At 12.30 p.m. local time, Day 2 of the PokerStars.es EPT13 Barcelona €50,000 Super High Roller will get underway with 57 players out of a 89-entry strong field remaining.
Thus far there were 73 unique players and 16 reentries, however, both of these numbers may still increase and the 99 entries of last year may be eclipsed with the registration being open until 15 minutes prior to the restart. The table redraw and the prize pool information will be published once the registration is officially closed.
After yesterday's eight levels of 80 minutes each, Germany's Julian Stuer bagged up the most chips with 1,350,000 followed by German wunderkind Fedor Holz (1,150,000) and France's Jean-Noel Thorel (1,075,000) claims the last spot on the overnight podium.
Timothy Adams was among the big stacks for most of Day 1 and advanced with 877,000 before a big gap emerges to the likes of Adrian Mateos (566,000), Erik Seidel (552,000) and €10,000 High Roller winner Nick Petrangelo (496,000). The defending champion of this very event and former November Niner, Sylvain Loosli, bagged up 404,000.
The penultimate day of the most expensive event of the festival at the Casino Barcelona has another 10 levels of 60 minutes scheduled or until the final table of the last eight is reached, whichever of the two comes first. Action will resume with level nine with blinds of 3,000/6,000 and a running ante of 1,000, and the PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to provide all the action until a winner is crowned on Monday, August 22nd.
One of the big changes to the European Poker Tour this season is the announced new payout structure that pays 20 percent of the field, compared to the 15 percent it paid in recent years.
We spoke to PokerStars Department Head of Live Poker Operations Neil Johnson about the change and its implications.
FC Barcelona star Gerard Piqué is one of the players who took a seat at the start of day 2. The Spanish soccer player is a known poker aficionado, having scored two EPT-cashes here in the past. Piqué's biggest score to date, besides winning the UEFA Champions League four times, is €40,950 in a €5,000 Six Max Turbo in EPT season 8.
Piqué won his first pot right away, as he opened under the gun to 14,000 and got a call from Chance Kornuth. At a flop, Piqué continued with 18,000, and Kornuth let it go.
Ivan Luca opened to 12,000 and Mike McDonald three-bet to 30,000 from the hijack. In the next position over from him, Mustapha Kanit then four-bet to 78,000. The remaining players folded and action was back on Luca who moved all in for his remaining chips. McDonald folded and Kanit called.
Mustapha Kanit:
Ivan Luca:
Kanit was ahead, but Luca picked up outs on the flop, with any king giving him a straight. However, the on the turn meant that he was drawing dead to Kanit's full house, and the on the river sealed his fate.
Jason Mercier opened for 16,000 and Christopher Kruk shoved for 175,000. Big blind Sylvain Loosli over shoved from the big blind and Mercier folded.
Christopher Kruk:
Sylvain Loosli:
The board ran out an uneventful and Kruk made his exit. Kruk started the day with about half a million, but things didn't go his way today and he busted after just one level of play.
Gerard Pique raised to 23,000 from the cutoff and action folded to Claas Segebrecht in the small blind, who announced all in. "About 230k," the German added and Pique counted his stack. After half a minute, the football star then said "I call" and flipped for his tournament life with around 200,000 chips.
Pique:
Segebrecht:
While the board ran out , Segebrecht looked away and didn't want to see the outcome until after the final community card was dealt.
Dominik Nitsche was talking to several of his countrymen one table over and seemed a little puzzled with what had just happened. We asked him for the details of his bust out hand and he was kind enough to share them.
The action folded to David Peters in the small blind and he limped in. Big blind Dominik Nitsche raised to 25,000 and was soon facing a raise to 75,000. Nitsche called in position.
The flop came and Peters bet out 50,000. Nitsche raised to 100,000 and Peters called. Peters checked on the turn and Nitsche shoved all in for 134,000. peters tanked for a bit before he called.
David Peters:
Dominik Nitsche:
Nitsche was in excellent position to double up, but the poker gods had other plans in mind; on the river. Nitsche made his exit, Peters stacked up to almost a million in chips.
Action folded to Mustapha Kanit and the Italian superstar limped in from the small blind. Adrian Mateos, like Kanit a Super High Roller regular, bumped it up to 28,000 from the big blind. Kanit made the call.
The flop came and Kanit checked. Mateos made a bet of 40,000 and Kanit answered with a check-raise to 135,000. Mateos shoved for 480,000 effective and Kanit made the call.
Mustapha Kanit:
Adrian Mateos:
The on the turn was certainly a good card for Kanit, but it wasn't enough as the river gave Mateos the bigger full house.
Kanit eliminated, Mateos up to 1.3 million in chips.
"If I'm gonna lose, I wanna lose early" proclaimed Daniel Negreanu after sliding over all of his chips to Niall Farrell.
Negreanu had gotten his remaining 200,000 chips in before the flop holding and was up against the of Niall Farrell. The board came and Negreanu had been drawing dead by the time the turn had come out.
First to act, Stanley Choi made it 26,000. From the hijack, Mike McDonald made the call and so did his neighbor Jean-Noel Thorel in the cutoff. Adrian Mateos squeezed from the button to 90,000 and both blinds released. Choi opted to follow the blinds and folded as well, but McDonald called.
Action was back on Thorel and he shoved all in for just over 800,000. Mateos folded and the decision was on McDonald.
"It's tough to fold big hands to you," McDonald said after some time in the tank, "Show if I fold?"
"I don't know" Thorel answered with a big smile.
"You don't know?" smiled McDonald.
While the break had already started, McDonald eventually tossed in some chips to call.