WPT Spanish Championships Live Updates Day 2

PartyPoker Blog is in Barcelona, Spain this week for the WPT Spanish Championship. We will provide you all the latest updates, pictures, videos and the live stream of the WPT Barcelona final table on Sunday.

Day two has come to an end and Szymon Pieszczoch tops the pile with 411,000 chips. 51 players got through the day and the full recap can be found here. We will be back tomorrow at 15:00 (CET) to play down to the final table, with a short intermission for something called the European Champions League Final.

Day 3 live updates are here!

Remi Gaillard of poker at WPT says: “Best of luck to everyone, especially for me”:

You can check our the Day 1a recap here and the Day 1b recap here.

Full Chip Count

23:00

Agnieszka Rylik Interview

Tatjana Pasalic interviews Agnieszka Rylik about being a mother, kickboxer and professional poker player.

22:50

The Chip Lead is Confirmed for Pieszczcoch

Any lingering doubts of whether or not Pieszczcoch is the chip leader have just been removed after this following hand.

Artem Romanov bet 5,000 and there were three callers before Pieszczcoch three-bet to 18,500 from the big blind. Romanov moved all-in and everybody folded like a deck of cards until it came to Pieszczcoch who made the call.

Pieszczcoch: J♠ J♥

Romanov: A♥ 10♥

Board: K♦ 8♥ 3♣ 4♦ 6♣

After the count Pieszczcoch had 410,500 in front of him and had eliminated a dangerous opponent Artem Romanov in the process.

22:40

Szymon Pieszczcoch Takes the Chip Lead

As we head into the final six hands of the night there seems to be a five-way race for the top spot involving Szymon Pieszczcoch, Romain Matteolli, Artur Koren, Jesus Lizano Cortes and Julien Mariani.

We think Pieszczcoch has just nudged ahead with this following hand, which is a great example of how to wield the big stack. Pieszczcoch raised to 5,100 from early position and Diego Serrano three-bet making it 12,500 to play. The action folded around to the diminutive Pieszczcoch who four-bet to 26,700 forcing the fold from the Spaniard.

“Show us, show us,” begged Koren

Pieszczcoch flipped over [ax][9x].

22:30

Koren Forces Romanov To a Decision For All of His Chips

There was a raise under the gun to 5,000 and Artem Romanov three-bet to 11,500 leaving himself with 60,000 behind. Artur Koren was in the blinds and he asked Romanov for a count before making it a whopping 91,200 to play. The initial raiser folded immediately but Romanov sweated the decision for quite a while before eventually deciding to release his hand.

21:45

Julien Mariani Becomes a Contender

Whenever you are buzzing around table six it is unusual NOT to see Julien Mariani in a pot and he is usually the aggressor. In this pot we find him on the back foot playing defensive poker but coming out on top nonetheless.

Mariani raised to 5,100 from early position and Juha Helppi called on the button. Paolo Della Penna was in the small blind and he took an age before also calling.

Flop: 5♦ 10♣ K♦

Della Penna checked to Mariani and he bet 7,200, Helppi called and Della Penna folded.

Turn: 3♠

Mariani checked to Helppi and he bet 15,000 and the Frenchman duly made the call.

River: 2♣

Again Mariani was eager to get to showdown and he checked. Helppi was not so keen and he bet 20,000. Mariani snap-called and tabled Q♦ Q♥ and help showed his missed draw Q♠ J♣

