The 2013 World Poker Tour (WPT) Barcelona Main Event ground down to just two tables Monday as the Day 3 starting field of 42 was narrowed to just 13. Spain’s Sergio Fernandez has a sizable lead going into Tuesday’s action; with 1.268 million chips, he has more than a 400,000 chip advantage on the next closest player and looks like he should make the final table, barring something disastrous.
That Fernandez is even still in the tournament, let alone at the top of the leader board, is impressive. Going into Day 3, he was one of the shortest stacks remaining, holding just 66,000 chips. He went on an amazing rush of cards almost from the get-go, however, to get right back in the game. Early in the first level of the day, he got it all-in pre-flop with Kings and was able to triple-up against Jari Mahonen’s Queens and Nikolaus Teichert’s pocket Twos, bringing his stack up to 210,000.
Later in the same level, he made it up to 450,000 and then, during hand-for-hand play, he eliminated Henri Benoni with Aces versus A-Q to take the chip lead with about 700,000 chips.
The power cards kept coming, as another pair of Aces in the hole after the money bubble burst allowed Fernandez to eliminate Bryn Kenney. Just after that, pocket Sixes let him oust Atanas Gueorguiev and his Q-T, followed by more pocket Kings, doing in Kevin Vandersmissen and his A-6.
Fernandez eliminated one more player before the day was done, once again using a pocket pair. This time it was Nines, all-in and holding against the K-J of Timothy Harold.
Even if Sergio Fernandez is knocked out on the first hand Tuesday, this will end up being the biggest cash of his career. According to his live tournament record in TheHendonMob.com database, Fernandez has just one career cash, a sixth place finish in a small event this past October for which he won $3,399. With 13 players remaining in the 2013 WPT Barcelona Main Event, Fernandez is already guaranteed at least $14,215. Of course, with the lead he has right now, he likely has his sights set on the quarter-million dollar first prize.
It should be a short Day 4 today at Casino Barcelona. The plan is to play down to the six-handed final table, so there are only seven more players left to hit the rail before it’s time to retire for the evening. Then again, you never know; players are often very careful as the final table approaches so there is always the chance of long gaps between eliminations. Either way, it should be a fun day of poker.
2013 World Poker Tour Barcelona – Day 3 Chip Counts
1. Sergio Fernandez – 1,268,000
2. Chanracy Khun – 838,000
3. David Konstandoff – 791,000
4. Antonio Alfaia – 780,000
5. Benjamin Pollak – 752,000
6. Alvaro Ballesteros – 697,000
7. Mario Sanchez – 671,000
8. Tahiri Hassani – 560,000
9. Paul Testud – 520,000
10. Anaras Alekberovas – 195,000
11. Nikola Ivancic – 180,000
12. Bruno Garcia Cortelo – 171,000
13. Erich Kollmann – 151,000
