Therme Tops 281 Survivors on Day 1c; Ruzicka and Sow Among Big Stacks
When the cards went in the air at noon local time at Casino Barcelona for the third of four starting days in the 2019 PokerStars EPT Barcelona €1,100 EPT National, more than 1,200 players were already registered and it was a sign of things to come as a new attendance record was set after the registration for Day 1c and Day 1d had closed.
As expected, the penultimate starting day would end up as the biggest, as Day 1c gathered a staggering 1,872 entries to more than double the field size of the previous two days combined. Along with the additional 864 entries in the turbo heat 1c with levels of 20 minutes, a total field size of 4,682 entries has emerged.
Two years ago, the previous record for the EPT National Main Event was set right here in Barcelona when Pedro Cairat topped a field of 4,557 entries to claim the trophy and a payday of €432,178. Cairat may still add a second title in Barcelona to his resume after bagging up on Day 1a, but will be below the average when the cards for Day 2 go back in the air at noon local time on Friday, August 23rd, 2019.
The 2019 EPT National Barcelona in Numbers
| Flight | Day 1a | Day 1b | Day 1c | Day 1d | Day 2 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entries | 1,240 | 606 | 1,872 | 964 | 4,682 |
| Survivors | 185 | 91 | 281 | 145 | 702 |
Frenchman Jonathan Therme vaulted into the Day 1c chip lead in the last levels of the night and claimed 757,000 to his name. Sorin Flutur follows in second place with 672,000 and Navot Golan advanced with 660,000. Other big stacks and notables among the Day 1c survivors include Ajay Gnanasambanthan (582,000), Ivan Gabrieli (556,000), Alexandre Mantovani (540,000), Vojtech Ruzicka (531,000), and Vadzim Lipauka (525,000).
PokerStars ambassador Kalidou Sow also had a strong showing in the third starting day and ended the night with a very respectable stack of 400,000, narrowly ahead of fellow countryman and two-time WSOP Main Event finalist Antoine Saout (396,000) and Fernando Pons (329,000). Nicolas Dumont (253,000), Adrian Mateos (190,000), Harry Lodge (179,000), Michael Soyza (162,000), and Kitty Kuo (145,000) are just some of many notables that all made it through as well.
Antoine Cros ended up as the bubble boy when he failed to hold up with pocket kings against ace-deuce, as Gregor Prizmic Martini immediately spiked an ace on the flop. Cros still had outs with a gutshot and the two remaining kings in the deck, but turn and river bricked to let the bubble on Day 1c burst without going hand for hand.
Plenty of other big names fell in the 18 levels of play and among the earliest casualties was Johan Guilbert, who ran with tens into queens at the end of the first level. He was joined on the rail by Martin Jacobson, the PokerStars ambassadors Maria Konnikova and Steve Enriquez, 2017 WSOPE Main Event champion Marti Roca de Torres, Walter Treccarichi, Russell Thomas, Michael Tureniec, Ari Engel, Sebastian Malec, Pavel Plesuv and Guillaume Diaz to name just a few.
Treccarichi flopped a flush with ten-nine suited but was left drawing dead as Henrik Tellving held the unbeatable eight-high straight flush. Soon after, Jacobson was left with a chip and a chair when Ivan Zhechev turned a full house with jack-ten suited and got full value on the river.
Stefano Schiano was aiming for a second EPT National title in the current year after emerging victorious in Monte-Carlo, but his bid came to an end in level ten when he lost a flip with pocket sevens against the ace-queen oof Vincent Li.
While many of the casualties of the first three starting days tried their luck one more time in the turbo heat 1c, only a fraction of them secured their portion of the seven-figure prize pool. Just over 700 players have chips at their disposal and will be back in their seats for Day 2 at noon local time.
Day 2 will kick off where the fastest starting day burst the bubble and for the remainder of the tournament, the level duration will increase to 60 minutes each. The PokerNews team will be on the floor to provide all the action until a champion is crowned in the days to come.