Bharath Janardhan Tops EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 1b
The final starting flight added 1,049 entries, lifted the prize pool to €8.2 million and left the field still moving before Day 2.
Bharath Janardhan finished Day 1b of the EPT Barcelona Main Event with 321,000 chips and the top stack from the second and final €5,300 starting flight at Casino Barcelona. The flight drew 1,049 entries and sent 342 players through to Day 2, bringing the tournament to 1,684 entries and 535 survivors at the time of reporting, with the prize pool listed at €8,217,750.
As covered in our Aug. 22 report on Day 1a, Michael Dwyer had already set the pace with 363,500 from the opening flight. PokerOrg later said the total field had climbed to 1,719 as late registration stayed open until the start of Day 2.
Davide Marchi bagged 303,000 for second on the Day 1b leaderboard, Oliver Wulf had 294,500 for third, and Yurii Zabrodotskyi and Giovanni La Padula also finished among the bigger stacks. Dario Sammartino advanced with 201,500, the biggest stack of any PokerStars ambassador, after winning chips in a hand that included a preflop four-bet jam.
Several other recognizable names also made it through, including Raul Mestre and Marle Spragg. Defending champion Thomas Eychenne found a bag after winning the PokerStars Open High Roller, which PokerOrg said was worth €589,395, and former EPT Main Event winners Sebastian Malec and Jan Bendik were still alive going into the next stage.
Not everyone got there. PokerNews said Kevin MacPhee, Manig Loeser, Robin Ylitalo, Sebastian Huber, Biao Ding, Samuel Ju, Benny Glaser and Rania Nasreddine were among the players who missed the cut, while Scott Margereson was eliminated just before dinner.
Day 2 was set to begin at noon local time on Monday, Aug. 24, with the surviving players from both starting flights meeting for the first time at Level 11, 1,000/1,500 with a 1,500 big blind ante. Registration was scheduled to close ten minutes before cards were in the air, and the official prize pool and payouts were due to be announced shortly after play began.
