PokerStars EPT -- Barcelona Day 1B

Day 1B at the 2009 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona main event saw a group of 271 players take their seats. This was a larger number than the 208 that were in action on day 1A, but the final field size of 479 players is down substantially from last year, when 619 players played in Barcelona. This represents a drop of 140 players from last year, a 22.6 percent decrease.

A big part of this drop off has to do with the fact that European tournament poker has experienced an increase in the number of events on the calendar, and for the first time in history there were three major buy-in tournaments taking place on the continent at the same time. The two other events are taking place in Cannes, France and the island nation of Cyprus, and they have forced players to divide their attention.

There is still a lot of money waiting to be awarded to the eventual champion in Barcelona, who will walk away with €850,000. The top 72 players will take home at least €12,000 when the money bubble bursts, which should happen sometime tomorrow. Here is a look at the full payout list (all figures are in Euros):

1: 850,000
2: 530,000
3: 300,000
4: 250,000
5: 200,000
6: 160,000
7: 120,000
8: 80,000
9-10: 50,000
11-12: 40,000
13-14: 35,000
15-16: 30,000
17-24: 26,000
25-32: 23,000
33-40: 20,000
41-48: 18,000
49-56: 16,000
57-64: 14,000
65-72: 12,000

Day 1B played slow at the start, but things really picked up after the split dinner break. A total of 143 day 1B survivors will return tomorrow for day 2, and they will be joined by the 106 survivors from day 1A. The players that fell today and won’t be returning tomorrow include Team PokerStars Pros Vanessa Rousso, Boris Becker, Peter Eastgate, Alexander Kravchenko, Peter de Korver, Dario Minieri, Marcel Luske, and William Thorson. Others that missed the cut include Justin Scott, Justin Smith, Mikhail Tulchinsky, Jani Sointula, Dag Martin Mikkelsen, Stephan Kjerstad, and former world champions Carlos Mortensen and Scotty Nguyen.

Any story written about the top of the leader board for day 1B, has to include Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis, He jumped out to a quick lead with 90,000 before the first break, and he stayed near the top all day long, despite being seated at one of the toughest tables of the day with fellow Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu. Veldhuis ends the night with 145,500 after an impressive day that showcased his aggressive style. 2008 EPT Grand Final runner-up Matt Woodward charged up the standings late in the day. He surged during the last level to grow his stack to 200,000, which was good for the chip lead on day 1B.

Here is a look at the top 10 chip counts from day 1B:

Matt Woodward: 200,000
Lex Veldhuis: 145,500
Michael Mcdonald: 125,000
Robert Mizrachi: 122,000
Daniel Negreanu: 109,000
Julian Thew: 96,000
Christoffer Hansen: 95,000
Noah Boeken: 90,000
Jens Kyllonen: 90,000
Alain Roy: 90,000

The 249 players that remain will return for day 2 tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. CEST (3:30 a.m. PDT). Card Player’s tournament reporting team will be there to bring you all of the action from Barcelona in live updates, chip counts, and photos.

Here is a look at the highlights from day 1B as featured in CardPlayer.com’s live updates:

Lex Veldhuis Wins an Early Pot

A board of Q 6 2 9 8 sat on the table with 11,500 in the pot when Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis bet 7,500 from the button. His opponent in the cutoff then went into the tank for a few minutes and eventually made the call. Veldhuis turned over K K and he scored an early pot when his opponent mucked.

Remy Biechel Wins an Interesting Pot

An unraised, nine-handed pot saw a flop of 9 8 3. Remy Beichel bet 1,100 to open the action from late position and action was folded around to the button (seat 3), who called. Action was then folded around to seat 7, who went into the tank and then raised to 4,200 from middle position. Biechel then reraised an additional 6,000. Seat 3 mucked, and seat 7 went into the tank again, this time for several minutes. He eventually made the call and then both remaining players checked the 5 on the turn and the 7 on the river. Seat 7 turned over pocket threes after the river fell, but Biechel flipped up pocket nines to win the peculiar pot.

Noah Boeken Doubles Up

Team PokerStars Pro Noah Boeken raised from late position and the hi-jack made it 2,100 to go preflop. Boeken made the call and the flop was dealt 9 3 2. Boeken checked and seat 3 bet 1,800. Boeken then check-raised to 6,000 and after deliberating for a bit, seat 3 reraised to 26,000. Boeken made the all-in call and the two players flipped up their cards. Boeken held A Q and seat 3 showed down Q 10. The turn and river fell 5 8 and Boeken doubled up to 45,000.

Woodward Chips Up

With 13,500 in the pot and a flop of 7 5 5 on the table, Matt Woodward bet 12,000 from the button, and his opponent raised all in. Woodward called and both players showed down their cards. Woodward held pocket jacks and his opponent held tens. A jack comes on the turn and Woodward chipped up. He continues to build up his stack during a late surge.

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