2013 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2013 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
55
Prize
€942,000
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€5,984,900
Entries
1,230
Level Info
Level
36
Blinds
200,000 / 400,000
Ante
50,000

Florian-Dimitrie Duta Leads Day 1b Field; Shorr Near The Top

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante
Shannon Shorr Finishes Toward The Top
Shannon Shorr Finishes Toward The Top

In what seemed like just the blink of an eye, the second of two starting flights for the European Poker Tour Season 10 Barcelona Main Event has come to an end! After eight full levels of play, the player sitting on the largest stack of the approximately 440 remaining runners was Florian-Dimitrie Duta who bagged up an impressive 187,000.

Day 1b attracted an astounding 708 entrants which, combined with the 518 that entered during the first flight, brings the total number of entrants to 1,226. This number could increase before the final tally is counted, though, as registration remains open until the start of Day 2. The Day 1b flight attracted so many players that the tables played ten-handed for most of the day.

The day saw a slew of familiar names hit the felt with the goal of becoming the first Main Event champion of the EPT's tenth season. Players like Max Lehmanski, Chino Rheem, Griffin Benger, Timothy Adams, Steve O'Dwyer, Ludovic Lacay, and Andrey Zaichenko were just a handful of those to hit the felt and find elimination by the day's end. Our Live Reporting Team also caught a hand during the first level of play that showcased just how brutal tournament poker can be. The hand in particular spelled disaster for American Michael Brady and occurred not even halfway through the first level of play. After a series of bets and raises on a flop of {10-Hearts}{5-Spades}{4-Hearts}, Brady found himself all in and at risk against Zsolt Vasvenszki. Vasvenszki held {5-Hearts}{5-Diamonds} for middle set but was still bested by Brady's {10-Spades}{10-Diamonds} for top set. There was no kindness to Brady from the deck, however, as the case five - the {5-Clubs} - drilled the turn and gave Vasvenszki quads. Brady did not improve on the river and was forced to see a remarkably early exit from the tournament.

Despite his recent success of winning the inaugural Alpha8 High Roller Tournament in Florida for $891,660, Steven Silverman was unable to gain any traction here on Day 1b. The online wizard was among those to fall before the last hand of the day was dealt.

While those players faltered, others managed to navigate the large field and build a healthy enough stack to bring into Day 2. Maksim Bura (160,600), Simon Mattsson (111,000), Andrew Moreno (91,800), David Benefield (87,800), Aku Joentausta (85,100), Konstantin Puchkov (66,000), Richard Yong (58,400), Jonathan Little (53,500) and Vladimir Troyanovskiy (48,600) are a small sample size of those returning for the second day of play.

Shannon Shorr also managed to build up a large stack throughout the first day of play and will return for Day 2 with 121,500. The day was kicked off to a stellar start for Shorr when he was involved in a massive pot with Martin Bolecek. After committing 5,475 each preflop, the two took in a flop of {9-Clubs}{Q-Spades}{10-Hearts}. Dolecek bet 5,475 and Shorr flat called. Both players checked the {8-Spades} turn and the {A-Hearts} finished the board. Shorr fired 4,600 which was followed by a call from Bolecek. Bolecek eventually mucked, however, after viewing Shorr's {A-Clubs}{A-Diamonds} for a set of aces. From there Shorr continued to trend upward throughout the day.

With this being the first stop on EPT Season 10 it was no surprise that Team PokerStars was out in full force. Some members of the prestigious team of professionals fell by the end of the day while others thrived and will be taking stacks into Day 2. Daniel Negreanu was one of the runners who was unable to get anything going on the first day of play and eventually fell in Level 6. Joining him at the rail were the likes of Lex Veldhuis, and Matthias De Meulder. While those players fell, others survived and will be returning for Day 2 with stacks. Expect more action on the felt from the likes of Christophe De Meulder (111,500), Victor Ramdin (107,000), Leo Fernandez (73,300), Liv Boeree (59,100), Ivan Demidov (45,500), and Jake Cody (27,700).

Play is scheduled to resume on Tuesday at 12 p.m. CET at the Casino Barcelona. Be sure to stay tuned to our coverage as we dive deeper into the event and watch fireworks fly when the two starting flights combine.

Tags: Christophe de MeulderFlorian-Dimitrie DutaShannon ShorrSteven Silverman

Where Are They Now: Season 4 EPT Barcelona Champ Sander Lylloff

Level 8 : 300/600, 75 ante
Season 4 EPT Barcelona champ Sander Lylloff
Season 4 EPT Barcelona champ Sander Lylloff

The EPT Barcelona continued to grow in Season 4 as 543 players took to the felt to compete for a €1,170,700 first-place prize. Among those in contention were Johnny Chan, Daniel Negreanu, Katja Thater and Greg Raymer, though none of them managed to make it to the last day of play; in fact just 13 players managed to do that. Among them was Copenhagen’s Sander Lylloff, who began that day third in chips.

