Alexandru Papazian: Leading heading to final day

It was a tumultuous day in the €10,000 single re-entry tournament at EPT Barcelona today. There were 125 players at the start but we finished with only 14–the result of a rapid-fire 10 one-hour levels.

Chip leaders came and went, as did some of the game’s top stars, and when all was said and done we were left with Alexandru Papazian at the top of the tree. He was last seen winning a €25,000 high roller event at the EPT Grand final and now here headlines the following two tables, from which tomorrow there will emerge a winner.

Table 1

Seat 1 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, 1,117,000
Seat 2 – empty
Seat 3 – Patrick Leonard, 1,012,000
Seat 4 – Sergey Lebedev, 1,333,000
Seat 5 – Pavel Plesuv, 600,000
Seat 6 – Marcin Chmielewski, 608,000
Seat 7 – Alexandru Papazian, 2,074,000

Table 2

Seat 1 – Byron Kaverman, 619,000
Seat 2 – Roman Korenev, 343,000
Seat 3 – Dario Sammartino, 601,000
Seat 4 – Markku Koplimaa, 1,245,000
Seat 5 – Kitty Kuo, 260,000
Seat 6 – Enzo Del Piero, 516,000
Seat 7 – Yang Zhang, 1,063,000
Seat 8 – Nick Petrangelo, 609,000

(The tables will be balanced first thing tomorrow. We lost a player on the last hand of the night.)

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The tournament officials’ accounting established that there were 240 total entries into this tournament, comprising 195 unique players and 45 re-entries. That built a prize pool of €2,328,000 and set a first prize of €413,000.

The full prize breakdown is on the payouts page, where you’ll also see who has won what so far. There were min-cashes for the likes of Liv Boeree, Davidi Kitai, Pratyush Buddiga, Pierre Neuville and Stephen Chidwick, while Dzmitry Urbanovich and Anthony Zinno were among those hanging around long enough for a pay jump or two.

The remaining field is its typical mix of online superstars and high roller regulars (there’s a decent overlap there), plus a smattering of new faces. It’s also Kitty Kuo’s birthday today and she’s already making plans for how to celebrate the double, assuming she goes to the final table.

That will be the first order of business after we reconvene at 12:30pm tomorrow: finding the eight to comprise the official final. Then we’ll look at getting a winner.

Relive all the action from today by scrolling with painstaking precision through every update below. No, wake up!

Happy Birthday, Kitty Kuo

1:10am: Radoja busts on last hand
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Mark Radoja was eliminated on the last hand of the night, running 7♥ 6♥ into Igor Yaroshevskyy’s pocket queens. Full counts are shortly incoming.

1am: Last three hands
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

The tournament clock is paused with 14 minutes still on it and they have drawn for the number of hands still to play tonight. It’s a three! Great stuff. They’ll rattle through these hands and then bag and tag for the night.

12:45am: Fast slowed to a halt
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Dietrich Fast is out, banging headlong into Sergey Lebedev’s aces with a “mere” A♦ Q♣ . Fast had about 400,000 but it was all slid to Lebedev after a board of 10♣ K♠ 2♣ 2♠ K♥ . Lebedev is now the latest man through a million.

Dietrich Fast

12:20am: Two-table redraw
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

With 16 players left, they have done a redraw. This is highly likely to be the last redraw before the end of the day. Here’s how they line up now:

Table 1

Seat 1 – Igor Yaroshevskyy, 550,000
Seat 2 – Mark Radoja, 600,000
Seat 3 – Patrick Leonard, 900,000
Seat 4 – Sergey Lebedev, 820,000
Seat 5 – Pavel Plesuv, 550,000
Seat 6 – Marcin Chmielewski, 615,000
Seat 7 – Alexandru Papazian, 2,050,000
Seat 8 – Dietrich Fast – 420,000

Table 2

Seat 1 – Byron Kaverman, 690,000
Seat 2 – Roman Korenev, 420,000
Seat 3 – Dario Sammartino, 715,000
Seat 4 – Markku Koplimaa, 990,000
Seat 5 – Kitty Kuo, 525,000
Seat 6 – Enzo Del Piero, 510,000
Seat 7 – Yang Zhang, 930,000
Seat 8 – Nick Petrangelo, 385,000

12:10am: Ung out
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Senh Ung’s vigil ends in 17th, but Alexandru Papazian had to come from behind to beat him. They got it all in pre-flop, Papazian with 10♥ 9♣ and a stack of more than 2 million; Ung with J♥ 8♠ and about 66,000. Papazian got there the hard way, filling a four flush on the board of 2♣ 7♣ 2♠ A♣ 8♣ .

12:10am: Fast double
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

Dietrich Fast slipped back into the pack just before dinner and he had entered the danger zone in the level immediately after it. So much so that he just had to outdraw Mark Radoja–with K♥ 10♠ against A♦ J♥ –to stay alive, doubling his 155,000 stack.

The board of K♣ 7♥ 2♥ 10♣ 7♠ helped Fast only and he breathes again.

12:05am: Lebedev slows the Papazian momentum
Level 20: Blinds 8,000/16,000 (2,000 ante)

They thought it couldn’t be done, but Sergey Lebedev has just taken a pot from Alexandru Papazian. Papazian, the chip leader, raised to 30,000 and Lebedev made it 80,000 from one seat to his left.

