Day 1B has now wrapped in Barcelona. What can we tell you about it? Well, we'll start at the top, where there's a familiar face riding very high indeed. As long as you're a fan of Swedish reality TV, that is. Mikael Lundell became a household name in the living...more

The last flag bearer for Team PokerStars has fallen. Dario Minieri, who flashed his aggression around today as easily as he did his World Series bracelet, finally succumbed to a lack of chips, finding himself short stacked on a table that featured the two chip leaders, Sebastian Ruthenberg and...more

With a level and a half to go the tournament area has shrunk considerably, the rail edging its way towards the far end of the room. All but one of the Team PokerStars Pros has been eliminated today, the exception being Dario Minieri, who still shares his table with...more

The tournament is currently in a 15 minute break before level seven begins. As yesterday, we're playing eight levels which means two more hours of play, taking us to about 1.15am. As the alarm sounded to signal the end of the level, there were 174 players remaining. The chip leader,...more

The last time Team PokerStars Pro Dario Minieri and Slovakian Dag Palovic met it was on the final table of the EPT San Remo in the spring of season four. It was perhaps the quickest final table in EPT, lasting less than three hours despite being a finale laden...more

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Right? If you've found your niche, exploit it. Why not? Stevie Chidwick, from Kent, England, is pretty good at PokerStars satellites. How good? Well, while most people would probably be happy with winning one seat for the World Series main event, Chidwick saw...more

If there's a table today to counter the feature table-elect of yesterday (EPT winners Mike McDonald and Jason Mercier) it would be along the far wall and features two WSOP bracelet winners in PokerStars Sponsored player Sebastian Ruthenberg and Irish pro Alan Smurfit. Also here is pot-limit Omaha specialist...more

With his half of the playing field returned from the dinner break Luca Pagano was no doubt aware that time was running out for a climb out of the cellar and back into fighting shape. Equipped with a little more than 3,000 it was only a matter of time....more

Amidst the blur of tournament action it's not always possible to keep track of everyone. A combination of players moved, sudden changes in circumstances or just a bad hand can send a player out regardless of any high flying earlier. Unfortunately Raymond Rahme is the next to be banished...more

We write it every time and surely one day it will no longer be true. But for the time being at least, no one has ever won two EPT events. The players who have come closer than all others are Brandon Schaefer and Mark Teltscher, both of whom have won...more

Daniel Negreanu's hopes for a first EPT win (and a Triple Crown) have ended. The first indication of something amiss was the loud thumping noise as a player began hitting the table with his hand in an audible victory ceremony. Daniel had min-raised from under-the-gun plus one to 300...more

Raymond Rahme saw off the end of season four with two cashes in succession in San Remo and Monte Carlo making his trip from South Africa a profitable one. He just made an early first step toward making the start of season five as equally profitable. It didn't take...more

There's been a typically frenetic start to proceedings today, with players busting at a chaotic rate. Passing by Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier's table about 40 minutes into level one, I noticed that he was already tapping the table in the manner of the defeated, nodding his head and drifting away. He...more

Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand "ElkY" Grospellier has ditched the joker regalia he fashioned in Macau but still has a metallic veneer, his silver blond hair making him look like he was designed and built in a virtual reality machine. It's a level of flash that suits his effective style...more

We won't know the full number of runners until we're well into level two, but if it's any indication, the tournament director Thomas Kremser just made an announcement that went something like this: "Anyone on the list of alternates with a number up to 30, please come to the cash...more