2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Barcelona

€5,300 Main Event
Day: 3
Event Info

2015 PokerStars.com EPT Season 12 Barcelona

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
qq
Prize
€1,022,593
Event Info
Buy-in
€5,000
Prize Pool
€8,215,900
Entries
1,694
Level Info
Level
38
Blinds
300,000 / 600,000
Ante
100,000

Former EPT Champion Oleksii Khoroshenin Leads After Day 3

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Oleksii Khoroshenin
Oleksii Khoroshenin

Day 3 of the 2015 European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 Main Event started out with excitement, as the €8,215,900 prize pool was announced. The remaining 343 players were made aware that the top 247 would reach the money, but it was the mouth-watering €1,420,500 first-place prize that had everyone's juices flowing.

Coming into Day 3, the man best positioned was Nick Petrangelo. At the end of the day, he was still alive, but had slipped back and finished on 400,000. Oleksii Khoroshenin took over as the tournament's overnight chip leader with a massive day and bagged up 1.708 million.

The Ukranian Khoroshenin has now put himself in prime position to win a second EPT title. In 2014, Khoroshenin won the EPT Vienna Main Event for €578,392.

Throughout the day, plenty of notables fell, some before the money and some after.

Those that hit the rail before a cash were Isaac Haxton, Jason Gray, David Vamplew, Lynn Gilmartin, Betrand "ElkY" Grospellier, and Max Greenwood. Then with 250 players left in the field, Jonas Lauck and Diego Ventura were eliminated to set the tournament on the official bubble.

With hand-for-hand play already underway, Anastasios Vrakas found himself all in and at risk with the {A-Clubs}{Q-Spades} against the {A-Spades}{K-Clubs} for Dmitry Yurasov. The board ran out {J-Hearts}{J-Diamonds}{7-Spades}{4-Spades}{2-Clubs}, and Vrakas was the tournament's official "bubble boy."

Once the money was reached, it was time for the eliminated players to begin filing in the payout line. Of those to bust with a cash were Fatima Moreira de Melo (240th - €8,800), Mike Watson (233rd - €8,800), Andras Nemeth (208th - €9,450), Tobias Peters (188th - €9,450), Hugo Pingray (182nd - €10,350), Jani Sointula (149th - €10,350), and Natalie Hof (135th - €11,500).

Another player to bust was Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden, who was making his record-tying 20th cash in an EPT main event. The other player with 20 is Luca Pagano. Lodden was eliminated on the final hand of the night by Andre Akkari, who bagged up 982,000.

Two names from the remaining players that jump off the page to us are Anthony Zinno and John Juanda.

Zinno is a three-time World Poker Tour champion that won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet this past summer. To say he's hot would be an understatement, and he continues to showcase his abilities time and time again in major events. He bagged up an impressive 949,000 in chips, thanks in large part to winning a huge flip late in the day against Nacho Barbero that busted the latter.

Juanda also finished strong as the five-time WSOP gold bracelet winner bagged 914,000 in chips. The consummate professional played a very solid game all day, regularly using position on his opponents to his advantage and constantly chipping up.

There's also Jude Ainsworth, Jason Les, Matthias de Meulder, Jens Kyllonen, Patrik Antonius, Jeremy Ausmus, and Ryan Riess amongst the final 110 remaining.

Day 4 will commence at 12 p.m. local time on Friday, when another five 90-minute levels are on the schedule. Be sure to stay tuned right here to PokerNews for continued coverage of the event as the field plays closer to a winner in the largest EPT main event in history.

Until then, check out this video about flyboarding with Liv Boeree and Igor Kurganov:

Tags: Oleksii Khoroshenin

A Million-Chip Flip Between Zinno and Barbero

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Nacho Barbero
Nacho Barbero

Anthony Zinno raised from the button to 16,000, and Nacho Barbero three-bet from the small blind to 43,000, getting the big blind to fold. Zinno then calmly announced, "All in," and Barbero immediately let out a deep sigh.

After about 10 seconds, Barbero reluctantly threw chips into the middle, indicating he made the call.