Papazian’s call brought a flop of Q♣ 4♥ 7♠ , which he followed up with a check. Lebedev bet 55,000 and Papazian called.

The 2♥ came on the turn and they both checked it. Then Papazian fired 175,000 at the Q♠ river. Lebedev wanted a count but quickly called. Papazian showed 7♥ 8♥ but Lebedev had K♣ Q♦ and was good.

11.55pm: Boika bounced in 18th
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Aliaksei Boika is out, becoming the latest player to run into the irresistible force of Alexandru Papazian. Papazian opened from the cutoff, making it 30,000 to play, and Boika shoved for something like 280,000 from the small blind. After Senh Ung folded his big blind, Papazian called and was ahead with 10♠ 10♦ against Boika’s pocket fours.

The board didn’t hit Boika and Papazian’s bigger pair stayed best. He now has about 2.25 million, while Boika has €24,440 in real money.

11.55pm: Marrero out in 19th
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Luis Perez Marrero is our 19th placed finisher after he found an ace — A♠ 6♣ — but this time couldn’t beat Kitty Kuo’s A♦ Q♣ . The queen on the turn sealed it. They are down to 18, with 13 minutes left on the penultimate level of the day.

11.50pm: Marrero’s nose-dive continues
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

We still haven’t lost a player since the dinner break, although Luis Perez Marrero is now on fumes alone. He just lost all but 13,000 of his stack in a skirmish with Sergey Lebedev, which played out like this.

Action folded to Alexandru Papazian on the button and he opened to 24,000. Lebedev shoved from the small blind for what was later determined to be 230,000. Marrero re-shoved, for 243,000 from the big blind.

Papazian folded and it was a race. Marrero’s A♠ Q♥ was up against Lebedev’s 3♦ 3♠ . There was a three on the flop and that sealed it, leaving Marrero with one big blind.

He got it in on the next hand and doubled up through Kitty Kuo. Marrero’s K♦ 8♦ stayed good against Kuo’s 10♥ 8♥ . But…

11.40pm: Radoja unconvinced by Zhang
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Mark Radoja and Yang Zhang just played a pretty big pot, ending with Radoja folding and showing. I only caught it from the turn, at which point the board showed 9♠ 9♣ 5♣ 5♦ and Radoja bet 120,000. Zhang called.

The K♦ came on the river and Radoja checked this time. That allowed Zhang to slide out a bet of 200,000 and sent Radoja into the tank. Radoja had about 630,000 behind, which covered Zhang, and he might have been pondering a shove. One can only infer this from the fact that he open-folded 7♥ 8♥ , which is surely not a calling hand. He looked suspiciously over at Zhang, but the Chinese player pushed his cards forward face down.

By the way, Byron Kaverman has been on a real resurgence of late. He now has about 600,000 having been lower than 100,000 not so long ago.

11.30pm: Del Piero straightens out Petrangelo
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Enzo Del Piero says he has been up and down all day, but he has just hit an undoubted high point and now sits with about 750,000. The latest chunk came from Nick Petrangelo in the following fashion.

Petrangelo opened to 27,000 from under the gun and Del Piero made it 65,000 one seat to his left. Everyone else folded, but Petrangelo called. They both checked the flop of 8♥ 5♠ 6♥ , but after the 7♥ fell on the turn and Petrangelo checked, Del Piero bet 100,000. Petrangelo called.

The river was the 5♣ and Petrangelo checked again. Del Piero turned over 9♦ 9♣ , indicating a check behind, and his straight was good when Petrangelo mucked.

“Would you have folded if I’d shoved the river?” Petrangelo said, nursing a stack of about 175,000 now.
“I can honestly say, I don’t know,” Del Piero said.

11.20pm: Another unlikely double
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Byron Kaverman is now the latest player to pull off a come-from-behind double. He got his last 91,000 in pre-flop, under the gun, and Dario Sammartino was his only customer. Sammartino had him smashed with A♠ K♥ against Kaverman’s A♣ 8♦ . But the pendulum swung in the favour of Kaverman through a board of Q♦ 9♥ 8♣ 10♠ 10♥ .

11.20pm: Double for Ung
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Senh Ung is the latest player to double up, hitting a jack just when he needed it to beat Luis Perez Marrero. Marrero had king-queen; Ung king-jack. But the jack appeared on the turn and Ung now has about 200,000.

11.15pm: Double for Boika
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

Aliaksei Boika was the chip-leader close to the start of the day, but had the shortest stack when they went to dinner with 19 left. He’s just doubled his 85,000 to something a bit more playable when he rivered a flush with Q♥ 9♥ to beat Byron Kaverman’s A♠ 8♠ . The board ran J♦ J♠ K♥ A♥ 2♥ .

11.10pm: Back in action
Level 19: Blinds 6,000/12,000 (2,000 ante)

They are back from the break and back in action, with Senh Ung shoving his 100,000 in on the first hand. “You waited 75 minutes for that?” Kitty Kuo said. Ung wasn’t complaining when everyone folded.

A couple of hands later, Marcin Chmielewski picked up a chunk of change from Luis Perez Marrero after the two played a hand all the way to the river. Chmielewski opened to 29,000 from early position and Marrero called in the big blind.

The flop fell 8♣ 4♥ 8♠ and, after Marrero checked, Chmielewski bet 35,000. Marrero called. The turn brought the K♣ and two checks, and then the 5♥ came on the river. Marrero checked, but Chmielewski bet 45,000. After Marrero called, Chmielewski tabled a winning 10♥ 10♠ .

