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.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| 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 |
Day 1A Action
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.
