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Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier placed his chips on the table and was greeted by some familiar faces. At his table are none other than fellow PokerStars Pros John Duhamel and Daniel Negreanu. Unsurprisingly it is also the loudest table with Negranu teasing Duhamel about the number of re-entries he has had at super high rollers and inquiring if ElkY has been working out lately. He has.
Level: 2
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 100
Timothy Adams had three-bet from the button to 23,500 after Mike McDonald opened to an unknown amount from the hijack seat. Action moved back to McDonald, and he reraised to 23,500. Adams thought, then called.
The flop came down a monotone 
. McDonald bet 25,000 with one red T25,000 chip, and Adams gave it up. After this pot and a few others, McDonald has climbed up to 300,000 in chips. Adams currently sits on 230,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
300,000 | 50,000 |
|
230,000 | -20,000 |
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier filled us in on an early hand he played. In fact, it was the first hand he played on the day. He said that Ole Schemion had raised, and he called from the big blind with 
. On a flop of 
, Mercier check-called a bet from Schemion. He then check-called again on the turn when another fell. On the river, another hit the board. Mercier check-called again with his full house. Schemion tabled for quads nines, and Mercier's full house went down in flames.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
300,000 | 50,000 |
|
200,000 | -50,000 |
Playing the super high roller 50k at EPT Barcelona 2day Ran KJ into 99 on J98J9 board on very first hand. Check called all 3 streets #nbdFollow @JasonMercier
First Poker Tournament of the last 2 months, 50k SHR at #EPTBarcelona ! Only @RealKidPoker @JonathanDuhamel philbort jacobson silvermanFollow @elkypoker
Underway in Barcelona €50k super high roller. 250k start stack @ 500/1000 (100).Follow @JeffRossiter
Below are a list of some more late arrivals to the event, including the defending champion Dan Smith.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
|
250,000 |
With around 25,000 in the pot and a board reading 
, three players checked to see the 
river. Ignat "0Human0" Liviu was first to act and thought for about 30 seconds before tossing out 22,000, which inspired a snap-call from Sandor Demjan.
Vladimir Troyanovsky quickly got out of the way and Liviu rolled over the 
for a rivered straight. It was good as Demjan took a second look at his cards and then sent them to the muck.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
280,000 | 30,000 |
|
160,000 | -90,000 |
The cameras crowded round last year’s Super High Roller winner Dan Smith as he took his seat. At his table he was greeted by Steve O’Dwyer, who won the EPT Grand Final back in May for €1,224,000, his biggest win to date. Sat directly to Smith’s right was veteran Finnish Pro Juha Helppi.
Folded round to Helppi in the small blind, he checked his cards and gave Smith a walk. He was to be more interested in the next hand however.
O’Dwyer opened for 3,100 and got two callers including Helppi on the button. The blinds folded and we saw a flop of 
. Checked to the man with position, Helppi bet 5,150 and found one caller in O’Dwyer. They both checked the turn card 
and when the river came the 
O’Dwyer led out for 11,000. Off came Helppi’s sunglasses, nothing left to hide as he contemplated his options.
In the end he opted to fold and O’Dwyer took the pot.
We happened upon the action with 30,000 or so already in the pot and a board reading 
. Philipp Gruissem had checked from the big blind and Steven Silverman, who won the inaugural World Poker Tour Alpha8 event $100,000 event at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida just a few days ago and subsequently passed Paul Volpe on the 2013 Global Poker Index Player of the Year leader board, bet 22,500 from the button.
Gruissem thought for well over a minute before counting out some chips and dropping in a call, which prompted Silverman to roll over the 
for a wheel. Gruissem chucked his cards to the muck unseen and
Silverman collected the pot.
You may also remember Silverman as the winner of last year's €25,000 High Roller at the 2013 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino European Poker Tour Grand Final.
Before the next hand was dealt, online star Ignat "0Human0" Liviu was picked up from the big blind and moved to a new table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
290,000 | 40,000 |
|
220,000 | -30,000 |
Here's a list of players already in their seats to start the event. The board reads that 30 have registered thus far, but that number is only going to grow as the day progresses. We'll be keeping you posted as more and more players roll in.
Last year's champion, Dan Smith, has yet to arrive, but he'll be here soon enough. Steven Silverman is here, though, fresh off his victory at the first-ever World Poker Tour Alpha8 event. Silverman won the inaugural $100,000 event at the Seminole Hard Rock in Hollywood, Florida just a few days prior, taking home $891,660. With his victory, SIlverman also eclipsed Paul Volpe on the 2013 Global Poker Index Player of the Year leader board, and you can read about that here.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
|
250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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250,000 | |
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|
250,000 |
