Kenny Hallaert Continues Hot Belgian Summer in PokerStars Open Barcelona Main Event
It's almost time for Day 3 of the PokerStars Open Barcelona Main Event as part of the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona at Casino Barcelona, which will see 107 players return in the fight for the title and €772,000 top prize.
India's Vidur Sethi leads heading into the third day of play with a stack worth 130 big blinds, while also among the top ten chip stacks are Adam Martinsson of Sweden and Eros Calderone of Italy and Thibaud Martin of France, all of whom ended the Day 2 with more than a hundred big blinds.
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vidur Sethi | India | 3,890,000 |
| 2 | Kazuhiko Yotsushika | Japan | 3,880,000 |
| 3 | Joseph Bardakji | France | 3,805,000 |
| 4 | Yakiv Syzghanov | Ukraine | 3,760,000 |
| 5 | Bernardo Neves | Portugal | 3,660,000 |
| 6 | Conor O'Driscoll | Ireland | 3,400,000 |
| 7 | Thibaud Martin | France | 3,195,000 |
| 8 | Eros Calderone | Italy | 3,175,000 |
| 9 | Adam Martinsson | Sweden | 3,015,000 |
| 10 | Jakub Sterba | Czechia | 2,865,000 |
Toward the middle of the counts is PokerStars' own Kenny Hallaert, who has already had a seven-figure summer that the Belgian now looks to continue in Barcelona. Meanwhile, 2023 EPT Barcelona Main Event champion Simon Wiciak is after another title inside Casino Barcelona.
Also in the field is Ukraine's Eugene Katchalov, an old-school pro who spoke about his recent return to poker last year on the Life Outside Poker podcast, as well as American pros Martin Zamani and Justin Saliba.
Day 3 gets underway at 11 a.m. local time and will feature blinds levels of 20,000/40,000/40,000 on Level 25. Levels will remain an hour in duration for the remainder of the tournament, which is scheduled to wrap up with Day 4 on Sunday, Aug. 24.
All 107 players returning on Saturday are guaranteed a minimum payout of €10,200, and the payouts will increase gradually ahead of the €772,000 top prize.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site at Casino Barcelona and ready to provide updates on the Day 3 action.