22:00

Chip Count Update

1. Michele Daniello – 200 000
2. Bo Sehlstedt – 230 000
3. Juha Helppi – 80 000
4. Zdravko Duvnjak – 90 000
5. Maurizio Carra – 40 000
6. Maryana Duplantier – 24 000
7. Joris DiGregorio – 80 000
8. Alexander Sidorin – 120 000
9. Mariani Julien – 140 000
10. Matteoli Romain – 250 000
11. Dan Morgan – 200 000
12. Thomas Bichon – 60 000
13. Matias Ruiz – 120 000
14. Maison Yves – 80 000
15. Fiorini Luca – 100 000
16. Benoit Albiges – 79 000
17. Palacios Bolivar – 95 000
18. Martin Vallo – 70 000
19. Sebastian Homann – 130 000
20. Clemens Manzano – 45 000
21. Nadal Jose Manuel – 110 000
22. Caroline De Weerolt – 38 000
23. Garcia Duffour Jorge – 60 000
24. Puccini Mario – 100 000
25. Lukus Berglund – 68 400
26. Renato Almeida – 21 600
27. Morten Mortensen – 35 600
28. Raul Pino – 200 000
29. Irene Baroni – 95 800
30. Maceiras Lapido Maria – 28 000
31. Marton Czuczor – 43 300
32. Essam Ali – 66 000
33. Szymon Pieszczoch – 250 000
34. Bartolome Gomiorlmeno – 60 000
35. Kuku Stefan – 70 000
36. Amar Claude – 80 000
37. Malik D’Aullo – 150 000
38. Diego Arbuello – 40 000
39. Samuli Sipile – 70 000
40. Pietri Pietila – 83 000
41. Tim Eduard – 80 000
42. Thomas Traboulsi – 194 000
43. Jeuneot Thierry – 50 000
44. Martinez Barbara – 162 000
45. Justin Tazekan – 47 000
46. Frederic Bussot Fuentes – 53 000
47. Janos Toth – 150 000
48. Paolo Della Penna – 110 000
49. Tomas Masarre Alfaru – 65 000
50. Jean Luc Roger Michel Fournier – 55 000
51. Markus Ristola – 42 000
52. Mats Iremark – 130 000
53. Pasi Sourmunen – 85 000
54. Jesus Cortes – 195 000
55. Martin Jacobson – 170 000
56. Sa Loic – 160 000
57. Guillem Vsero – 80 000
58. Chaparro Miguel – 90 000
59. Piazuelo Javier – 70 000
60. Artem Romanov – 120 000
61. Eric Sullivan – 105 000
62. Diego Sanchez – 105 000
63. Andrea Cannizzaro – 100 000
64. Artur Koren – 150 000
65. Yam Enzyn – 120 000

21:43

Janos Toth up to 135,000

Barbara Martinez raised to 5,500 and Janos Toth called in the small blind. The two of them shared a flop of 3♦ K♥ K♣ and Martinez bet 7,500 and Toth made the call. The turn was the Q♠ and both players checked before the 3♠ turned up at the river. Toth changed from checker to bettor and he bet 8,000 and Martinez folded her hand.

Toth ~ 135,000

21:32

Table Seven is Never a Dull Place to Be.

Thomas Traboulsi is certainly someone who stokes controversy, especially when he is not in the hand!

Thierry Jeunot moved all-in for his last 26,000 and whilst everyone was thinking of whether or not to call Traboulsi started his antics. He thought it would be wise to remind everyone that is really wasn’t that much and that they should call! One of the players on the table tried to tell Traboulsi to zip it but he wouldn’t listen. Someone did in fact call but luckily for Jeunot he actually did want one!

Jeunot: A♠ A♣

Opponent: A♦ Q♥

Board: A♥ 8♣ K♥ 10♦ 2♣

Jeunot moves back up to 60,000 but is still in a whole lot of trouble towards the bottom end of the leader board.

The big stacks on table seven are as follows:

Michele Daniello ~ 200,000

Thomas Traboulsi ~194,000

Barbara Martinez ~ 162,000

21:00

Five Bet by Artur Koren

When we started the day, Eric Sullivan and Artur Koren were our chip leaders. That may have changed but they still remain very strong competitors and they have just been at each others throats.

Sullivan raised to 4,500 from the cut-off and Diego Sanchez Serrano called before Artur Koren three-bet from the big blind making it 16,800 to play. The action fell back to Sullivan and I had an inkling that he wasn’t going to just believe Koren had a hand! He didn’t and he four-bet to 29,000. Serrano folded and Koren very excitedly moved all-in. Sullivan snap-folded and Koren added to his stack without the need for a flop.

