Welcome to Day 1 of the €5,300 Main Event
Record fields have been seen throughout the first few days of PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour, and with the start of the €5,300 Main Event, that trend will likely continue.
Field sizes have progressively grown throughout the existence of this event, from 229 in its inaugural 2004 edition, won by Alexander Stevic to 2019’s record-setting field of 1,988 won by fellow Swede Simon Brandstrom.
EPT Barcelona Main Event Champions since 2012 (1,000+ entry fields)
| YEAR | ENTRIES | PRIZE POOL | CHAMPION | COUNTRY | 1ST PRIZE |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 1,082 | €5,247,700 | Mikalai Pobal | Belarus | €1,007,550 |
| 2013 | 1,234 | €5,984,900 | Tom Middleton | United Kingdom | €942,000 |
| 2014 | 1,496 | €7,255,600 | Andre Lettau | Germany | €794,058 |
| 2015 | 1,694 | €8,215,900 | John Juanda | Indonesia | €1,022,593 |
| 2016 | 1,785 | €8,657,250 | Sebastian Malec | Poland | €1,122,800 |
| 2017 | 1,682 | €8,157,700 | Sebastian Sorensson | Sweden | €987,043 |
| 2018 | 1,931 | €9,365,350 | Piotr Nurzynski | Poland | €1,037,109 |
| 2019 | 1,988 | €9,641,800 | Simon Brandstrom | Sweden | €1,290,166 |
Early expectations are that for the first time ever, the event could break the 2,000 player and €10,000,000 prize pool marks, and could even far surpass those numbers.
The first group of hopefuls will flow into Casino Barcelona at 12 p.m. local time to begin a day of ten 60-minute levels, where players will start their days with 30,000 chips at levels of 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante.
The field will receive a 20-minute break after every second level, with a 75-minute dinner break after level six.
Players will be allowed two entries over the pair of opening flights which take place Monday and Tuesday, before the fields combine Wednesday for Day 2 of the six day event.
At the start of Day 3, a shot clock will be implemented, with players receiving five 30-second time bank cards.
Keep your browser locked on PokerNews throughout the week for complete updates from this and every event here at EPT Barcelona.
, Ghafoor held 
, while Pihela held 
for a superior straight to take the chip lead very early in the day.
board.
completed the board to change nothing, and Ghafoor ultimately fell against another straight held by Pihela.
and Bedir checked. Fonseca bet 1,000, Bedir check-raised to 3,600, and Fonseca called.
landed on the turn, Bedir bet 7,500, and Fonseca called.
, while Fonseca showed 
for an inferior pocket pair, and he was sent to the rail early in the day while Bedir soared to the top of the early leaderboard.
, Stefan Dimitrov checked his big blind to defending champion from 2019, Simon Brandstrom.
flop, Vanessa Kade bet 3,500 from the hijack and was called by Quentin Roussey in the cutoff.
.
. This time, Andersson checked and now faced a bet of 8,000 from Lococo. Andersson made the call.
, Andersson checked again, and Lococo moved all in for 35,600.
for trip aces and Van Rooij folded, shrinking his Dutch opponent's stack to just over 10,000.
flop, Faraz Jaka had 1,500 over the betting line in the cutoff, and Yazan Mdanat raised to 5,300 in the hijack. Jaka then moved all in, and Mdanat quickly put in a chip to call for his remaining stack of roughly 20,000.
turn changed absolutely nothing, but the 
