David Peters Leads After �10,300 EPT High Roller Day 1
After ten levels of play in the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona �10,300 High Roller, less than half the field remains with David Peters as the overall chip leader.
There were a total of 117 entries today including 27 re-entries, but with registration and re-entry open until the start of Day 2, that number looks set to grow further still.
47 players remain and David Peters is leading the way and appears to be the only player over 300,000 in chips. Peters says he loves coming to EPT Barcelona.
"It's probably my favourite stop," said Peters, "Huge action, big fields - love it here. The day went great. I accumulated chips very well and won a nice pot against [Daniel] Dvoress at the end, and yeah just been going pretty well. Hopefully, I can keep it going!
"I just play and try and get as many chips as I can. I try to just bring my A-Game. I'm comfortable at all the different stack sizes; just play my game whether I'm short stack or big stack. Just go from there!"
Other big stacks included Joao Vieira (278,500), Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (237,000), Niklas Astedt (236,000) and Grzegorz Grochulski (215,500). Among the familiar faces who made it through to Day 2 were Spaniards Adrian Mateos (142,000) and Sergio Aido (55,000), along with Bryn Kenney (196,500), Kristen Bicknell (160,000), Stephen Chidwick (73,500), Dan Smith (64,500) and Patrik Antonius (56,500).
Among the early faces in the field were Alex Foxen and Kristen Bicknell, both Sam and Luc Greenwood, along with Dietrich Fast, Adrian Mateos and Ben Heath.
A major notable in the field during the first few levels was Barcelona centre-back Gerard Pique. Pique is no stranger to the poker felt, especially here in Barcelona, with four cashes at the venue stretching back to 2011. In 2013, he cashed in this event for �21,150 and last year recorded his biggest ever live cash; a fifth place in the �25,500 High Roller for �129,350.
Unfortunately for Pique, on this occasion, he failed to make it through Day 1. In Level 3, Pique held pocket fives was ahead of the ace-queen of Scott Margereson, but an ace on the turn sent him to the exit as the first player to bust. He subsequently re-entered, and was going well as he chipped up to over 100,000. However, he would soon bust again, this time to James Romero when Pique��s deuces failed to beat the top pair of his opponent.
Other players to bust today included Daniel Neilson, Timur Margolin, Sylvain Loosli, Martin Jacobson, Shannon Shorr, Jean-Noel Thorel, Kitty Kuo, Dietrich Fast, and [Removed:17].
Late registration and re-entry is open until the start of Day 2, so expect the number of players to swell. Stay tuned to PokerNews.com for all the action live from the Casino Barcelona.