2012 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 2: John Juanda, Ilari Sahamies Thrive
The 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event, which attracted 1,082 runners, continued Tuesday with the remaining 600 players packing into the Casino de Barcelona for six more levels of action. By the end of the day, 207 remained, with John Juanda and his stack of 732,400 leading the way.
Juanda was at the restricted feature table much of the day, but he told PokerNews about the hand that pushed him to the top. According to Juanda, it happened when a player in early position limped, the button raised to 6,600, the small blind called, and Juanda called from the big blind. The limper called, as well, and it was four-way action to the Kx10x3x rainbow flop. The small blind led out for 12,500, Juanda called with 3x3x, and the early-position player raised to 28,000. After two players folded, Juanda three-bet to 100,000, and his opponent moved all in with K♣7♣ for 300,000. Juanda snap-called and his bottom set held, allowing him to scoop a massive pot.
While Juanda made it look easy on Day 2, it wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone. One player who had a rough going was 2011 World Series of Poker Main Event champ Pius Heinz. In Level 12, action folded to Heinz in the hijack and he raise to 3,400. Liya Gerasimova, the recent winner of the EPT Barcelona Ladies Event, called from the big blind.
Gerasimova lead out for 4,200 on the 9♠10♥J♥ flop, Heinz raised to 10,800, Gerasimova moved all in, and Heinz quickly called off for around 50,000.
Showdown
| Gerasimova | K♥Q♦ |
| Heinz | Q♠Q♥ |
The young German had an over pair with an open-ended straight draw, but it was way behind the flopped nuts of Gerasimova. Neither the 9♦ turn nor 4♣ river helped Heinz, and he was eliminated from the tournament.
Another elimination was that of Season 7 EPT Barcelona champ Kent Lundmark, who called off holding 9♦9♣ from the button on a board reading 8♦2♦3♠6♠8♠. Unfortunately for him, Saab Rachad held A♥A♠ and his hopes of a second EPT title came to an abrupt end.
Others who failed to make it through the day were Jason Mercier, Rino Mathis, Jude Ainsworth, Faraz Jaka, Gus Hansen, Tristan Wade, Davidi Kitai, Dermot Blain, Dominik Nitsche, Sami Kelopuro, Kyle Julius, Terje Augdal, Marcin Horecki David Vamplew, Ville Wahlbeck, Andy Frankenberger, Veldhuis, and defending champ Martin Schleich.
While many failed to survive, a few managed to thrive. Team PokerStars Pro Daniel Negreanu was quiet and card dead much of the day, but then hit his stride toward the end of the night. In one hand, Frederic Bussot-Fuentes shoved from early position for 47,600 and Marco Sposito called off for around 16,000. Negreanu gave it some thought and eventually made the call, as well.
Showdown
| Negreanu | A♦ K♣ |
| Bussot-Fuentes | 7♠ 7♥ |
| Sposito | A♥ Q♠ |
The dealer burned and put out the J♥4♣A♣ flop, giving Negreanu the lead with a pair of aces and a king kicker. The 5♠ on the turn didn't change a thing, and neither did the 8♥ on the river. Negreanu collected the pot and sent two opponents to the rail. He went on to finish the night with 248,600.
Others returning for Day 3 with the money bubble approaching are online sensation Ilari Sahamies; the Bachar Brothers, Ziv and Guy; Season 5 champ Sebastian Ruthenberg; World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah; The 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final champ and runner-up, Mohsin Charania and Lucille Cailly respectively; and Team PokerStars Pros Barry Greenstein (18,700), João Nunes (87,000), Matthias De Meulder (123,700), Juan Manuel Pastor (147,200) and Henri Pinho (160,000).
Notable End-of-Day 2 Chip Counts
| Player | Count |
|---|---|
| John Juanda | 732,400 |
| Ilari Sahamies | 523,500 |
| Samuel Rodriquez | 455,800 |
| Guy Bachar | 448,000 |
| Marcos Fernandez | 403,400 |
| Lucille Cailly | 360,700 |
| Jonathan Karamalikis | 317,600 |
| Alejandro Perez Torres | 302,900 |
Day 3 of the 2012 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Main Event is set to kick off at 12:00 CET (06:00 EST), so be sure to check back then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the updates from the Casino Barcelona.
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