Martin Zamani opened to 4,000 from the hijack, and was met with a three-bet jam to 18,000 by Oscar Calamonte in the cutoff. Action folded to Kimmo Eskelinen in the big blind, who peeked at his cards, then promptly four-bet jammed for 42,000. Zamani quickly got out of the way.
Oscar Calamonte: J♠J♣
Kimmo Eskelinen: Q♦Q♥
Calamonte's pocket jacks were pipped by Eskelinen's queens, and the 9♥6♥8♣K♦5♣ flop confirmed Calamonte was heading for the exits.
Andrew Chen opened from middle position before Parker Talbot jammed for 8,500 from the hijack and Chen quickly put in the call.
Parker Talbot: A♦9♣
Andrew Chen: K♥K♦
"Really?" bemoaned Talbot as he realized he was drawing slim against Chen's premium. Nothing changed on the Q♣6♥6♦ flop and Talbot began to stand up on the 7♣. In dramatic fashion, the dealer peeled the A♥ on the river as Talbot sat back down and collected his double-up chips.
The ESPT Main Event is currently on a 25-minute break, during which the T-100 chips are being removed from play.
So far, the tournament has seen 1,732 entries, with 878 players still in contention. Late registration will close once the break ends, meaning that any player eliminated after this point will need to try their luck in the Day 1h turbo flight if they wish to re-enter the tournament.
Three players created a pot of about 15,000 with the Q♠5♣2♠J♥ turn already on the felt. Samir Dahdir check-folded to a bet of 8,000 from Fabrice Bigot while Hendrik Ricken made the call.
The 8♥ completed the board on the river, and Bigot paused for a few moments before jamming for about 20,000 and Ricken snap-called.
Bigot rolled A♠Q♦ for top-top, but was shown the bad news as Ricken tabled Q♣J♣.
Scott Martin moved all in from early position for 6,500 and was called by Jason Rocha in the hijack. Action folded to John Catena in the big blind, who three-bet jammed for 25,600. Rocha asked for a count before making the quick call, covering both players.
Scott Martin: 3♥3♦
John Catena: A♠K♠
Jason Rocha: 8♠8♣
Rocha was ahead with pocket eights versus Martin's underpair and Catena's big slick, and had his opponents almost drawing dead after the 8♦2♥6♣ flop gave him top set.
The Q♦ turn confirmed the pot was heading to Rocha and his opponents were for the rail, and the 9♣ river completed the board.
In the last hand of the previous level, Youssef Zereg opened to 2,000 from under the gun and was called by Karol Taki from the next seat over. Action folded to Giovanni Grosso in the small blind and he moved all in for around 9,000. Zereg reshoved for 11,800 and Taki, who was the much bigger stack, appeared to make a reluctant call.
Giovanni Grosso: A♦10♣
Youssef Zereg: A♣3♣
Karol Taki:10♠7♠
Grosso had both opponents dominated and looked to be in a good position to triple until Taki made the second-nuts on the J♥9♠8♣ flop. Taki could only laugh as the board completed with the 5♦5♠, which confirmed his double knockout.
The complete action was missed, but the board read Q♥4♦3♠A♣7♠ and Benjamin Spragg had shoved on the river. Pietro Corsi called and was shown 4♥4♣ by Spragg for a flopped set of fours. Corsi showed Ax9x as a large portion of his chips were pushed to Spragg.
With 6,500 in the middle on a board of 2♠8♠5♥, Julien Sitbon bet 2,600 into four opponents, one of which was Kian Kiani, who raised to 5,200. After the other players folded, Sitbon shoved for roughly 15,000 and Kiani called.
Julien Sitbon: 10♥8♥
Kian Kiani: 5♣5♠
Sitbon needed running cards if he was to beat Kiani's set. He found some help on the 10♠ turn, improving him to top two pair. However, he couldn't fill up on the river as the K♥ came and he was eliminated from the event.
Maurizio Maiorano is currently sporting one of the funkiest hairstyles in the room and easily noticeable.
Maiorano opened to 600 from middle position and was only called by Babak Nasrollahzadeh out of the big blind.
The two players saw a flop of 5♠3♠8♦ which Nasrollahzadeh checked. Maiorano put out a continuation-bet of 600 and this got a fold from Nasrollahzadeh. Maiorano turned over A♦A♥ as he pulled in the small pot.
Time is running out for players aiming to secure their spot in Day 2 of the €1,100 PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) Main Event, as the last two starting flights take place today at Casino Barcelona.
After six intense Day 1 flights, 642 out of 4,297 entries have successfully advanced to the tournament's second stage. Leading the charge is Jose Nadal, the Day 1a chip leader, who amassed an impressive 882,000 chips on the opening day of the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona.
Maksims Uskovs secured 853,000 chips during Day 1c, while Karol Bogusz rounded out the top three with 835,000 chips after a strong showing in Day 1e.
Nadal, Uskovs, and Bogusz are the only players to surpass the 800,000-chip mark. However, with today's bumper field expected, there’s a strong chance we’ll see a new frontrunner emerge by the end of the session.
ESPT Main Event Current Top Ten Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
1
Jose Nadal
Mexico
882,000
2
Maksims Uskovs
Latvia
853,000
3
Karol Bogusz
Poland
835,000
4
Robbie Bull
United Kingdom
724,000
5
Raoul Kanme
Netherlands
683,000
6
Nicolas Coppini
Brazil
660,000
7
Bienvenido Sanchez
Spain
642,000
8
Marco Muzzarelli
Italy
611,000
9
Kacper Pyzara
Poland
605,000
10
Erik Marasco
Brazil
597,000
For those competing in Day 1g, which shuffles up and deals at 11 a.m. local time, each player will start with 30,000 chips. Blind levels will last 30 minutes, beginning at 100/100 with a 100 big blind ante. Late registration remains open until the start of Level 11.
The session will conclude when 15% of the field remains, at this point, the surviving players will bag their chips for Day 2, guaranteeing themselves at least a min-cash. The final starting flight, Day 1h, begins at 5 p.m. and will run as a turbo, with 20-minute blind levels.
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 qualify 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
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we continue to provide live updates from the Main Event and many others here at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona.
