Day 1B of the PokerStars Championship Barcelona €5,300 Main Event was even busier than the tournament’s first starting flight. There were 1,229 entries to register for the major event on Tuesday when its second starting flight took place. By the time all eight scheduled levels were completed, the field had been reduced to just 637 players.
The remaining survivors called it a day to take a rest and return at Casino Barcelona today at noon local time. Day 2 of the event will also see the 213 hopefuls from Day 1A take their rightful seats at the poker tables of the host venue.
All 850 remaining participants will be lead by local player Jose Latorre, who secured his seat into Day 2 from Day 1B. Last night, the player bagged and tagged 243,800 in chips to head the pack of survivors.
Latorre’s HendonMob profile tells us that the player has seven previous in-the-money finishes and that his live tournament earnings amount to $186,725. The player captured his largest ever cash back in 2015, when he finished runner-up to Isidoro Barrena in the UKIPT/ESPT €1,100 PokerStars Marbella Main Event for €91,500.
Latorre ran quite well throughout the whole day, but he locked his chip advantage towards the end of play, when he won a massive pot against Noubarian. Having all his chips in, the latter was eliminated from the tournament.
Notables who did not make it through the end of the day included PokerStars Team Pro member Vanessa Selbst, Luca Pagano, Jason, Wheeler, Rocco Palumbo, and many more. Grammy-winning DJ Zedd, who entertained players at a special party at Opium Barcelona on Monday night, joined the Main Event’s field on Tuesday. However, his run ended before managing to advance any further in the tournament.
On the other hand, there are many well-known poker pros who will return at the host venue for Day 2 play. The likes of Andre Akkari, Bertrand Grospellier, Dario Sammartino, and Morten Mortensen are still in contention and ready for more quality poker action.
Registration for the event will remain open until the start of Day 2, so there will certainly be more players to enter the major tournament and swell up the prize pool. The inaugural PokerStars Championship Barcelona Main Event features a guaranteed prize pool of €7 million. It is yet to be seen whether it will be exceeded. Organizers are also to announce how much the champion will collect and how the prize pool will be split among how many players. All these pieces of information will be delivered to the curious players and fans of the game later today.
The Main Event is set to run through August 27, when the official eight-handed final table will be played at the host venue. Poland’s Sebastian Malec topped the field of the EPT Season 13 Barcelona Main Event last August for a first-place prize of €1,122,800. The player emerged victorious from a field of 1,785 entries.
