decision, tossing out enough chips to call and quickly tabling 
. Malm rolled over 
for a winning full house of jacks full of tens and was able to scoop up a double up late in the day. Malm now sits around 45,000 in chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
45,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
We're not sure of the preflop action, but we do know Brent Chapman got his last 8,200 all in preflop holding the and was racing against the 
of Hauke Heseding.
According to the PokerNews Odds Calculator, Chapman had a 46.31% chance of surviving the hand while Heseding was a slight favorite at 53.24%. The 
flop provided to help to Chapman, and his chances dropped to 26.46% while Heseding's jumped to 73.54%. The 
turn left Chapman, who dropped even further to 13.64%, in need of either an ace or ten on the river to stay alive, but it wasn't in the cards as the 
blanked.
With that, Chapman made a late-night exit while Heseding collected the small pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
In case you missed it, Russian Vitaly Lunkin tonight beat poker legend Erik Seidel heads up in the opening event of Season 10 of the European Poker Tour, the €50,000 Super High Roller. Timothy Adams burst the bubble in 8th leaving Fabian Quoss to tick over the EPT 'payometer' past €500,000,000 in payout. Ole Schemion, David Benefield, Mike McDonald and Steve O'Dwyere all made the money. Read about it all at the PokerStars Blog by clicking here.
From the cutoff seat, one of the bigger stacks, Niclas Adolfsson, raised to 1,200. Jeff Hakim called on the button, and Jose Gonzales called from the big blind. The three players saw the flop come down 
, and Gonzales checked. Adolfsson fired 1,925, and Hakim called. Gonzales also called.
The 
came out on the turn, and Gonzales checked. Adolfsson didn't slow down and fired 5,900. Hakim and Gonzales both called.
The river was the 
, and both Gonzales and Adolfsson checked to Hakim. Hakim fired 22,000, and both of his opponents folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
158,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
62,000
1,000
|
1,000 |
|
45,000 |
Tournament staff has announced three more hands at each table before bagging and tagging for the evening.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
215,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
|
147,400
10,600
|
10,600 |
|
|
130,100 | |
|
129,900 | |
|
|
128,300 | |
|
127,700
22,700
|
22,700 |
|
|
125,200
33,800
|
33,800 |
|
120,800
200
|
200 |
|
120,000 | |
|
117,600
1,600
|
1,600 |
|
117,400
10,400
|
10,400 |
|
115,700 | |
|
115,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
114,100 | |
|
|
114,000 | |
|
111,000 | |
|
|
110,300
11,700
|
11,700 |
|
109,300 | |
|
|
108,100 | |
|
106,600 | |
|
|
105,600 | |
|
|
105,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
103,900
11,100
|
11,100 |
|
||
|
103,100 | |
|
103,100 | |
Season 10 of the PokerSars.com European Poker Tour continued on Sunday with the EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event at the Casino Barcelona. Barcelona has been a permanent fixture on the EPT, and it proved to be as popular as ever, attracting an impressive 518 entrants for Day 1a alone.
Some of the big stacks at the end of eight levels play today were chip leader Dragan Kostic on 215,000, Niclas Adoltsson on 147,000, Jacob Rasmussen on 128,300, and Albert Daher on 127,700. Other notables to return for Day 2 are defending champion Mikalai Pobal on 70,300, Team PokerStars Pro Vanessa Selbst on 75,800, and Dani Stern, who was desperately unlucky in the €50,000 Super High Roller last night, with 65,500.
Team PokerStars Pros turned up en masse with appearances from the likes of Jason Mercier, Leo Magrets, Jonathan Duhamel, Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Marcel Luske, and Jan Heitmann. Other well-known players for Day 1a included Scott Seiver, David Vamplew, and Andrew Lichtenberger.
Not everyone can last the full six days of course, but we’re sure that Alessandro Ielli, an Italian PokerStars qualifier, hoped to last a bit longer than thirty minutes. He fell into a trap, though, shoving on the river into the nut flush of Abdulaziz Abdulaziz from Canada. Abdulaziz held the 
on a board of 
. Ielli was left reeling and out after less half an hour of play.
Swedish player Alexander Stevic won the very first EPT 10 years ago right here in Barcelona, and returned today to see if he still had the magic. He didn’t do too bad at all, finishing the day on 103,900 in chips.
Another former winner of this event, Season 8 champion Martin Schleich, was eliminated about halfway through the event when his 
couldn't overcome his opponent's pocket tens.
Grospellier wasn’t having a great day either, his rubber duck not bringing him much good fortune, and he ultimately failed to make Day 2.
There was a fairly frantic last two levels of the day as short stacks looked to double up or go home, or big hands clashed with inevitable preflop all ins. Selbst, for one, ran her into the of PokerStars online qualifier Johannes Korsar near the end of play, and was none too pleased to lose some 29,000 hard-earned chips. Nevertheless, she advanced with 75,800 in her stack.
The action continues on Monday with Day 1b and a whole new set of players hoping to be crowned EPT Barcelona champion and take away over €1,000,000 for the win. The field is expected to be even larger than today, so be sure to check right back in with PokerNews for all the live updates from that start time of 12 p.m. local time.
