Day 1b of the 2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event Starts at Noon
Day 1a of the €5,300 Main Event is in the books at the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona and Day 1b is about to kick off at noon local time in Casino Barcelona. Day 1a ended with 726 entries on the tournament clock and 259 players made it through to Day 2. Benjamin Challot ended the day with exactly ten times the starting stack of 30,000 while online legend Simon ''C. Darwin2'' Mattsson sits pretty in second with 292,000 chips.
The EPT stop in Barcelona is one of the busiest on the schedule and it is back for the fifteenth time. Last year the tournament attracted 1,931 entries and Piotr Nurzynski ended as the latest champion. He took home €1,037,109 and he was the sixth millionaire to come out of the EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event. Others that won over a million in the EPT Barcelona Main Event are Sander Lyloff (2007 - €1,170,700), Sebastian Ruthenberg (2008 - €1,361,000), Mikalai Pobal (2012 - €1,007,550), John Juanda (2015 - €1,022,593), and Sebastian Malec (2016 - €1,122,800).
EPT History in Barcelona at a glance
| Year | Entres | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | First Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 229 | € 229,000 | Alexander Stevic | Sweden | € 80,000 |
| 2005 | 327 | € 1,300,000 | Jan Boubli | France | € 416,000 |
| 2006 | 480 | € 2,304,000 | Bjørn-Erik Glenne | Norway | € 691,000 |
| 2007 | 543 | € 4,181,100 | Sander Lyloff | Denmark | € 1,170,700 |
| 2008 | 619 | € 4,952,000 | Sebastian Ruthenberg | Germany | € 1,361,000 |
| 2009 | 479 | € 3,832,000 | Carter Phillips | USA | € 850,000 |
| 2010 | 758 | € 3,790,000 | Kent Lundmark | Sweden | € 825,000 |
| 2011 | 811 | € 4,055,000 | Martin Schleich | Germany | € 850,000 |
| 2012 | 1082 | € 5,247,700 | Mikalai Pobal | Belarus | € 1,007,550 |
| 2013 | 1234 | € 5,984,900 | Tom Middleton | UK | € 942,000 |
| 2014 | 1496 | € 7,255,600 | Andre Lettau | Germany | € 794,058 |
| 2015 | 1694 | € 8,215,900 | John Juanda | Indonesia | € 1,022,593 |
| 2016 | 1785 | € 8,657,250 | Sebastian Malec | Poland | € 1,122,800 |
| 2017* | 1682 | € 8,157,700 | Sebastian Sorensson | Sweden | € 987,043 |
| 2018 | 1931 | € 9,365,350 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | € 1,037,109 |
*held as PokerStars Championship
The tournament will feature a starting stack of 30,000 and 60-minute levels on Day 1. The players are allowed to make one reentry to make up for two entries in total. There is also the possibility to register at the start of Day 2 but only if you haven't fired two bullets in the tournament yet.
There will be a 20-minute break after every two levels and a 75-minute dinner break at the completion of level eight. They will play two more levels after the dinner break to end the day and bag up for Day 2.
Day 1 Structure
| Level | Duration | Small Blind | Big Blind | Big Blind Ante |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 60 min | 100 | 100 | |
| 2 | 60 min | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| BREAK 20 min | ||||
| 3 | 60 min | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| 4 | 60 min | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| BREAK 20 min | ||||
| 5 | 60 min | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 60 min | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| BREAK 20 min | ||||
| 7 | 60 min | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 60 min | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| DINNER BREAK 75 min | ||||
| 9 | 60 min | 500 | 1,000 | 1,000 |
| 10 | 60 min | 600 | 1,200 | 1,200 |
Make sure to tune in to PokerNews for all the latest updates on your favorite players in the €5,300 Main Event at the 2019 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona €5,300 Main Event.