EPT Barcelona Day 3 Recap – Jedlicka on top; 13 Left
Day Three of the PokerStars EPT Barcelona event started off on a high note, as all of the 56 remaining players were guaranteed cash, as the money bubble burst last night before the end of Day Two. The returning players, including Katja Thater, Mark Vos and Pete 'The Beat' Giordano, hit the felt running on Day Three vying for the €1,170,700 first-place money.
Mohamad Kowssarie of Sweden came into Day Three as the chip leader after a strong performance throughout Day Two. His 332,200 in chips held a sizable lead on the rest of the field, with the top ten stacks looking like this:
Mohamad Kowssarie (Sweden) - 332,200
Mark Teltscher (UK) - 300,600
Patrick Bruel (France) - 267,000
Pete Giordano (USA) - 253,900
Adam Junglen (USA) - 227,800
Mika Paasonen (Finland) - 213,600
Christopher Ulsrud (Norway) - 197,000
Michael Wong (USA) - 193,800
Jean-Baptiste Tomi (France) - 147,100
Sander Lylloff (Denmark) - 142,500
For the short stacks that survived the bubble, Day Three started in a whirlwind of eliminations. 16 players went to the rail in the first level, as players strove to double up and move back into contention. Among the early eliminations were Dan 'Ansky' Stern in 56th, Mark Vos in 48th, Katja Thater in 47th and Fabrice Soulier in 39th.
After the initial flurry of bustouts, the pace of play slowed as short stacks worked to ease one step up the payout ladder and bigger stacks consolidated their leads to make a run at the final table. 2006 EPT Barcelona Champion Bjorn-Erik Glenne lasted past the dinner break before running into Aditya Agarwal in a final confrontation. Agarwal opened for a raise from the button and Glenne moved all in from the small blind. Agarwal called with A♠Q♥, and Glenne was behind with his K♣J♠. The board ran out 10♦2♣2♠5♦10♥, and Agarwal's Ace kicker sent Glenne to the rail in 35th place, good for €14,650.
Dag Martin Mikkelsen was active early on, rivering a flush to eliminate Thomas Fjelleheim in 32nd place and bouncing up and down the leaderboard, until he ran into two rough hands in short order to be bounced in 22nd (€20,900). In the first hand, Juan Maceiras pushed all-in on the flop of K♠10♦8♠, and Mikkelsen called with K♥Q♣. Maceiras' A♥K♥ held up and Mikkelsen was left on a very short stack. A few hands later, Mikkelsen moved all-in over the top of Adam Junglen pre-flop, and Junglen called with K♠J♠. Mikkelsen tabled 10♦10♣, and was sent to the rail when the board brought K♣Q♦3♣4♠6♥.
Mark Teltscher was also active over the last two days of competition, starting Day Three as one of the top chip stacks. Teltscher called Javed Abrahams' all in move preflop with 10♥10♠ against Abrahams' A♠J♣. Teltscher's tens held up to send Abrahams to the rail in 19th place (€20,900).
After a solid three days of play, Pete 'The Beat' Giordano ran Kings into Aces and was sent to the rail by Trond Eidsvig in 18th (€20,900). Christopher Ulsrud went to the rail in 17th minutes later when his A-6 ran into Sander Lylloff's A-J. No six for Ulsrud, and he was eliminated.
As players dwindled, tournament organizers came to realize that play would not reach the final table on Day Three as planned, due to local gaming laws that require the casino to close no later than 4 AM. As the clock ticked toward the witching hour, Alessio Isaia and Aditya Agarwal were eliminated in 16th and 15th place, respectively. Both players picked up €25,100 for their finish.
PokerStars qualifier Adam Junglen bought his seat with W$, and spent Day Three getting his money's worth. As play wound down for the day, Junglen made a tough call against Trond Eidsvig for all his chips.
Eidsvig raised pre-flop, and Junglen re-raised. Eidsvig moved all in over the top of Junglen, and after several minutes for consideration, Junglen called. Junglen hit the flop with his A♠10♦ on a flop of A♣K♣8♠, and Eidsvig's Q♦J♠ was well behind. The turn 3♠ and river 6♣ didn't save Eidsvig and Junglen dragged a huge pot in the final minutes of Day Three.
Kees Alblas was the final player eliminated on Day Three, sent to the rail in 14th when he made a move with 10♦6♥, and ran into Sander Lylloff's A♥8♦. Lylloff made trips on the flop of 9♣8♥8♣, and with no help on the turn or river, Alblas was eliminated. He picked up €33,450 for his tournament.
The final 13 went to their bed with visions of a million Euros dancing in their heads. Here are the official chip counts for the final 13:
Nikolaus Jedlicka (Austria) - 879,000
Mika Paasonen (Finland)- 715,000
Sander Lylloff (Denmark) - 646,000
Juan Maceiras (Spain) - 585,000
Mark Teltscher (UK) - 533,000
Adam Junglen (USA) - 419,000
Trond Eidsvig (Norway) - 339,000
Mohamad Kowssarie (Sweden) - 294,000
Patrick Bruel (France) - 270,000
Voitto Rintala (Finland) - 253,000
Kitai Jacob Davidi (Belgium) - 219,000
Greg Dyer (USA) - 155,000
Philip Yeh (Sweden) - 116,000
Play will resume today at 3:30PM local time to play down to the winner of the PokerStars EPT Barcelona Main Event. Join PokerNews for all your live updates, interviews and chip counts as we bring you the best in live tournament coverage.