€10,300 High Roller Day 1 | 2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona

08-22-2018 10:28 UTC+2

Welcome to Day 1 of the €10,300 High Roller in Barcelona

Christian Zetzsche

The European Poker Tour returns to Barcelona, one of poker's hotbeds in Europe, and PokerStars is hosting a festival for the 15th time at Casino Barcelona. If the opening day of the 13-day festival with 34 tournaments is any indication, it will be a busy two weeks as more than 800 players entered the satellite for the €1,100 EPT National and there was barely any empty spot in sight in the cash game area.

The opening €10,300 High Roller traditionally gathers a lot of regulars of the European and international circuit for the first big High Roller of the festival and the event is played as 8-max with single re-entry, big blind ante and 30-second shot clock from start to finish. Registration remains open until the cards get back in the air for Day 2 as of 12 p.m. local time on Wednesday, August 23rd, 2018, and all new entries can still take a shot with 25 big blinds by then. All participants receive six time banks and another three at the start of Day 2, once the final table is reached another three time banks will be awarded.

Back in 2017 and under the umbrella of the PokerStars Championship, it was Goran "mandza17" Mandic who defeated Francois Billard in heads-up to claim the lion's share of €1,610,200 prize pool in a field of 166 entries. Mandic, who is currently in first place of the all-time money list of his home country of Croatia, claimed a payday of €374,400 for his best score on the live circuit thus far. The final table also featured such big names as PokerStars team pro Liv Boeree, David Peters, Ivan Luca and Martin Jacobson.

Day 1 will kick off at 12 p.m. local time and feature a total of 10 levels of 60 minutes each. There will be a break of 20 minutes every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break after the completion of level eight. The PokerNews live reporting team will be there to provide all the action until the champion is crowned in this 3-day tournament.

Tags: David Peters Francois Billard Goran Mandic Ivan Luca Liv Boeree Martin Jacobson

08-22-2018 13:47 UTC+2

Pique Doubles Through Vasilev

Christian Zetzsche

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

Grzegorz Grochulski raised to 600 and Gerard Piqué called only for Dmitrii Vasilev to three-bet to 3,200. Grochulski folded and Piqué four-bet all in for his last 10,700, which Vasilev snap-called.

Gerard Piqué:
Dmitrii Vasilev:

The board came and Piqué's pocket pair held to secure the double.

One hand later, Vasilev was involved in a three-way limped pot to the flop. Quan Zhou 600 from the small blind and Scott Margereson called in the big blind. Vasilev to 3,000 and both opponents folded, they were shown the .

Player	Chips	Progress
Dmitrii Vasilev	57,000 7,000	7,000
Grzegorz Grochulski	49,000 49,000	49,000
Gerard Piqué	22,000 -28,000	-28,000

Tags: Dmitrii Vasilev Gerard Piqué Grzegorz Grochulski Quan Zhou Scott Margereson

08-22-2018 14:10 UTC+2

Oliveira Doubles Through Fast

Christian Zetzsche

Level 2 : 100/200, 200 ante

Dietrich Fast three-bet an open raise from 600 to 2,200 and Jean-Noel Thorel called on the button, Filipe Oliveira in the small blind then four-bet to 10,000 and Fast was the only caller. Oliveira bet the flop for 5,000 and was called before the turn brought a bet of 10,000 and a call.

Oliveira emptied the clip by moving all in for 18,500 on the river and Fast used two time bank extensions before making the call. Oliveira turned over for the runner runner nut flush and Fast mucked.

Player	Chips	Progress
Filipe Oliveira	87,000 32,000	32,000
Dietrich Fast	21,500 -28,500	-28,500

Tags: Dietrich Fast Filipe Oliveira

08-22-2018 14:50 UTC+2

Piqué Eliminated by Margereson; Re-Enters

Christian Zetzsche

Level 3 : 100/300, 300 ante

Gerard Piqué opened the action and got one caller in Dmitrii Vasilev. Out of the blinds, Scott Margereson three-bet and Piqué got his short stack in to force out Vasilev, Margereson called.

