Welcome to the 2019 PokerStars EPT Barcelona €1,100 EPT National
One of the biggest and most-prestigious poker festivals of the year is taking place at Casino Barcelona, as the cornerstone of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) has been a returning stop in all previous 14 years since it's inaugural edition back in 2004. The attendance numbers for the PokerStars EPT Barcelona have been growing year-after-year and new records were set not only in the €5,300 Main Event but also in the €1,100 National.
One year ago, Jean-René Fontaine defeated Julien Martini in heads-up to come out on top of a field of 4,348 runners and claim the top prize of €547,000. Fontaine, who hails from the French overseas territory of Réunion, also made headlines at the 2019 World Series of Poker when he came second in the $1,000 Seniors Event for a payday of $409,249.
For Martini, it was one of several outstanding results in 12 months of poker that has seen his rise into the top ten of the French all-time money list. Martini won his first bracelet at the 2018 WSOP, racked up another WSOP final table appearance in Las Vegas before his trip to Catalunya was crowned with a payday of €323,000. And in January 2019, Martini then finished runner-up to Ramon Colillas in the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em PokerStars Players Championship on the Bahamas for a life-changing $2,974,000.
The action at one of Europe's hotbeds of poker has already kicked off a few days ago. For the first time ever, the Campeonato España de Poker was held right before the EPT and has seen record numbers for the €500 Main Event and the €1,100 High Roller. The former tournament has already played down to a winner two days ago while the High Roller determined a champion in the previous night with the full results to follow.
Out of 1,733 entries in the €500 CEP Main Event, two Frenchman and a Lithuanian claimed the podium spots as Fabien Lecardonnel took home €110,000 for his victory, fellow countryman David Dubuisson earned a payday of €85,000 and Liutauras Armanavicius received €50,000 for his third place.
Casino Barcelona staff expects another record-breaking field in the €1,100 EPT National, which features a total of four starting days on August 21st and 22nd. Day 1a will commence at noon local time and Day 1b follows the same day at 7 p.m. local time. Players can re-enter into the following flight should they run out of chips. As such, a maximum of four entries are allowed and the registration for each Day 1 closes after level eight.
Each participant receives 30,000 in chips and the levels on Day 1a and Day 1c last 40 minutes each, for Day 1b the level duration is 30 minutes and the final flight includes levels of 20 minutes. Each of the four flights plays down to 15% of the field and the poker enthusiasts from near and far have to bag and tag for Day 2 in order to be in the money.
Once all survivors combine to a single field for the first time, the level duration on Day 2 and for the remainder of the event increases to 60 minutes each. The event is scheduled to play down to a champion on Sunday, August 25th, 2019.
Who will follow into the footsteps of Fontaine and Martini in one of Europe's biggest mid-stakes tournaments of the year? Stay tuned for all the action from Barcelona, as the PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor from start-to-finish to provide all the action.