The first of two starting flights for the €2,200 Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) High Roller has reached a conclusion here at the 2024 PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona hosted at Casino Barcelona.
Day 1a attracted 1,410 total entrants with only 211 players finding a bag and advancing to Day 2 where they will be guaranteed at least a min-cash. Meanwhile the second starting flight attracted 654 entrants, bringing the total field size to 2,064 and prize pool to €3,962,880.
Peter Kvisthammar of Sweden bagged the Day 1a chip lead, finishing with an impressive 806,000 chips. Kvisthammar is well ahead of the rest of the Day 1a field, with his closest rivals being Robbie Bull (589,000) and Ermo Kosk (586,000).
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Counts |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Peter Kvisthammar | Sweden | 806,000 |
| 2 | Robbie Bull | United Kingdom | 589,000 |
| 3 | Ermo Kosk | Estonia | 586,000 |
| 4 | Andreas Moser | Switzerland | 573,000 |
| 5 | Bernat Carreras | Spain | 547,000 |
| 6 | Davide Schianchi | Italy | 545,000 |
| 7 | Cedric Schwaederle | France | 543,000 |
| 8 | Eric Sfez | France | 530,000 |
| 9 | Claudio Baldini | Italy | 517,000 |
| 10 | Mathew Frankland | United Kingdom | 516,000 |
Bull has been no stranger to tournament success in 2024 having already enjoyed two five-figure scores this year including a seventh place finish in the €1,100 FPS Main Event at EPT Monte Carlo this past April.
Other notables to make it through the day include Leo Margets (437,000), Cherish Andrews (332,000), Daniel Rezaei (267,000), Antoine Saout (199,000), last year’s winner of this event Bart Lybaert (115,000) and Jason Wheeler (112,000).
Maria Konnikova was the sole PokerStars ambassador to find a bag at the end of the night, finishing with 224,000. Konnikova recently enjoyed a second-place finish at an €1,100 at EPT Monte Carlo this past april for €52,000 and will be looking to top that with a deep run in this event.
Among the notable players who busted before the end of the night were Maria Ho, Gilles Simon, Lucia Navarro, Lucien Cohen, Ankit Ahuja, Stephen Song, Ramon Colillas and PokerStars ambassador Benjamin Spragg.
Day 2 starts at noon local time tomorrow, September 1 and features 60-minute levels. Payouts will be announced at the start of the day. Everyone who has made it through is guaranteed at least a min-cash.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this event from the moment cards are in the air tomorrow until a winner is crowned on the third and final day taking place on September 2.