10pm: Dinner break chips

Here’s how they sit at the moment. Play resumes at 11pm CET.

9:55pm: That’s dinner
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

That’s the end of Level 18 and they’re taking a 75-minute dinner break. We will have full counts for the last 19 players shortly.

9:45pm: Kuo on the rise again; Boghean busts
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Kitty Kuo found A♥ A♠ in the small blind and, after she raised, Andrei Boghean moved all in from the big blind. A dream set up for Kuo. She called and stayed ahead of Boghean’s A♣ 9♦ on a board of 7♠ A♦ 10♦ J♣ 3♠ .

9:40pm: Plesuv pressure Kaverman
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Patrick Leonard got this one started, raising to 20,000. Pavel Plesuv called on the button, but Byron Kaverman sensed a squeezing opportunity from the big blind and made it 85,000 to play.

Leonard reluctantly folded, but Plesuv called and that meant the 5♦ 7♦ 4♦ were exposed on the flop. Kaverman bet 65,000, which Plesuv alled, and they then saw the K♥ on the turn. Kaverman checked, which prompted Plesuv to shove, covering Kaverman’s 290,000 effective stack.

Kaverman propelled his cards an inch over the line, indicating he was done with this one.

Byron Kaverman

9:36pm: Kuo pushed out
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Kitty Kuo opened to 23,000 from a stack of about 370,000. Action folded to Luis Perez Marrero in the small blind and he raised precisely 370,000, as though he had been eyeing Kuo’s precise stack. Senh Ung folded his big blind but Kuo went into the tank, giggling. “How much is it? It’s all my chips,” she said. Then she folded.

Marrero wanted to show her one card, and fished for the K♦ . Then, under pressure from the rest of the table, he showed her another. It was the 2♦ .

9:35pm: Del Piero doubles
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Enzo Del Piero said, “Raise all in” committing his last 185,000 after an open from Mark Radoja. Action quickly made its way back to Radoja and he called, tabling Q♦ Q♥ . It was ahead of Del Piero’s A♣ J♦ .

Mark Radoja

However help was on its way. Although the flop of 6♣ 3♣ 8♠ didn’t help Del Piero, the A♠ on the turn certainly did. The 8♦ completed the board–and the double up for Del Piero.

9:30pm: Zhou out
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

That didn’t last long. Quan Zhou, having doubled on the last hand, got it all in on the next and didn’t win. This is Pulitzer level reporting, I’m sure you’ll agree.

9:25pm: Zhou short, but still alive
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Quan Zhou must have lost a huge pot because when he shoved at a board of 2♥ 6♦ 4♣ 8♥ 3♠ he only had 35,000 left. That was what Dietrich Fast had to pay him: Fast’s A♣ J♠ was second best to Zhou’s 5♠ 4♠ on this occasion.

9:20pm: Hero from Papazian sends Serda out
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Alexandru Papazian just made a pretty spectacular call with a pair of sevens to send Patrick Serda, the overnight chip leader, to the rail in 22nd. On a flop of 3♥ 6♥ 5♠ , Papazian bet and then called Serda’s raise (this all happened before I got there, so I don’t know amounts). That took them to the turn of 7♠ . This time Papazian checked and Serda shoved for 248,000. Papazian, who won a high roller event in Monaco at the end of last season, thought for a while but then called. He had 8♥ 7♣ and had picked off Serda’s bluff. Serda had K♣ J♣ .

Alexandru Papazian

9pm: Last three tables
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Here’s how they line up around the final three tables. Chip counts are approximate. They will play either to a final table of eight tonight or for another three levels. There’s a dinner break at the end of Level 18.

Table 1

Seat 1 – Igor Yaroshevskyy – 680,000
Seat 2 – Roman Korenev – 320,000
Seat 3 – Denys Shafikov – 110,000
Seat 4 – Dario Sammartino – 610,000
Seat 5 – Patrick Leonard – 1.2 million
Seat 6 – Aliaksei Boika – 410,000
Seat 7 – Pavel Plesuv – 710,000
Seat 8 – Byron Kaverman – 360,000

Table 2

Seat 1 – Marcin Chmielewski – 540,000
Seat 2 – empty
Seat 3 – Kitty Kuo – 460,000
Seat 4 – Andrei Boghean – 250,000
Seat 5 – Alexandru Papazian – 870,000
Seat 6 – Sergey Lebedev – 230,000
Seat 7 – Luis Perez Marrero – 960,000
Seat 8 – Patrick Serda – 360,000

Table 3

Seat 1 – Mark Radoja – 465,000
Seat 2 – Quan Zhou – 340,000
Seat 3 – Yang Zhang – 603,000
Seat 4 – Nick Petrangelo – 220,000
Seat 5 – Enzo Del Piero – 200,000
Seat 6 – Dietrich Fast – 1.45 million
Seat 7 – Markku Koplimaa – 510,000
Seat 8 – Senh Ung – 130,000

8:50pm: Urbanovich out
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Well, he had quads at least once today and looked for a moment as though it would be business as usual. But in actual fact, Dzmitry Urbanovich’s day is done before the dinner break. He has just bust at the hands of Quan Zhou.

