Nasreddine Bags Big Heading Into Day 3 of The Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) High Roller
The second day of the €2,200 Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) High Roller during the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona has come to a close at the Casino Barcelona. Leading the final 26 is Germany's Berthold Winz with a whopping 7,455,000 chips.
After 10 hours of play, Winz surged to the top of the chip counts, having started the day just outside the top ten. Winz has over $150,000 in live tournament earnings, a career-high score of $32,441, and a victory in an EPT event here in Barcelona last year. Winz aims to eclipse that and has positioned himself perfectly to do so. The German player ended the final level of play on a high note after his pocket queens turned into quads, eliminating Ermo Kosk in 29th place.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Berthold Winz | Germany | 7,455,000 | 93 |
| 2 | Rania Nasreddine | United States | 4,900,000 | 61 |
| 3 | Anton Kraous | Bulgaria | 4,600,000 | 58 |
| 4 | Alex Sampirisi | Italy | 3,710,000 | 46 |
| 5 | Cedric Schwaederle | France | 3,700,000 | 46 |
| 6 | Grzegorz Kozieja | Poland | 3,105,000 | 39 |
| 7 | Maciej Komorowski | Poland | 2,960,000 | 37 |
| 8 | Weiran Pu | China | 2,815,000 | 35 |
| 9 | Cherish Andrews | United States | 2,700,000 | 34 |
| 10 | Bernat Carreras | Spain | 2,585,000 | 32 |
Coming back tomorrow second in chips with 4,900,000 is Rania Nasreddine of the United States, who has amassed over $1,100,000 in live tournament earnings throughout her career. The bulk of that coming from her recent third-place finish at this year's EPT Monte Carlo Main Event, where she took home $437,639. After coming so close to EPT victory, she surely will have her sights only set on claiming the prestigious trophy by the end of tomorrow's play.
Day 2 Highlights
Out of the 2,064 entrants in yesterday's two opening flights, only 309 players bagged a stack and advanced through to today's play. While each had already secured a minimum cash of €3,200 from the €3,962,880 prize pool, their focus was on surviving today's play for a chance at the €600,000 top prize.
The only two PokerStars ambassadors to reach the money were Lex Veldhuis and Maria Konnikova. Veldhuis secured an early double-up with pocket queens in the first level but couldn’t sustain that momentum, ultimately finishing 265th for €3,650.
Konnikova came into today with an above average stack, but ultimately ended up bowling out in 84th place for €7,450 after she ran into the pocket aces of Japan's Takahiro Tsugu.
Just after players had returned from dinner break, Marian Dicu of Romania found himself in a dream spot after getting his pocket aces all-in three-way against Ivan Zhechev and Jordan Sparagana, who both held pocket kings. There was no miracle straight or flush and Dicu had sent both opponents to the rail. Nasreddine sent Natan Chauskin to the rail in 36th place, after she slowplayed pocket aces to perfection to have Chauskin drawing dead on the flop.
Many notable players who didn't manage to make it through to Day 3 include the 2016 EPT Dublin Main Event winner Dzmitry Urbanovich (290th - €3,200), Canada's Andrew Chen (223rd - €4,250), Malaysia's Victor Chong (166th - €4,900), the 2013 EPT London Main Event champion Robin Ylitalo of Sweden (145th - €4,900), Mathew Frankland (112th - €6,450), and EPT champion Noah Boeken of the Netherlands (27th - €15,000).
Remaining Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €600,000 | 9 | €55,350 |
| 2 | €374,850 | 10-11 | €42,600 |
| 3 | €268,050 | 12-13 | €35,450 |
| 4 | €206,080 | 14-15 | €29,550 |
| 5 | €158,500 | 16-17 | €24,600 |
| 6 | €121,750 | 18-20 | €17,250 |
| 7 | €93,500 | 21-23 | €17,250 |
| 8 | €71,950 | 24-26 | €15,000 |
Day 3 kicks off tomorrow, September 2, at noon local time, with all the remaining players having locked up at least €15,000. The blinds will start at 40,000/80,000 with a big blind ante of 80,000 and will play down until a champion is crowned.
Keep it right here with PokerNews for all of the latest action as the €2,200 (ESPT) High Roller heads into the final day of play.