The action has come to a close on the second of four starting flights in the 888poker LIVE Barcelona �888 Main Event here at Casino Barcelona. Day 1b attracted a total of 141 entrants, bringing the total prize pool to $183,416 so far. By the end of the night 46 players managed to find a bag and advance to Day 2.
Romania's Gabriel Podovei finished the night with the biggest stack across the first two starting flights, ending with 469,000 chips. That stack will be worth 156 big blinds going into Day 2. Podovei's most closely followed by Argentina's Luis Zamora (386,000) and Spain's Jordi Diaz (371,000).
888poker Ambassador Lucia Navarro also bagged a top ten stack, finishing the night with 264,500. Navarro flopped quads and got paid in the penultimate level of the night en route to finishing with the sixth-largest stack.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Gabriel Podovei | Romania | 469,000 | 156 |
| 2 | Luis Zamora | Argentina | 386,000 | 129 |
| 3 | Jordi Diaz | Spain | 371,000 | 124 |
| 4 | Mohamed Chanda | - | 285,500 | 95 |
| 5 | Fran Garcia | Spain | 270,500 | 90 |
| 6 | Lucia Navarro | Spain | 264,500 | 88 |
| 7 | Paul Minzariu | Italy | 258,000 | 86 |
| 8 | Marc Oller | Spain | 233,000 | 78 |
| 9 | Alexander Ellison | United Kingdom | 220,500 | 74 |
| 10 | Ariel Galactico | Spain | 215,500 | 72 |
Other 888poker ambassadors to advance include Vivian Saliba (150,500) and Alexandre Mantovani (33,000). Fellow ambassadors Ian Simpson, Nick Eastwood and Aaron Barone also played in day 1b but were not as fortunate and ultimately busted before the end of the night.
Online qualifiers Fran Garcia and Francesc Subirada also managed to advance to Day 2 tonight. Fran Garcia bagged a top five stack, finishing with an impressive 270,500 while Subirada ended in the middle of the pack with 125,000.
Two starting flights remain with Day 1c starting at 3:00 p.m. local time tomorrow May 18 and a turbo Day 1d flight, featuring 20-minute levels, taking place at noon on the following day on May 19. The fields will combine for Day 2 at 5:00 p.m. local time the same day, which will play 12 45-minute levels.
The PokerNews team will be on hand to provide all the action until a winner is crowned on the final day taking place on May 20.
