Welcome to Day 2 of the 2016 EPT Barcelona Main Event! A record-shattering field of 1,759 players already registered for this event, of which 902 have survived the first day. The final number of contestants is not in yet, as players can still late register until the start of day 2. Expect a few more familiar faces to pop in and take a shot at the already massive prize pool.
Today will be a relatively short day, with just six 75-minutes levels to be played until the end is reached. Play will start at 12 p.m. local time, and with no dinner break scheduled, play should halt around 8:30 p.m. The bubble is expected to burst in the last levels of the day.
Russia's Andrey Sharonov is the overall chipleader after Day 1, having amassed 278,600 chips in total. Marco Caza of Canada is in close second with 262,000, and Van Hiep Tran of Germany rounds out the top three with 227,200. EPT 6 Grand Final winner Nicolas Chouity (207,100) is currently in fifth place, looking to add a second EPT-title to his already impressive poker resumé.
The official prize pool and payouts will be announced shortly after the start of Day 2. Follow PokerNews.com for live updates of this record breaking European Poker Tour throughout the day.
Paul Hoefer raised to 2,000 and Julian Stuer three-bet to 4,900. Hoefer then four-bet to 21,200, leaving himself only around 3,000 in chips. However, Stuer called, thinking that Hoefer was all in, and tabled his hand: . The floor was called over and the dealer recounted the action to the pair of them.
The dealer said that the pair were going to see a flop, but Stuer couldn't do any more aggressive actions. As this was being explained, Hoefer flashed the to his fellow German and the pair exchanged a chuckle.
The flop was dealt and Hoefer exclaimed "Oh that's good for me!" and moved his remaining chips all in. Stuer called. Hoefer tabled .
The board ran out and Hoefer shook Stuer's hand as he headed to the exit.
Xuan Liu raised from under the gun and Wael Sarkis called from two seats over. On the flop, both players checked and Liu then bet 4,000 on the turn. Sarkis just called to see the on the river.
Now, Liu made it 9,500 to go with around 15,000 behind and Sarkis slid forward a stack of T-5,000 chips. Liu gave it some thought and called, then was shown by Sarkis and mucked her before exiting the tournament area.
After winning a WSOP bracelet last summer, defeating Scottish pro Niall Farrell heads-up (and teaming up with him afterwards), Safiya Umerova has set her sights on an EPT-victory as well. Umerova was off to a great start today, chipping up to nearly 200,000 in the early stages, before she clashed with Pavlos Xanthopoulos in a huge pot.
Eduardo De Mello opened to 2,500 from under the gun. Umerova called on the button, and Xanthopoulos defended his big blind. The flop was and Xanthopoulos checked. De Mello checked as well, and Umerova bet 5,200, with Xanthopoulos being the only caller.
The on the turn brought the fireworks out. Xanthopoulos led out 8,500, Umerova raised to 21,500, Xanthopoulos reraised to 45,000, and Umerova called. Both players already build up the pot to over a 100,000 when the river was dealt.
The river brought the and Xanthopoulos moved all in for 71,100. Umerova slumped back in her chair, took a sip of her drink and appeared to have a huge hand for the situation. She removed her sunglasses to take a good look at her opponent, but Xanthopoulos was staring stoically in front of him. After thinking for over five minutes, Umerova slowly slid her hand face-down over the line.
"Good bet," the American with Russian roots said. "I was very close to calling." Xanthopoulos said nothing and raked in the big pot.
Joining the action on the flop, the big blind checked and Alexander Lakhov bet 5,000 from early position. One seat over, Dominik Panka had put his sunglasses and game face on. After about one minute of consideration, he moved all in for 32,000 and the big blind quickly folded. Lakhov called with the superior stack, though not by much, and the cards were tabled.
Panka:
Lakhov:
The turn changed nothing, but the river improved Lakhov to two pair and eliminated the former PCA champion.
Fedor Holz raised to 2,700 and Narcis-Gabriel Nedelcu three-bet to 7,100. Holz called and the pair saw a flop of .
