From 2,045 entrants down to the final six, the road to glory at PokerStars EPT Barcelona has been long, but the final table is now set.
Players from six different countries have survived six days of tournament poker with one all-important day remaining. Payouts are massive, stacks are deep, and the trophy is waiting.
Sebastian Ionita holds the chip lead over his competitors going into the final day of action.
With $238,259 in live earnings according to Hendon Mob, tomorrow is a big spot for the Romanian. With a first-place prize worth over six times his all-time live earnings, he brought some new friends to cheer him on.
"Actually, we met last night," Ionita said as the group laughed. "In an Irish pub. We started talking — he bought me a beer — and I told him I have a big spot tomorrow. I found out they like poker, and they wanted to come watch."
Ionita's new rail is working. Under their watch, he rallied to the chip lead, and they plan to come back tomorrow to keep the luck intact for the final day. Ionita discussed his plans for tonight in preparation for tomorrow's action.
"I will eat something and watch the full stream, because it's free info," he said. "Then I'll have a couple of beers, and that will help me sleep better."
His rail didn't fully agree. "I think we're going to get drunk tonight," yelled one of his railbirds. "Trust me, it'll be luckier."
Anton Suarez: 'I like my spot'
Positioned fifth in chips is Anton Suarez, representing Sweden. Despite being one of the shorter stacks, the deep structure and his experience have kept his confidence high.
"I like my spot," he told us after the six players bagged for the night. "It was a tough day today, but let's get after it tomorrow," Suarez said. "I have some work to do."
There's one hand from today that Suarez wishes he could take back.
At the 200,000 big blind level, he opened 
to 500,000. Thomas Eychenne three-bet 
to 2,000,000. Suarez elected to call with 10,400,000 behind. The board ran out 
. After mutual checks on the flop and turn, Eychenne went for a bet of 3,000,000 on the river, and Suarez folded.
"I should have shoved preflop with nines," said Suarez. "That bugs me a little bit." However, despite this pot, Suarez still has a very playable 34 big blinds for the final day.
Big money up top
Players have already locked up €224,450 with sixth-place money, but they'll all be dreaming about the €1,436,000 that awaits the eventual winner.
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €1,436,000 |
| 2 | €898,350 |
| 3 | €641,200 |
| 4 | €493,250 |
| 5 | €379,350 |
| 6 | €224,450 |
Action continues tomorrow at 12:30pm local time. The live stream will be on the PokerStars YouTube and Twitch channels with a 30-minute delay until they reach a winner.
EPT Barcelona Main Event final table stacks
| Place | Player | Chips |
Big blinds |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sebastian Ionita | 14,725,000 | 59 |
| 2 | Thomas Eychenne | 11,375,000 | 46 |
| 3 | Julian Pineda Lozano | 9,700,000 | 39 |
| 4 | Umberto Zaffagnini | 9,525,000 | 38 |
| 5 | Anton Suarez | 8,400,000 | 34 |
| 6 | Tomasz Brzezinski | 7,625,000 | 31 |
All photos courtesy of PokerStars/Danny Maxwell