Lylloff used his chip advantage to make it all the way to three-handed play, which is where he played against the UK’s Mark Teltscher and USA’s Greg Dyer for nearly four hours! Eventually Dyer fell when he shoved with the {k-Clubs}{8-Diamonds} only to run into Lylloff’s {a-}{a-}, which left the Dane with a 2:1 heads-up chip lead against Teltscher, who happened to be one of his close friends. It took just six hands to clinch victory.

In the final hand, Lylloff shoved after Teltscher had three-bet. Teltscher called off with the {k-Hearts}{k-Diamonds} and was in great shape against Lylloff’s {j-Spades}{10-Hearts}. The {q-Hearts}{j-Hearts}{7-Hearts} gave Lylloff a pair of jacks, but he was still well behind the overpair and better flush draw of Teltscher. Incredibly, the {J-Diamonds} turned to give Lylloff trips! The {4-Clubs} river failed to help Teltscher and he had to settle for second place and €673,000.

Lylloff, born April 7, 1982, is considered one of the best backgammon players in the world, and it wasn’t until 2001 that a friend introduced him to poker. Interestingly, Lylloff and Teltscher were partners in the 2005 Pro AM Backgammon Event in Las Vegas where they finished in second place. Lylloff went on to serve as a Victory Poker Pro until that site folded after Black Friday.

In the six years since his EPT Barcelona win, Lylloff has managed just five cashes totaling $94,557. The most notable of those was a 349th-place finish in the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event for $29,911, while the most recent was a 377th-place finish in the ISPT Wembley Main Event for $701.

Tags: Sander Lylloff

Cody Triples Up

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante
Jake Cody
Jake Cody

There was a raise from Sweden's Jakob Karlsson and a call from the UK's Stephen Woodhead before action folded over to Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody in the big blind. Cody was short stacked and moved all in for 5,175. Karlsson made the call, then Woodhead raised all in over the top for 29,900. Karlsson quickly made the call, creating a three-way all in.

Karlsson showed the {A-Spades}{K-Hearts} and Woodhead the {9-Diamonds}{9-Hearts}. Cody had the worst of the three hands with the {A-Diamonds}{J-Clubs}.

The flop came down {Q-Hearts}{J-Hearts}{3-Hearts} to give Cody the lead with a pair of jacks. He still had plenty of outs to dodge, though, with two cards to come.

On the turn, the {8-Diamonds} fell, then the {6-Clubs} completed the board on the river. Cody smiled, knowing he had just dodge half of the deck. In the side pot, Karlsson lost to Woodhead and had to send over 24,725. Karlsson was left with 30,000 in chips.

Player Chips Progress
Jake Cody gb
Jake Cody
16,000 -7,000

Tags: Jake CodyStephen WoodheadJakob Karlsson

Ronaldo in the House

Level 6 : 200/400, 50 ante
Ronaldo
Ronaldo

While the Main Event rages on, a special space in the front of the tournament area has been sectioned off for an event with Brazilian football (or soccer, to those in the US) legend and member of Team PokerStars SportStar, Ronaldo. Ronaldo, a legend in the football world, is considered by many to be one of the greatest to ever play the game. Today, Ronaldo has stopped by the Casino Barcelona to test his competitive nature in a different aspect.

Ronaldo, members of Team PokerStars Pro, and three PokerStars.es qualifiers are currently participating in a single table event called the Phenomenon Table. This table, named after the popular moniker of "the phenomenon" that Ronaldo adopted due to his stellar football skills, also houses the likes of Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier, Vanessa Selbst, Leo Margets and 2010 World Series of Poker Main Event champion Jonathan Duhamel. As the event began, an excited Duhamel tweeted the following:

Jonathan DuhamelRonaldo and I playing some poker in Barcelona!! Thanks @PokerStars for the invite! http://t.co/R3yrk1XbjV

This special event has been put on to promote Ronaldo's appearance here at the EPT Barcelona. Fans around the room have been excited to see the football legend and may even have the chance to play with him later in the week, as he'll be participating in Event #8: €2k No-Limit Hold'em Turbo.

Tags: Bertrand GrospellierJonathan DuhamelLeo MargetsRonaldoVanessa Selbst

O'Dwyer's Day is Done

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante
Steve O'Dwyer
Steve O'Dwyer

We picked up the action on the river with a board reading {j-Clubs}{9-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{9-Spades}. A short-stacked Steve O'Dwyer, who took third in yesterday's €50,000 Super High Roller finale for €355,100, proceeded to move all in for his last 6,500 or so and received a call from Paul Rimmer.

