Turbo Nguyen opened to 7,000 first-to-act and was called by Oshri Lahmani in the cutoff. Antoine Labat then squeezed to 24,000 on the button and Nguyen shoved for slightly more. Lahmani folded, but Labat quickly called to put Nguyen at risk.
Turbo Nguyen: K♠K♦
Antoine Labat: A♦K♥
The 10♥7♠Q♠ flop gave Labat additional outs to a straight and the A♣ turn paired Labat's ace — leaving Nguyen drawing slim.
The 4♠ river changed nothing and Nguyen wished his tablemates good luck as he stood up from the table.
Brian Kaufman limped from middle position and Felipe Boianovsky limped behind from the hijack. Frank Lagodich then raised to 12,000 and both limpers called.
Action checked to Lagodich on the 8♦K♠Q♠ flop and he bet 9,000. Only Kaufman called.
Both players checked on the 4♣ turn and then Kaufman shoved for his last 35,500 on the 5♥ river.
Lagodich went deep into the tank and eventually decided to call. Kaufman could only show J♣9♣. Lagodich turned over A♠4♦ for just a pair of fours and collected the rest of Kaufman's chips.
Gaetan Balleur opened 9,000 in early position and Martin Zamani three-bet 27,000 from a couple of spots to his left. The action quickly folded back to Balleur and he made the call.
The dealer spread a flop of J♦6♦2♦, and Balleur check-called a bet of 18,000.
When the 8♠ hit the turn, Balleur checked and Zamani fired another shell of 27,000. Balleur made the call.
When the K♥ completed the board on the river, Balleur checked for a final time. Zamani didn't slow down, pushing a bet of 66,000 across the line. Balleur didn't take long before announcing a call.
Zamani rolled over his Q♥9♥ and Balleur dragged the pot with A♦K♠, missing the flush draw but making a pair of kings.
Andre Akkari was heads-up from the big blind against Gary Miller, who was in the hijack, on a completed board of 4♣3♦2♣7♠2♠. Akkari checked to Miller, who bet 48,000. Akkari then check-raised all in for 135,000 total.
Miller went deep into the tank before deciding to call and Akkari turned over 2♦2♥ for quad deuces. Miller held 9♠9♥ and was knocked down to just over 100,000 following the encounter.
Action folded around to the blinds, where Abraham Passet shoved for his last 51,000. Robert Kaggerud called from the big blind to put Passet at risk and hands were revealed.
Abraham Passet: A♥J♦
Robert Kaggerud: 9♠9♥
The J♥7♥3♥K♣4♦ runout improved Passet to a winning pair of jacks and he doubled up while Kaggerud was left with just 18,000 following the hand.
Juan Maceiras was all in and at risk for his last 92,000 on the button against Jeffrey Hakim, who was in the small blind, on a flop of 9♣4♠7♠. When all the cameramen and media were in place, both players were instructed to reveal their hands.
Juan Maceiras: Q♥9♥
Jeffrey Hakim: 4♥4♦
Macerias was in rough shape against a set, but the Q♠ turn left Maceiras drawing live, much to the dismay of the remaining players who let out a collective groan upon hearing the news.
It wasn't meant to be, however, as the A♣ completed the board — eliminating Macerias on the stone bubble and guaranteeing all remaining players a min-cash of €8,850.
Day 2 of the €5,300 Main Event at PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona wrapped up after five 90-minute levels of players with 303 players remaining. After nearly two hours of hand-for-hand play, the money bubble burst to end the day with Juan Maceiras falling to Jeffrey Hakim to miss out on a minimum payday of €8,850 and a chance at the €1,488,000 first-place prize.
Leading the way into Day 3 is Eduard Barsegyan, who bagged a stack of 835,000 to be in front of Ioannis Zachmanidis and Antoine Labat, who is fresh off a runner-up finish in the €2,200 Estrellas Poker Tour High Roller for €500,000. Those who made the money and advanced to Day 3 include Patrik Antonius, Maria Ho, David Docherty, Frank Lagodich, Davidi Kitai and Romain Lewis.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
RANK
PLAYER
COUNTRY
CHIP COUNT
BIG BLINDS
1
Eduard Barsegyan
Russia
835,000
209
2
Ioannis Zachmanidis
Greece
802,000
201
3
Antoine Labat
France
731,000
183
4
Petr Svoboda
Czech Republic
724,000
181
5
Ezequiel Waigel
Argentina
703,000
176
6
Jack Hardcastle
United Kingdom
676,000
169
7
Claudio Di Giacomo
Italy
657,000
164
8
Carl Shaw
United Kingdom
577,000
144
9
Walid Salamoun Marwan
USA
565,000
141
10
Daniyar Aubakirov
Kazakhstan
558,000
140
Day 2 Action
It's already been a memorable Main Event in Barcelona, the birthplace of the European Poker Tour. The event drew a total of 1,593 unique players and 2,120 entries, marking for just the second time that an EPT Main Event drew more than 2,000 total entries, the first coming right here in Barcelona in 2022.
There were 678 players who returned on Day 2 and an additional 67 late registrants who joined them. Still, it didn't take long for the eliminations to pile up.
The early casualties included Omar Del Pino, who had his kings cracked by the ace-jack of Fabrice Bigot to lose most of his stack before eventually being eliminated, as well as Francisco Benitez (who won two trophies at last year's festival) after the Uraguayan jammed kings into the aces of Andras Matrai for the majority of his chips.
Francisco Benitez
Aces were less lucky for Maxime Manzone, who was sent back to the Manzone when Oleg Vasylchenko spiked a Cowboy with pocket kings spiked after getting it in before the flop. In a similar tale, Pokerstars AmbassadorLaurie Tournier had her kings cracked by the ace-queen of Phillip Mighall to send the Brazilian to the rail.
Other players who failed to make it to the end of Day 2 include EPT champions Dimitar Danchev and Antonio Buonanno, PokerStars Ambassadors Sam Grafton, Fintan Hand, Parker Talbot and Rafael Moraes, as well as crushers like Benny Glaser, Julien Sitbon, and Andras Nemeth.
Sam Grafton
Day 3 will kick off on Aug. 30 at noon local time with blinds of 2,000/4,000 on Level 15 with approximately 11 minutes remaining. There are still several days to go until a champion is crowned on Day 7 after winning the €1,488,000 top prize.
Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team is on site in Barcelona and will continue providing updates in the EPT Barcelona Main Event. Check out the EPT Barcelona live reporting hub in the meantime.
