The survivors from the first two starting flights of the 2013 European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event came together Tuesday in a single field for Day 2of the season’s kickoff event. Six more levels were completed yesterday and emerging as the chip leader of the remaining 235-player field was Pablo Tavitian with 465,000 chips.
Going into Tuesday, there was a chance that the 2013 EPT Barcelona Main Event could become the largest EPT stop ever on the continent of Europe, as the Day 1’s closed with 1,226 entrants and registration was still open until the start of Day 2. Eight more players signed up, making the final number 1,234, just six shy of the record, set at EPT San Remo in Season 6. Still, this easily beat last year’s mark for this event (1,082), making it the largest EPT Barcelona in history.
That record field created a prize pool of €5,984,900, with €1,067,000 going to the winner. A total of 183 will make the money; payouts start at €8,680. The final eight players will all receive six-digit sums.
It is a close race at the top, as the top seven players all have over 400,000 chips and another sixteen have over 300,000. The chip leader, Argentina’s Pablo Tavitian, only has three live tournament cashes to his credit, but he has already made a name for himself. The first cash of his career came in March, when he won the Latin American Poker Tour Chile National Poker Championship Main Event and $184,220.
There are not a whole lot of “name” players left in the tournament, but a few who are include Lukas Berglund, Toni Judet, Martin Staszko, Victor Ramdin, Byron Kaverman, Shannon Shorr, David Benefield, and Marvin Rettenmaier.
One of the better players who met his demise on Day 2 was Vitaly Lunkin, who won the EPT Barcelona Super High Roller event. Great bluffs are amongst the most exciting hands in the game, but when one goes wrong, it can really go wrong. Such was the case for Lunkin in the hand that led to his ouster. Aleksandar Denishev raised pre-flop and Lunkin decided to three-bet it to 10,200. Denishev then four-bet to 22,000, after which Lunkin stopped the madness and called. When the flop came down K♣-8♥-4♣, Denishev bet 14,100 and Lunkin called. The dealer then dealt the K♣ on the turn; Denishev bet 31,000 and Lunkin immediately moved all-in for 125,000. Denishev agonized over what to do next, finally making the call for the rest of his chips after a few minutes. A bit embarrassed at getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar, Lunkin showed A♥-J♣ for a total bluff, while Denishev turned over K♠-T♣ for trips. The river was inconsequential. Lunkin lost most of his chips and was eliminated shortly thereafter.
Day 3 is underway in Barcelona; the money bubble will burst, but there is a long way to go before a champion is crowned.
2013 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event – Day 2 Chip Leaders
1. Pablo Tavitian – 465,000
2. Niall Farrell – 444,000
3. Grudi Hristov Grudev – 437,800
4. Albert Daher – 420,500
5. Alejandro Perez Torres – 417,500
6. Niclas Adolfsson – 417,100
7. Denis Pisarev – 403,700
8. Dmitry Yurasov – 377,800
9. Christopher Andler – 376,000
10. Kent Lundmark – 362,100
