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PartyPoker Blog is in Barcelona, Spain this week for the WPT Spanish Championship.

The WPT Main Event (buy-in 3200€ + 300€) is underway!

PartyPoker Blog will provide you all the latest updates, pictures, videos and the live stream of the WPT Barcelona final table on Sunday.

Day 1B live updates are here!

So day 1a finally comes to a close at the end of level eight. Artur Koren led from start to finish and ended the day with 122,800 chips. You can check the recap out here.

Here is a full chip count

  1. KOREN , ARTUR 122,800
  2. TAZELAAR , JUSTIN 112,500
  3. MARIANI , JULIEN SIMON 111,400
  4. D ANIELLO , MICHELE 110,700
  5. CHICO LOPEZ, MANUEL ANGEL 97,100
  6. MATTEOLI , ROMAIN LAMBERT 92,600
  7. MANZANO , CLEMENS 92,200
  8. SA , LOIC 87,300
  9. VALLO , MARTIN 87,000
  10. DODDS , JOEL ROBERT 86,000
  11. BERGLUND , LIKAS 78,700
  12. CZUCZOR , MARTON 76,100
  13. CORTES LIZANO, JESUS 75,700
  14. GARCIA DUFFOUR, JORGE 72,100
  15. SIDORIN , ALEXANDER 70,400
  16. CAMUS RUANO, MARCELO LARO 70,100
  17. PALACIOS VASQUEZ, BOLIVAR ALBERTO 69,000
  18. USERO CAVALLER, GUILLEM IVAN 65,500
  19. PIETILA , JUKKA PETRI 59,100
  20. COMPAGNO , PAOLO 56,400
  21. DE VIVO , FRANCESCO 56,000
  22. NOURI , MALIK 52,500
  23. SCHWAGER , ANDREW ROBERT 52,500
  24. EDUARD , TIM 52,400
  25. CAINELLI , LUCA 50,800
  26. NASARRE ALFARO, TOMAS 44,100
  27. SPANEDDA , GIOVANNI ROBERTO 44,100
  28. RODRIGUEZ LAFARGA, RAMON 43,700
  29. PIAZUELO FERRERO, PEDRO JAVIER 43,100
  30. VELASCO MERINO, RUBEN 41,900
  31. VANDERSMISSEN , KEVIN 40,800
  32. HELPPI , JUHA ILMARI 39,700
  33. YOUSFI , DJAMEL 37,500
  34. DASSENS , MARC 37,100
  35. NIKIFOROV , ILYA 37,100
  36. MARGETS PEREZ, LEONOR 36,000
  37. PUCCINI , MARIO 35,500
  38. CHAPARRO PASCUAL, MIGUEL ANGEL 35,400
  39. LALOPOULOS , ADAM 33,000
  40. PINO ARZA, RAUL 32,500
  41. ADINOLFI , MARIO 30,200
  42. FREUND , ALEXANDER 29,900
  43. ALBIGES , BENOIT CYRIL 29,800
  44. DE WEERDT , CAROLINE AGNES 29,700
  45. CLEMENTE FAU, ISMAEL 28,600
  46. GABRIELSSON , LARS DAVID 23,800
  47. NASARRE GRACIA, TOMAS 21,700
  48. KASSEBAUM , KAI 20,000
  49. ZSEMLYE , VIKTOR 19,200
  50. DE VRIES , RIEN WILLEM 18,500
  51. BICHON , THOMAS JEREMIE 16,800
  52. MITJAVILA MOIX, ALEXANDRE 13,700
  53. HOWE , KEVIN 12,200
  54. BRAATZ , ROBERT PAUL 9,900

00.30

Leo Margets is ready to take down the WPT title in her hometown:

00:25

Tazelaar Find it Tough to Shake Off Adinolfi

Justin Tazelaar may well be our chip leader with 130,000. He has been there or there about since he doubled up earlier with his pocket kings and has played his big stack very well.

Mario Adinolfo raised to 2,000, another opponent raised to 5,300 behind him before Tazelaar four-bet to 10,000 and both folded.

Then Tazelaar raised from the cut-off and both blinds called including Adinolfi.

Flop:

Both blinds checked and Tazelaar bet 3,100 and only Adinolfi called.

Turn:

Adinolfi checked very quickly to Tazelaar who bet 8,000 and the Italian snap-called.

River:

Again Adinolfi checked very quickly and Tazelaar bet 12,000. After a momentary pause Adinolfi made the call.

