Kaukua Leads After Day 1a of EPT Barcelona Main Event
The magnificent €5,300 EPT Main Event is upon us at 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona and saw 791 players registering for the Day 1a flight. Just 260 players remain after ten one-hour levels of play and leading the way is Finland's Toni Kaukua with 346,000 and big stacks Julio Chia Cabrera (290,000), Stanislau Shylkou (247,000) and Benjamin Lebor (231,000).
Several big names found bags during the first starting flight of the EPT Barcelona Main Event, including 2022 GPI Player of the Year Stephen Song and EPT champions Noah Boeken, Dominik Panka and Anton Wigg.
Day 1a Top 10 Chip Counts
| RANK | PLAYER | COUNTRY | CHIP COUNT | BIG BLINDS | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Toni Kaukua | Finland | 346,000 | 231 | |
| 2 | Julio Chia Cabrera | Peru | 290,000 | 193 | |
| 3 | Stanislau Shylkou | Belarus | 247,000 | 165 | |
| 4 | Benjamin Lebor | United Kingdom | 231,000 | 154 | |
| 5 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 221,500 | 148 | |
| 6 | Dominik Panka | Poland | 221,500 | 148 | |
| 7 | William Hani | France | 221,000 | 147 | |
| 8 | Andrea Dato | Italy | 214,000 | 143 | |
| 9 | Anton Wigg | Sweden | 214,000 | 143 | |
| 10 | Petr Bartagov | Russia | 211,000 | 141 |
Plenty of Names on Day 1a
Hundreds of players made their way into Casino Barcelona on a rare rainy Sunday as Day 1a got underway. It didn't take long for the highlights to add up as big names like Erik Seidel, Maria Ho, Peter Jorgne, Samantha Abernathy and €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em winner Tom Orpaz took their seats.
In an early highlight, PokerStars ambassador Jen Shahade flopped a full house before check-raising the turn and getting paid on the river.
Another player who flopped a big hand was Ren Lin, who used his bluff-heavy reputation to get value from Tarash Chazmava after flopping a set of sixes.
Speaking of sixes, Dan Heimiller won a hand at showdown with six-high as he pipped the five-high of Lucheng Liu. Heimiller has had a strong summer of poker and is after his first EPT trophy.
Some players who weren't fortunate enough to survive the Day 1a flight including Daniel Rezaei, Kitty Kuo, Fabrice Bigot, Anthony Zinno, Kenny Hallaert, Uri Reichenstein, reigning PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) champion Aliaksandr Shylko and PokerStars ambassador Alejandro Lococo.
The second and final starting flight of the EPT Barcelona Main Event will kick off Aug. 28 at noon local time and will follow the same structure as Day 1a with starting stacks of 30,000 and blinds beginning at 100/100/100. Registration will remain open until the start of Day 2.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to provide more updates in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. Be sure to check out the EPT Barcelona live reporting hub in the meantime.