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European Poker Tour Barcelona -- Day 1A

2009 Winner is Eliminated; Field Nearly Cut in Half on Day 1A

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Carter PhillipsThe 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 KDiamond Suit 10Spade Suit 4Spade Suit, Phillips bet out and Keiner raised from the cut-off. With around 20,000 already in the middle, Phillips checked on the 2Heart Suit turn. Keiner bet 12,000 and Phillips moved all in. Keiner called and showed 10Club Suit 10Heart Suit for middle set. Phillips held just JClub Suit 9Club Suit for a gutshot straight draw. The river AHeart Suit 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 AClub Suit JClub Suit JDiamond Suit. The 10Club Suit turn fell and De Melo bet 2,750. Gomes again called and the QClub Suit fell on the river. De Melo bet 8,500 and Gomes moved all in for 21,000 and De Melo called and showed 10Spade Suit 10Diamond Suit for a full house. Gomes turned over KClub Suit 9Club Suit 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 JSpade Suit JHeart Suit bested the KClub Suit KDiamond Suit of De Meulder and the 7Club Suit 5Club Suit of Arnaud Mattern after the flop fell JDiamond Suit 7Heart Suit 5Diamond Suit.

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.