Tazelaar:
Adinolfi:

As Tazelaar was counting his winning chips I could hear his friend asking him if he was bluffing with his river bet. His reply was in a language I did not understand but I think it is safe to assume that he was.

23:55

Clemens Manzano Silently Creeps up the Chip Count

Clemens Manzano has been quietly growing his chip stack without drawing too much attention to himself. He seems to be selecting his spots very well and accumulating chips without too many flops being seen. Here is an good example of Manzano in action.

Loic Sa opened to 1,300 under the gun and three players called before Manzano squeezed out a raise of 6,100. He knew he only had to get through Sa’s opening raise and when Sa folded everyone else collapsed in line behind him and Manzano collected nearly 5,000 in chips.

Manzano ~ 120,000
Martin Vallo ~ 96,000
Loic Sa ~ 90,000

23:50

Thomas Bichon Doubles Up

Thomas Bichon just doubled up to 16,000 after his out-flopped his opponents on a board of .

23:45

Jose Barbero Leaves the Building

It seems as though Loic Sa was only loaning his chips to Jose Barbero. A few minutes after doubling him up Sa has eliminated him in this simple hand.

Barbero moved all-in for 7,700 and Sa called.

“I am in bad shape,” said Barbero

Barbero:
Sa:

Board:

The jack on the flop eliminating a dangerous player in Barbero.

23:25

Jose Barbero Doubles Up

Jose Barbero is not having his most productive poker day. He has found himself staring at a measly 3,150 and then, after moving all in on successive occasions, he eventually received a call from Loic Sa and doubled up to a measly 7,000!

Barbero:
Sa:

Flop:

Sa takes the lead.

Turn:

Barbero picks a straight draw.

River:

Barbero hits his straight draw.

23:17

Andrey Pateychuk Eliminated by Cainelli

Luca Cainelli has just increased his stack to 55,000 and at the same time eliminated Andrey Pateychuk in a classic pre flop flip.

Pateychuk:
Cainelli:

Board:

We are now down to 65/94

22:55

Mario Puccini Retains the Table Captaincy

Mario Puccini has just increased his control over the chip counts on table five in the following hand.

Puccini opened to 1,200 in late position and both blinds called including Thomas Bichon in the big blind.

Flop:

Both blinds checked and Puccini bet 2,000. The small blind called quite quickly and although he took a little while longer so did Bichon.

Turn:

Both blinds checked to the raiser for the second time and Puccini bet again, this time for 5,000. Once again the small blind called quite quickly and so did Bichon but again after a good hard think.

River:

It was a case of dejavu as again both blinds checked to Puccini. Ignoring the small blind Puccini asked Bichon how much he was playing, “26,000” was his reply. Puccini bet 14,000 and both of his opponents folded before Bichon asked the small blind if he had diamonds. The small blind did not answer and Puccini moved his stack up to 70,000

22.45

Check out the video from the “shuffle up and deal” earlier in the day:

22:30

Top Ten Chip Counts

There are two more levels to be played and the day will be at an end. Here are the top ten chip counts leading into those levels.

  1. Artur Koren 120,000
  2. Justin Tazelaar 110,000
  3. Marton Czuczor 110,000
  4. Emmanuel Murgia 93,000
  5. Loic Sa 85,000
  6. Michelle Daniello 80,000
  7. Manu Chico 79,000
  8. Jorge Duffour 74,000
  9. Martin Vallo 73,000
  10. Daniel Anadon 73,000

22:21

Table 1

Last, but certainly not least, are the chip counts and notables from table one. Interestingly everything changed in one fantastic hand.

We caught the action on a flop of and Justin Tazelaar had just put a bet of 8,000 into the pot from the small blind. Mario Adinolfi had just joined the table and he made it 22,500 from middle position. Time stood still and somewhere in the corner of the room a seed turned into a tree before eventually Fernandez Gonzalez moved all-in for 29,575. Action back on Tazelaar and he moved all-in for 45,475. This prompted a lot of Italian style hand gesturing from Adinolfi before he eventually folded.

Tazelaar
Gonzalez

Turn:

River:

  • Justin Tazelaar 110,000
  • Mario Adinolfi 55,000

22:15

Tables 2 & 3

Same again, not much action but the highest and notable chip counts for you.