The damage was done on the previous hand, however, by Byron Kaverman, who three-bet shoved from the big blind for his last 195,000. Urbanovich, who had opened, called with only 200,000 and they were racing for continued involvement in this tournament.

Urbanovich: A♠ K♦
Kaverman: J♣ J♠

A flop, turn, river of 8♣ 6♠ 5♣ Q♣ 10♥ later and Urbanovich was left with just 5,000.

He got it in on the next hand with K♣ J♦ and Zhou raised to isolate, with Q♠ Q♥ . Although Urbanovich hit a jack on the turn, it was not enough. He busts in 25th taking us down to our final three tables. A full redraw is coming up.

8:45pm: Marrero munches Yaghmai
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Nariman Yaghmai is the next man to fall, shoving all in for his last 120,000 from the big blind after an early-position open from Luis Perez Marrero. Yaghmai was in trouble with his A♠ 2♥ against Marrero’s A♦ Q♦ . The board ran 4♥ 7♦ 9♦ 6♦ 8♣ and Yagmai departs.

8:40pm: Moldova expects
Level 18: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Pavel Plesuv just got a big fillip in his bid to take a first major title back to Moldova. His A♣ 10♠ looked especially strong with a board fully exposed as 7♣ K♣ 5♠ Q♣ 6♣ . There was already a chunk in the middle and Sergey Lebedev also called Plesuv’s river shove of 300,000 with what looked like the jack of clubs. (The dealer quickly mucked it.)

8:35pm: Nothing beats nothing
Level 17: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)

A board of 7♣ 6♥ 7♦ 7♥ 3♠ had all kinds of possibilities, particularly in a hand that was an unraised battle of the blinds. Sergey Lebedev was in the small blind and he completed. Patrick Serda checked his option in the big blind.

That’s when they saw the first two sevens, with the six nestled between them, and Lebedev bet 8,000. Serda called, which led to the third seven on the turn. Lebedev checked now, but called after Serda bet 17,000. That meant they saw that three on the river.

Lebedev now bet 32,000, but Serda didn’t think too long before calling. This was a very good call. Lebedev showed 5♣ 8♥ , which was a big fat nothing. And Serda’s K♠ 8♦ was a bit fat nothing better.

8:30pm: Not worth the paper it’s written on
Level 17: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)

This hand took an age to play out and really wasn’t that exciting, all things considered, but sometimes when you’ve invested half a page of notebook, and about seven minutes of your life, in something, you just have to share it. So here it is.

Nariman Yaghmai opened to 19,000 from under the gun and Sergey Lebedev, in the hijack, bumped it to 55,000. Yagmai called and the two of them saw the following flop: 4♣ 2♠ 10♥ . Yagmai checked, Lebedev bet 40,000 and Yagmai called. That meant the 4♦ on the turn. They both dwell-checked that. And they also checked the Q♦ river, albeit slightly more quickly.

Yagmai opened the A♠ J♣ . Lebedev showed the A♥ K♣ . That’s poker.

8:25pm: Battle of the big names
Level 17: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)

Mikita Badziakouski is out. He shoved for about 12,000 with A♥ 10♥ and found a call from Marcin Chmielewski with 9♦ 9♥ . Badziakouski was OK with that. He could have been in far worse shape. But although he equity was good at the start, he didn’t get the help he needed through a board of 8♦ Q♦ J♥ J♣ 3♣ and hit the rail in 28th. That’s one spot behind Salman Behbehani, who became our 29th placed finisher.

8:15pm: Chip counts
Level 17: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)

The chip-count page has now been updated, and it’s Dietrich Fast who has appeared at the top. Anthony Zinno and Alex Komaromi are the latest players to bust.

7:55pm: Overwhelmed II
Level 17: Blinds 4,000/8,000 (1,000 ante)

There was a frenzy of colouring up at the last level, which precluded the tournament staff from doing a full chip count. We are instead now going to do a count on the last four tables, around which the last 31 now sit. Stand by. They do not now include Stephen Chidwick, Murad Akhundov, Luc Greenwood or Liv Boeree who were all knocked out in the past 20 minutes.

7pm: Overwhelmed
Level 16: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Although the €10,000 event has now condensed to its final five tables, the room has never been busier. There’s a satellite to the EPT main event taking place alongside now, and it’s mayhem.

The final 35 players in the €10K are taking a 20-minute break, during which time we’ll get a full chip count. Here are some selected numbers:

Dietrich Fast – 790,000
Dario Sammartino – 760,000
Alexandru Papazian – 665,000
Sergey Lebedev – 590,000
Nick Petrangelo – 550,000
Aliaksei Boika – 490,000
Quan Zhou – 490,000
Patrick Leonard – 480,000
Li Zhang – 455,000
Dzmitry Urbanovich – 320,000
Liv Boeree – 100,000

6:45pm: Zhou four-flushes Aido
Level 16: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Sergio Aido has been eliminated in 39th, shaking his head and wincing when Quan Zhou showed the A♣ 10♠ with four clubs on the board. Aido later tweeted that he had pocket eights and flopped a set (with Zhou hitting the ten on the flop) and they got it in on the 3♣ turn. It was a 360,000 pot and it went to the Chinese player.

6:40pm: Sammartino strong-arms Shafikov
Level 16: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Dario Sammartino’s whole approach often seems geared specifically towards getting an opponent to make a decision for his tournament life on the river and, as is very frequently the case, the ploy is working out. Sammartino has about 850,000 chips now having made Denys Shafikov his latest victim.

