The European Poker Tour (EPT) has taken over the streets of Barcelona as players from across the globe seek the thrill and prestige of a PokerStars EPT title.
David Dongwoo Ko, of Canada, was one such player in search of glory — and he found it. The €5,200 8-Game Mix might not be the most popular tournament on EPT stop schedules, but the players that do fire come to win. In Barcelona, 18 entrants ponied up the buy-in to create a prize pool of €87,300 after the event was nearly canceled due to lack of players.
After battling long into the night, Ko emerged victorious from the field, taking home €37,550 for the win, along with the coveted PokerStars trophy — his first. To bag the win Ko needed to overcome several huge names from the mixed-game world, including Mike Watson, fellow Canadian and Triple Crown winner, who was Ko's adversary for the heads up portion of play. The two traded blows until 1:30am local time when Ko managed to get the best of his opponent.
Watson took home a consolation prize of €23,550, while SCOOP/WCOOP endboss and mixed-game maestro Benny Glaser and veteran Vladimir Troyanovsky found third and fourth place finishes respectively.
EPT Barcelona 8-Game results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | David Dongwoo Ko | €37,550 |
| 2 | Mike Watson | €23,550 |
| 3 | Benny Glaser | €15,700 |
| 4 | Vladimir Troyanovsky | €10,500 |
Main Event Day 2 sees field thin as bubble looms
In the EPT Barcelona Main Event, two Day 1 starting flights, plus several Day 2 entrants, saw the field balloon to 1,975 total players, creating a prize pool of €9,578,750. The total prize pool sets the event as the fourth-largest Main Event in the EPT's historic twenty-year run.
Of those 1,975, only 713 (including 85 Day 2 entrants) advanced to Day 2 action, which then saw the field thin even further, down to just 293 surviving players.
Kian Kiani starts Day 3 play on Wednesday with the chip lead after bagging up 775,000. Hans Erlandsson (720,000) and Javey Timmer (692,000) round out the top three, with both players not far off from the chip leader.
EPT Monte Carlo Main Event third place finisher Rania Nasreddine finished the day with 609,000, good for seventh place in the chip counts heading into Day 3.
There were a number of notable players unable to advance to Day 3, falling short in one way or another. Amongst them were PokerStars Ambassadors Maria Konnikova, Benjamin Spragg, Andre Akkari, and Jen Shahade.
Patrik Antonius, Olga Iermolcheva, Noak Boeken, Dzmitry Urbanovich, and Justin Saliba were also unable to find Day 3 bags.
Day 3 play begins at midday local time. With only six eliminations left before the bubble bursts and chip stacks growing ever more shallow, players and fans alike can expect a day of frantic action.
EPT Barcelona Main Event top 10 chip counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kian Kiani | 775,000 |
| 2 | Hans Erlandsson | 720,000 |
| 3 | Javey Timmer | 692,000 |
| 4 | Ahmed Karrim | 664,000 |
| 5 | Malcolm Franchi | 637,000 |
| 6 | Raoul Kanme | 633,000 |
| 7 | Rania Nasreddine | 609,000 |
| 8 | Nicolas Julien | 550,000 |
| 9 | Claudio Di Giacomo | 546,000 |
| 10 | Mark Teltscher | 519,000 |
Additional images courtesy of PS Live