Barbero: {J-Hearts}{J-Diamonds}
Zinno: {A-Hearts}{K-Diamonds}

The board ran out {Q-Clubs}{8-Hearts}{A-Diamonds}{6-Spades}{K-Spades}, and Zinno won this massive coin flip to send Barbero to the rail. Zinno had shoved for 503,000, and Barbero had just 493,000 in front of him, ending the Argentinian's run on Day 3.

"So obvious he has ace-king there," Barbero sighed. "I had to take the 55% there."

Player Chips Progress
Anthony Zinno us
Anthony Zinno
1,010,000 500,000
Nacho Barbero ar
Nacho Barbero
Busted

Tags: Anthony ZinnoNacho Barbero

EPT Austria Champions Clash

Level 19 : 4,000/8,000, 1,000 ante
Patrik Antonius
Patrik Antonius

EPT Season 2 Baden champion Patrik Antonius got his chips in the middle against EPT Vienna Season 7 champion Michael Eiler. Antonius, seated in the small blind, was all in for 98,000. Eiler in the hijack was the one putting him at risk.

Michael Eiler: {A-Spades}{5-Hearts}
Patrik Antonius: {6-Spades}{6-Clubs}

The board ran out {8-Diamonds}{4-Diamonds}{10-Clubs}{8-Clubs}{5-Spades} and Antonius doubled. Eiler was left with just 41,000.

Player Chips Progress
Patrik Antonius fi
Patrik Antonius
EPT 1X Winner
210,000 120,000
Michael Eiler de
Michael Eiler
EPT 1X Winner
41,000 -334,000

Tags: Michael EilerPatrik Antonius

Srinivasan Doubles Through Lavallee in Huge Pot

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Shyam Srinivasan
Shyam Srinivasan

Roman Voronin raised it up from early position and Jason Lavallee made the call. Shyam Srinivasan called from the small blind and Lauri Varonen in the big blind squeezed to 48,000. The Fin didn't find any player folding; Voronin, Lavallee and Srinivasan all called to built an already rather big pot.

The flop came {5-Clubs}{9-Clubs}{4-Clubs} and Srinivasan checked. Varonen checked as well and Voronin was the third to tap the table. Lavallee made a bet of 63,000 and Srinivasan shoved all in for 322,000. Varonen and Voronin were quick to fold, Lavallee made the call. "Flush?" asked Srinivasan. Lavallee answered that question by showing his cards.

Shyam Srinivasan: {5-Hearts}{5-Diamonds}
Jason Lavallee: {10-Clubs}{J-Clubs}

Srinivasan needed the board to pair to stay alive, and got exactly that on the turn. The {4-Diamonds} that appeared left Lavallee drawing dead and the {3-Diamonds} on the river was there just to make things official.

Jason LavalleeJust lost an 800k pot to shyam flush vs set, woulda prob been cl at 1.1
Player Chips Progress
Shyam Srinivasan ca
Shyam Srinivasan
825,000 490,000
Jason Lavallee ca
Jason Lavallee
220,000 -380,000

Tags: Jason LavalleeLauri VaronenShyam Srinivasan

Derwiche Triples, Heath Breaks Even with Kings

Level 18 : 3,000/6,000, 1,000 ante
Imad Derwiche
Imad Derwiche

After a raise to 12,000 from the cutoff it was Imar Derwiche who moved all in from the button for 71,000. Jeffrey Hakim, seated in the small blind, moved all in for 145,000 and the action was then on Ben Heath in the big blind.

Heath moved all in from the big blind and the initial raiser folded quickly, creating a three-way all in.

Heath: {K-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Derwiche: {A-Hearts}{8-Hearts}
Hakim: {8-Diamonds}{8-Clubs}

The board ran out {9-Hearts}{7-Hearts}{3-Hearts}{4-Hearts}{3-Diamonds} and Derwiche made the nut flush to triple up. Heath received a cash back due to winning the side pot, and Hakim was knocked out.

