Jose Criado Leads EPT Barcelona Main Event Final 28
Barbara Akemi reaches new ground for Brazilian women as Mark Teltscher busts in a kings-over-queens cooler
Jose Criado took the overnight lead in the EPT Barcelona Main Event after Day 4, bagging 5,045,000 chips as the field was trimmed to 28 players. Barbara Akemi also stayed in the hunt, finishing inside the top five with 3,445,000 and going farther in the tournament than any Brazilian woman had before.
According to PokerNews, Day 4 started with 67 players and Casino Barcelona played four 90-minute levels before more than half the field was gone. The €5,300 event drew 1,823 entries and built an €8,841,550 prize pool, with €1,370,050 reserved for the winner and €34,850 already locked up for each remaining player. As covered in our Aug. 24 report, the Main Event had already worked its way through the starting flights before this latest squeeze.
Criado's run to the top came in a huge preflop cooler against Mark Teltscher. Criado opened to 60,000 from early position, Teltscher three-bet to 180,000 from the small blind, and Criado moved all in before Teltscher snapped with his last 575,000.
Teltscher held queens, Criado had kings, and the board ran out harmlessly, sending Teltscher to the rail and putting Criado at the head of the counts. Criado qualified online and had never before cashed in an EPT Main Event.
Gerard Carbo ended Day 4 with 4,815,000, while Joris Ruijs bagged 4,625,000. Two former EPT Barcelona champions were still alive too, with John Juanda on 1,855,000 and Sebastian Malec on 1,485,000.
Akemi's run stood out even before the chip counts were tallied. Claudia Bueno and Sarah Jarry went out early in Day 4, leaving Akemi as the lone woman still standing, and the report noted that she is the first Brazilian woman to win the Sunday Million and has since added a WSOP bracelet.
Day 4 also featured a double knockout when Alexander Luciani's Broadway straight held against Hugo Soares and Simon Wiciak. Soares shoved 355,000 after Luciani made it 60,000, Luciani called after using a time bank, and the turn king locked up Wiciak's exit while the river king failed to give Soares a chop.
The last players out before the bagging phase were Teltscher, Espen Sandvik, and Joshua Boulton. Day 5 resumes Thursday, August 27, at 12 p.m. local time with four more 90-minute levels, starting on Level 25 at 20,000/40,000 with a 40,000 big blind ante.
