Juanda Takes Big Lead Into Day 3 As Money Bubble Approaches
The 2012 PokerStars.com European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event, which attracted 1,082 runners, continued today as the remaining 600 players from two starting days packed into Casino Barcelona for six more levels of action. At the end, 207 remained with John Juanda and his stack of 732,400 leading the way.
Juanda has done all that he can to put himself in the best position possible moving forward here in Barcelona. He knows what it takes to make a very deep run at an EPT event, but the bitter taste of having come runner-up to David Vamplew at the 2010 EPT London Main Event surely has him more motivated than ever to go after this title.
Juanda was at the feature table much of the day, but told PokerNews about the hand that made all the difference. According to him, 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 
rainbow flop. The small blind led out for 12,500, Juanda called with , and the early-position player raised to 28,000. Two folds followed, Juanda three-bet to 100,000, his opponent moved all in with 
for 300,000, and Juanda snap-called.
Juanda may have made it look easy on Day 2, but it wasn’t smooth sailing for everyone. Season 7 EPT Barcelona champ, Kent Lundmark, was looking for another title, but it wasn't in the cards. In the middle of the day, Lundmark called off his stack holding the 
from the button on a board reading 
only to run into the 
of Saab Rachad. Just like that, his hopes of a second title came to an abrupt end.
Others who failed to make it through the day were pros Jason Mercier, Rino Mathis, Jude Ainsworth, Faraz Jaka, Gus Hansen, Tristan Wade, Davidi Kitai, Dermot Blain, Pius Heinz, Lex Veldhuis, Dominik Nitsche, Sami Kelopuro, Kyle Julius, Terje Augdal, Marcin Horecki, Ville Wahlbeck, Andy Frankenberger, Veldhuis and the 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 day. In one hand, Frederic Bussot-Fuentes from France shoved from the early position for 47,600 and Marco Sposito on his immediate left called off for around 16,000. Negreanu gave it some thought and eventually made the call as well to create a three-way showdown.
| Negreanu |  |
| Bussot-Fuentes |   |
| Sposito |  |
The dealer burned and put out the 
flop, putting Negreanu in the lead with a pair of aces with a king kicker. The 
on the turn didn't change a thing, and neither did the 
on the river. Negreanu collected the pot, sent two opponents to the rail, and went on to finish the night with 248,600.
Like Juanda, Negreanu knows what it's like to nearly taste victory here on the EPT. In 2010, he placed fourth in the EPT Vienna Main Event, but he'll surely be looking to best that result. Although it's not quite the chip lead, Negreanu has done all he could to put himself in a prime spot to go deep.
Of those who’ll be returning on Day 3 and look to make the money at the top 160 are online sensation Ilari Sahamies, the Bachar Brothers, Ziv and Guy, Season 5 champion Sebastian Ruthenberg, World Series of Poker bracelet winner Ronnie Bardah, The 2012 PokerStars and Monte-Carlo® Casino EPT Grand Final champion and runner-up, Mohsin Charania and Lucille Cailly, 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) tomorrow, so be sure to check back then as the PokerNews Live Reporting Team brings you all the updates from the floor. It's going to be another great day filled with plenty of action, including the bubble, so you won't want to miss it.