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€5,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Barcelona
€5,300 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Barcelona
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€8,215,900
Total Entries
1,694
Level
38
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
100,000
Players Left 1 / 1,694
Filter
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
On Monday, Day 1a of the 2015 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event kicked off from the lavish Casino Barcelona. A grand total of 459 runners came out for the first of two starting flights. After eight 75-minute levels, the clock read that just 286 players remained. In the end it was Imad Derwiche who bagged up the chip lead with 170,000 in chips.
Derwiche is no stranger to success, holding over $1.16 million in career live tournament earnings. A majority of those winnings came mere months ago during the EPT Grand Final when Derwiche finished runner-up to Charlie Carrel in the €25,500 High Roller. Derwiche pocketed €750,000 for his impressive finish, but was denied the prestige of earning an EPT title. Derwiche's stellar performance on Day 1a puts him in solid position for a deep run and a chance at redemption.
While Derwiche bagged the top stack, others are hot on his heels heading into Day 2. Denmark's Martin Vallo put 163,300 in the bag, which is good for second place on the leaderboard. Rounding out the top three was Finland's Jesse Liljegren, who bagged up 153,100.
While the aforementioned players hold the most chips in the room, they are among tough competition returning for Day 2. Some of the notable players advancing include Vladimir Troyanovskiy (115,600), Patrik Antonius (103,800), Andoni Larrabe (100,400), John Juanda (89,300), Mustapha Kanit (83,200), Sebastian Pauli (78,400), David Vamplew (75,300), Benjamin Pollak (68,000), and Dong Kim (66,000).
Team PokerStars had a stellar showing, with five members advancing to the second day of action. Those to move on include Matthias Brandner (108,700), Isaac Haxton (79,200), Leo Fernandez (74,700), Naoya Kihara (69,400), and Leo Margets (55,300). Unfortunately, members of the PokerStars family such as Grzegorz Mikielewicz, George Danzer, and Jason Mercier were unable to gain momentum and were eliminated by the time the final hand of the day was dealt.
In Mercier's case, he flopped top two pair with the 
against Luca Falco. After all of the money went in on the turn, Mercier found out that Falco had also flopped a monster by making a set of deuces. Mercier was unable to improve on the river and he was sent packing in Level 4.
Other familiar faces to hit the rail throughout the day include Max Silver, Adrian Mateos, Martin Staszko, Paul Newey, Erik Seidel, Martin Finger, Nicholas Palma, and Jonathan Little.
This exciting event will continue on Tuesday where players will once again flock to the felt for Day 1b. Play will begin at 12 p.m. local time when another eight 75-minute levels will take place. As always, PokerNews will be on hand with all of the latest updates, so be sure to stay tuned for more coverage.
While you wait for tomorrow's Day 1b action to commence, check out the following Meet the Rising Star video with Charlie Carrel:
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
The players have wrapped up play and are bagging up their chips. Stay tuned for a recap of the day's play.
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Tournament staff has announced three more hands before bagging and tagging for the night.
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Nolan Dalla joins Remko Rinkema to talk about his introduction to poker and Las Vegas; offer some stories about Chris Moneymaker and the legendary Binion family; and emphasize the importance of writing, blogging, and podcasting to continue poker's story.
NOTE: There was a brief audio mishap in the middle of this interview. Apologies for the less-than-desired quality from that point forward.
You can subscribe to the entire iBus Media Network on iTunes here, or you can access the RSS feed here. The PokerNews family of podcasts is now available on Stitcher.
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
We arrived in time to see both Isaac Haxton and Byron Kaverman committing 7,500 before the flop from the small blind and big blind respectively. The flop came out 
and Haxton checked. Kaverman did the same and the 
fell on fourth street. Haxton checked once again and Kaverman followed suit.
The 
finished off the board on the river and Haxton tapped the table for a third and final time. Kaverman bet 4,500, Haxton folded his cards, and Kaverman was awarded the pot.
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
It is as common as the hoodie, as familiar as chips, and to some almost as important. Without them many players would be driven insane, as the PokerStars Blog reports.
