Amsellem Leads 221 Runners After Day 1 in €10,300 EPT High Roller
The first day of the €10,300 EPT High Roller at PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour wrapped up early this morning with Israel's Jacob Amsellem bagging the chip lead with a stack of 684,000. Amsellem is one of 221 players who will return for Day 2 in the three-day event.
Like other events during EPT's return to Barcelona after a three-year hiatus, the High Roller attracted a big field of 500 and even bigger names. Some of the well-knowns who bagged on Day 1 include Vanessa Kade, Dario Sammartino, Chino Rheem, Ben Heath, Anton Wigg, Niklas Astedt, Nacho Barbero, Francisco Benitez and PokerStars Ambassadors Andre Akkari and Ramon Colillas.
There were also some EPT champions in the Day 1 field, including John Juanda, who took down the 2015 EPT Barcelona Main Event for €1,022,593, as well as reigning 2019 EPT Barcelona champ Simon Brandstrom.
Another player who found a bag was high-stakes American pro Dan Smith, who played a memorable hand late in the day where he busted Australia's Michael Addamo, who was quick to sit back down on a final bullet but who busted out during the last level of play.
Those who weren't fortunate enough to find a bag include Martin Jacobson, Andras Nemeth, Joao Vieira, Will Kassouf, PokerStars ambassadors Sam Grafton and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel, who has made two final tables this series and finished second in the €100,000 EPT Super High Roller for €1,286,490.
Day 2 action will pick up Saturday, Aug. 20 at 12:30 p.m. local time and will play with 50-minute levels and 15-minute breaks every two levels after some changes to the event schedule. The day will begin on Level 12 with blinds of 1,000/2,000/2,000.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back on-site tomorrow as EPT Barcelona starts wrapping up here in Catalonia.