EPT Barcelona Update

As of tonight, the EPT Barcelona and its Main Event are now three days underway. Barcelona’s move from the beginning to the middle of the tour has proven to be an intelligent one with numbers significantly improved over last year’s. For example, last year’s EPT Barcelona drew 479 entrants. This year, Day 1b alone attracted 495 entrants with 758 players ponying up altogether.

As with so many other big tournaments, this year’s EPT Barcelona has been all about the short-lived rise and premature fall of a whole bevy of notable players. Day 1a saw stoic Loic Sa quietly dominating the competition. He finished the day with the top stack of 217,700 chips. By the end of Day 1b, though, there was a new chip leader in the form of the more animated Spaniard, Luis Rufas. Rufas battled it out with nearly 500 other players to build his big stack of 232,100 chips.

Just short of 400 players (399 to be exact) hit the felt for Day 2, and only 112 emerged. It’s been a good year for Bryn Kenney who already cashed at both the WSOP and WSOPE Main Events and is now sitting in first position going into Day 3 in Barcelona. Kenney came into Day 2 in the middle of the pack but ended the day with 693,500 chips, enough to make him the new leader.

The second largest stack belongs to Roman Makhlin (643,000), followed by Guiseppe Pantaleo (622,500); Day 1b leader Luis Rafas is hanging on with the fourth largest stack, and Dominic Nitsche rounds out the top five. They’ll be back at the tables today to take the field down in size from 112 to just 24.

What of our triple crown hopefuls? Day 1b proved fatal for KidPoker. Negreanu busted out rather early in his play. There’s better news for Alexandre Gomes who survived Days 1 and 2, and whose triple crown dream is still well within reach going into Day 3 in the middle of the pack. If the winner is anyone but Gomes, the top prize of €825,000 is still a worthwhile one. Thanks to the increased entries, this year’s total prize pool is €3,790,000.

Related Entries