Player Chips Progress
Ben Heath gb
Ben Heath
280,000 62,000
Imad Derwiche fr
Imad Derwiche
235,000 170,000
Jeffrey Hakim lb
Jeffrey Hakim
Busted

Tags: Ben HeathImad DerwicheJeff Hakim

Fatima Moreira de Melo Eliminated by Govert Metaal

Level 17 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Fatima Moreira de Melo
Fatima Moreira de Melo

Govert Metaal first doubled when he shoved for 35,500 over a 11,000 open from Stefanita Fechete. Fechete called with {K-Hearts}{Q-Diamonds} but lost to Metaal's {J-Spades}{J-Diamonds}. The board read {10-Clubs}{6-Spades}{3-Spades}{5-Spades}{A-Spades} and Metaal doubled to just under 80,000.

He made it 13,000 under the gun not much later. Fatima Moreira de Melo shoved all in from the button and both blinds folded, Metaal called.

Govert Metaal: {8-Hearts}{8-Spades}
Fatima Moreira de Melo: {A-Spades}{Q-Diamonds}

The board ran out {2-Spades}{10-Hearts}{3-Diamonds}{3-Hearts}{5-Diamonds} and Moreira de Melo, while cursing Metaal out with a big smile and lots of laughs, made her way to the exit. That'll be some editing work for the tv production crew again, in need of some beeping.

Player Chips Progress
Govert Metaal nl
Govert Metaal
135,000 100,000
Fatima Moreira de Melo nl
Fatima Moreira de Melo
Busted

Tags: Fatima Moreira De MeloGovert Metaal

Anastasios Vrakas Bubbles EPT Barcelona

Level 17 : 2,500/5,000, 500 ante
Anastasios Vrakas (baseball cap) bubbles the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main
Anastasios Vrakas (baseball cap) bubbles the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main

Anastasios Vrakas was all in and at risk before the flop for approximately 138,000 against Dmitry Yurasov. The two sat with their cards face down for well over five minutes while they waited for other hands around the room to come to completion. When the tournament staff made their way to the table and announced for the hands to be turned on their backs, Vrakas was disappointed to find that he was behind and in need of improvement.

Vrakas: {a-Clubs}{q-Spades}
Yurasov: {a-Spades}{k-Clubs}

The board ran out {j-Diamonds}{j-Hearts}{7-Spades}{4-Spades}{2-Clubs}, keeping Yurasov's ace-king high in the lead. Vrakas was sent to the rail as the last player to leave the tournament room with a payday. The remaining 247 players are all guaranteed at least €8,800.

Player Chips Progress
Dmitry Yurasov ru
Dmitry Yurasov
690,000 411,200
Anastasios Vrakas gr
Anastasios Vrakas
Busted

Tags: Anastasios VrakasDmitry Yurasov

Karmazinas Soaring, Lodden Hurting

Level 16 : 2,000/4,000, 500 ante
Johnny Lodden
Johnny Lodden

When we just arrived on the scene a huge pot was ongoing, and two players were already all in on the {Q-Diamonds}{10-Diamonds}{6-Spades} flop.

Team PokerStars Pro Johnny Lodden was all in for the small blind for roughly 230,000, Dominykas Karmazinas was all in from the big blind for 172,000 and the action was on Aleks Dimitrov in early position.

It seemed as though Lodden had check-raised all in, followed by Karmazinas who called all in. After a while Dimitrov called, creating a massive three-way all in.

Dimitrov: {A-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}
Karmazinas: {10-Hearts}{10-Clubs}
Lodden: {6-Diamonds}{6-Hearts}

Dimitrov was one diamond, and the board not pairing, away from knocking out two players, but the {J-Clubs} turn and the {5-Clubs} river gave Karmazinas a triple up. Lodden won the side pot, but he still lost chips, and Dimitrov was the biggest victim in this clash.

Player Chips Progress
Dominykas Karmazinas lt
Dominykas Karmazinas
540,000 379,900
Aleks Dimitrov bg
Aleks Dimitrov
130,000 -260,000
Johnny Lodden no
Johnny Lodden
130,000 -190,000

Tags: Aleks DimitrovDominykas KarmazinasJohnny Lodden

Impressive Sportsmanship from Hartmann

Level 15 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Pascal Hartmann
Pascal Hartmann

There was a commotion at Table 9 in the back of the tournament room. When we arrived, the floor staff at the scene was awaiting assistance from a superior. What had started with a simple raise and reraise, quickly turned into an interesting situation.