Dario Sammartino

Sammartino started it. He raised to 14,000 but Shafikov, one seat to his left, immediately raised to 33,000. Everyone else folded which left Sammartino alone to make the call.

They both checked the flop of 10♥ J♣ A♣ but it was more aggressive after that. The 7♠ came on the turn and Sammartino bet 30,000. Shafikov raised to 90,000 and Sammartino called.

The J♦ came on the river and Sammartino instantly shoved, comfortably covering Shafikov’s 170,000 behind. Shafikov took a while but thought better of it. He folded.

6:25pm: Carpentier-Perrault doubles
Level 16: Blinds 3,000/6,000 (1,000 ante)

Marc-Olivier Carpentier-Perrault just picked up a timely double-plus, finding J♦ J♥ in the big blind after an open to 12,500 from under the gun and then a call from the chip-leader Ali Reza Fatehi in the small blind. Carpentier-Perrault shoved for his last 81,500 and only Fatehi called, tabling 8♦ 8♠ . The board of 3♣ K♣ 5♦ 10♦ 10♥ was good for Carpentier-Perrault and Fatehi had to do what he hasn’t done much today: pay someone off.

6:20pm: Li can’t fold a straight
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Yingui Li is out having smelt a rat, sensing he was beaten, but unable to find what would have been a pretty tight fold. He thought and thought and thought and then ran the clock, duly called on him after the tanking, all the way down to the final second. But then he tossed in a chip to indicate a call. And was knocked out.

Dario Sammartino was his assassin. Sammartino moved all in on the board of 2♠ 10♠ 8♥ J♠ 9♣ , covering Li’s stack of around 90,000. There was a pot of about double that out there already, so they had been betting all the way.

Li possibly thought he simply couldn’t fold what he eventually revealed to be 10♥ Q♥ with all the value out there. But Sammartino’s A♠ Q♠ had him beaten. Li leaves in 40th.

6:10pm: Korenev halts Chidwick
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Stephen Chidwick’s stack has never seemed to amount to much today. He re-entered for a fresh 50,000 at start of play and has been between 100,000 and 150,000 for most of the subsequent levels. However on a recent pass, he was spotted with more than 200,000–a high point–and tossed out a raise to 11,000 in a bid to get the stack even higher.

Roman Korenev wasn’t having it. He raised to 30,000 from the hijack and Chidwick called after everyone else folded.

The board came J♥ 7♠ J♠ and Chidwick checked. Korenev bet another 30,000 and change and Chidwick folded. Down he went again.

6:05pm: Badziakouski takes on Boika
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Aliaksei Boika has been imperious today, but Mikita Badziakouski just took him on and reaped the rewards from an aggressive line. It was actually a pretty quiet start: Boika opened to 10,000 from early position and Badziakouski called from the small blind. It was just those two to a flop of 9♥ Q♠ 6♠ and Badziakouski led for 12,000. Boika called.

The turn was the 3♣ and Badziakouski bet again, this time 28,000. Boika called. The 5♦ came on the river and Badziakouski then moved 100,000 over the line. Boika quickly folded.

6pm: Fast’s queens account for Hajiyev
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Ramin Hajiyev is out after his A♦ K♣ couldn’t beat Dietrich Fast’s Q♦ Q♥ on a board of 6♠ 6♦ 5♦ 4♦ 10♥ . Hajiyev moved all-in pre-flop for about 100,000 and Fast called with his big pocket pair.

5:50pm: Leonard licks Luca
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Ivan Luca has been knocked out by Patrick Leonard in a blind-on-blind encounter. This one is going to appear in the file marked “Standard”. Leonard had K♥ 10♣ in the small blind; Luca was all in for about 60,000 with A♣ 6♥ from the big blind. Leonard called and the board ran 7♦ 2♠ Q♣ K♦ 5♣ . Luca exchanged a fist-bump with Leonard and went looking for his 46th place prize money.

5:40pm: Marrero takes on Serda, wins
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Luis Perez Marrero took on Patrick Serda and did what many have failed to do: win a small pot. Marrero opened to 12,000 from mid-position and Serda called on the button. They saw a flop of 5♠ 9♣ A♥ and Marrero bet 13,000. Serda called. Both players checked the 2♣ turn. And they also checked the 3♠ river. Marrero’s A♠ 7♠ was good.

We’re down to 47 players now. All the eliminations are on the eliminations/payouts page.

5:25pm: Del Piero’s kings stay strong
Level 15: Blinds 2,500/5,000 (500 ante)

Enzo Del Piero is up to about 310,000 having just sent Andreas Goeller to the rail. Del Piero opened from under the gun and, after Mark Radoja called from a stack of around 275,000, Goeller shoved for his last 100,000.

Del Piero called, which persuaded Radoja out of the way. Del Piero showed K♣ K♥ to Goeller’s A♠ J♣ and the board was a dry [Q♣ 8♦ Q♠ 2♥ 7♦ .

5pm: Serda rocks Rocco
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

Just as the remaining field departed for a 20-minute break (it’s the end of Level 14), Rocco Palumbo and Patrick Serda got involved in a pot that earned the latter another chunk of change.

Palumbo opened the pot, making it 10,000 to play from mid-position, and Serda three-bet on the button, making it 27,000. Everyone else got out of the way and many left the room, but a few loitered to see a four-bet from Palumbo. He made it 67,000.

