Ariel Galactico Puts On a Show on Day 2 of the EAPT Barcelona Main Event
One voice stood out among the crowd on the penultimate day of the EAPT Barcelona €560 Main Event, that of the always entertaining Ariel Galactico.
The gregarious, affable Galactico kept his table entertained with a constant stream of table banter and jokes. He also took down his fair share of pots, including turning a full house to beat Aleksandar Kamendoliev’s flopped straight to eliminate his opponent in 27th.
Galactico then hit a ten to beat Vladyslav Ostapenko’s ace-king near the end of the night as Galactico bagged up 1,545,000, good for second in chips when the final 18 players return tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. local time.
Galactico is looking up only at Day 1a chip leader Fernando Santa Maria, who was helped along when he busted Diogo Ferreira in 26th place with the nut flush as he moved back atop the leaderboard with 1,590,000. Christopher Arpal (1,260,000), Day 1c leader Teddy Kamel (1,170,000), and Antonio Pagliuca (1,035,000) are also in the million-chip club.
Day 2 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fernando Santa Maria | Dominican Republic | 1,590,000 | 80 |
| 2 | Ariel Galactico | Argentina | 1,545,000 | 77 |
| 3 | Christopher Arpal | Spain | 1,260,000 | 63 |
| 4 | Teddy Kamel | Lebanon | 1,170,000 | 59 |
| 5 | Antonio Pagliuca | Italy | 1,035,000 | 52 |
| 6 | Mark Buckley | Ireland | 950,000 | 48 |
| 7 | Carlos Esquerdo | Spain | 865,000 | 43 |
| 8 | David Carballas | Spain | 825,000 | 41 |
| 9 | Jaskirat Singh Bindra | India | 650,000 | 33 |
| 10 | Jose Rodriguez | Honduras | 645,000 | 32 |
The rest of the field includes the likes of Mark Buckley (950,000), Carlos Esquerdo (865,000), Jaskirat Singh Bindra (650,000), Andre Carvalho (610,000), and Day 1b leader Cedric Jaby (600,000).
The day began with 53 players remaining out of a total of 357 entries from the four starting flights, as well as five online qualifiers who earned their way in on GGPoker. They were all in the money at the start of the day, and the bustouts came fast. Tullio Bertoli (38th), Robert Cazali (36th), and Alexander Delgado (33rd) saw their days end early, while Harcharan Dogra (24th) was eliminated shortly after losing most of his chips to Sanjay Haran’s set of jacks.
The final 18 players are guaranteed €1,900 out of the €200,000 prize pool, while the player who emerges as the champion tomorrow with earn €39,300 plus a €5,000 package. The last longer bet is also still active, with the final player wearing an EAPT badge earning a free seat into the next festival in Bucharest. The action will pick up with 17 minutes remaining in Level 20 with blinds of 10,000-20,000 and a 20,000 ante.
Eighteen remain. By the end of play tomorrow there will be only one left standing here in sunny Barcelona, and PokerNews will follow the action the entire way and provide live updates until a new EAPT champion is crowned.