For six unlucky players, making it to Day 3 of the PokerStars European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event and outlasting 85 percent of the field will be nothing more than an interesting story to tell.
Yesterday’s play ended with 293 players remaining as the field returns today at noon local time at Casino Barcelona with the money bubble looming ahead. Kian Kiani doesn’t have to worry too much about making the money, as he takes the chip lead into Day 3 with 775,000.
Day 3 Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kian Kiani | United Kingdom | 775,000 | 193 |
| 2 | Hans Erlandsson | Sweden | 720,000 | 180 |
| 3 | Javey Timmer | Netherlands | 692,000 | 173 |
| 4 | Ahmed Karrim | South Africa | 664,000 | 166 |
| 5 | Malcolm Franchi | France | 637,000 | 159 |
| 6 | Raoul Kanme | Netherlands | 633,000 | 158 |
| 7 | Rania Nasreddine | United States | 609,000 | 152 |
| 8 | Nicolas Julien | France | 550,000 | 137 |
| 9 | Claudio Di Giacomo | Italy | 546,000 | 136 |
| 10 | Mark Teltscher | United Kingdom | 519,000 | 129 |
Kiani is followed on the leaderboard by Hans Erlandsson (720,000), Javey Timmer (692,000), Ahmed Karrim (664,000), and Malcolm Franchi (637,000). Rania Nasreddine (609,000) also begins the day inside the top 10 as she looks to make her second consecutive EPT final table, while other big stacks include Mark Teltscher (519,000), Stephen Song (459,000), Andrew Hulme (437,000), 2022 fourth-place finisher Fabiano Kovalski (408,000), and defending champion Simon Wiciak (400,000).
Team PokerStars is well-represented on Day 3, as commentator Griffin Benger (345,000) and team pros Ramon Colillas (268,000), Fintan Hand (145,000), Guillermo Sanz (100,000), and Parker Talbot (99,000) are all chasing the money.
Also still in the hunt are Farid Jattin (337,000), Ami Barer (327,000), PSPC champion Aliaksandr Shylko (259,000), Teun Mulder (258,000), Brock Wilson (256,000), Alec Torelli (246,000), Stoyan Madanzhiev (224,000), and 2013 EPT Barcelona champion Tom Middleton (213,000). EPT Monte Carlo champion Derk van Luijk (161,000), Alexander “Wolfgang Poker” Seibt (147,000), Jack Sinclair (116,000), Niklas Astedt (107,000), and Poker Hall of Famer Erik Seidel (65,000) find themselves as short stacks entering the day with some work to do to set themselves up for a deep run.
The action on Day 3 picks up on Level 15 with blinds of 2,000-4,000 and a 4,000 big blind ante. The schedule calls for five 90-minute levels today, with a 20-minute break after each level.
The Main Event drew 1,975 total entries, building a prize pool of €9,578,750. Only the top 287 players will guarantee themselves a min-cash of €8,700, with the eventual champion walking away with €1,512,000.
Payouts
| Place | Prize | Place | Prize | Place | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | €1,512,000 | 10-11 | €107,450 | 40-55 | €23,350 |
| 2 | €944,000 | 12-13 | €89,550 | 56-71 | €20,300 |
| 3 | €674,150 | 14-15 | €74,600 | 72-95 | €17,600 |
| 4 | €518,600 | 16-17 | €62,150 | 96-119 | €15,350 |
| 5 | €398,950 | 18-20 | €51,800 | 120-143 | €13,300 |
| 6 | €306,900 | 21-23 | €43,200 | 144-183 | €11,600 |
| 7 | €236,100 | 24-27 | €36,000 | 184-223 | €10,050 |
| 8 | €181,600 | 28-31 | €30,950 | 224-287 | €8,700 |
| 9 | €139,750 | 32-39 | €26,900 |  |  |
Stay tuned to PokerNews throughout the day as the field passes the money bubble.