Pablo Almeida raised to 5,000 from early position with A♣K♣ and Vlado Banicevic three-bet to 16,500 from the cutoff with A♥10♥, which Almeida called.
The flop came 4♦K♦7♠ and Almeida checked his pair of kings. Banicevic bet 10,000 and Almeida called. The turn was the 5♠ and Almeida checked again. Banicevic continued his bluff with a bet of 28,000 and Almeida called.
The river came the 5♣ and Almeida checked a third street. Banicevic moved all in with the bigger stack, still running a bluff, and Almeida called for 47,000 to win the pot and double his stack.
Action was caught on the river, with around 140,000 in the middle on the J♠A♣7♥8♠3♠ board.
Jack Hardcastle checked in the small blind, prompting Raoul Kanme to bet 57,000 from the button. Hardcastle moved all in for 168,000, sending Kanme deep into the tank. Hardcastle remained stoic as Kanme agonized.
Kanme, who covered, slid in calling chips and breathed a huge sigh of relief when the cards were tabled.
Hardcastle tabled K♠J♦, and his bluff using the second nut-flush blocker was unable to get through as Kanme couldn't find a fold with his 8♣7♣, which was good for two pair.
Hardcastle left the tournament room, and Kanme told tablemate Jeff Kirsch that he was very close to folding.
A massive cooler took place at Table 10 with PokerNews picking up the action on the turn.
In a three-way pot on a board of 9♠5♠10♠K♥, Bekim Murtezi checked before a hefty bet from Carlos Jurado. Evgenii Sboev called and Murtezi got out of the way.
Jurado then bet 185,000 on the 3♣ river and Sboev went deep in the tank before landing on a call. Jurado showed A♠3♠ for the nut flush, while Sboev mucked a no-good set with 10♦10♣.
Murtezi then revealed that he got away from a flopped set of his own holding 5x5x.
With the flop showing 10♥9♠5♦, Day 1a chip leader Joost Hollak bet 16,000 with Shakhabiddin Muradov making the call.
Hollak fired a bet of 50,000 upon seeing the 6♥ hit the turn. Muradov shoved for Hollak's remaining 75,000 and Hollak called.
Joost Hollak: A♠A♦
Shakhabiddin Muradov: Q♦10♦
Hollak was ahead with his overpair but had to fade a queen or a ten on the river to stay alive. The blank 2♣ river was exactly what Hollak was looking for as he doubled up with pocket aces.
"No snap-call, please," Ren Lin said as he moved all in for 10,000 from the hijack. Action folded to Oliver Weis who called in the big blind.
Ren Lin: 10♥10♣
Oliver Weis: 9♠6♥
"Gamble too much," Lin said when Weis turned over his cards. The Q♥9♣7♠ flop gave Weis a pair, but he improved no further on the 4♦ turn and 8♣ river as Lin doubled up.
"Three big blind, I'm number one in the world. Three big blind I know how to play. One more double up, back to average. One more double and we're in the money," Lin said as he took the pot.
Following four 90-minute levels of play Tuesday, the bubble now awaits 293 survivors from Day 2 of the PokerStars EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Leading the field into Day 3 will be Kian Kiani, who bagged 775,000 chips, but not far behind him is Hans Erlandsson with 720,000 and Javey Timmer with 692,000 to round out the top three.
One very notable name ending the day in the top ten was EPT Monte Carlo Main Event third place finisher Rania Nasreddine who finished the day with 609,000 chips, good enough for seventh place entering Day 3.
Including an additional 85 last-minute registrants before Day 2 began, a field of 713 players started the day from a final total of 1,975 entries, the fourth largest EPT Main Event in the tour’s illustrious 20-year history.
From that total, a prize pool of €9,578,750 was announced with a €1,512,000 first prize going to the champion on Sunday, September 8. When the bubble bursts on Wednesday, the final 287 players are guaranteed a min-cash of €8,700.
Payouts
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
Place
Prize
1
€1,512,000
10-11
€107,450
40-55
€23,350
2
€944,000
12-13
€89,550
56-71
€20,300
3
€674,150
14-15
€74,600
72-95
€17,600
4
€518,600
16-17
€62,150
96-119
€15,350
5
€398,950
18-20
€51,800
120-143
€13,300
6
€306,900
21-23
€43,200
144-183
€11,600
7
€236,100
24-27
€36,000
184-223
€10,050
8
€181,600
28-31
€30,950
224-287
€8,700
9
€139,750
32-39
€26,900
Kian Kiani
Day 2 Action
Chip leader Kiani made moves up the chip counts right from the start of the day, first unceremoniously eliminating Thierry Van den Berg with an ace on the river versus Van den Berg’s kings, then flopping the nuts in a huge three-way pot and holding on to move near the chip lead midway through the day.
He continued to increase his stack until the end of the day to claim his place atop the counts.
Other notables advancing to Day 3 include defending champion and PokerStars Ambassador Simon Wiciak (400,000), EPT commentator Griffin Benger (345,000), PokerStars Ambassador Ramon Colillas (268,000), 2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event champ Tom Middleton (213,000), PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot (99,000) and Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (65,000). Start of day chip leader Jeremie Zouari had a rough day and finished with just 39,000.
Alexander Seibt
GPI award-winning vlogger “Wolfgang Poker” Alexander Seibt was among those to max-late-reg and he successfully spun up a healthy stack of 147,000, thanks in part to flopping the nuts in a big hand in the second half of the day.
Plenty of big names were also eliminated along the way Tuesday. PokerStars Ambassadors Andre Akkari, Maria Konnikova, Benjamin Spragg, and Jen Shahade were among the day’s early eliminations with Shehade going out in particularly nasty fashion.
Rafael Moraes and Kenny Hallaert got through more of the day, but they also failed earn a seat on Day 3.
Patrik Antonius, Olga Iermolcheva, Noah Boeken, Dzmitry Urbanovich, and Justin Saliba were some of the other notables to fall in the first level of the day.
Others who were eliminated during the day include Former EPT champions Mike Watson, Davidi Kitai, Robin Ylitalo, and Arsenii Karmatckii. Maria Ho, Calvin Anderson, Sam Greenwood, and Benny Glaser were also among those who couldn't quite make it to Day 3.
Sam Greenwood
Next Up, the Money
Next up is Day 3, beginning at noon local time on Wednesday, when the bubble will burst and the remaining field will be thinned significantly. Keep your browsers locked right here for continuing coverage from the PokerNews live reporting team along with streamed coverage as well until a champion is crowned.
