€5,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
€5,300 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event got underway on Sunday inside Casino Barcelona and drew 715 players in the first of two starting flights. Leading the 221 remaining players at the end of Day 1A is Japan's Daiki Shingae with a stack of 444,000 as he looks to add to his $138,834 in Hendon Mob earnings.
Also among the big stacks in the €5,300 buy-in Main Event are France's Marc Bougaret (339,000) and Julien Sitbon (224,000), as well as Italy's Demis Mariani (309,500) and Spanish local Alejandro Ganivet (238,700).
American grinder Rania Nasreddine made two EPT Main Event final tables last year, including in Barcelona, and Nasreddine will look to continue that hot streak after bagging two starting stacks.
Others who bagged the first starting flight include American pros Brock Wilson, Kasey Lyn Mills, and Adam Hendrix, German grinder Jessica Vierling, online end boss Niklas Astedt, and Eugene Katchalov, an old school pro who made his return to poker last year.
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daiki Shingae | Japan | 444,000 | 296 |
| 2 | Marc Bougaret | France | 339,000 | 226 |
| 3 | Demis Mariani | Italy | 309,500 | 206 |
| 4 | Volodymyr Pashchetnyk | Ukraine | 278,500 | 186 |
| 5 | Panagiotis Pantazis | Greece | 266,000 | 177 |
| 6 | Wouter Beltz | Netherlands | 264,500 | 176 |
| 7 | Sergio Leyva | Spain | 264,500 | 176 |
| 8 | Danilo Carvalho | Brazil | 261,000 | 174 |
| 9 | Caio Ozawa | Brazil | 258,000 | 172 |
| 10 | Matthew McEwan | United States | 252,500 | 168 |
Just as the weather warmed up after a few cloudy days in Barcelona, the action picked up quickly in the Main Event with several coolers, suckouts and big hands fit for a cash game bad beat jackpot promotion.
Perhaps the biggest hand of the day goes to Joaquin Duran, who got it in with pocket aces against the queens of Leonardo Pfeiff before improving to quads for an emphatic double.
Duran was hungry like a wolf, but wasn't the only player to hit quads on Day 1A. Not long after, Nicola Danselmo open-jammed with pocket tens and got action from Romain Le Dantec, who never stood a chance as the dealer fanned two tens on the flop.
On the suckout side of things, Andreas Goeller spiked a three-outer to score a double knockout of Cesar Del Pino and 2023 EPT Barcelona champion Simon Wiciak. A more recent champion, 2024 winner Stephen Song, was also eliminated on Day 1A.
Also eliminated during Day 1A were former Spanish pro footballer Gerard Pique, Leo Margets, PokerStars Ambassadors Kenny Hallaert and Maria Konnikova and EPT champions Davidi Kitai, Uri Gilboa and Pedro Marques.
Monday, Aug. 25, will see the second and final starting flight of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, which will follow the same structure as Day 1A with ten one-hour levels and a 75-minute dinner break after Level 6.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on-site here at Casino Barcelona and will be back tomorrow for continued coverage of the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
444,000
219,000
|
219,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
339,000
215,800
|
215,800 |
|
|
309,500
9,500
|
9,500 |
|
|
278,500
278,500
|
278,500 |
|
|
266,000
146,000
|
146,000 |
|
|
264,500
264,500
|
264,500 |
|
|
264,500
264,500
|
264,500 |
|
|
261,000
261,000
|
261,000 |
|
|
258,000
258,000
|
258,000 |
|
|
252,500
252,500
|
252,500 |
|
|
238,700
1,300
|
1,300 |
|
|
230,500
230,500
|
230,500 |
|
|
224,000
154,000
|
154,000 |
|
|
223,500
29,000
|
29,000 |
|
|
220,000
10,000
|
10,000 |
|
|
218,000
163,000
|
163,000 |
|
|
216,000
161,000
|
161,000 |
|
|
214,500
214,500
|
214,500 |
|
|
213,500
213,500
|
213,500 |
|
|
208,000
135,000
|
135,000 |
|
|
207,000
49,000
|
49,000 |
|
|
201,500
23,700
|
23,700 |
|
|
201,000
51,000
|
51,000 |
|
|
194,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
|
188,000
12,000
|
12,000 |
Day 1A has ended with the clocks showing 221 players remaining.
Stay tuned for a full recap of the day's action.
The floor has paused the clock and instructed dealers to deal four more hands before players will bag for the evening.
Luc van der Beek opened from under the gun and Jesus Felisberto three-bet to 10,000 in the hijack. Van der Beek four-bet to 20,000 and Felisberto five-bet to 50,000. Van der Beek called.
Van der Beek checked on the flop of 7♥6♥2♣ and Felisberto continued for 45,000. Van der Beek check-raised all in and Felisberto went deep in the tank despite only having about 35,000 behind.
After several minutes, Adam Hendrix had enough and called the clock, which led Felisberto to fold and show the K♣. Van der Beek then showed the Q♥ before raking in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
|
|
20,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
Niklas Astedt raised to 2,400 from middle position. The small blind shoved all-in for 13,000, then Giuseppe Zarbo in the big blind four-bet to 23,600. Astedt went into the tank, asked Zarbo how much he had left and pushed his stack forward. Zarbo snap-folded.
Small Blind: 10♦10♣
Niklas Astedt: A♣A♥
Astedt found aces, leaving no chance to his opponent who was eliminated on 4♦7♠5♣Q♥4♠. "You can have a beer if you want," Astedt kindly offered as a waitress was bringing beers to the table.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
165,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
40,000
40,000
|
40,000 |
Jeremie Descouts was all in against Daniel Jordon a few seats to his left, who had him covered.
Jeremie Descouts: A♣K♦
Daniel Jordon: Q♦Q♥
Descouts took a big lead on the flop of 4♦K♥4♣ and celebrated with shouts of "Oui! Oui! Oui!" as the board finished out 9♠2♦ to earn him a late-night double.
In between the two players sits former Spanish football star Gerard Pique with a stack of 35,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
230,000
130,000
|
130,000 |
|
|
35,000
5,000
|
5,000 |
|
|
20,000
20,000
|
20,000 |
After Jessica Vierling raised from the hijack, Alex Keating on the button three-bet to 7,500. Alexander Yen in the small blind moved all in for 10,900. Vierling folded, but Keating called.
Alexander Yen: A♣Q♣
Alex Keating: A♦4♦
Yen kept the lead all the way through a board of A♥5♣J♥A♠7♠ and doubled up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
145,000
88,000
|
88,000 |
|
|
107,600
2,400
|
2,400 |
|
|
30,000
30,000
|
30,000 |
Level: 10
Blinds: 600/1,200
Ante: 1,200