Table 2

  • Marton Czuczor 110,000
  • Kevin Vandersmissen 43,000
  • Luca Cainelli 28,000

Table 3

  • Likas Berglund 62,000
  • Loic Sa 85,000
  • Jorge Duffour 74,000

22:10

Table 4 & 5

Not much action to speak of while we were sticking our noses in the business of tables 4 & 5 but we do have the notable and highest chip counts for you.

Table 4

  • Michele Daniello 80,000
  • Emmanuel Murgia 93,000
  • Francesco de Vivo 45,000

Table 5

  • Mario Puccini 57,000
  • Jesus Cortes Lizano 53,000
  • Thomas Bichon 40,000

21:48

Koren is Running Over Table Six

Artur Koren is running over table six at the moment. He sits on 120,000 and his closest rival is Daniel Gomez Anadon who has 73,000. Here are a couple of hands featuring the pair.

There was a raise to 1,000 on the button and Koren three-bet from the big blind  making it 3,000 to play and his opponent called.

Flop:

Koren bet 4,350 and his opponent raised to 11,100. Some time in the tank was needed by Koren before he decided to move all-in and his opponent snap-folded.

Then Anadon raised to 1,050 from early position. Koren was still adding his new chips to his stack when he made the call from the small blind.

Flop:

Koren check-called a 1,300 Anadon bet.

Turn:

Koren yet again check-called, this time Anadon made the bet 3,000.

River:

The tempo of the action immediately stopped as Koren took a sudden interest in the presence of the ace. He made a multi-coloured bet of 7,875 and the action was enough for Anadon to remove his earphones. After careful contemplation he decided to fold and Koren increased his chip lead.

21:13

Tables 7, 8 & 9

Here are the highest chip counts and notable players from tables 7, 8 & 9 and an interesting hand from table 8.

Table 7

  • Jose Barbero 37,000
  • Martin Vallo 73,000

Table 8

  • Sam el Sayed 30,000
  • Juha Helppi 43,000
  • Leo Margets 42,000
  • Manu Chico 79,000

Table 9

  • Mario Adinolfi 90,000
  • Jorge Garcia Duffour 67,000

Sam el Sayed and Manu Chico seem to have a pleasant rivalry going on at table seven illustrated by the following hand which we joined on the flop.

Flop:

Simon Mariani raised to 1,400 and el Sayed called on the button. The action folded around to Chico who made the call in the big blind. El Sayed jokingly tried to pull his chips back mentioning that he did not want to play a pot with Chico.

Turn:

Mariani checked to El Sayed who bet 3,800 and Chico made the call before Mariani folded.

River:

Both Chico and El Sayed checked and neither them had very much with El Sayeds not very much enough to win the pot.

There are 76/94 players left in the tournament.

20:55

Artur Koren is a Centurion

Artur Koren has become our first centurion over at table six and this is how he crept over the mark.

He started the hand with an effective stack or 94,000 when he raised to 800 from early position. Burim Avdiu and Paolo Compagno both decided to join him at the flop.

Flop:

Avdiu and Korn both checked to Compagno and he bet 3,750. Koren had a good look at the Compagno stack before making the call and Avdiu was done with the hand.

Turn:

This time Korn decided to bet, when he saw the ace, and he made it 6,775 to play and Compagno folded his hand.

Koren now has a smidgen over 100,000 chips.

19:31

Dinner Break

It is dinner time for one hour and here are a selection of chips for you.

  • Mario Adinolfi 65,000
  • Sam el Sayed 33,000
  • Leo Margets 22,000
  • Juha Helppi 60,000
  • Loic Sa 64,000
  • Francesco de Vivo 44,000
  • Kevin Vandersmissen 57,000
  • Nicolas Yunis 20,000
  • Marton Czuczor 82,000
  • Luca Cainelli 26,000
  • Thomas Bichon 37,000
  • Mario Puccini 66,000

19:20

Marton Czuczor Early Chip Leader

As we approach the dinner break Marton Czuczor has emerged as the early chip leader despite losing this hand against Remco de Vries a moment ago.

Czuczor made it 525 to play and de Vries three-bet to 1,250. The chip leader made the call and both players saw a flop of which they both checked. The turn was the and Czuczor bet 1,500 and de Vries made the call. The river was the and Czuczor maintained his pressure with a bet of 4,200 and de Vries again made a very quick call.

After the hands were turned over it was de Vries who was happier.

De Vries:
Czuczor:

19:00

Vandersmissen Doubles Up De Vries

Kevin Vandersmissen just doubled up Remco de Vries in a very interesting hand played out over on table two.