Sullivan ~ 105,000

Koren ~ 150,000

20:50

Jacobson and Sa Do Battle in the Blinds

Martin Jacobson is back up to 170,000 after getting the best of Loic Sa in the following hand

We caught the action on the turn.

Flop: K♣ 7♥ 9♣ 4♣

Jacobson bet 7,300 and Sa called in the big blind.

River: 6♥

Jacobson put a bet of 18,700 into the pot and after a short deliberation Sa made the call and Jacobson peeled over K♥ 7♠ and Sa mucked his cards.

20:40

WPT Spanish Championship Day 2

So what does it look like here at day 2 of the WPT Spanish Championships?

19:05

Traboulsi Takes a Massage To Chill Out and it is Working

Thomas Traboulsi has called a masseuse over to try and chill him out after his hand against Simon Ravnsbaek and it seems to be working.

He made a standard raise of 3,300 before his opponent, who was new to the table, moved all-in for over 30,000. The action folded around to Traboulsi and after a good old fashioned think he decided to call and it was a good call.

Traboulsi: A♦ J♣

New guy: A♣ 10♥

Board: 8♠ K♣ 3♦ 4♠ A♥

Traboulsi now has 210,000 chips.

19:00

Julien Mariani Just Squeezes One Past Juha Helppi

Juha Helppi has considerably more chips than he had in the first few levels but we have just seen him shed a few to Julien Mariani.

We caught the action on the flop but you could tell by the size of the pot that Mariani had raised from middle position and Helppi had defended his big blind.

Flop: A♣ 5♥ 9♣

Helppi checked to Mariani and he bet 2,800 and the Fin called.

Turn: 10♦

Helppi once again check-called and this time the bet from Mariani was 5,500.

River: 9♦

Helppi checked for a third time. Mariani turned his music off and gave the hand some thought. He decided to just turn his hand face up and as it turned out his King high was good enough to win the pot – K♠ 3♣. Helppi mucked his cards unseen.

Helppi ~ 105,000

Mariani ~ 151,000

18:35

Simon Ravnsbaek Eliminated by Donald Duck?

You couldn’t just feel the tension in the air but you could see it etched on their faces. Thomas Traboulsi and Simon Ravnsbaek had just had an angry exchange of words when they got involved in a hand together. I didn’t see hear what they were arguing about but you just knew that there were fireworks waiting to be set off and this hand was going to light them.

We missed the pre-flop action but on a flop of J♣ 6♥ 2♥ Traboulsi bet 12,000 and Ravnsbaek re-raised to 17,300. Traboulsi threw his chips onto the table indicating a call before apologising to the dealer for his behaviour.

You could tell that Traboulsi had lost control and Ravnsbaek had him swinging on a hook. On the turn we saw a 4♠, Traboulsi checked and Ravnsbaek bet 19,800. The hook finally started to hurt because Traboulsi snapped and declared he was all-in. Ravnsbaek snap-called and turned over A♦ A♠ and Traboulsi had just Q♥ J♦.

“Give me a queen!” Traboulsi demanded.

The dealer did exactly that when she laid down a perfect Q♠ for Traboulsi.

He slammed the table with his fist and fired Ravnsbaek a nasty looking stare. Ravnsbaek, to his credit, just laughed, grabbed his jacket and walked off.

“Wow, I folded queen-jack,” said Paolo Della Penna.

I asked Traboulsi what his name was as he was stacking his 140,000 chip stack.

“Donald Duck!” He replied.

17:43

Jacobson Pounds on De Vivo

Martin Jacobson is getting closer and closer to the top of that leader board. He just raised to 2,500 and Francesco de Vivo three-bet from the button making it 5,700 to play. Jacobson four-bet to 13,200 and de Vivo just called.

