Stefan Drusca Books the Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event Day 1b Chip Lead
With a little less than eight minutes remaining in Level 17, play finally concluded in Day 1b of the €1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event, which is part of the PokerStars and Barcelona©Casino European Poker Tour.
After the first flight of the day received a total of 812 entrants, the second flight, which was played with shorter 30-minute levels, drew a total of 358 entries. In both instances, the field was played down to the final 15 percent of the field, which equated to 54 players from the second field, which will join the 121 from Day 1a.
Following a day full of fast and exciting action, players came back from their break to Level 17, when they had only four players left until the bubble burst with an average stack of around 30 big blinds. With the imminent money bubble approaching, play grinded to a snail's pace, especially after play went hand-for-hand. On the fourth all-in hand, Pieter Theelen that eliminated Andrei Konopelko.
When players bagged and a chip leader could finally be determined, it was Stefan Drusca who was on top of the mountain, putting 513,000 chips into his bag for Day 2.
Not far behind and dominating the later parts of the day was Jean Lhuillier (465,000) and Jack Hardcastle (441,000), who will look to turn their stacks into riches in the coming days. Maher Nouira and Victor Caballero Pinna round out the top-five.
€1,100 Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alexandru Drusca | Romania | 513,000 |
| 2 | Jean Lhuillier | United Kingdom | 465,000 |
| 3 | Jack Hardcastle | United Kingdom | 441,000 |
| 4 | Maher Nouira | Tunisia | 410,000 |
| 5 | Victor Caballero Pinna | Spain | 410,000 |
| 6 | Steve Enriquez | Spain | 403,000 |
| 7 | Birger Larsen | Norway | 392,000 |
| 8 | Andreas Wiborg | Norway | 358,000 |
| 9 | Gerson Caldeira Braga | Brazil | 356,000 |
| 10 | Denis Karakashi | Italy | 323,000 |
Other notables who will be moving on to Day 2 include Kacper Pyzara (63,000), Steve Enríquez (403,000), Ghattas Kortas (222,000), Andras Nemeth (191,000), Andrea Ricci (188,000), and Martin Wendt (135,000).
Notables who tried and fell short on Day 1b include Faraz Jaka, Gaelle Baumann, Guy Goossens, Sam Grafton, Kenny Hallaert, Steve O'Dwyer, Damian Salas, and many others.
Players who have yet to qualify have four more flights to do so, with Day 1c kicking off at noon local time on Wednesday and Day 1d following at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening with a 30-minute turbo format. One re-entry is allowed per flight as players look to battle their way into Friday's Day 2, where all qualified players are guaranteed to be in the money. Players will then have to grind through Day 2 and Saturday's Day 3 in order to take a shot at the ESPT Main Event title on Sunday.
Follow all the updates right here on PokerNews to find out who wins this event on August 14th and to check out all of our coverage here at EPT Barcelona.
was very little help, though he was drawing to a ten for a straight.
took away one of Kuziv's tens and the 
river sealed his fate.
board, Jack Hardcastle, from the big blind, ripped his stack all in for a total of 124,200, well over double the size of the pot.
, having flopped the nut straight, and taking his stack to nearly 300,000.
and Pyzara continued for 3,500. Ahmadi flatted and Baumann got out of the way.
flop, a continuation bet of 2,000 was enough for Papo MC to take down a small pot.
board, Pedro Marques checked over to Rodrigo De Barros Semeghini, who put out a bet of 6,000.
and Semeghini nodded his head and put his cards into the muck.
river, Jaka, from the small blind, put out a bet of 1,500. Semeghini, on the button, took about 20 seconds before folding.
