The record-breaking 1,931-strong field of the EPT Barcelona Main Event was reduced to just 56 survivors during Day 3 of the tournament. The remaining players are set to resume play today at noon local time at Casino Barcelona. They will be led by Ireland’s Mark Buckley, who emerged as the chip leader after the dinner break last night to eventually squeeze 2.65 million chips into his bag.
Day 3 of the tournament kicked off with 259 runners and Canadian Ben Wilinofsky as the chip leader. The player is vying for his second EPT title after topping the field of the EPT Berlin Main Event in 2011. Wilinofsky kept his momentum from the previous day of play for a while, but two losses, both caused by Renato Kaneoya, reduced his stack significantly midway through Day 3.
Once Wilinofsky sunk, there were several players who claimed the chip lead throughout the rest of the day. And as mentioned earlier, Buckley began gaining momentum after dinner break. On one particular hand, the Irishman called an all-in bet from Yi Ang Lin with a set of deuces. Lin, holding [Ac][Qs], was one card away from a wheel straight. However, he only managed to pair his ace, which was totally insufficient to keep him in play.
Scooping Lin’s chips, Buckley rocketed himself at the top of the chip counts chart with 3.6 million. He lost some of that stack throughout the night, but never let go of the chip lead.
What’s Next for the EPT Barcelona Main Event?
Buckley is topping the chip counts chart but he has several players right behind him in the chip counts chart and will have to step up his game early on Day 4 in order to be able to pull ahead. Late-night doublers Fabiano Kovalski from Brazil and Matthias Tikerpe from Estonia will too enter Day 4 of the tournament with considerable chip stacks. Kovalski bagged 2.65 million last night and is trailing closely behind Buckley. Tikerpe is, too, not far away with his stack of 2.35 million.
Day 4 is scheduled for noon local time. Each of the 56 remaining players are guaranteed a minimum cash of €19,760. Needless to say, the €1,611,500 first-place prize is what they will all be going after.
There are three more days left to be played within the EPT Barcelona Main Event. The tournament’s eight-handed finale is scheduled for Sunday, September 2018.
This year, the tournament attracted a record number of contenders. By the time registration was closed, there were 1,931 entries to have registered in the €5,300 buy-in event, including 457 re-entries. The massive field generated an equally impressive prize pool of €9,365,350. The money was split into payouts for the top 296 finishers, min-cashes starting from €8,150.
After the conclusion of the EPT Barcelona, the EPT will next be heading to Sochi, Russia for the EPT Open Sochi festival. The exciting poker event will run from September 21 through September 29.
Follow us on Facebook and Twitter to stay up to date on the day’s top casino news stories.
