EPT Barcelona 2018: Pedro Marques Leads Final 13 in Main Event, Justin Ligeri Tops Day 1 of €10,300 High Roller

Pedro Marques and Justin Ligeri
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  • PG News September 1, 2018
  • 6 Mins Read

The 2018 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona has crowned seven winners since it kicked off on August 22. With the star attraction of the series, the €5,300 Main Event on the home stretch, the race to win the two PSPC Platinum Passes up for grabs at the event, along with life-changing €1,611,500 top prize, has intensified.

The series saw a busy start to the weekend as two events played out simultaneously on Friday, the €5,300 Main Event and the €10,300 EPT High Roller.

The Main Event saw 56 survivors returning for Day 4 with Irishman Mark Buckley enjoying the tag of chip leader. 43 eliminations later, 13 players made it through to Day 5 with Pedro Marques (9,150,000) bagging the overnight chip lead.

The €10,300 EPT High Roller was another star-studded event that registered a total 419 runners with 151 among them making the cut for Day 2. Justin Ligeri (375,000) is sitting comfortably at the top of the chip counts after the opening day’s play.

€5,300 Main Event

Day 4 of the Main Event witnessed 43 eliminations, bringing down the playing field to the final 13 runners.

Among the notables who hit the rail were Tom Alner (15th for €78,800), Denys Shafikov (18th for €59,940), David Petrzelka (21st for €50,575), Shakhabiddin Muradov (24th for €41,675), Renato Kaneoya (27th for €41,675), Julien Sitbon (29th for €35,500), Oliver Weis (32nd for €30,150), Siarhei Chudapal (40th for €24,910) and Anthony Chimkovitch (56th for €19,760).

Upeshka De Silva was the last elimination of the day. With the board running card 1card 3card 1card 2card 3, De Silva’s pocket nines ran into Fabiano Kovalski’s card 3card 3 and the former was busted in 14th place for €78,800.

It was Portugal’s Pedro Marques who is leading the way after the opening day’s play with a massive stack of 9,150,000. However, Brazil’s Kovalski (8,745,000) is hot on his heels, while Rodrigo Carmo (5,330,000) is a distant third in chips.

With a first-place payout of €1,611,500 and two PSPC Platinum Passes worth $30,000 up for grabs, there is a lot of exciting poker action expected over the weekend before a champion is crowned.

Pedro Marques
Pedro Marques

Chip Counts At The End of Day 4 (complete)

1. Pedro Marques – 9,150,000

2. Fabiano Kovalski – 8,745,000

3. Rodrigo Carmo – 5,330,000

4. Matthias Tikerpe – 5,200,000

5. Haoxiang Wang – 4,655,000

6. Mark Buckley – 4,400,000

7. Georges Hanna – 3,770,000

8. Piotr Nurzynski – 3,570,000

9. Patrick Clarke – 3,550,000

10. Ognyan Dimov – 3,100,000

11. Danny Tang – 2,435,000

12. Ben Heath – 2,030,000

13. John Juanda – 1,980,000

€10,300 High Roller

Another high buy-in tournament on the 2018 EPT Barcelona roster, the €10,300 High Roller kicked off with many bigwigs in attendance. A total of 419 players entered the event and 151 among them advanced to Day 2 led by Justin Ligeri (375,000), who holds the biggest stack. Since the tournament allows late registration till Day 2 action begins, the field may very well swell up to a bigger number.

Close behind Ligeri in the chip counts are Gianluca Speranza (373,500), Marc MacDonnell (365,000) and Daniel Neilson (358,000).

The event saw its first elimination when James Chen lost his entire stack to Xixiang Luo. Chen held pocket sevens and flopped a set on the seven-deuce-eight-five-jack board but Chen held six-four and took down the pot with his straight.

Another player to hit the rail early in the day was Jean-Noel Thorel. Thorel has been on a trailblazing run this series but his €10,300 EPT High Roller journey was cut short well before the dinner break.

The action picked up as the day neared conclusion with Team PokerStars Pros Maria Konnikova and Leo Fernandez, Maria Lampropulos, Vladimir Troyanovskiy, Mustapha Kanit and professional golfer Sergio Garcia, all falling out before the bags were brought out.

Day 2 will see familiar faces like €50,000 Single-Day High Roller champion Andras Nemeth (290,500), Adrian Mateos (238,500), Benny Spindler (204,000), Will Kassouf (188,000) and Team PokerStars pro Jeff Gross (187,500) in action.

Other prominent faces still in the running include Niall Farrell (154,000), Byron Kaverman (142,000), Byrn Kenney (140,000), Paul Newey (135,000), Stephen Chidwick (130,000) and Max Silver (110,000).

Justin Ligeri

Justin Ligeri

Top 10 Chip Counts At The End of Day 1

1. Justin Ligeri – 375,000

2. Gianluca Speranza – 373,500

3. Marc Macdonnell – 365,000

4. Daniel Neilson – 358,000

5. Tamon Nakamura – 329,000

6. Wael Sarkis – 328,000

7. Johnny Nedved – 323,500

8. Daniel Erlandsson – 319,000

9. Andras Nemeth – 299,500

10. Felipe Costa – 298,000

Keep following all the latest updates from EPT Barcelona right here on PokerGuru!

Related Articles:

1. EPT Barcelona 2018: Indian Challenger Kunal Punjwani Finishes 176th in Main Event, Mark Buckley Leads 56 Runners For Day 4

2. EPT Barcelona 2018: Andras Nemeth Wins €25,000 Single-Day High Roller For €605,600

3. EPT Barcelona 2018: Alexander Petersen Takes Down €10,300 PLO High Roller For €213,400

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