Jesse Lonis On the Podium in Day 1d of Estrellas Poker Tour Main Event
The 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona continued today with two more flights in the PokerStars Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) Main Event playing out at the Casino Barcelona. Day 1d drew a sizable 382 entries and reached its conclusion during Level 18 when two players were eliminated during the same hand, which left 56 players who all advanced to Day 2.
Turkey's Abdullah Turan sits on top of the leaderboard after he bagged up 453,000 chips in his pursuit of European Poker Tour (EPT) glory. Turan has six EPT cashes under his belt and has added a seventh here in Barcelona, & with the potential of a deep run on the horizon there will be eyes on the Turkish player when Day 2 gets underway.
Day 1d Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Abdullah Turan | Turkey | 453,000 |
| 2 | Jesse Lonis | United States | 434,000 |
| 3 | Andreas Berggren | Sweden | 428,000 |
| 4 | Rafael Coutada | Spain | 390,000 |
| 5 | Eduard Barsegian | Russia | 365,000 |
| 6 | Renat Bohdanov | Ukraine | 360,000 |
| 7 | Axel Bayout | France | 331,000 |
| 8 | Kevin Hasler | Switzerland | 325,000 |
| 9 | Shuangyi Ye | China | 323,000 |
| 10 | Ermanno Di Nicola | Italy | 316,000 |
Sitting second in the counts is none other than the number one ranked tournament player on the Global Poker Index (GPI), Jesse Lonis, who managed to accumulate 434,000 chips throughout the day. The American player has been playing exceptional poker as of late and will be looking to use his vast experience to navigate his way through another bumper field.
Another player to break into the top ten stacks was France's Axel Bayout, who ended the day with a respectable 331,000 which is good for seventh in the counts. It seems that this is the first EPT cash of Bayout's career, and would be an incredible story if he could run deep.
There were a total of 57 players up for grabs on Day 2 but a dramatic double elimination on the bubble saw both Ignacio Sanz and Victor Martins leave empty-handed. Sanz ran his pocket jacks into the pocket queens of Shuangyi Ye, while Martins was forced all in with eight-five and didn't improve against the king-queen of Jack Hardcastle.
Team Pokerstars' Kenny Hallaert also managed to make it into Day 2, albeit with a short stack of 72,000, and will have his work cut out for him when Day 2 arrives. Hallaert's stack was up and down throughout the flight and the Belgian professional did manage a double-up late in the day but could never build on that momentum.
With four of the eight opening flights already in the books, a total of 1,782 entries have already been recorded for the ESPT Main Event and 267 players have already booked their seat in Day 2.
Stay tuned to PokerNews as we continue to provide live updates from the Main Event and many others here at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona.