Leo Margets Bags Top 10 Stack in Day 1 of the €3,000 EPT Mystery Bounty
The PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona at Casino Barcelona continued today with its Day 1 flight of the €3,000 EPT Mystery Bounty. Over 12 Levels of play, a total of 997 entries took their seats to battle on the felt.
At the end of the night, 254 players bagged and tagged and will return for the Day 2 restart tomorrow afternoon. With late registration still open until the start of play tomorrow, this number is only expected to grow.
By the end of the day, Josep Valls emerged as the chip leader, amassing an impressive 518,000 chips over eight hours of play. Alexander Ivarsson is his closest competitor with 499,500 chips. Jerry Odeen finished in a distant third with 386,000 chips, trailing the leaders by over 100,000, while Spain's poker pro, Leo Margets, is just behind with 377,000 chips.
Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Name | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josep Valls | Spain | 518,000 | 259 |
| 2 | Alexander Ivarsson | Sweden | 499,500 | 250 |
| 3 | Jerry Odeen | Sweden | 386,000 | 193 |
| 4 | Leo Margets | Spain | 377,000 | 189 |
| 5 | Xiaohu Liu | China | 360,000 | 180 |
| 6 | Vlad Lache | Romania | 350,000 | 175 |
| 7 | Chad Lipton | United States | 324,500 | 162 |
| 8 | Alessio Di Cesare | Italy | 321,500 | 161 |
| 9 | Cherish Andrews | United States | 297,000 | 149 |
| 10 | Boris Kolev | Bulgaria | 293,000 | 147 |
Day 1 Action
Shiina Okamoto had an impressive showing today, rising to the top of the chip counts early in the day and eventually bagging 151,500, putting her in a strong position as the tournament progresses. Okamoto's stellar performance continues her outstanding 2024 campaign, during which she has already earned over $280,000, including a career-best payday of $171,732 from a first-place finish in July. Her momentum shows no signs of slowing down as she continues to build on her remarkable year.
Niklas Astedt entered the tournament during the final break of the day and swiftly made his presence felt. Showcasing why he is considered one of the top players in the game, Astedt rapidly accumulated over 170,000 chips by the end of Level 11 and finished the day with 225,000.
Ren Lin’s day was a wild ride, but not the kind he’d hoped for. In the final level, he fired four bullets but couldn’t seem to catch a break. At one point, he was calling for his opponent to catch the cards they needed—only to see his fortunes take a turn for the worse. Known as one of the most entertaining characters in the game, Lin’s dramatic rollercoaster of a day didn’t quite end in his favor. Nonetheless, his resilience suggests he might make another appearance on Day 2.
Other notable players who managed to advance to Day 2 include Pokerstars Ambassadors Fintan Hand (204,500), Kenny Hallaert (135,000), Barny Boatman (105,000), Lex Veldhuis (104,000), and Benjamin Spragg (89,000).
The play will commence on Thursday, September 5th at 12:30 p.m. local time. Those who progressed today or those to late register tomorrow will start proceedings on Level 13 with blinds at 1,000/2,000 with a 2,000 big blind ante.
At the start of Day 2, all players will be given a Mystery Bounty Token upon seating; if you eliminate a player you will collect their Mystery Bounty Token. Any time after 5:15 p.m. (the second break), players can take any collected tokens to the Mystery Bounty desk to draw an envelope. The Mystery Bounty prize amounts will be determined by tournament entries and remaining players and will be announced on the tournament floor tomorrow.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be back tomorrow to bring you more coverage of the European Poker Tour Mystery Bounty here at EPT Barcelona, so stay tuned.