Home / Poker News September 2009 / EPT Barcelona Day 1B: the tough get going
EPT Barcelona Day 1B: the tough get going
Posted by: James Carter. - Thu, 2009-09-10 16:01
Day 1B of the EPT’s Barcelona stop saw a field of 270 players belly up to the tables, having coughed up the €8,300 buy-in. Among the 270 starters were several “name” pros, nosebleed stakes cash game players and poker celebrities. Previous EPT winners were also well represented.
Lex Veldhuis stole the show early in the day, as he mowed down everyone who got in his way. His 30,000 starting stack soon grew to a 100,000 one as he eliminated an opponent on a nut flush vs flush match-up.
Veldhuis had some notorious competition at his table: Daniel Negreanu was there. The day started off on the wrong foot for the Canadian poker star as he got pick pocketed earlier on by a fan who made off with his wallet.
John Cernuto was also present at the green felt and he survived the day on a reasonable stack.
Constant Rijkenberg and Julian Thew were another pair to watch on Day 1B. The two pros waged a prolonged battle at the end of which Thew emerged victorious. He couldn’t enjoy the fruits if his labor for long though as he soon dropped all his chips to Robert Mizrachi, after his pocket rockets got cracked by Mizrachi’s flopped set.
Carlos Mortensen was among the victims too, together with 2008 WSOP Main Event champion, Peter Eastgate. Tennis star turned poker player Boris Becker couldn’t get going either and he busted out before the end of the day.
At the end of Day 1B, the chip lead was secured by Matt Woodward. Having finished 2nd in the EPT’s Monte Carlo Grand Final, Woodward is by no means a stranger to EPT success. He managed to amass a stack of 200,000 chips and exacted some revenge on Pieter De Korver, the player who beat him to the Monte Carlo top spot but who failed to survive the day in Barcelona. De Korver found his tournament demise at the end of a 10,10 vs K,K match-up, which the board didn’t alter.
Looking to make up for the contents of his stolen wallet, Negreanu finished with a hefty stack too as he shot past the 100,000 chip mark as well. Lex Veldhuis finished with about 150,000 chips, his early rampage having given him a big enough momentum to carry him more than safely through to day 2.