It was de Vries that started the whole thing off with a raise from early position when he made it 500 to play. Four people called and the quintet saw a flop of .  The blinds checked the action to de Vries who bet 1,700 and the only person who called was Vandersmissen from the small blind.

Turn:

As it turned out it was an action induing little ten. Vandersmissen checked to De Vries and he bet 3,700. Vandersmissen took his time before eventually shipping a tower of chips into the middle. The tower contained enough chips to put De Vries all-in and he duly called. As it turned out Vandersmissen was a dead duck holding because de Vries was holding the full house with his

The rather pointless river was the .

18:34

Adinolfi Angers Kastle

Table nine is the angry table.

Casey Kastle raised to 600 and he received two callers in the shape of Garrigues and Adinolfi.

Flop:

Kastle took one look at the flop and bet 1,000. Garrigues mucked his hand, got up from his seat and left to calm down. Adinolfi on the other hand made the call.

Turn:

Kastle was first to act and he made a bet of 2,000 and Adinolfi made a quick call.

River:

Kastle checked, Adinolfi bet 5,000 and Kastle called. Adinolfi turned over for the straight and Kastle was stunned. He did not release his hand for a long time and just looked at Adinolfi.

“How could I fold that hand?” Said Adinolfi.

Kastle finally mucked his hand and the dealer handed Adinolfi the pot.

18:20

Steaming Garrigues

Adrien Camille Garrigues is not having a very good day (his own words).

On a flop of Mario Adinolfi bet 1,050 from the small blind and Jorge Garcia Duffour called from early position. Garrigues was next to act and he raised to 3,100 and both Adinolfi and Duffour snap-called.

The turn was checked through and then we saw a river. Adinolfi checked and Duffour bet 5,000. Garrigues looked disgusted.

“Do you have the flush? Sick for me!” Said Garrigues who had probably forgotten that Adinolfi was yet to act.

Garrigues made the call before Adinolfi folded [jx][9x] for top two pair. Duffour turned over and Garrigues shot him a stare down that Medusa would have been proud of.

18:00

Desperate Double For Maximillian Noll

We now have 88 players left and one of them is NOT Jesper Hoog. The WPT Bratislava final tablist is nowhere to be seen so for the moment we will assume he has been eliminated.

In the meantime another player who has found himself desperately short is Maximillian Noll. Noll just dumped his last 2,125 into the middle, when the action checked to him on the button, and Nicolas Yunis made the call from the small blind.

On your backs gentlemen.

Noll:
Yunis:

Board:

Noll hits a straight and doubles up.

17:40

A Flush for Garrigues


WPT Vienna final tablist Mario Adinolfi has moved to a new table and has just lost one of the first hands he has played in. His opponent was also a former WPT final tablist Adrien Camille Garrigues (Venice) and this is how it played out.

Adinolfi raised to 425 from early position and there were three callers including Garrigues in the small blind.

Flop:

The action checked to Adinolfi who bet 1,000 and two players called including Garrigues. Everyone checked the turn of and we headed to the river.

River:

It was Adinolfi who again took the betting lead this time for 2,000 and his only caller was Garrigues.

Adinolfi:

Garrigues:

Garrigues hauled in the pot with his baby flush.

17:30

Bits and Bobs

Firstly, apologies for the lack of content. There is a woeful internet connection and it is just virtually impossible to get online to keep you updated so just bear with us on this one.

So far we have had 94 entrants today although that figure has dropped by 2 with 92 remaining.

The blinds are 100/200 and each level is sixty minutes in length.

16:40

A Close Spot For Hoog

WPT Bratislava final tablist Jesper Hoog could easily have been eliminated at the hands of fellow Party Poker Qualifier Burim Avdiu moments ago.

We arrived at the table on the turn. The board was displaying and Hoog had bet 3,300 and Avdiu had made the call. Going to the river we had a 14,000 pot and the . Avdiu checked to Hoog who had 18,700 behind. He bet 7,800 and Avdiu quickly called. Hoog confidently turned over for the nut flush but amazingly he was beaten by the of Avdiu.

There was a silence over the table before Avdiu explained that he was scared of the King. Would Hoog be on the beach if Avdiu had raised on the river.

“I wouldn’t have called a shove,” said Hoog, “not many people are capable of bluffing in that spot.”

Hoog is left with 10,900.

