€50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance
Day 1 Completed
2023 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
€50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance
Day: 1
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1
2023 PokerStars EPT Barcelona
Buy-in
€50,000
Prize Pool
€1,164,240
Entries
24
Level
21
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
24
Players Left
5
Level 18
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
After nearly 18 levels of play in the €50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance here at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, Tom Orpaz has emerged as the overall chip leader, bagging 2,740,000 chips to end the day.
Day 1 saw a total of 24 entries which generated a total prize pool of €1,164,240. Only five players found a bag for Day 2, all of whom will be in the money and guaranteed at least €100,600. All remaining players will undoubtedly have their sights set on the top prize of €442,440.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Erik Seidel | United States | 615,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Justin Saliba | United States | 900,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Biao Ding | China | 970,000 | 19 |
| 4 | Tsugunari Toma | Japan | 775,000 | 16 |
| 5 | Tom Orpaz | Israel | 2,740,000 | 55 |
Orpaz was chip leading for most of the day and was directly responsible for eliminating at least six players, including Jean-Noel Thorel, Nacho Barbero, Sam Grafton, and PokerStars ambassador Alejandro “Papo MC” Lococo towards the end of the day when he turned a set of sixes against Lococo’s top pair. Orpaz already won a €25,000 event earlier on during the 2023 EPT Barcelona and will be looking to add a second title to his resume by the end of the series.
Shortly after Lococo’s elimination in seventh place, a deal was made by the remaining six players to pay the bubble, making Lococo the official bubble boy for the tournament.
Justin Saliba also had a strong showing today and at several points managed to close the chip lead gap between himself and Orpaz only for Orpaz to pull further away. At one point Saliba was on the right side of a massive cooler against Spanish soccer legend Gerard Pique, getting it all in with pocket aces against Pique’s pocket kings to get a full double up.
Pique was the final casualty of the day, finishing in 6th place for €65,000 as per the deal the final six players made on the bubble. Pique would go out in brutal fashion after getting it in with ace-jack against the ten-four offsuit of Tsugunari Toma, who would end up rivering a straight to crack Pique's top pair.
Tsugunari Toma also advanced to Day 2 with 775,000 chips and is guaranteed to surpass Masashi Oya on the all-time money list for Japan with the money he has already locked up for making the final five.
Previous EPT champion Erik Seidel also remains in contention, ending the day with 615,000. Seidel was in control for most of the earlier parts of the day, at one point eliminating Steve O’Dwyer from the tournament. Seidel did find himself short-stacked toward the later stages of the tournament but managed to secure a crucial double-up on the soft bubble of the tournament to stay in contention.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Biao Ding, who already has two five-figure cashes at this year's EPT Barcelona and is now guaranteed a six-figure cash from this event.
Day 2 starts tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. local time with the intention of playing down to a winner. Action will start with 26 minutes left on Level 18, with the blinds at 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this and every other event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona.
Level 18
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
2,740,000
-360,000
|
-360,000 |
|
||
|
970,000
120,000
|
120,000 |
|
900,000
-50,000
|
-50,000 |
|
775,000
75,000
|
75,000 |
|
615,000
-75,000
|
-75,000 |
|
||
Level 18
: Blinds 25,000/50,000, 50,000 ante
Action folded to Tsugunari Toma who bet enough to put Gerard Pique all in. "Alright, I call," Pique said as he sticked in his last 220,000.
Gerard Pique: A♠J♠
Tsugunari Toma: 10♠4♦
Pique hit a pair on the Q♣K♠J♥ flop, but Toma picked up a straight draw. The 8♠ turn took away some of Toma's outs as Pique now had the nut flush draw.
The A♣ fell on the river and the entire table let out a collective gasp as Toma made his straight to send the soccer legend to the rail.
The remaining five players are now bagging up for the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
700,000
230,000
|
230,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 18
Blinds: 25,000/50,000
Ante: 50,000
Level 17
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
"I haven't had aces this entire tournament," Tom Orpaz said before the hand.
"I had them. Got lucky, aces over kings," Justin Saliba said as he raised to 90,000 in the cutoff. Gerard Pique called in the big blind.
The flop came 6♣8♦K♦ and Saliba won the pot with another bet of 90,000. He then turned over A♦A♠.
"I've now had aces twice," he said.
"I get a sense the poker gods are paying attention to the conversation," Erik Seidel added.
"Poker is a silly game," Saliba replied.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
950,000
60,000
|
60,000 |
|
|
250,000
-150,000
|
-150,000 |
Level 17
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Tsugunari Toma limped in from the small blind and Gerard Pique checked his option.
Toma bet 50,000 on the Q♠3♥8♠ flop and Pique called. The turn came the 5♣ and Toma bet another 75,000.
Pique again called and both players checked the 2♣ river. Toma showed 5♦4♦, but Pique had 7♣5♠ and his seven-kicker played to earn him the pot.
Those chips wouldn't stay in his stack for long, however. The next hand, Pique raised to 100,000 in the small blind, Tom Orpaz made it 250,000 from the big blind, and Pique called.
Both players checked to the river on a board of A♠K♠A♣8♦8♥ when Orpaz bet 200,000. Pique used two time banks before he called and Orpaz showed A♥K♣ for the flopped full house to win the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
3,100,000
575,000
|
575,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
470,000
-245,000
|
-245,000 |
|
|
400,000
-180,000
|
-180,000 |
Level 17
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
| Place | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1 | €442,440 |
| 2 | €285,200 |
| 3 | €157,200 |
| 4 | €113,800 |
| 5 | €100,600 |
| 6 | €65,000 |
Level 17
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
The remaining six players are discussing a deal to chop up places 3-5 while keeping the first and second-place prizes the same.
Level 17
: Blinds 20,000/40,000, 40,000 ante
Tom Orpaz opened to 80,000 from the button and Erik Seidel moved all in for his last 295,000. Orpaz made the call with a covering stack.
Erik Seidel: A♠5♠
Tom Orpaz: A♣J♥
Seidel got exactly what he needed with a pair of fives on the 2♦4♠5♦ flop. He faded all of Orpaz' outs to either win or chop the pot when the turn and river came 9♥7♥ to receive a full double up.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
2,525,000
-175,000
|
-175,000 |
|
|
||
|
|
690,000
90,000
|
90,000 |
|
|
||