European Poker Tour Barcelona -- Day 1A2009 Winner is Eliminated; Field Nearly Cut in Half on Day 1A |
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The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) kicked off its €5,300 main event in Barcelona today with 263 players hitting the felt for day 1A action. And there was plenty of action from the start, as the field was nearly cut in half with 137 players remaining at the day’s end.
2009 EPT Barcelona champion Carter Phillips saw his chance at a repeat performance come to an end shortly after he lost a big hand to Michael Keiner in the middle of day 1A.
On a flop of K 10 4, Phillips bet out and Keiner raised from the cut-off. With around 20,000 already in the middle, Phillips checked on the 2 turn. Keiner bet 12,000 and Phillips moved all in. Keiner called and showed 10 10 for middle set. Phillips held just J 9 for a gutshot straight draw. The river A didn’t help Carter, and Keiner doubled to around 65,000 in chips. Carter was left with just around 6,000 in chips and was eliminated shortly after.
Leading the way after day 1A was Loic Sa, with 217,700 in chips. The next closest was Yann Dion, with 162,500. Fabrizio Baldassari, this year’s runner-up in the WSOP Europe main event, had a solid start to EPT Barcelona, ending the day with around 129,200. Jan Boubli finished in 18th place in this event last year, and he ended today with 139,100 in chips.
Here are the top 10 chip counts at the end of day 1A:
1. Loic Sa — 217,700
2. Yann Dion — 162,500
3. Claudio Piceci — 143,600
4. Jan Boubli — 139,100
5. Giuseppe Pantaleo — 135,900
6. Fabrizio Baldassari — 129,200
7. Thomas Froeslev — 126,700
8. Michel Spagna — 125,800
9. Jose Rivas — 125,400
10. Arie Ori Miller — 123,300
Hand of the Day
Gomes Climbs With Big Hands
Alexandre Gomes had a memorable start to the event. Early in the day, he called a bet of 1,525 from Fatima Mereira de Meloon a flop of A J J. The 10 turn fell and De Melo bet 2,750. Gomes again called and the Q fell on the river. De Melo bet 8,500 and Gomes moved all in for 21,000 and De Melo called and showed 10 10 for a full house. Gomes turned over K 9 for a royal flush, chipping up to around 53,000 early in the day.
Later in the day, he saw his stack grow to around 90,000 when his J J bested the K K of De Meulder and the 7 5 of Arnaud Mattern after the flop fell J 7 5.
Notable Eliminations
Some of the notable eliminations on day 1A included Carter Phillips, Lex Veldhuis, Ville Wahlbeck, Ludovic Lacay, Nick Binger, and Georgios Kapalas, who finished eight in this event a year ago.
Stay tuned to CardPlayer.com for day 1B action in the PokerStars blog feed.