2012 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 3: Antonin Duda Leads Final 61
The 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event continued Wednesday as the final 207 from a 1,082-player field returned to the Casino Barcelona for Day 3. After five levels of play, the money bubble had burst and just 61 players remained. Leading the way going into Day 4 was Antonin Duda, who bagged up 1.47 million.
Duda got the vast majority of his chips by battling Guy Bachar, the Day 1b chip leader. Bachar carried his starting-flight momentum into Day 2 where he continued to add to his stack and was trending upward early on Day 3 until he hit a major roadblock in the form of Duda. It happened when Bachar six-bet all in preflop and Duda called off for 574,000, creating a pot of nearly 1.2 million.
Showdown
Bachar: 8♣7♠
Duda: K♥K♦
Bachar seemed content with the possibility of cracking kings, but the 5♣J♥2♠ flop made that highly unlikely. Bachar mumbled a bit, rose from his seat and walked away from the table. He returned in time to see the 9♦ turn give him a gut-shot straight draw, but the Q♦ river would not complete it.
Duda finished off Bachar a short time later. With around 200,000 in the pot and a board reading 9♥4♣9♣8♣, Bachar moved all in for approximately 300,000 and was called by Duda.
| Showdown |
|---|
| Duda: 10♦9♦ |
| Bachar: A♣J♥ |
Bachar let it ride with the nut-flush draw, which he needed to hit to overcome Duda's trip nines. The dealer burned and put out the3♠ on the river. Bachar was left shaking his head as he made his way to the payout desk in 77th place.
Long before Duda went on a tear, the field had to lose 47 players to get down to the money. Barry Greenstein, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Theo Jorgensen, Saar Wilf, Elisabeth Hille and Sam Holden were among those who left empty-handed.
On the money bubble, Australian Jonathan Karamalikis, called Aliaksei Boika’s all-in bet of 37,500 from the cutoff to put Boika at risk of being the bubble boy.
Showdown
Boika: 8♠ 8♦
Karamalikis: Q♠ Q♦
The dealer burned the first card and put out the 9♥3♦2♦ flop — nothing for Boika. The 4♦ on the turn and 5♠ on the river were no good for Boika, who became the official 2012 EPT Barcelona Main Event bubble boy. The rest of the field was guaranteed at least €8,400.
After Boika bubbled, the eliminations came fast and furious. Team PokerStars Pros João Nunes (157th - €8,400), Angel Guillen (153rd - €8,400) and Henrique Pinho (137th - €8,400) were just a few of the players to notch min-cashes, while Daniel Negreanu (118th - €9,950), Ana Marquez (115th - €9,950) and Juan Manuel Pastor (92nd - €11,550) finished with higher pay grades.
Other in-the-money finishers included Jason Wheeler (141st-€8,400), Petter Northug (136th-€8,400), Mohsin Charania (123rd-€8,400), Jake Cody (113th - €9,950), Xuan Liu (88th - €11,550) and Randal Flowers (80th - €11,550).
While many notables failed to survive, quite a few moved on to Day 4, including Day 2 chip leader John Juanda (968,000), online sensation Ilari “Ilari FIN” Sahamies (1,269,000), the 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final runner-up Lucille Cailly (902,000), Day 1a chip leader Aku Joentausta (862,000), and Team PokerStars Pros Fatima Moreira de Melo (955,000) and Matthias De Meulder (116,000).
Top Ten End-of-Day 3 Chip Counts
| Player | Count |
|---|---|
| Antonin Duda | 1,470,000 |
| Samuel Rodriguez | 1,416,000 |
| Ilari Sahamies | 1,269,000 |
| John Juanda | 968,000 |
| Fatima Moreira de Melo | 955,000 |
| Zimnan Ziyard | 940,000 |
| Marcos Fernandez | 926,000 |
| Lucille Cailly | 902,000 |
| Felix Kretchmann | 867,000 |
| Aku Joentausta | 862,000 |
Day 4 of the 2012 PokerStars.com EPT Barcelona Main Event is set to kick off at 12:00 CET (06:00 EST). Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will be on hand at the Casino Barcelona to bring you all the hands and eliminations as they happen.
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