2018 PokerStars.es EPT Barcelona

On the first of two starting days of the European Poker Tour Barcelona €5,300 EPT Main Event, a total of 554 unique players showed up to try and become the next EPT champion. 44 of them opted for the single reentry this tournament allows, setting the total amount of entries to 598. At the end of the day, 202 players made it through with a familiar name on top: Ben Wilinofsky.

The EPT7 Berlin champion went on a tear during the first ten levels and amassed 330,000 in chips, nearly 100k more than his nearest competitor Hoaxiang Wang (239,200). Wilinofsky had the rocket strapped to him from the start when he knocked out Max Silver with aces versus queens in the first level of the day. It was no looking back after that for the Canadian pro and he eventually ended the day with the substantial lead.

The French had a strong showing at the tables as well, with Kalidou Sow (220,000), Benjamin Pollak (215,000) and Antoine Labat (210,000) all bagging a top ten stack. Pollak put his name in contention for "who loves it more" as he jumped right in the Main Event after finishing fifth in the €100,000 Super High Roller earlier in the day for nearly half a million. Other top stacks on Day 1a were amassed by Miguel Use (229,900), Lawrence Bayley (224,200) and Upeshka De Silva (218,000).

The red spade saw their Olympic champion Fatima Moreira de Melo make it with 64,500 in chips. Randy Lew (queens into aces) and Celina Lin were among those that failed to find a bag and were joined on the rail by David Peters, Adrian Mateos and Dan Shak, who all busted twice, Anton Wigg, Daniel Dvoress, Alexandre Reard, Antoine Saout, Bart Lybaert and Joris Ruijs. Those that failed to advance can opt for a single reentry, which is allowed on either starting day. Two total entries is the maximum allowed, regardless of the day.

On Tuesday, cards will be back in the air for Day 1b of the EPT Main Event, where an even larger field is expected. The survivors of that day will join those that made it today on Wednesday, August 29, when Day 2 kicks off at noon. PokerNews covers the Main Event start to finish, so make sure to check back regularly as we crown the latest EPT champion here in Casino Barcelona!

Day 1a has wrapped up. All chip counts and an end of day recap will follow.

The clock has been paused. Five more hands will be played until chips are bagged and tagged for the night.

Felipe Costa is making a strong bid to become the overnight chipleader after knocking a player out. It was Eric Vallee who was all in for his last 17,500 with and Costa called with . The flop instantly ended it for Costa and Vallee let out a hearty chuckle.

Matas Cimbolas also added a scalp to his arsenal. The colorful Lithuanian called a 16,500 shove from the small blind in the big blind. Cimbolas was holding and leagues ahead of his opponent's . The gave Cimbolas the win with his king kicker to move up to over 150k.

After Randy Lew had raised, Jonathan Proudfoot three-bet to 7,000, Vladyslav Shalimov cold four-bet to 18,400 from the small blind, Lew five-bet shoved for 50,000, Proudfoot folded and Shalimov called.

Randy Lew:
Vladyslav Shalimov:

The board brought nothing but blanks for the Team PokerStars Online pro and he'll be back on Day 1b for his second attempt.

Matas Cimbolas raised to 2,600 in middle position and Guntis Aleskins three-bet to 9,000 to his direct left. A recently moved player on the button cold four-bet shoved 32,800, which paused Cimbolas.

He slowly mucked after a minute of thought, while Aleskins splashed in the extra chips.

All-in player:
Guntis Aleskins:

"I'm not happy," Cimbolas grumbled.

The board ran out and Aleskins knocked out his opponent to soar over 200k.