O'Dwyer tabled the {k-Spades}{j-Hearts} for jacks and nines with a king kicker, but it was no good as Rimmer rolled over the {a-Hearts}{j-Spades} for jacks and nines with an ace kicked.

With that, O'Dwyer collected his things and exited the EPT10 Barcelona Main Event.

Player Chips Progress
Steve O'Dwyer ie
Steve O'Dwyer
EPT 1X Winner
Busted

Tags: Paul RimmerSteve O'Dwyer

Negreanu Doesn't Like "The Rule"

Level 5 : 150/300, 25 ante
Daniel Negreanu
Daniel Negreanu

If you've been following the poker industry as of late, you've heard all about "the rule," which refers to the new rule change implemented by the TDA and EPT that declares that a player's hand is dead if he or she is not present at the table for the start of the deal, and is appropriately named "the first card off the deck rule."

Many players, including Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu, are firmly against this rule change and claim that it's bad for the game. Fellow Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier wrote about the rule change on his website recently, which you can read by clicking here. Negreanu was just overheard discussing the rule with his table.

Negreanu explained that there was no real reason that would merit the rule being changed. Previously, the rule was that a player's hand was dead if he or she wasn't present when the final card off the deck was dealt preflop. Some of the players at the table said the reason for the rule was because it's to avoid cheating from a player who may run back to a table, but take a second to peak at another player's hand from behind. Negreanu said that shouldn't matter.

"The rule's been the same for 50 years," he said. "And that's never been a problem. If it was a problem, people would be complaining. Plus, if someone is looking behind at a player's cards, that's cheating and you can just disqualify the player from the tournament. That's easy to catch."

Another player brought up that the rule is also in place to stop people from running around the tournament area. Negreanu responded to that as well. "They're still going to run around," he said. "They'll just run faster."

Negreanu and Mercier aren't the only players against this new rule change. Professional Dan O'Brien has been very outspoken about the rule on Twitter, and Paul Volpe recently voiced his opinion about the rule in an article by PokerNews' Rich Ryan while at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open.

The general sense is that "the rule" isn't overly liked by poker players, and they feel they are being a little too controlled. When Negreanu was talking about the rule with his table, he expressed that poker is about the players and the rules made to govern the game should be in favor of the players.

Tags: Dan O'BrienDaniel NegreanuJason MercierPaul Volpe

Where Are They Now: EPT Barcelona Season 1 Champ Alexander Stevic

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante
Alexander Stevic
Alexander Stevic

Way back in 2004, the European Poker Tour was in an infancy, which was evidenced by the €1,000 Main Event in Barcelona, which attracted 229 entries and created a prize pool of €229,000. The man who emerged victorious that season was Sweden’s Alexander Stevic, who took home €80,000 for the win. Stevic slipped into oblivion in the years that followed, but he recently resurfaced at the EPT10 Barcelona, which is where PokerNews caught up with him for a special edition of Where Are They Now.

Stevic also made the final table of the Season 1 €10,000 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo, where he navigated a field of 211 players to finish third for €178,000. Stevic was primed to become on a star of the EPT, but then things slowed considerably over the next eight years.

He earned a modest $12,660 in tournament winnings in 2006 and then disappeared from the poker landscape the two years after that. His next cash came in 2009 when he took third in the Campeonato Espana De Poker €600 No Limit Hold’em for €18,750, before he was shut out again in 2010. In 2011 and 2012, Stevic put in a little more volume and managed to cash for $32,693 and $30,074 respectively.

PokerNews: This is a broad question, but what have you been up to since winning the EPT Barcelona way back in Season 1?

Playing. After that tournament I played tournaments all the time for two years with less success. So I stopped after awhile and just played cash games. I played one tournament per year maybe, but normally not very big ones.

Before this year, when was the last time you played the EPT Barcelona Main Event?

Season 2.

What brought you here for the EPT10?

For this one PokerStars called me and said they wanted to invite me because I won the first one and now it’s the tenth anniversary. It was really nice, really cool of them because they don’t owe me anything. They invited me to do all of this and it’s nice, I feel really good. I hope I can do something extraordinary.

You had a good Day 1a and finished with over 100K in chips. How are you feeling thus far?

I feel really good, but I also know I need to be luckier than the players that usually win it because poker has evolved so much that they are better than me in tournaments—and probably cash games too! I’m trying, I know with a little luck I can go far. Take one day at a time.

Aside from the game evolving, what has changed at the EPT Barcelona from Season 1 until now?

It’s so much bigger. So, so much bigger, and that’s a good thing. Also, the players are better. That’s just the way it is with everything. You have to adapt. If you’re not good enough then you have to stop. Even though it’s tougher, it’s more legal now and it’s actually more fun in many ways. It’s fun to enter a TV set. I like it.

You had an epic heads-up battle against Ireland’s Dave O’Callaghan, one that has gone down in EPT history. Can you reflect on that a little bit?

