Punnat Punsri Secures Day 1 Chip Lead in €100,000 EPT Barcelona Super High Roller

Day 1 of the highly anticipated €100,000 EPT Super High Roller during the PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona has wrapped up at Casino Barcelona, with 36 entries recorded so far and 22 players making it through to Day 2.

Leading the way is Punnat Punsri of Thailand, who bagged 943,000 after getting off to a dream start. He slow-played pocket aces against Jesse Lonis, calling a four-bet preflop before holding against Lonis’ nut flush draw to score a full double. This pot helped Punsri rise to the top of the chip counts by the end of play, and he has put himself in a great position to try to claim a second title here at EPT Barcelona.

End of Day 1 Top Ten Chip Counts

Rank	Player	Country	Chip Count	Big Blinds
1	Punnat Punsri	Thailand	943,000	157
2	Seth Davies	United States	890,000	148
3	Teun Mulder	Netherlands	829,000	138
4	Santhosh Suvarna	India	749,000	125
5	Kayhan Mokri	Norway	608,000	101
6	Nikita Kuznetsov	Russia	589,000	98
7	Aleksejs Ponakovs	Latvia	562,000	94
8	Jean-Noel Thorel	France	554,000	92
9	Phil Ivey	United States	407,000	68
10	Morten Klein	Norway	389,000	65

Second in the counts is Seth Davies, who bagged 890,000 after winning the biggest pot during the last level of the day against David Coleman. Davies four-bet jammed with big slick, and Coleman called with pocket queens. Davies looked to be heading to the rail, but an ace on the river saved Davies and locked up his spot near the top of the counts. Teun Mulder maneuvered his way to bagging up a stack of 829,000 and rounds out the podium positions.

With this being the biggest buy-in of the series, it’s no surprise the field was packed with familiar names. Among those making it through the day is Kayhan Mokri (608,000), who is the back-to-back champion of this event the last two times it was held. Also returning for Day 2 are Phil Ivey (407,000), Nick Petrangelo (260,000), Jason Koon (241,000), Espen Jorstad (169,000), and Jesse Lonis (134,000). Bringing up the rear is Enrico Camosci (72,000), who will have plenty of work to do when play resumes.

Registration remains open until cards are in the air Sunday, with the field expected to grow further in one of the festival’s most prestigious events. Day 2 resumes at 12:30 p.m. local time with blinds at 3,000/6,000 and a 6,000 big blind ante, and players will battle through another eight 60-minute levels. The official prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after play begins.