Marc Alonso opened to 6,000 from middle position and action folded around to Nick Palma in the big blind.
"6000? What is this, 2003?" Palma asked his opponent. He took a few seconds to stare down Alonso before moving all in for 29,000. Alonso snap-called with a covering stack to put Palma at risk.
Nick Palma: A♠A♥
Marc Alonso: Q♠Q♥
The flop came A♦10♦K♥ giving Palma top set but Alonso a gutshot straight draw. Palma commented that it was a bad flop for him just before the J♥ turn gave Alonso the lead with a Broadway straight. Things looked grim for Palma until the 10♠ river paired the board giving Palma top full house to score a full double up through his opponent.
In a preflop confrontation Alejandro Lococo was all in for around 17,000 from the hijack and up against Pau Villegas who covered him in the small blind.
Alejandro Lococo: A♥Q♣
Pau Villegas: K♦K♠
The board ran out 8♥4♣A♦7♣6♦. Lococo was good at showdown with top pair and scored a full double up at Villegas' expense.
Marc Alonso opened to 2,200 from early position and received calls from Georgios Zachmanidis in middle position and Giuseppe Cimelli in the hijack before Nick Palma shoved for around 30,000 from the button. Alonso and Zachmanidis got out of the way before Cimelli, who had started the hand with around 15,000, made the call and was at risk.
Giuseppe Cimelli: 5♦3♦
Nick Palma: A♦Q♦
"Classic Cooler" joked Palma, who moments earlier had received what he said was his fifth beer of the evening. Palma was a huge favorite after making top pair on the A♠K♠9♥ flop and remained ahead when the rest of the board ran out 6♦10♥ to score the elimination.
Palma predicted to his tablemates that he will be bagging exactly 602,000 by the end of the night before dragging in the pot.
With two players seeing a board of 6♠8♣7♣5♣ and around 21,000 in the middle, Yunsheng Sun moved all in from middle position for 16,000 and was called by Magnus Persson, who covered him from the button.
Yunsheng Sun: 4♥3♥
Magnus Persson: 9♥6♥
Sun was in bad shape with the lower end of the straight and could only chop the pot against Persson if a nine fell on the river. The K♥ river offered no help to Sun who made his exit from the tournament area while Persson scooped the pot.
With two players seeing a final board of 2♦2♣10♠4♦Q♥ and a bit over 16,000 in the middle Kamalle Belaidouni checked from the hijack and David Rivas shoved for 20,500 from the cutoff. Belaidouni went into the tank for a couple of minutes before flicking in the call.
Rivas tapped the table to indicate his opponent was good before showing K♥9♥ for a bluff. Belaidouni showed 5♥5♣ for a small pocket pair which, despite two overcards being on the board, was good enough to eliminate Rivas and take in a massive early pot.
The €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) Main Event of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona continues here at Casino Barcelona with Day 1f, the sixth of eight starting flights, set to begin at 7 p.m. local time.
While Day 1e is still underway at the time of writing, Jose Nadal holds the current overall chip lead from the first four completed starting flights after finishing Day 1a with an impressive 882,000. Some more notables to have already advanced to Day 2 include Kacper Pyzara (605,000) and Jesse Lonis (434,000). Among the PokerStars ambassadors to have already advanced to Day 2 are Marle Spragg (488,000), Barny Boatman (300,000), Julien Brecard (105,000), Maria Konnikova (75,000), Kenny Hallaert (72,000) and Benjamin Spragg (49,500).
Current ESPT €1,100 Main Event Top Ten Chip Counts
Place
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Jose Nadal
Mexico
882,000
2
Maksims Uskovs
Latvia
853,000
3
Robert Bull
United Kingdom
724,000
4
Kacper Pyzara
Poland
605,000
5
Erik Marasco
Brazil
597,000
6
Jakup Breckmann
Faroe Islands
540,000
7
Emmanouel Lianopoulos
Greece
517,000
8
Valentino Konakchiev
Bulgaria
512,000
9
Ivan Karatayeu
Belarus
514,000
10
Brian Battistone
United States
510,000
The field continues to grow for this event, with 1,784 entries recorded from the first four starting flights. A further 1,530 entrants have already registered for Day 1e at the time of writing with approximately three hours of late registration left.
Players begin the day with 30,000 chips. Blinds will be 30 minutes in length and will start at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Late registration will remain open until the start of Level 11 and play will end when 15% of the field remains at which point all remaining players will advance to Day 2 and be guaranteed at least a min-cash.
Bronze Pass
During the second break of the day in all ESPT Main Event starting flights, players can dive into some extra poker action with the All In ShootOut events, courtesy of PokerStars.
These events are free to enter, but players must link their PokerStars Live Card to their online PokerStars account to participate. This can be done through the PokerStars Live App or the Sign-Up Desk.
Players must ensure their accounts are linked and meet their country's regulatory requirements to be eligible for the prize.
All In ShootOut winners will receive an envelope containing a mystery Power Path prize. Each flight guarantees at least two Silver Bundles, with prizes that include:
$2,500 WCOOP Silver Bundle or €2,300 Galactic Series Silver Bundle
$109 WCOOP Bronze Bundle or €100 Galactic Series Bronze Bundle