Pascal Hartmann had opened with a raise to 6,500 from the hijack seat, and then Jiachen Gong reraised from the cutoff seat to 16,500. But that's when everything that was "normal" about this hand stopped.

In the process of the next three players folding, the dealer also mucked the cards of Gong. The button had tossed his cards to the muck, but the cards of Jonas Christensen from the small blind and Saar Wilf from the big blind had been pulled together with the cards of Gong. This is why the floor staff had been summoned to the table. After supervising tournament staff member Luca Vivaldi arrived, the situation was explained and he told the table the plan of action.

Vivaldi verified with the dealer that he believed Gong's cards were amongst the six cards that included Christensen's and Wilf's, but were separate from the rest of the muck pile. Vivaldi's course of action was to speak with Christensen and Wilf privately off to the side of the table in order to get their exact holdings. If he could confirm those hands were in the pile of six, he would then ask Gong his exact cards. If his two were the remaining two cards, they would be awarded back to Gong and the hand would continue. Call it a reconstruction.

Vivaldi first spoke to Christensen, then looked in the pile of six, verifying Christensen's cards were indeed in there. He then spoke to Wilf, who admitted before that he might not exactly be able to remember his hand. Wilf mentioned he could remember the rank, but maybe not the exact suits. After Vivaldi got word of Wilf's hand, he looked in the pile, but couldn't verify Wilf's exact cards. Because of this inability to determine who held each of the six cards, Vivaldi ruled that Gong wouldn't get his hand back.

Hartmann now had the option to call or raise, knowing he'd then automatically win the hand as Gong didn't have cards. Instead, in what turned out to be an impressive sign of sportsmanship, Hartmann and Gong exchanged a few words that we couldn't hear and then Hartmann folded, giving Gong the pot. Gong collected the chips, shook Hartmann's hand, and thanked him, while the rest of the table and those watching commended Hartmann on handling the situation with class.

Player Chips Progress
Jiachen Gong ca
Jiachen Gong
277,000 28,000
Pascal Hartmann de
Pascal Hartmann
170,000 6,000

Tags: Jiachen GongJonas ChristensenPascal HartmannSaar Wilf

Gilmartin's Cinderella Run Ends Shy of the Money

Level 15 : 1,500/3,000, 400 ante
Lynn Gilmartin in Action on Day 2
Lynn Gilmartin in Action on Day 2

Former PokerNews hostess, and current WPT anchor, Lynn Gilmartin won the ladies event at EPT Barcelona earlier this week, and she opted to parlay her winnings into a Main Event ticket. Gilmartin managed to make the third day, the day during which the money will be reached, but unfortunately her run just ended about 50 places shy of the money.

Gilmartin raised to 7,000 on her last hand and Bulgarian pro Simeon Naydenov three-bet from the small blind to 20,200. Joep van den Bijgaart folded his big blind and Gilmartin quickly moved all in for about 90,000 chips. Naydenov made the call right away and the showdown went as following.

Gilmartin: {A-Spades}{K-Hearts}
Naydenov: {J-Spades}{J-Hearts}

The board ran out {6-Diamonds}{3-Clubs}{3-Diamonds}{9-Diamonds}{Q-Spades}, and with that Gilmartin's tournament run ended. Sad, but proud of her deep run, the Aussie exited the tournament room as she fell just shy of her first EPT Main Event cash.

"I'm probably cursed now," Naydenov said about busting out Gilmartin.

"Nobody will be happy that I busted her," Naydenov continued, "And I think I'm probably less than 1% to even make the money."

While Naydenov might think his fate is sealed after sending Gilmartin to the rail; his stack indicates that he's one of the contenders with about 300,000 chips.

Player Chips Progress
Simeon Naydenov bg
Simeon Naydenov
300,000 136,500
Lynn Gilmartin au
Lynn Gilmartin
Busted

Tags: Joep van den BijgaartLynn GilmartinSimeon Naydenov