Celdran Dominates Day 1d of EAPT Madrid €560 Main Event
The curtain has fallen on the penultimate flight of the EAPT Madrid €560 Main Event here at Casino Gran Via. Day 1d was the largest starting flight so far, attracting a total of 101 entrants. Of those 101 entrants, only 15 players remain after nearly 14 levels of play.
Spain's Fernando Celdran ended the night with the biggest stack, bagging 578,000 chips. Celdran currently holds the second-largest stack overall from the first four starting flights, surpassed only by Day 1b chip leader Dario Bagattini who bagged 649,000. Celdran is most closely followed by Romania's Ionut Dragomir (505,000) and Germany's Samuel Tebege (407,000).
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Celdran | Spain | 578,000 |
| 2 | Ionut Dragomir | Romania | 505,000 |
| 3 | Samuel Tebege | Germany | 407,000 |
| 4 | Gerrit Blanckaert | Netherlands | 365,000 |
| 5 | Manuel Ledesma | Spain | 337,000 |
| 6 | Nacho Cuesta | Spain | 278,000 |
| 7 | Fernando Santa Maria | Dominican Republic | 237,000 |
| 8 | Cristobal Ochoa | Venezuela | 232,000 |
| 9 | David Civai | Italy | 207,000 |
| 10 | Ricardo Stara | Italy | 193,000 |
Samuel Tebege, who earlier in this festival placed fourth in the €250 EAPT cup for €3,975, got off to a good start and seemed to be in cruise control for most of the day. He was rarely, if ever, below an average stack and finished the night as the third-largest stack in the room.
Ionut Dragomir was under the radar for most of the day before rapidly accumulating chips in the later levels. He would win the final hand of the night in a dramatic runout that saw the lead change multiple times before Dragomir rivered a set of kings to knock out two players on the money bubble and finish the night with the second-largest stack in the room.
Celdran emerged as one of the largest stacks in the room after scoring a double knockout of his own midway through the day and never looked back from that point. Celdran would leverage his stack to pressure his opponents and win a number of pots without showdown until bagging the chip lead at the end of the night.
Other notables who bagged and tagged include Manuel Ledesma (337,000) and Fernando Santa Maria (237,000). Both players have enjoyed recent success in Spain at the poker tables. Just over two weeks ago Ledesma won the 888poker LIVE Madrid Main Event for €58,000 while Santa Maria won the EAPT Barcelona Main Event this past October for €26,625.
The final turbo Day 1e starting flight is currently underway, after which the survivors from all five starting flights will combine for Day 2 tomorrow, February 18 at which point all surviving players will be in the money.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews as we bring you all the exciting action as this event plays down to an eventual winner on the final day taking place February 19.