€25,500 Single-Day High Roller Day 1 | 2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Barcelona

08-25-2015 14:38 UTC+2

Side Action Madness

Webjoker

Level 4 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

There's a buzz in the tournament room, everyone is excited for the tournament that's going on. It's not just Neymar Jr. and Piqué playing, though it of course helps, it's the concept of the €25,000 single day High Roller what people are loving. There's a whole bunch of players we don't see on a regular basis in these high rollers who do play smaller tournaments, and then there are a lot of players we've never seen before that appear to be recreational lovers of the game.

All through out the room people are chatting with each other about side action. People are betting on the suits of flops and on the amount of entries the tournament will get. The atmosphere is relaxed, the EPT has another winner with this tournament format it looks like.

08-25-2015 14:29 UTC+2

Macphee Doubles

Webjoker

Level 4 : 800/1,600, 200 ante

Kevin Macphee told us about a hand where he eliminated a player. That player opened and Macphee called from the big blind. Macphee check called a bet of 15,000 on and check called another 25,000 on a on the turn. The river came a and Macphee open shoved 60,000 effectively. His opponent called with but Macphee won the lot with his . Macphee up to over 200,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Kevin Macphee	210,000	110,000

Tags: Kevin MacPhee

Level: 4

Blinds: 800/1,600

Ante: 200

08-25-2015 14:15 UTC+2

To Reenter or Not

Webjoker

Level 3 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Several players have already been eliminated, and some of them opted to buy back in.

Player	Chips	Progress
Martin Finger	100,000	100,000
Chang He	100,000	100,000
Viacheslav Buldygin	100,000	-1,000
Laurynas Levinskas	Busted
Ben Tollerene	Busted
Aviv Meir	Busted

08-25-2015 14:10 UTC+2

Piqué Sliding

donpeters

Level 3 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Gerard Piqué stops to take a picture with a fan before play

Gerard Piqué has recently dropped to just over 80,000 in chips thanks to two back-to-back hands he played.

On the first, there was roughly 50,000 in the pot on the board. Viacheslav Buldygin moved all in for 58,100, and Piqué went into the tank. Eventually, the Spanish footballer gave it up, and Buldygin won the pot.

On the next hand, Buldygin opened to 2,800 from early position, Piqué called from the cutoff seat, and Sergey Sergeev called from the big blind. The three players saw the flop come down , and Sergeev checked. Buldygin bet 4,000, Piqué called, and Sergeev called.

The turn was the , and all three players checked to see the pair the board on the river. Sergeev led with a bet of 7,000, and Buldygin folded right away. Piqué mulled it over for a minute or so, but folded in the end, and Sergeev won this pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Sergey Sergeev	106,000
Viacheslav Buldygin	101,000
Gerard Piqué	80,500	-34,500

Tags: Viacheslav Buldygin Sergey Sergeev Gerard Pique

08-25-2015 14:08 UTC+2

Ace-King Boosts Neymar's Stack

Happy_Freaked

Level 3 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

Neymar Jr. with André Akkari before the start of the tournament

"How is he doing?" Gerard Piqué asked one of the PokerStars staff members about his friend and teammate Neymar Jr.

"He's fine," she responded.

"How many chips?" Piqué enquired.

The staff member walked over to Neymar's table and found out that he was sitting on 87,000.

"He was lower," Piqué said with a smile, who himself got off to a better start with 115,000.

We then found out through Dani Stern how Neymar trended back up to 87,000. According to Stern, Neymar won a hand off of Belgian poker pro and Triple Crown winner Davidi Kitai.

Neymar raised from the cutoff seat to 2,500, and Kitai called from the small blind. The flop was rainbow, and both players checked. The turn was the , and Kitai led with a bet of 1,700, Neymar called. The river was a blank, and Kitai checked to Neymar. The Brazilian opted to bet 6,600, and this sent Kitai into the tank.

Kitai tanked for a while before he made the call. Neymar tapped the table with a defeated look on his face before he showed the . Kitai showed an even sadder face, and mucked his cards as the table burst out in laughter.

A little bit later, we approached the table again to check in on Neymar. This time, the flop showed in a hand between the football star and Steve O'Dwyer. Neymar bet 3,000 on the flop, and O'Dwyer called in position, which brought out the on the turn. Neymar bet another 3,000, and O'Dwyer swiftly raised it up to 14,000. Neymar called quickly.

On the river, the hit and Neymar checked to the former European Poker Tour Grand Final winner. O'Dwyer bet 40,000, and Neymar made the call. O'Dwyer turned over the , which was promptly mucked when the Brazilian showed the for top two pair.

The same PokerStars staff member from before quickly walked over to Piqué to inform him of Neymar's winnings, and he jumped out of his seat right away. Piqué quickly walked over to Neymar and gave him a fist bump, the two exchanged some words before they continued the tournament with big smiles.

Player	Chips	Progress
Neymar Jr.	146,000	46,000

Tags: Gerard Pique Neymar Neymar Jr

08-25-2015 13:55 UTC+2

Piqué's Pair is Good

Happy_Freaked

Level 3 : 600/1,200, 200 ante

The flop showed when Max Greenwood checked to Viacheslav Buldygin who bet 4,000 from his direct left. Barcelona F.C. star Gerard Piqué made the call from the cutoff and Greenwood folded.

On the turn the hit and Buldygin check-called 7,500, after which the hit on the river. This time both players checked and Piqué shook his head, but Buldygin announced, "Ace high."

This made Piqué turn over his and he raked in this pot to bump his stack up to 115,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Gerard Piqué	115,000	15,000

Tags: Gerard Pique

Level: 3

Blinds: 600/1,200

Ante: 200

08-25-2015 13:46 UTC+2

Petrangelo Triples to Stay Alive

Webjoker

Level 2 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

Nick Petrangelo found himself down to just 6,800 and shoved those chips in from the hijack. Sylvain Loosli made the call from the button, but folded to Ben Tollerene's big blind squeeze to 18,000.

"Triple up?" Petrangelo asked as he showed . Tollerene showed but failed to improve on .

Tollerene had still well above the starting stack left, but lost a fair bit not much later. Loosli made it 2,200 to go and Ben Tollerene called. Juan Francisco Garcia squeezed to 7,000 and just Tollerene called. Tollerene check called a bet on the and the turn, but check folded to Garcia's shove for 65,100 on the river. Tollerene down to 70,000.

Player	Chips	Progress
Ben Tollerene	70,000	70,000
Nick Petrangelo	18,000	18,000

Tags: Ben Tollerene Nick Petrangelo Sylvain Loosli

08-25-2015 13:40 UTC+2

Haxton in the Lead

Webjoker

Level 2 : 500/1,000, 100 ante

As you might expect, chips are flying in this turbo style High Roller. All players started with 100,000 in chips, 100 big blinds, and some of them didn't wait too long to get them in the middle.

Isaac Haxton just told us of a big hand. Haxton opened to 2,700 and WSOP Main Event runner up Felix Stephenesen three bet to 8,000. Haxton called with and the flop came . Both players checked and a hit the turn. Haxton checked again, and Stephensen bet 8,600. Haxton check raised to 23,000 and Stephensen made the call. The hit the river and Haxton shoved for 60,000 effectively. Stephensen called, but had to muck his upon seeing his opponents top two.

Player	Chips	Progress
Isaac Haxton	320,000

Tags: Felix Stephensen Isaac Haxton