Joining the action on the four-way turn with 5,500 in the middle and a board of , Anatoly Korochenskiy checked out of the small blind and Maxime Cheppe bet 1,600. One player called and Valentin Cristea on the button then raised it up to 5,200. Korochenskiy quickly folded, as did all the other players.
There was 1,700 in the middle on a board of in a blind-on-blind battle with action on Martin Staszko in the big blind. His opponent had fired out a bet of 1,500 and Staszko was in the tank, looking away from the table as he thought about his decision.
After another 20 seconds, he tossed in chips to call and the dealer vocalized the action. The small blind showed , showing a busted gutshot straight draw, and Staszko tabled for a pair of queens, good to earn him the pot.
The field size has grown to more than 360 entries and among those to be seated now are Rifat Palevic, John Mooney, Boris Kuzmanovic, Jessica Teussl and Tomas Jozonis, among others. Pierre Calamusa was also spotted on the way into the tournament room as well.
The first two bustouts on Day 1a are Petr Zalsky and Aguinaldo Parmisciano.
The hijack opened the action with a raise to 300 and was called by the cutoff. Action folded around to Abedel Douail, who defended his big blind, and the flop fell . Douail checked to the original raiser, who made a continuation-bet of 400. The cutoff folded and Douail made the call, bringing the turn .
Douail checked again to put action onto the aggressor, who fired a second barrel for 1,000. Douail stuck around once more and the river came . Douail checked one final time and his opponent tossed out a final shell worth 1,100. Douail quickly put in chips to call.
The hijack tabled and Douail showed to win the hand with the nut flush.
Four players each put in 1,100 and the dealer was in the process of spreading a flop of . The small blind led out with a bet of 3,000 and was called by the big blind. The hijack then folded to put action onto Helge Stjernvang, who was the final player with cards in front of him from the cutoff. Stjernvang called.
The turn was and the small blind checked. The big blind fired out 5,500, which both Stjernvang and the small blind called, leaving all three players to see the river . All three players then checked to showdown and the dealer asked for cards to be tabled.
The small blind showed for two pair, eights up. The big blind then tabled for a better two pair of kings up. Stjernvang topped them both, showing . The dealer announced a straight, pushing forward the appropriate cards on the table to signify the hand and shipped the pot Stjernvang's way.
Jean-René Fontaine and Julien Martini clashed in the 2018 EPT Barcelona National with the better end for the former while Martini had an outstanding year nonetheless. They are both in action on Day 1a and one table apart from each other.
Martini was just involved in a limped pot to the flop that went check, check. On the turn no betting action took place either and Martini bet the river for 200 to win the pot uncontested.
More than 250 players have trickled into the main tournament area and a lot more tables are prepared for the a field that is expected to grow significantly. Below are the first notables in the first of three starting days.