Diaz Leads Day 1a of Main Event, Huber and Hutchins Find a Bag
It was a somewhat quiet start to Lex Live at the start of Day 1a, only a few tables running at the Casino Barcelona at the beginning of play.
Lex Veldhuis and members of the poker and Twitch community were hanging out in the bar doing a pub quiz, led by Veldhuis himself. Once they entered the tournament area, the room seemed more lively and, within a couple of levels, the Main Event had reached the 100-entry mark and kept on growing.
By the end of Day 1a, a total of 143 entries were made contributing €55,770 to a prize pool that is sure to grow as flights get busier throughout the week. Of those, 35 players found a bag for Day 2
Jordi Granell Diaz of Spain topped the field as Day 1a reached its conclusion. He bagged and tagged for 313,000 chips, which puts him a neat 100k in front of second-place Ben Miller of the United Kingdom who bagged for 213,000.
Diaz could be on track for his biggest live score. Miller, meanwhile, is no stranger to final table finishes around this buy-in level and has previous locked up a handful fo five figure scores.
Christian Badrian and Oscar Penella Olive are the only other players to bag for more than 200,000 chips.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jordi Granell Diaz | 313,000 |
| 2 | Ben Miller | 213,000 |
| 3 | Christopher Badrian | 203,000 |
| 4 | Oscar Penella Olive | 202,000 |
| 5 | Gardar Svavarsson | 185,500 |
| 6 | Gabriel Catalin Parvulescu | 184,000 |
| 7 | Niko Wieland | 183,000 |
| 8 | Miquel Davitashvili Basanez | 182,500 |
| 9 | Michael Naughton | 175,500 |
| 10 | Etibar Gadzhiev | 171,500 |
The field was full of recreational players, along with familiar faces and a few pros in the mix. Among those to make it through were Maciej Gut of Poland, Oliver Hutchins of the United Kingdom, and Team PokerStars Pro Sebastian Huber.
Day 1b commences on Friday at 3 p.m. local time and follows the same structure as Day 1a. Stay tuned to PokerNews for live updates straight from the tournament floor.