“Call,” Serda said.

Patrick Serda

The flop came 7♣ Q♠ J♦ and Palumbo bet 45,000. Serda called. That brought the 2♣ on the river and slowed them both down. They checked.

Palumbo checked the Q♣ on the river but Serda, with position, flexed his muscles. He announced all in, with 340,000 behind, but it was Palumbo with the effective stack. He had only about 130,000 and opted to preserve them.

Serda couldn’t resist showing Palumbo one of his cards. It was the 6♥ .

With that, the last 50 players cleared the room for their break. We’ll have full counts for the field imminently.

4:45pm: Bubble bursts on second hand
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

There were a handful of pretty short stacks out there, certainly far shorter than the 117,500 in front of Juha Helppi. But it was quickly the Finn under threat when he three-bet shoved over Nick Petrangelo’s 10,000 open and was pretty much instantly called.

It was fairly obviously two big hands in front of these two, but they had to wait a long while to show them because Dario Sammartino and Ilya Vrublevsky were in a hand on a neighbouring table and that one had to play out first.

That was a slow burner, building steadily, until Sammartino bet 80,000 on a board of 6♠ 8♥ 4♥ 4♣ 6♦ and Vrublevsky called. Sammartino’s A♠ A♣ were good.

That then allowed all focus to shift back to the other table where Helppi showed his Q♣ Q♠ and was in a world of hurt against Petrangelo’s A♦ A♥ .

Nick Petrangelo, foreground, busts Juha Helppi, standing

The board only got worse for Helppi. The flop was K♦ 6♠ J♦ and he was left with only one out after the 3♦ turn. The 5♣ river was not the card he needed, and Helppi perished in 56th, taking them all into the money.

4:30pm: Hitting the stone bubble
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

Tom-Aksel Bedell had only 24,500 and seemed to be going through the motions of a classic staller: the slow peeking at one card after the other, the looking back again, the staring skyward in apparent thought. But before anybody could call the clock on him, he actually proved that he wasn’t stalling at all. He moved all in.

A couple of seats around, Markku Koplimaa called and everyone else folded, which meant it was Bedsell’s tournament life on the line, two places from the money.

Bedsell showed A♣ Q♠ and Koplimaa had 8♠ 8♦ . “Higher please,” Bedsell said after the dealer revealed the flop of 3♦ 9♥ 4♠ . Then he greeted the 2♥ turn with a plea to make them “Much higher”. But the 6♠ on the river did not help. Off he went.

We are now on the stone bubble and playing hand-for-hand.

4:25pm: Flatter payouts, faster play?
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

The payout structure in this event is much flatter than it has been before. Approximately 23 percent of the field is now being paid, an increase from about 15 percent, which has been the EPT norm until now.

The move hasn’t been met with widespread approval, particularly in this event where a min-cash is worth €11,410. However in the never-ending bid to get play to speed up around bubble time, a flatter pay structure has always been suggested as a potential solution. With now only four players still to go home empty handed, we can see first hand whether there is less stalling than can often be the case.

4:15pm: Li leaves
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

Jan Li’s departure in 61st leaves the final two women in the field, Liv Boeree and Kitty Kuo, sitting at the same table. Boeree has about 144,000 at this stage, but Kuo has the best part of 350,000.

There are some mighty stacks appearing now, including (but not limited to) the following:

Ali Reza Fatehi – 685,000
Dietrich Fast – 500,000
Patrick Serba – 470,000
Aliaksei Boika – 450,000
Dzmitry Urbanovich – 360,000
Jakub Michalak – 310,000
Patrick Leonard – 300,000

4:10pm: Six from the money
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

There are 61 players left, six from the money. The latest to fall are Steffen Sontheimer, Mustapha Kanit, Jason Mercier and Matas Cimbolas.

4pm: I’ve got a five
Level 14: Blinds 2,000/4,000 (500 ante)

Here’s a hand for you to pick the bones out of. Let’s file it under move gone wrong.

Ali Reza Fatehi opened to 10,000 from under the gun and Alexandru Papazian, in the cutoff, raised to 25,000. So much, so standard. Everyone folded and Fatehi called.

The flop came 8♥ A♦ 3♦ and Fatehi bet 15,000, which Papazian called, and took them to the A♣ on the turn. Fatehi bet 17,000 this time and again Papazian called, which took them to the 10♦ on the river.

Fatehi bet again, but it still wasn’t huge. This time he asked a question costing 18,000. Papazian responded by deliberately counting out a raise, making it 80,000 to play.

Fatehi took a little while before announcing the call and, with a flourish, Papazian turned over 5♠ 4♠ for a big fat nothing at all. Fatehi turned over a winning A♥ 5♥ , and puffed out his cheeks with relief.

3:40pm: Urbanovich back among the leaders
Level 13: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)

By the standards of somebody who had a hefty bet that he would win three bracelets, Dzmitry Urbanovich didn’t exactly have a memorable World Series of Poker this summer. It was his first trip and the best he finished was 12th.

But we’re back in Europe now, and on the EPT, where Urbanovich is close to unbeatable. Take this hand, for example, which just accounted for Geoffrey Mooney and put Urbanovich up to a chip-leading 460,000.

