702 Players Return for Day 2 of Record-Breaking EPT National in Barcelona
A new record has been set at the 2019 PokerStars EPT Barcelona festival as the €1,100 EPT National drew a huge field of 4,682 entries across the four starting days. It has been the biggest turnout since the tournament's introduction in 2012, formerly known as the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event, and once more showcases that Casino Barcelona is one of the hotbeds of poker within Europe.
Each Day 1 played down to 15% of the field and a total of 702 players secured their portion of the seven-figure prize pool and Spanish flag for their Hendon Mob profile. The prize pool information will be released before the cards go in the air at noon local time and the returning blinds will be 3,000-6,000 with a big blind ante of 6,000.
Leading the survivors into Day 2 is Dutchman Dejan Jakovljevic, who has 915,000 at his disposal, more than 150 big blinds for the first level of the day. He is followed by Alen Alencar from Brazil with 830,000, while Day 1c chip leader Jonathan Therme (757,000) and Day 1d leader Romain Vial (700,000) are also in the overall top five.
Among the other notables with big stacks in the Day 2 field are Ajay Gnanasambanthan (582,000), Ivan Gabrieli (556,000), Sonny Franco (546,000), Alexandre Mantovani (540,000), Vojtech Ruzicka (531,000), Vadzim Lipauka (525,000), and PokerStars Championship Monte-Carlo winner Raffaele Sorrentino (517,000).
The 2019 EPT National Barcelona in Numbers
| Flight | Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 1c | Day 1d | Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries | 1,240 | 606 | 1,872 | 964 | 4,682 |
| Survivors | 185 | 91 | 281 | 145 | 702 |
The red spade will be represented by Kalidou Sow (400,000), Ramon Colillas (258,000) and Muskan Sethi (90,000). Two previous champions of this event and last year's runner-up are also in contention: Julien Martini (371,000) will aim to go one spot better, 2014 champ Matias Ruzzi (181,000) and 2017 winner Pedro Cairat (102,000) may very well extend the streak of success for Argentina in this very specific tournament.
The Estrellas and EPT National in Barcelona at a glance
| Year | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Country | Top Prize (in EUR) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1037 | €1,004,940 | Lorenzo Sabato | Italy | €200,000 |
| 2013 | 1798 | €1,744,060 | Soenke Jahn | Germany | €169,136 |
| 2014 | 2560 | €2,483,200 | Matias Ruzzi | Argentina | €198,550 |
| 2015 | 3292 | €3,193,240 | Mario Lopez | Argentina | €408,000 |
| 2016 | 3447 | €3,343,590 | Mohamed Samri | France | €353,220 |
| 2017 | 4557 | €4,420,290 | Pedro Cairat | Argentina | €432,178 |
| 2018 | 4348 | €4,217,560 | Jean-René Fontaine | France | €547,000 |
| 2019 | 4682 |
As of Day 2, the level duration will increase to 60 minutes each and the action resumes at noon local time. An early rush of eliminations is expected and the tournament is scheduled to play down to a champion within the next three days. The festival in Barcelona is also gearing up for the upcoming High Roller events and the highly anticipated €5,300 EPT Main Event with another potential record-breaking outcome on the horizon.
Stay tuned as PokerNews will be your one-stop-shop for all the action of the biggest poker festival on Spanish soil in 2019.