Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2019 888poker LIVE Festival Barcelona
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2019 888poker LIVE Festival Barcelona
Buy-in
€1,100
Prize Pool
€551,000
Entries
551
Level
31
Blinds
80,000 / 160,000
Ante
160,000
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The first of three starting days of the 2019 888poker LIVE Barcelona €1,100 Main Event is in the books and the tournament is well on track to surpass the guaranteed prize pool of €550,000 at Casino Barcelona. Day 1a is usually considered as the weakest flight and still managed to attract 109 entries, of which 31 players bagged up chips after 12 levels of 45 minutes each and already secured their seat for Day 2.
With a dominance of Spanish and Italian players in the Day 1a field, is comes as no surprise that one of them claimed the top spot overnight. In fact, it may very well turn out to be a difficult task to better the impressive performance of Demetrio Caminita, who established a commanding lead in the first flight and bagged up 426,000 - more than 14 times the starting stack of 30,000.
Michail Tastanis, who scored a double in the final hands of the day, follows well behind with 243,000 and there is another solid gap to a duo in third place including 888poker online qualifier Mikael Johansson and Juan Bastida Perez (156,500 each). Other notables that advanced include the two Dutchmen David Hu (153,500) and Zhong Chen (139,500), Sergi Escote (139,000), 2017 World Series of Poker Europe Main Event champion Marti Roca de Torres (100,500), Ramlal Basdeo (89,000), Francesco Delfoco (85,000), and Maya Geller (79,500).
Four 888poker ambassadors joined the action and two of them made it through Day 1a in Chris Moorman (121,000) and Sofia Lovgren (45,000). In the final level of the night, Moorman sent Tom-Aksel Bedell to the rail in order to claim an above-average stack to his name. For Ana Marquez and Martin Jacobson, the fortune was not on their side and both hit the rail in the late stages. Marquez lost a flip with ace-five against the pocket fours of Johansson.
Other familiar faces of the popular mid-stakes circuit that will have to take another shot at making Day 2 include Salvatore Camarda, Gabriel Podovei, Sergio Alonso, former EPT Main Event champion Kevin Stani, Luca Marchetti, Casey Kastle, Milad Oghabian and Carmen Zainescu.
The rise to the top of Caminita culminated in the final two levels of the night. First he won a flip with jacks against the ace-king of fellow Italian Francesco Di Profio, then had a value bet with top two pair paid and continued to rake in even more chips until it was time to bag and tag them for the night. Caminita sits in excellent shape to have a serious shot at the added 2019 WSOP Main Event package, courtesy by sponsor 888poker for the eventual champion of the flagship tournament of the festival.
A brief recap of the €2,200 High Roller and final result will also be published before the cards go back in the air at Casino Barcelona. At 6 p.m. local time on Friday, May 31st, 2019, the second starting day gets underway and the PokerNews live reporting team will once again provide all the action from the tables.
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
426,000
66,000
|
66,000 |
|
||
|
243,000 | |
|
156,500
41,500
|
41,500 |
|
156,500
11,500
|
11,500 |
|
153,500
13,500
|
13,500 |
|
151,000
71,000
|
71,000 |
|
145,000
15,000
|
15,000 |
|
139,500
-15,500
|
-15,500 |
|
139,000
-66,000
|
-66,000 |
|
121,000
-4,000
|
-4,000 |
|
||
|
109,000
-1,000
|
-1,000 |
|
100,500
5,500
|
5,500 |
|
98,500 | |
|
89,000
14,000
|
14,000 |
|
|
86,500
86,500
|
86,500 |
|
85,000
25,000
|
25,000 |
|
83,500
8,500
|
8,500 |
|
80,500
45,500
|
45,500 |
|
79,500
-5,100
|
-5,100 |
|
|
76,500
76,500
|
76,500 |
|
|
73,500
73,500
|
73,500 |
|
|
73,500
-31,500
|
-31,500 |
|
|
71,300
6,300
|
6,300 |
|
|
68,000
68,000
|
68,000 |
|
50,500
-19,500
|
-19,500 |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The remaining 31 players out of 107 entries have bagged up their chips. Full chip counts and a recap of today's action is to follow.
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Split luck for the Greek players in the final hands of the night. Nikolaos Mastrantonas lost most of his stack with 
against the 
of Dario Quattrucci as the latter hit an ace on the 
board.
Michail Tastanis, however, doubled for 120,000 against Domenico Cappiello as his 
made top pair on the 
board, the cards of his opponent were already mucked.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
243,000
243,000
|
243,000 |
|
|
98,500
98,500
|
98,500 |
|
|
29,500
29,500
|
29,500 |
|
|
14,500
14,500
|
14,500 |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
The tournament clock has been stopped with 14:35 minutes left in the level and 31 players remaining. They will play another three hands until bagging and tagging.
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
"Oh, split pot? Straight for both," Tom-Aksel Bedell joked when it was all over, then added "I can't come back with such a stack."
Bedell had ended up all in for approximately 28,000 with the 
and 888poker ambassador Chris Moorman went into the showdown with the 
. It was Moorman that hit a straight on the 
board and that spelled the end for Bedell.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
125,000
45,000
|
45,000 |
|
|
||
|
Busted | |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
On the 
turn with 36,000 in the middle, Maya Geller ended up all in and at risk for 24,300 and Petru Tarlev looked her up with the superior stack.
Maya Geller: 
Petru Tarlev: 
Both had flopped trips, but Geller's kicker would play to ensure a full double as the river was a blank.
Right as the hand played out, Juan Bastida Perez arrived one seat over. The Spaniard had been a possible contender for the Day 1a top spot not long ago, but recently paid off a 10,000 bet by Ramlal Basdeo, who turned over 
for a turned full house on a 
board.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
145,000
-20,000
|
-20,000 |
|
|
84,600
31,600
|
31,600 |
|
|
75,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
|
70,000
-60,000
|
-60,000 |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Alexandre Mitjavilla Moix ended up all in and at risk with the 
and Zhong Chen looked him up with the 
. The 
flop and 
turn were no threat for Moix, however, Chen got there on the river to improve to a pair of queens.
One table over, fellow Dutchman David Hu has also chipped up significantly as of lately.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
155,000
114,000
|
114,000 |
|
|
140,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
Busted |
Level 12
: 1,000/2,000, 2,000 ante
Fewer than 40 players remain and Martin Jacobson has been eliminated, while fellow 888poker ambassadors Chris Moorman and Sofia Lovgren are still in contention. Vivian Saliba will join the Main Event action in one of the last two remaining starting days, as she is among the final three players in the €2,200 High Roller. Her opponents: Sonny Franco and Spanish High Roller export Jesus Cortes.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
80,000
34,000
|
34,000 |
|
|
||
|
55,000
-5,000
|
-5,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
||