Mooney opened to 7,000 from under the gun and Urbanovich called a couple of seats around the table. It was only those two to a flop of 9♠ A♣ K♥ and Mooney bet 10,000. Urbanovich called. The turn was the K♣ and Mooney bet another 16,000. Urbanovich called, taking them to the 9♦ on the river.

If you’re sitting there thinking, “Wouldn’t it be gross if one of them had ace-king and the other pocket nines” then take a low bow because you’ve nailed this one. Mooney shoved for his last 40,000 approximately. Urbanovich instantly called. Mooney showed his A♥ K♦ and Urbanovich showed his 9♥ 9♣ .

So kings full lost to quads and Mooney bade farewell.

“How good is your life?” Jakub Michalak said to his countryman. Urbanovich merely grinned his Urbanovich grin.

3.15pm: More out
Level 13: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)

The rate of eliminations has not let up with the following now also out:

Frederik Jensen, Craig McCorkell, Mike McDonald, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, David Yan, Eddy Maksoud and Charlie Carrel. That’s a pretty tough single-table field right there.

3pm: Petrangelo felts Jacobson
Level 13: Blinds 1,500/3,000 (500 ante)

The field is down to 78 players and none of them have ever won the World Series of Poker. That wasn’t true until very recently, but Martin Jacobson has just been sent packing by Nick Petrangelo. Juha Helppi started things, raising to 7,000 from early position. Jacobson shoved for about 50,000 from the button but Nick Petrangelo, in the big blind, re-shoved.

Helppi, who covered Jacobson but had far fewer than Petrangelo, folded, leaving the following showdown:

Jacobson: Q♥ J♥
Petrangelo: A♣ K♣

The board ran 4♦ A♠ Q♣ 6♠ A♥ and that was that for Jacobson. He joins Chris Moorman, Christoph Vogelsang and Luiz Duarte Ferreira Filho on the rail, all of whom were knocked out either side of the break.

2.40pm: Break time
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

The last 82 players are taking a 20-minute break. The six biggest stacks in the room seem to belong to the following:

Aliaksei Boika – 485,000
Dzmitry Urbanovich – 365,000
Nick Petrangelo – 348,000
Patrick Leonard – 335,000
Luc Greenwood – 319,000
Marcin Chmielewski – 315,000
Senh Ung – 290,000

2.30pm: Lavallee good luck-ed out
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

Jason Lavallee is out, losing two races to Ilya Vrublevsky. Lavallee open-shoved for 32,100 from late position and action folded to Vrublevsky in the big blind. Vrublevsky called and showed 6♠ 6♥ to Lavallee’s K♣ Q♠ and so the first race was on.

“Good luck,” Vrublevsky said.
“You too,” Lavallee said, before realising he’d been beaten to the punch. “Damn, you got me with the good luck first,” he added.

But the luck actually favoured Vrublevsky when the board ran 5♥ 4♠ 10♦ 9♦ A♠ and Lavallee was knocked out.

“Good luck everyone,” Lavallee said as he departed, but it was too late.

2.20pm: More defeated campaigners
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

The list of the fallen now also includes Rainer Kempe, Jans Arends, Thomas Muehloecker, Koray Aldemir, Jens Lakemeier, Christopher Frank, Sam Chartier, Albert Daher, Leo Yan Ho Cheng, Timothy Adams, Steve O’Dwyer, Daniel Dvoress and Claas Segebrecht.

Thomas Muehloecker

2:10pm: Mooney takes the money
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

Francois Billard opened two pots in the same orbit, once from the button and once from under the gun. He lost both of them, in markedly different manners. On the first occasion, Frederik Jensen shoved for 33,800 after Billard opened to 5,600. Billard folded after a long dwell.

On the second hand, Geoffrey Mooney called the 5,600 open in the small blind and they went to a flop of 8♠ A♦ 4♥ . Mooney check-called Billard’s 5,800 continuation bet and then they both checked the 8♥ turn.

They also both checked the A♣ on the river, but Billard had apparently wriggled free of a trap. Mooney flipped his A♥ J♥ and took the money.

2pm: Luca chipping around
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

Ivan Luca doesn’t say much, but he’s pretty much always in a hand and his chip-stack fluctuates wildly as a result. He just picked up a small pot from Ilya Vrublevsky, who defended his big blind after Luca’s under-the-gun raise.

Ivan Luca

The two players saw a flop of 6♠ Q♠ 10♣ and both checked it. Then Vrublevsky also checked the turn of 7♥ , which prompted Luca to bet 7,800. Vrublevsky called. They both checked the 3♠ river and Vrublevsky hopefully tabled K♥ 7♣ , but was beaten by Luca’s A♥ 10♦ .

Luca has something like 190,000 at the moment, but that will change very soon.

1:50pm: Neuville ousts Dvoress
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

Pierre Neuville and Daniel Dvoress had pretty similar sized stacks–around 35,000 each–but Neuville’s is now double that size and Dvoress is out. I’m not sure when they got it all in, but ultimately Neuville’s K♥ Q♠ was better than Dvoress’s K♠ 9♠ . I think there might have been a king on the board, which prompted the flurry of betting.

1:45pm: Five more hit the rail
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

Alexander Lynskey, Jason Wheeler, Chaofei Wang, Roman Voronin and Dov Malnik are also all now out. Let’s be honest, you didn’t even really know they were in.

