PokerStars.net EPT Barcelona, Day 2: Davidi Kitai Holds Top Spot
Two hundred and three players returned to the Casino Barcelona for the PokerStars.net European Poker Tour Barcelona Open, with Sebastian Ruthenberg leading all players entering play with over 100,000 in chips. Ruthenberg saw his stack grow throughout Day 2 as he finished among the chip leaders yet again, while many other prominent players busted until only 38 remained at the end of the day.
Among the eliminations were Robert and Eric Mizrachi, WSOP Main Event Final Table player Peter Eastgate, WSOP bracelet holder Alan Smurfit and EPT champ Glen Chorny. Tiltboy Rafe Furst busted a few levels into Day 2 when he moved the last of his chips in from the cutoff with A♠10♠ and found Hafiz Khan waiting on the button with A♦K♦. The board ran out J♦8♦7♥A♥9♦ to give Furst a straight, but it also gave Khan a flush and sent Furst packing.
The French contingent took a beating in Spain on Day 2 as Michel Abecassis, Fabrice Soulier, Nicolas Levi and Arnaud Mattern all headed to the rail. Mattern moved all in preflop over the top of a raise from Ramzi Jelassi with 10♠9♠. Jelassi called with A♦4♦, and the draw-heavy flop came down 8♦6♦5♠. Mattern picked up an inside straight draw while Jelassi made a flush draw. The Q♠ on the turn gave Mattern more straight outs, but the 4♥ on the river gave Jelassi a pair to seal the deal and bust Mattern.
It took several hours for the field of 203 to winnow down to the money bubble, but finally it was time, and Felipe Ramos garnered the ignominious title of bubble boy when he got all his chips in on a coin flip with A♦K♠ to Danele Mazzia's Q♠Q♥. Ramos needed running help after the Q♦8♥2♥ flop gave Mazzia a set. The 9♥ on the turn left Ramos drawing dead, and the remaining 64 players were in the money.
Jason Mercier was not content to merely be in the money. He chipped up relentlessly through the day to finish near the top of the chip counts. The EPT San Remo champion sent several opponents to the rail on the way to a big stack on Day 2. Joining Mercier near the top of the leader board were Dren Ukella and chip leader Davidi Kitai. Other notable players to survive Day 2 included Team PokerStars pro Chad Brown, Stephen Chidwick and Day 1 chip leader Ruthenberg.
The top ten chip stacks looked like this as the Day 2 session ended:
Davidi Kitai 544,500
Dren Ukella 374,500
Daniele Mazzia 374,000
Stephen Chidwick 355,000
Jason Mercier 345,000
Steven Weusten 332,000
Sebastian Ruthenberg 326,000
Michael Keiner 293,000
Chad Brown 259,000
Jonas Klausen 237,000
Join PokerNews at 3PM Barcelona time on Saturday as the remaining 38 players battle down to the final table.