16:30

Chilean Representation

When you attend an event called the World Poker Tour then you expect to see representations from throughout the world. Nicolas Yunis is here representing his home country of Chile and judging by the size of his chip stack it has been quite  fruitful morning, that is until we turned up!

We arrived on the flop of a three-bet pot with both Yunis and Marton Czuczor involved.

Flop:

Czuczor bet 1,200 from the small blind and Yunis raised to 3,000 from the button. Czuczor drew his 1,200 back and replaced it with 3 x yellow 1,000 chips.

Turn:

Czuczor checked the action to Yunis. Yunis was wearing a black cap with his left fist embedded into the side of his cheek. The Chilean glanced at the stack of Czuczor once and then twice before betting 6,000.  Czuczor riffled a selection of green 25 chips before declaring, verbally, that he was all-in. There was no need to count the amount because Yunis had folded quicker that an amphetamine filled road runner. beep. beep.

Welcome Party for PartyPoker qualifiers

Take a look at the welcome party for the PartyPoker qualifiers yesterday night:

Loic Sa  Stamps his Authority on Table Three

Loic Sa knows how to accumulate chips. In fact the last time this great venue held a major poker tournament is was Sa who led the way at the end of day 1a.

He has started like a house on fire again. He is the aggressor in most pots and here is an example of the hands he seems to be winning at the moment.

Sa raised to 250 from the cut-off, the small blind called, Likas Berglund squeezed out a three-bet of 825 from the big blind and both players called.

All three players saw a flop of with a pot size of 2,475 and it was Berglund who made the first move with a bet of 1,300. Sa called and the small blind folded. Two to the turn and it was a connecting . Berglund quickly checked and Sa made it 2,225. You could tell Berglund was in check-call mode and when he did the dealer gave us the final card and it was the . Both players quickly checked and Sa took it down with . Berglund mucked his cards unseen.

Sayed Cannot Beat a Bluff

When a player has his head in his hands you know something has not gone quite right. As we skipped away from the table where Sam el Sayed is sat, that is exactly the pose we left him in.

We joined the action on a rather mundane flop of and Antonio Consentino had put out a bet of 600. Sam el Sayed was in the pot and he doesn’t like to waste time when he plays and he made a quick call. The turn was the and again the action was fast as Consentino fired out a bet of 1,500 and el Sayed quickly gobbled it up. The river was the and Consentino changed tact and tapped the felt. El Sayed pondered his move for a while before also checking back. Consentino had to reveal his hand first, and it was for a lowly queen high but not as low as the hand that el Sayed mucked.

Consentino put his hand out to gather in his new chips and el Sayed enclosed his around his bald head.

Luca Cainelli Faces an Early Test

Unless you are sat with pocket aces in your hand, being the recipient of a four-bet early doors, does leave an unpleasant taste in your mouth. Luca Cainelli just had that experience and he dealt with it rather well.

There was a raise to 150, from early position, before Cainelli three-bet to 650. The player to his direct left then four-bet to 1,425. The initial raiser ran a mile before Cainelli called.

Both players checked the rather terrifying flop of and the dealer gave us the less threatening on the turn. Cainelli fired out a bet of 2,100 and his four-betting opponent folded.

Day 1a Attendees

There is a perception that it is cool and trendy to turn up late for a party and poker is no exception. So, who are the very uncool people who have decided to turn up for Day 1a of the WPT Championships?

WPT Bratislava final tablist Jesper Hoog is in the house. Thomas Bichon and EPT Barcelona runner-up Jose Cortes Lizano are sharing a table, Lizano will have fond memories of this venue after turning his last visit into a €525,000 pay-day. Leo Margets, Juha Helppi and a cigar munching, WPT Amneville winner Sam el Sayed are sharing a table and Luca Cainelli and Mario Adinolfi have made the trip from Italy.

Nearly Time for Kick Off

My jeans are sticking to my legs and there are beads of sweat dropping from my forehead. We are of course in Barcelona and the sun is shining down with some ferocity. Taking a beach-side walk from the hotel to the casino, to ogle a few topless women, no longer seems like the bright idea that is was when I woke up this morning.

In a few short minutes the WPT will present the Spanish Championships. It is taking place in the Gran Casino from the 25th to 29th May and we are expecting the temperature to rise even further once the first cards area dealt.

For the next five days this will be your home as we bring you the very best action on the poker circuit so don’t go anywhere.

I have just heard the Tournament Director tell every to sit down, so I am heading off to see who has also braved the heat to get here today.

WPT Spanish Championship Images

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