We played for many hours. The thing is I had him all in with the best hand a few times and I lost. I was actually very unlucky in that heads-up battle. I don’t say that I’m much better than him, but I was unlucky. I had a lot of chips though. He caught up several times coming from behind, but in the end I won. I almost lost it.

Did you ever thing the EPT would become as big as it has?

Yeah, I did. Maybe not as big as it is now, but I knew it would evolve a lot and be big. Look at the economy here the last seven or eight year. It’s crap but the EPT is still really big. A lot of people say maybe they’ve reached the limit now, but I don’t think so. When the economy grows again I think it’ll be even bigger. I might be wrong.

Do you have a great deal of pride when you think back on your win?

I mean I would prefer to win a lot of money, maybe be runner up in the fourth or fifth year, but still being the first one is something special. They have over 90 winners, people don’t remember most of them, but the first one—most people don’t remember even [laughs]. It’s still the first though, my name is there, I was first. It makes me feel extraordinary, super, mega special. That’s the feeling I have now.

What are your plans after this year’s EPT Barcelona?

I will play more tournaments because I really enjoy this so much. It’s only been a couple days but I feel like I have to go back to doing [tournaments]. My passion for poker is coming back. Lately I’ve just been playing for the money, but now I want the glory again. I want to be the big star. Right now I’m just a nobody, anonymous, and it’s a good thing playing cash games, but I can’t explain very well, but I want to start playing tournaments again.

Tags: Alexander Stevic

World Cup Winner Gerard Piqué!

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante
Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué

Zsolt Vasvenszki from Hungary opened from first position and was raised by Team PokerStars Pro Christophe De Meulder, to 825. Gerard Piqué to his left made the call. The blinds folded, so it was back to Vasvenszki, and he four-bet to 25,000. De Meulder took the hint and folded, but Piqué made the call in position to see a flop of {7-Diamonds}{k-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}.

On the flop, Vasvenszki bet 4,000, and Piqué called. They both checked the {4-Spades} on the turn, then the {q-Clubs} was the river, and Vasvenszki bet 5,500. Piqué reached for chips, put them back, shuffled his cards in his hands, stared at the board, and wondered. Finally, he reached back for calling chips and flicked them over the line. Vasvenszki showed the {a-Clubs}{k-Spades} and Pique flung his hand away.

Tags: Christophe De MeulderGerard Piqué

Fútbol Star Gerard Piqué In Action

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante
Gerard Piqué
Gerard Piqué

Poker is unlike any other professional competition in that all you need is money to play with the best players in the world for your shot at millions of dollars and ultimate glory. Not only does that mean amateurs players can pony up a buy-in to play with the best of the best, but poker often attracts top athletes and celebrities to the fray. Here in Barcelona, fútbol star Gerard Piqué has opted to take the chance.

Piqué was seen earlier this year in the World Series of Poker Main Event, and is now seated alongside Pratyush Buddiga, Andrew Pantling, Jan-Peter Jachtmann, and Team PokerStars Pro Christophe De Meulder in this event.

FC Barcelona's Piqué is no stranger to the felt, finishing third in a €5,000 side event at EPT Barcelona in September of 2011 and playing in a few side events at the Season 9 EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. The 26-year old defender is widely regarded as one of the best centre backs in the world, and his résumé includes a World Cup win, a Premiere League title, four La Liga titles, two UEFA Champions League titles, and three consecutive selections (2010-2012) to the UEFA Team of the Year.

Oh, and he's also married to Colombian music artist Shakira.

Player Chips Progress
Gerard Piqué es
Gerard Piqué
37,000 37,000

Tags: Andrew PantlingChristophe De MeulderGerard PiquéGerard PiqueJan-Peter JachtmannPratyush BuddigaShakira

Last Year's Runner Up Looking for Another Deep Run

Level 4 : 100/200, 25 ante
Ilari Sahamies
Ilari Sahamies

Last year, online poker sensation Ilari "Ilari FIN" Sahamies made a splash in the live realm when he finished runner up to Mikalai Pobal in this very event for €629,700. Sahamies prefers to spend his time behind the computer screen, but he's ventured out once again to take a shot at the EPT Barcelona title.

In a recent hand, there was around 3,400 in the pot and a board reading {a-Spades}{a-Hearts}{q-Clubs}{2-Hearts}{9-Spades} when Sahamies bet 1,025 from the big blind. His opponent, Harcharan Dogra Dogra, responded with a raise to 2,500, and Sahamies promptly folded his hand.

Despite losing that pot, Sahamies is still up quite a bit from the last time we check in with him. Could another deep run be in store?

Player Chips Progress
Ilari Sahamies fi
Ilari Sahamies
42,500 11,500

Tags: Harcharan Dogra DograIlari Fin