Gerard Piqué:
Scott Margereson:

The board came and Piqué became the first casualty of the day, he then took advantage of the single re-entry option and entered again for his second and final shot at glory on the poker tables in this tournament.

Player	Chips	Progress
Scott Margereson	64,000 16,000	16,000
Gerard Piqué	50,000 38,000	38,000

Tags: Dmitrii Vasilev Gerard Piqué Scott Margereson

08-22-2018 17:07 UTC+2

Talvitie Jams Into Arends

Christian Zetzsche

Level 5 : 200/500, 500 ante

Until the flop a pot of 23,000 had already emerged and Elias Talvitie checked out of the small blind. Jans Arends bet 5,500, which Talvitie called. The on the turn was checked through and the appeared on the river. Talvitie quickly grabbed his big chip denominations to put Arends at risk, the Dutchman folded.

Gary Hasson has entered recently and is off to a good start on his first entry. He was involved in a hand just now with Fahredin Mustafov and both checked the ¢KdQs10dKs] turn. Hasson also checked the on the river and called a bet of 1,500 by Mustafov, who was about to muck his cards. Hasson flipped over for two pair with an ace kicker and that won the pot.

Player	Chips	Progress
Elias Talvitie	90,000 40,000	40,000
Gary Hasson	75,000 75,000	75,000
Fahredin Mustafov	53,000 3,000	3,000
Jans Arends	33,000 -17,000	-17,000

Tags: Elias Talvitie Fahredin Mustafov Gary Hasson Jans Arends

08-22-2018 18:24 UTC+2

Piqué Eliminated by Romero

Christian Zetzsche

Level 6 : 300/600, 600 ante

Gerard Piqué was the first player to bust and re-enter, and he has subsequently become the first player to bust on his second bullet. On the three-way flop of , Piqué checked out of the big blind and James Romero bet 1,000 from the under-the-gun position. Piotr Nurzynski called on the button and Piqué called, too.

The on the turn was checked by all three players and Piqué then moved all in for around 16,000 on the river. Romero used one time bank and called, Nurzynski folded.

Pique tabled and Romero had that beat with to send the Spanish football star to the rail.

Player	Chips	Progress
James Romero	140,000 46,000	46,000
Piotr Nurzynski	85,000 20,000	20,000

Gerard Piqué	Busted

Tags: Gerard Piqué James Romero Piotr Nurzynski

08-22-2018 19:36 UTC+2

Foxen and Plesuv Eliminated

Christian Zetzsche

Level 7 : 400/800, 800 ante

Alex Foxen made it 1,900 to go from the cutoff and Ali Reza Fatehi on the button called, as did Liv Boeree in the small blind. Goran Mandic in the big blind three-bet to 8,800 and Foxen gave it some thought before moving all in for around 32,000. Fatehi and Boeree quickly folded, and Mandic called instantly.

Alex Foxen:
Goran Mandic:

The board came and Foxen was eliminated on his first entry.

At almost the same time one table over, Pavel Plesuv was all in and at risk preflop with the and Dmitrii Vasilev looked him up with . The board of and Plesuv run out of chips on his first attempt as well.

Player	Chips	Progress
Goran Mandic	150,000 90,000	90,000
Ali Reza Fatehi	90,000 40,000	40,000
Dmitrii Vasilev	85,000 15,000	15,000
Liv Boeree	40,000 -19,000	-19,000

Pavel Plesuv	Busted
Alex Foxen	Busted

Tags: Alex Foxen Ali Reza Fatehi Dmitrii Vasilev Goran Mandic Liv Boeree Pavel Plesuv

08-22-2018 21:03 UTC+2

Kurganov Eliminated by Peters

Christian Zetzsche

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

The list of players to bust two times is growing and the latest participant to do so was PokerStars Team Pro Igor Kurganov. With a stack of 12,100, he opened to 9,000 from early position and David Peters just called. On the flop, Kurganov moved all in and Peters quickly called.