Flop: 10♠ 10♣ 10♥

De Vivo looked very nervous and Jacobson looked confident and if you were going to have a bet on who was going to win the hand your money would have been on the Swede. Both of them checked the flop and we saw a turn of 7♠. Jacobson bet 12,600 on the turn and De Vivo called. The river was the 8♣ and Jacobson moved all-in and De Vivo folded his hand leaving himself with only 35,000 to do battle with. Jacobson on the other hand has close to 150,000

17:47

The Happiest Loser I Have Ever Seen

Armando Palacio may well have the cure for tilt. We just saw him get all of his chips in with Q♥ Q♦ against the 5♥ 5♦ of Samuli Sipila and congratulate his opponent after a turned 5♣ gave his opponent a set. He handed his opponent his chips and then asked him for his name before shaking his hand. He then asked me what my name was and how my day was going before declaring that he has never been above starting stack for the whole two days.

I left before he gave me a kiss on the cheek.

17:15

Hello Kitty? Not Too Sure? More Like Hello Tiger!

We mentioned yesterday that Irene Baroni scares the hell of us. We have just noticed that she has a set of Hello Kitty cans in between those formidable looking pig tails and now we are even more at our wits end! A James Bond script awaits for her we are sure.

The break had been announced by Thomas Kremser and players were leaving their tables in droves apart from Baroni and Juhani Vainio. They were staring at a flop of A♥ K♠ Q♥ and Baroni had check-called a 2,500 Vainio bet. The turn was the 6♦ and Baroni bet 5,300 and Vainio called. The river was the Q♣ and Baroni bet 18,500 and Vainio was positively flummoxed. After spending most of the break time pondering his decision he folded [ax][kx]face up and walked away, but not before catching a glance of the Baroni bluff. Baroni tabling J♥ 9♥ for the missed flush draw and she was in fits of laughter.

17:14

A Few Hands for Martin Jacobson Fans

We joined the Jacobson table in the middle of a little gunfight between him and Loic Sa. Jacobson was on the button and he had a bet of 5,500 in front of him which we assume was a four-bet. Loic Sa was in the small blind with a 14,200 five-bet in front of him. Jacobson withdrew his paltry looking 5,500 and replaced it with a much more respectful 23,000 in a six-betting motion and Loic Sa snap-folded.

He was still stacking Sa’s chips when he flicked out a 2,100 raise from the cut-off and both blinds called.

Flop: K♠ 5♦ 5♠

Both blinds checked to the aggressive Jacobson who c-bet 4,200. The small blind folded but it was noticeable that Jean Luc Fournier had not taken his eyes off Jacobson throughout the entire hand, with good reason as well, because he sensed a bluff and check-raised to 12,500 and Jacobson released his hand.

16:47

Leo Margets Eliminated

Leo Margets has been eliminated after her [8x] [8x] lost a flip against her opponents [ax][qx].

The ace turned up on the turn on a board of [2x] [3x] [tx][ax][7x] and we lost one of our lovely ladies.

16:35

Romanov and Ferrero Clash Again

Artem Romanov just got his chips back from Pedro Ferrero as they clashed for the second time in quick succession. The action had already reached the turn by the time we caught it. The board was 6♥ 10♠ 4♣ 2♣ when Ferrero checked to Romanov. Romanov bet 8,500 and Ferrero made the call. The dealer gave us the final card and it was the 5♣. Ferrero once again checked and Romanov bet 15,500. Ferrero went so deep inside the tank that when he emerged Peter Jackson had finished filming the Hobbit and it had won an Academy Award, but to be fair on Ferrero he did eventually make the call. Romanov flipped over J♠ J♥ and he knew it was good.

Ferrero ~ 57,000

Romanov ~ 120,000

16:30

Top Guns

The table draw has thrown up an interesting collection of players over at table five. Not only do we have the two top dogs from day 1a and 1b in Eric Sullivan and Artur Koren but we also have Artem Romanov and Oscar Carrasco who both played very well yesterday.

Koren has started off just like he did on day 1a with a series of uncontested raises and he has taken down a few rounds of blinds and antes.

Sullivan has been quiet and has not gotten to his feet and shouted to the room like he did yesterday, but he did get involved in the most interesting pot of the table so far.

Artem Romanov raised to 1,600 in early position and Eric Sullivan three-bet from middle position when he made it 4,500 to play. Andrea Cannizzaro was seated in the cut-off looking down on all of this action and he decided his hand was strong enough to put in a four-bet of 10,400. The action folded around to Romanov who looked very composed as he five-bet to 19,600.

