€50,000 Super High Roller
Day 1 Started
€50,000 Super High Roller
Day 1 Started
Welcome to Barcelona, Spain, and the kickoff event of Season 12 of the European Poker Tour!
Nestled on the northeast coast of the Iberian Peninsula, looking out towards the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, the City of Counts has been a home to the EPT since its inception. Only three times in the history of the tour was Barcelona not the starting event of season, but we find ourselves here once again for another exciting poker offering.
This year's EPT Barcelona festival plans to be bigger and better than ever, evidenced by the large expansion of playing space added for both cash games and tournaments. It's those tournaments that PokerNews is here to focus on, specifically the €50,000 Super High Roller, the €5,300 Main Event, the €25,500 Single-Day High Roller, and the €10,300 High Roller, and today is the beginning of the biggest buy-in of them all.
The first time the €50,000 Super High Roller appeared on the EPT Barcelona schedule was in Season 9, three years back in 2012. That tournament proved to be an impressive affair with 64 total entries, a prize pool of nearly €3.1 million, and one of the brightest young stars of the game, Dan Smith, taking home the top prize of €962,925.
The following year, Vitaly Lunkin topped field of 51 total entries to claim the €771,300 top prize, and then in last season's event, 77 entries and a prize pool of just under €3.7 million was produced. Heads-up play came down to the mentor and the mentee, with Olivier Busquet taking on Daniel Colman. In the end, it was the teacher that emerged victorious after the two struck a deal, and Busquet took the title and the €896,434 first-place prize.
Guesses pertaining to the field size have been circulating more and more in the lead up to this event, and right now it looks as though we should see something in the realm of 60-70 entries. Of course, it could be more or it could be less, but seeing just how big this one will get is all part of the fun.
Another part of the guessing game has to do with which players will show up to compete. We do know that Dominik Nitsche, David Peters, and Dzmitry Urbanovich all won a seat to this event via a satellite tournament last night, so they should be in the mix. We also know that JC Alvarado, who finished runner-up to Smith in 2012, is already in Barcelona, along with Max Altergott, Igor Kurganov, Philipp Gruissem, and Ole Schemion.
Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier has already arrived from across the pond, too, coming off a big win of more than $500,000 in the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open $25,000 High Roller. That marked his fourth six-figure score of 2015, and those have been the last four cashes he's recorded in a year that's already seen him earn more than $2.1 million.
On the flip side, one person that we know won't be here is Daniel Negreanu. Negreanu has been going hard all around the globe for several months now, and he's finally taking some time for a little break from poker following conclusion of the World Series of Poker and wrap up of the PokerStars Pro Tour.
The cards are scheduled to be in the air at 12:30 p.m. local time. Each player will begin with 250,000 in tournament chips, the levels will last 60 minutes, and the blinds will begin at 500/1,000 with a 100 ante. Eight levels are on the slate for Day 1, and participants will be allowed unlimited reentry up until registration closes at 12:15 p.m. on Day 2.
According to the official EPT structure sheet, there will not be a dinner break on Day 1. That should see play end right around 9:30 p.m. local time — enough time to head out into the city or down along the beach for some food, drinks, and smiles.
The anticipation is high and growing by the minute, so stay tuned right here to PokerNews for live coverage that will begin shortly.
Level: 1
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
The cards are in the air for Day 1 of the €50,000 Super High Roller.
Player | Chips | Progress |
---|---|---|
Philippe D'Auteuil | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Nick Petrangelo | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Oleh Okhotskyi | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Pascal Lefrancois | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Luuk Gieles | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Adrian Mateos
|
250,000 | 250,000 |
Christoph Vogelsang | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Martin Kabrhel | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Max Greenwood | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Mike McDonald
|
250,000 | 250,000 |
Mikita Badziakouski | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Steve O'Dwyer
|
250,000 | 250,000 |
Isaac Haxton | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Sam Greenwood | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Chang He | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Michael Egan | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Anthony Zinno | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Pratyush Buddiga | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Fedor Holz | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Alexander Trevallion | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Juha Helppi | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Paul Newey | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Max Silver | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Philipp Gruissem | 250,000 | 250,000 |
Charlie Carrel | 250,000 | 250,000 |
During the 2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event, all three Greenwood brothers managed to make a deep run. Today, two of them are seated together in the €50,000 Super High Roller.
At the PCA, it was Sam Greenwood who notched the best result of the trio, as he finished 68th for $27,100. Max Greenwood finished 78th for $22,800, and Luc Greenwood busted in 91st for $22,800. The summer was also good for the Greenwoods, as Max went deep in the World Series of Poker Main Event, finishing in 42nd place for $164,086, and Sam won the family's second gold bracelet (his first) in a $1,000 no-limit hold'em tournament for $318,977.
Sam and Max are seated at the same table in the Super High Roller, with only one person sitting between them — living poker legend Erik Seidel.
He's arguably Spain's best tournament player, since it's hard to overlook the incredible list of results he's compiled in such a short timespan, and Adrian Mateos is here to put his skills to the test.
The young Spaniard burst onto the scene in 2013 when he won the World Series of Poker Europe Main Event for €1 million at the ripe old age of 19. He then won the Season 11 European Poker Tour Grand Final at age 20 this past May for €1.082 million. In total, Mateos has $3.5 million in live tournament earnings, including a cash in the WSOP Main Event this summer — his first time being age eligible to play the event.
A lot of money is at stake again today, and Mateos faces accomplished pros Max Silver, Nick Petrangelo, and the most well-known and very successful NBA sports bettors, Haralabos Voulgaris.
Isaac Haxton raised to 2,700 from under the gun, and Alexander Trevallion reraised to 9,500 from the cutoff seat. Play folded back to Haxton, and he called to see the flop come down . After Haxton checked, Trevallion bet 8,500, and Haxton folded.
For those unfamiliar with Trevallion, he's new to the European circuit, but did have a breakout performance back in January when he took the Aussie Millions by storm and recorded three big finishes. First, Trevallion chopped the AU$25,000 Challenge with Tobias Reinkemeier for AU$645,150 ($521,835). After that, he took to the felt in the AU$100,000 Challenge and finished in eighth place for AU$310,000 ($244,943).
As if those results weren't enough, Trevallion wasn't done. His third big result came when he placed 33rd in the Aussie Millions AU$10,000 Main Event for AU$25,000 ($19,753). Although the monetary score from this run paled in comparison to his other two results, his run came in a big field of 648 runners in a premier event.
Mike McDonald, Chang He, and Stephen Chidwick were in action on the board. McDonald and He checked to Chidwick, and he bet 16,000. McDonald folded, but He made the call. The river was the , and He checked again. Chidwick bet 32,000, and He folded.
From the cutoff position, Martin Kabrhel raised to 3,000. Erik Seidel called from the small blind, and Sam Greenwood called from the big blind. The three players saw the flop come down , and action checked through to see the pair the board on the turn. Seidel and Greenwood checked, then Kabrhel pounced with a delay continuation bet of 3,600. Seidel and Greenwood folded, and Kabrhel won the pot.