Igor Kurganov:
David Peters:

The turn gave Kurganov an open-ended straight draw, but he bricked off after the blank fell on the river.

"Enjoy, thanks for trying," Kurganov said before grabbing his belongings.

Player	Chips	Progress
David Peters	145,000 -15,000	-15,000

Igor Kurganov	Busted

Tags: David Peters Igor Kurganov

08-22-2018 21:04 UTC+2

PokerStars Adds 25K REG Charity Event to EPT Barcelona Schedule

Yori Epskamp

Level 8 : 500/1,000, 1,000 ante

Stefan Schillhabel, winner of the 25K Reg Charity event at the 2018 PCA

On Friday, August 24 at 1 p.m. PokerStars and REG Charity once again join forces to host a special 25K REG Charity event during EPT Barcelona. The buy-in will be set at EUR 26,000, with 25k going into the prize pool and 1k to charity.

There will be unlimited re-entries, big blind ante and a thirty-second shot-clock, as well as a special structure that allows for deeper play at the beginning, as well as on the final table. Players will have lunch, dinner and drinks served during the tournament. Levels will be 20 minutes each and late registration will be open until the end of level 9.

REG (Raising for Effective Giving), founded by PokerStars Team Pro's Igor Kurganov and Liv Boeree, as well as Philipp Gruissem and Stefan Huber, has selected two charitable projects as beneficiaries of the donations. All donations will be split evenly between the Foundational Research Institute, which is working to prevent dystopian outcomes from advanced technology, and the Humane Slaughter Association, which is dedicated to minimizing suffering for animals during slaughter.

"With the help of partnering organisations, REG Charity identifies the most effective charities across human, animal and research areas," Kurganov explained the charity's goals. "Currently, the chosen two orgs seem to be exceptionally low-hanging fruit"

"I like to focus on underfunded and important causes," Kurganov added when asked about the choice for these specific two charities. The lives of future generations (far) outnumber current lives today and we affect them greatly. FRI [Foundational Research Institute] focuses on research and policy advice to reduce risks from emerging technologies and astronomical suffering in the future. They are cause-neutral, meaning that they focus on whichever research area has the highest EV in terms of suffering reduction."

"HSA [Humane Slaughter Association] has a great track record of working with governments and using tech advancements to increase the welfare of farm animals. Given the vast numbers of 50-100 billion land animals and over 100 billion fish that are slaughtered each year, a more humane treatment of those food animals affects tons of lives and is quite cheap," the REG Charity co-founder told PokerNews.

It's the fourth time PokerStars and REG Charity join forces with a special 25K event. Earlier events took place during the 2017 SCOOP, the 2017 WCOOP and the 2018 PCA. In total, over $250,000 has been raised for REG's recommended charities. In January, Stefan Schillhabel won the live 25K event at the 2018 PCA for $213,977.

Kurganov is excited for the special tournament that commences on Friday, August 24 at 1 p.m. "High Rollers are fun already - when you add a charity element to them and add food and especially drinks you get the best atmosphere you can find at a poker table. Playing a high buy-in, that's fast-paced with the entire rake going to charity is as good as a tournament can get!"

For more information about the organisations, visit:
HSA: https://www.hsa.org.uk/
FRI: https://foundational-research.org/
REG: https://reg-charity.org/

Tags: Igor Kurganov Liv Boeree Philipp Gruissem REG Charity Stefan Huber Stefan Schillhabel

08-22-2018 22:50 UTC+2

Kanit Sends Kuo to the Rail

Will Shillibier

Level 9 : 600/1,200, 1,200 ante

Aaron Been opened to 2,800 from under the gun. Kitty Kuo called, as did Patrik Antonius and the player on the button.

Mustapha Kanit then three-bet all in for 57,100 from the small blind. Been folded quickly, and Kuo used up a time extension before moving all in for around 35,000. The other two players folded and the cards were turned over.

Kitty Kuo:
Mustapha Kanit:

The board ran out with no help for Kuo who was eliminated with around 30 minutes left in Level 9.