The PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona Main Event continued Friday with action in Day 6 of the tournament.
When play began, 13 players remained in the hunt for the €1,370,050 first-place prize and the EPT Barcelona crown. After several hours of intense action with big pay jumps on the line, the field thinned down to just 6 remaining players.
Italy's Manuel Ferrari started Day 6 in the driver's seat, leading the field in the chip counts. Despite some adversity along the way, Ferrari retains pole position over his opponents headed into tomorrow's finale.
With an energetic rail of supporters, Spain's Jose Criado rode the momentum of his home-field advantage to bag up the second-largest stack in play with 15.7M. On Day 7, Criado will have a shot at poker history as a victory would see him become the first Spaniard to triumph in the EPT Barcelona Main Event.
Throughout the late stages of play, Criado's supporters have been vocal – keeping his energy levels high as he navigated through a tough field.
Jose Criado celebrates a key pot with his rail. China's Xiaosheng Zheng follows in third place with 11.2M to round out the top three.
The gulf between the top and bottom halves of the field is considerable. The Netherlands' Lukas Van Eeden and Ireland's Michael Dwyer are the middling stacks, with 5M and 4.5M respectively.
2010 EPT Monte Carlo Main Event winner Nicolas Chouity is the clear short stack with just 1.9M and it'll take a serious spin-up for him to join the select group with more than one EPT Main Event title.
When play resumes Saturday in Barcelona at 12:30 local time, the final six players will return to the 250K/500K (500K) blind level.
EPT Barcelona Main Event Day 7 chip counts
- Manuel Ferrari (Italy): 16.1M
- Jose Criado (Spain): 15.7M
- Xiaosheng Zheng (China): 11.2M
- Lukas Van Eeden (Netherlands): 5M
- Michael Dwyer (Ireland): 4.5M
- Nicolas Chouity (Lebanon): 1.9M
Dwyer the last Pick 3 player standing
At the start of Day 6, two players in PokerOrg's Pick 3 fantasy contest were still in the running: Dwyer and Joris Ruijs.
While both players reached the final table of nine, Ruijs was the first player eliminated, finishing in ninth place for €126,950.
With Ruijs out of the way, team owners with Dwyer on their rosters can breathe a sigh of relief – especially the owner of Team Pye, who will walk away with the $8K EPT Prague Main Event package.