Eric Sullivan was now the proverbial meat in the sandwich. He looked one way and then the other just like a toddler crossing the road, before eventually folding to leave Romanov and Cannizzaro to duel it out. Cannizzaro found the decision a little too much and eventually called the clock on himself. The green tied floor man Gerrard swept gracefully into centre court but Cannizarro folded as soon as he arrived.

16:20

Essam Ali Interview

Essam Ali is a very fortunate young man. He outlasted 442 players to win a WSOP buy-in for an incredible 20-years whilst playing on Party Poker!

This year will be his second attack on the WSOP Main Event and here he is talking about it to Tatjana Pasalic.

16:13

Romanov’s Good Start Comes to a Halt

We reported earlier that Artem Romanov had started very well on table five and now we have to report that he has just taken a sizeable hit.

Miguel Angel Pascual raised to 2,000 in the cut-off and the button and small blind both called. Romanov was in the big blind and he pounced with a three-bet squeeze of 5,900. Pascual and the button folded but Pedro Ferrero had been setting a trap for Romanov as he moved all-in for 39,100. Romanov did the math before making the call.

Romanov: A♦ Q♥

Ferrero: Q♠ Q♦

Board: 10♣ 10♠ 4♣ K♣ 2♠

Romanov was knocked down to 85,000 and Ferrerro has 45,000 thanks to his intuitive play.

16:12

Bichon Shows Them Who is Boss

When we arrived at the table there was a flop of 10♣ 6♣ 8♠ and Miguel Menendez had checked from the small blind. Thomas Bichon was in the big blind and he bet 3,600 and Matias Vinals called from under the gun. Action back to Menendez and he check-raised to 9,200. Bichon was the next person with the decision and he decided to make it easy for himself and moved all-in for 35,000. Vinals and Menendez folded instantly and Bichon flashed them both his semi-bluff of [8x] [9x].

16:00

Tough Spot for Rodriguez

Likas Berglund raised to 1,800 from the hijack, Ramon Rodriguez Lafarga three-bet from the small blind making it 4,500 to play before Marcelo Ruano moved all-in from the big blind for 54,600.

Berglund folded and Rodriguez had a pained expression on his face. At various points throughout his deliberation he mimed as though he would move all-in and fold. It was a very tough spot for the Spaniard and he eventually decided to fold whilst flashing pocket nines in the direction of Runao who handed his cards to the dealer unseen.

15:45

Mclean Karr Interview

For a long time yesterday it seemed as though Mclean Karr could make a serious run at this championship, but in the end it was not written in his particular stars.

Here he is talking to Tatjana Pasalic about his life on the road.

15:20

Juha Helppi and Bruno Lassalle

The Finnish poker superstar and the French poker playing comedian have made a bee-line for each other at the start of Day 2.

In the first encounter Lassalle opened to 2,000 under the gun and Helppi peeled one off from the cut-off and the button and blinds leaving the two of them to share a flop.

Flop: 8♥ 5♣ J♦

Lassalle bet 2,000 and Helppi called.

Turn: 2♥

Lassalle bet 6,000 and this time Helppi folded.

In their second encounter Helppi brought the contest to an even draw. We joined the action with the flop and turn already laid out: 3♦ J♠ 7♣ 10♦ and Lassalle checked to Helppi who bet 5,000. Action back to the comedian and he raised to 12,000. Helppi did not have many chips behind him and he called, leaving himself with around 20,000 left. The river was the 2♣ and both players checked.

Lassalle: A♥ J♥

Helppi: Q♥ Q♦

Helppi ~ 65,000

Lassalle ~ 28,000

15:15

Robert Schneider Eliminates Rasmus Hansen

A short stacked Rasmus Hansen put his last few pennies into the pot holding 4♦ 4♠ and he was called by Robert Schneider holding A♠ K♦ in the big blind.

A very unfortunate paired board resulting in the end of Hansen’s tournament.

Board: 7♣ 2♣ 7♠ J♥ J♣

Here is the seat draw for you.

WPT Spanish Championship picture gallery

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