Holz checked to his opponent who bet 12,200 and Holz called. The turn was the and again Holz checked. This time Nedelcu moved all in. He had over 200,000 behind, and Holz had started the hand with little over 40,000 after having registered at the start of today's play.
After a couple of minutes thinking, Holz called and tabled for top pair. Nedelcu however had and Holz couldn't find an ace or a nine on the river as it came to eliminate the €50,000 Super High Roller champion.
On the flop of , things escalated between Jeremy Nock in the big blind, Alexandros Kolonias from under the gun and big stack Adem Marjanovic. Nock ended up all in and Kolonias as well as Marjanovic called to see the on the turn. Kolonias checked, Marjanovic moved all in and Kolonias was sent into the think tank.
Eventually, Marjanovic called the clock on him and with seconds left, Kolonias called it off for his last 40,000.
Nock:
Kolonias:
Marjanovic:
"Oh wow, Spade one time," Nock demanded, but the river was a blank to eliminate Nock and Kolonias.
The entire hand took about ten minutes and ended with a double elimination, including Solomon Onoriu Stan and EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell.
Alin Grasu raised to 4,700 and Yordan Mihaylov Petrov called from one seat over. Farrell then three-bet to 18,000 in the small blind and Stan called all in for his last very few chips. Grasu four-bet to 46,500 and Petrov folded. Farrell five-bet all in for more than 140,000 and Grasu called.
Stan:
Farrell:
Grasu:
The board ran out and the stacks were counted, Farrell was covered and Grasu claimed a big pot to join the current chip leaders.
Team PokerStars Pro Jake Cody is up to 131,500 after winning a flip against Benny Spindler. Both men are former EPT champions, with Spindler having won EPT London almost five years ago and Cody having scooped the Deauville Main Event way back in Season 6.
Only the British legend has the chance to get a second EPT win under his belt here after Cody's pocket jacks overcame Spindler's . An ace on the flop looked like the German might be doubling up, but a jack on the turn led to Spindler losing and Cody climbing up the chip-counts.
Phil Souki just eliminated Leo Fernandez (pictured) in two hands to rocket his stack up the chipcounts. First, Souki held and squeezed a good slice of value on a queen-high board. Then, in the next hand and against Fernandez again, he opened with and called the immediate shove that came from Fernandez for 31,100. The Team PokerStars Pro held ,started behind and finished the same through a board of .
Souki has made the maximum from his two premium hands and is right back above average.
. The floor was called over and the dealer recounted the action to the pair of them.
to his fellow German and the pair exchanged a chuckle.
and Hoefer exclaimed "Oh that's good for me!" and moved his remaining chips all in. Stuer called. Hoefer tabled 
and Hoefer shook Stuer's hand as he headed to the exit.
flop, both players checked and Liu then bet 4,000 on the 
on the river.
before exiting the tournament area.
on the turn brought the fireworks out. Xanthopoulos led out 8,500, Umerova raised to 21,500, Xanthopoulos reraised to 45,000, and Umerova called. Both players already build up the pot to over a 100,000 when the river was dealt.
and Xanthopoulos moved all in for 71,100. Umerova slumped back in her chair, took a sip of her drink and appeared to have a huge hand for the situation. She removed her sunglasses to take a good look at her opponent, but Xanthopoulos was staring stoically in front of him. After thinking for over five minutes, Umerova slowly slid her hand face-down over the line.
flop, the big blind checked and Alexander Lakhov bet 5,000 from early position. One seat over, Dominik Panka had put his sunglasses and game face on. After about one minute of consideration, he moved all in for 32,000 and the big blind quickly folded. Lakhov called with the superior stack, though not by much, and the cards were tabled.
turn changed nothing, but the 
river improved Lakhov to two pair and eliminated the former PCA champion.
.
for top pair. Nedelcu however had 
to eliminate the €50,000 Super High Roller champion.
on the turn. Kolonias checked, Marjanovic moved all in and Kolonias was sent into the think tank.
. An ace on the flop looked like the German might be doubling up, but a jack on the turn led to Spindler losing and Cody climbing up the chip-counts.
and squeezed a good slice of value on a queen-high board. Then, in the next hand and against Fernandez again, he opened with 
