Jan-Peter Jachtmann was walking away from the tournament area when we got out to the floor. Joining him on the rail was Mohsin Virani, who got in an ace-high suited rundown blind versus blind and couldn't improve against the of Pedro Zagalo.
That means the bubble is here, and play is hand-for-hand.
Jan Suchanek bet 40,000 from the button after a series of checks in front of him on a board. Small blind Norbert Szecsi was the only taker, and the river was an . Szecsi checked and Suchanek quickly slid 150,000 in. Szecsi leaned back in his chair and then called after about 15 seconds.
Suchanek fanned for a missed wrap plus flush draw. Szecsi tabled for trips.
The next hand, Suchanek opened for 15,000 in the cutoff and got called by everyone behind him. Everyone checked the flop, bringing a board of . Eder Campana bet 35,000 from the big blind and Suchanek called, with the other two folding. On the river, Campana checked. Suchanek slid in a pot-sized bet, and Campana used a time extension but ultimately folded.
With 110,000 in the pot, Jan Suchanek potted from the small blind after a flop. Sylvain Loosli jammed from the button for 365,000. Suchanek thought briefly and then pushed in calling chips.
Loosli:
Suchanek:
Suchanek was in awful shape but did pick up equity on the turn. The river didn't do it for him though, and he sent almost half of his stack to Loosli, dropped to less than half of the mighty count with which he began the day.
At the same table, Roussos Koliakoudakis has busted out.
Leo Nordin opened for 17,500 and got three-bet to 60,000 by Ben Tollerene, who had the button. Nordin told the dealer he was all in, and Tollerene counted out his stack. It looked to be in the neighborhood of 180,000 and he decided he couldn't fold.
Nordin:
Tollerene:
The board ran out , no help to the American nosebleed legend.
Mandy Calara potted for 53,000 in middle position on a flop of and got called by Mohsin Virani, who was in the small blind. The big blind mucked, and they got the last 23,500 in on the turn, though Virani didn't look thrilled.
Virani:
Calara:
Two pair was good for the moment, and Calara improved to a boat on the river.
Oliver Weis opened in the cutoff to 12,500 and called a three-bet to 26,000 from Yuri Martins, on his left. Both checked the flop, and Weis bet 44,000 on the turn. Martins called on the two-tone board, seeing a hit. Weis checked, and Martins opted to check back, losing a showdown to , good for a flush.
One day of pot-limit Omaha is in the books, and it's time for Day 2 of PokerStars Championship Barcelona €10,300 PLO High Roller.
The tournament drew a hefty field of 111 runners, of which 21 survived. The first order of business on Day 2 will be to burst the bubble, as 15 of those 21 players will make the money. Based on the pace of play last night, that's likely to happen fairly early in the day, even with the deep stacks — the current average is north of 50 big blinds.
One of the players who pushed the action most was Jan "PerpetualCzech" Suchanek, who splashed his way through Day 1 to the tune of bagging more than 20 starting stacks. His 1,087,000 gives him a wide lead heading into the final day over second-place Laszlo Bujtas and his 598,500.
Plenty of stiff competition remains, including Yuri Martins, Ben Tollerene, Peter Eichhardt and $10K PLO bracelet winner Jan-Peter Jachtmann.
The plan for Day 2 is to play down to a champion, who will claim €277,000 in prize money. To get there, they'll play through 45-minute levels once again, starting at 2,500/5,000. There will be breaks every three levels. Stay tuned here on PokerNews to see who will be the four-card champ of Barcelona.