2016 EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 1a: [Removed:155] Leads 466-Strong Field

August 23, 2016

A total of 466 players all stumped up the €5,300 on Day 1a to enter the PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona Main Event, the first of Season 13. After eight levels it's [Removed:155] leading with 178,800 in chips from a starting stack of 30,000.

The players trickled in at the start of the day, with former EPT Main Event champions Steve O'Dwyer and Adrian Mateos both taking their seats within the first level. They were soon joined by a whole host of other EPT regulars including Dominik Nitsche, Rainer Kempe, Charlie Carrel, Joao Vieira, Vitaly Lunkin, Andreas Hoivold and Juha Helppi.

In fact, players were still coming in as late as after the dinner break, when Philipp Gruissem and Chris Moorman joined the fray.

When the dust settled, Brand had emerged as the leader, but plenty of other notables made the cut. Other top stacks in the room included Bernd Vogelhuber (167,600), Michael Addamo (153,100), Dorian Rios Pavon (152,700), Kestutis Gecevicius (152,200) and Victor Bogdanov (150,200).

More players who will be looking forward to a day off Tuesday before Day 2 on Wednesday include Shaun Deeb (136,500), Koray Aldemir (127,700), Georgios Zisimopoulos (126,300), Bruno Politano (105,900), EPT12 Malta champion Niall Farrell (118,100), 2014 WSOP Main Event winner Martin Jacobson (96,500), Pratyush Buddiga (85,500), Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier (44,200), Moorman (30,100), 2016 November Niner Vojtech Ruzicka (21,000), and EPT9 Grand Final winner O'Dwyer (20,500).

Players who failed in their attempts to make Day 2 include former EPT champions Kevin MacPhee (EPT 6 Berlin), Remi Castaignon (EPT 9 Deauville), Jean Montury (EPT 11 Malta) and Adrian Mateos (EPT 11 Grand Final). Joining them on the sidelines were the likes of David Peters, Nitsche, Paul Newey, Barny Boatman, Max Silver, Christopher Kruk, Nick Petrangelo and Sylvain Loosli.

Day 1b starts Tuesday at 10 a.m. local time in Barcelona and you can follow along with the updates in the PokerStars.es EPT Main Event live reporting. Day 2 will get underway at Wednesday at noon. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on hand to bring you all the action until a champion is crowned Sunday.

The €25,000 Single-Day High Roller will also start Tuesday at 10:30 am local and PokerNews will again be on-site for coverage.

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Managing Editor

Based in the United Kingdom, Will started working for PokerNews as a freelance live reporter in 2015 and joined the full-time staff in 2019. He graduated from the University of Kent in 2017 with a B.A. in German. He also holds an NCTJ Diploma in Sports Journalism.

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