1:40pm: Four kay up top
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

The prize pool information was recently announced to players in the tournament room, with all ears on the very last couple of seconds of the oratory. “The winner will receive €413,000,” the tournament supervisor said.

There were a confirmed 240 entries, of whom 195 were unique players. The prize pool, after deductions, was €2,328,000. Fifty-five players will be paid, with a min-cash worth €11,410. The top eight prizes are as follows:

1 – €413,000
2 – €285,410
3 – €220,230
4 – €173,670
5 – €134,100
6 – €101,500
7 – €75,900
8 – €57,270

1:35pm: Carved back into double figures
Level 12: Blinds 1,200/2,400 (400 ante)

If you bust today, there’s no coming back and the following won’t be seeing Level 12 of this tournament.

Kully Sidhu, Adrian Mateos, Alessandro Sarro, Joao Vieira, Igor Kurganov, Jan-Eric Schwippert, Christian Christner, Jani Sointula, JC Alvarado, Oleh Okhotskyi, Ryan McEathron, Roger Hairabedian, Michael Telker, Farid Chati, Pascal LeFrancois, Thiago Crema, Jack Salter, Samuel Vousden, Peter Jaksland, Fikret Kovac, Niko Soininen, Francisco Benitez, Sylvain Loosli, Martin Finger, Markus Durnegger.

Even though that has just started, with blinds of 1,200-2,400, the field has now been trimmed back to its final 99 players.

1.30pm: Del Piero bounces back
Level 11: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

After the earlier skirmish against Alexander Lynskey, Enzo Del Piero has bounced back. He described a call he made with king-queen, correctly reading he was ahead of Lynskey’s ten-jack, and is now up to about 270,000.

Enzo Del Piero

1.10pm: LeFrancois busts to Boika
Level 11: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Joao Vieira was in the middle of a story about losing his cash card, gobbled by an ATM, when he opened to 4,800 from UTG+1. Action folded to Pascal LeFrancois who called from the small blind, but was actually all-in and 400 short with a total stack of 4,400. After Aliaksei Boika also called from the big blind, LeFrancois was at risk at Boika and LeFrancois were contesting a side pot of 800.

The flop came 2♠ K♣ 8♣ and Boika check-called Vieira’s bet of 3,800. Both active players then checked the 2♦ turn and the 6♦ river and Boika’s K♥ 5♦ beat Vieira’s A♦ J♥ . It also beat LeFrancois’s Q♦ 8♥ , but he was already almost at the exit door before anyone established that.

12.55pm: “You waited with that?”
Level 11: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Enzo Del Piero was incredulous when his opponent, Alexander Lynskey, did not snap call his shove on the river, looking at a board of 6♦ 5♥ 9♠ 8♥ J♥ . Lynskey had A♥ 7♦ but took a short while to call for his tournament life after Del Piero tried a move on the end.

I didn’t see how it played out until that point, but there was about 26,000 in the pot and Lynskey had bet 21,200. Del Piero, from an overnight stack of close to 150,000, moved all in, which comfortably covered Lynskey. Lynskey only bought in for the first time today and so was looking at a very brief stay for his €10,000.

In the end, Lynskey called and Del Piero immediately said, “Good call.” He motioned to muck his cards but, since it was an all-in bet, he was obliged to show them. He tabled 2♦ 2♠ and then saw Lynskey’s winning–but eminently beatable–straight.

“You waited with that?” Del Piero said, although the intonation made it clear he wasn’t especially put out. Lynskey’s total stack was 61,300 before that and he is now comfortably into six figures.

12.40pm: Newcomers, and welcome back
Level 11: Blinds 1,000/2,000 (300 ante)

Registration is now officially closed on this tournament, with the final numbers as follows: There were 195 players and 45 re-entries, meaning 240 total entries.

Here are the latest arrivals, some of whom are brand new and some of whom are firing a second bullet:

New entries: Koray Aldemir, Yan Li, Roger Hairabedian, Chaofei Wang, Mikita Badziakouski, Jason Mercier, Alexander Lynskey, Jack Salter, Jason Lavallee.

Re-entered: Christoph Vogelsang, Fikret Kovac, Igor Kurganov, Michael Telker, Yingui Li, Frederik Jensen, Stephen Chidwick, Jason Wheeler, Yang Zhang.

Jason Mercier

All of the above get a stack of 50,000. Blinds are now at 1,000/2,000 in Level 11.

12pm: Welcome to Day 2

Good afternoon and welcome back to Casino Barcelona for the resumption of the €10,000 single-entry high roller tournament, a nice gentle way to ease us all into this European Poker Tour festival. After 10 one-hour levels yesterday, a starting field of 186 was reduced to 108, but registration remained open overnight, meaning there may be a few more joining the party still. We’ll check that ASAP. Today they are due to play another 10 levels or to a final table of eight players. The wise money is on the former, which will mean a finish close to 1 a.m.

The top 10 stacks at this stage are as follows, while the full list is on the chip-count page:

Stick with us as they play through another gruelling day.

Dietrich Fast: Lurking in the top three

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Take a look at the official website of the EPT, with tournament schedule, news, results and accommodation details for EPT13 Barcelona and the rest of the season.

Also all the schedule information is on the EPT App, which is available on both Android or IOS.

One-man band reporting team, mini-cymbals strapped to inside of knees: Howard Swains. Photography by Carlos Monti. Follow the PokerStars Blog on Twitter @PokerStarsBlog.

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