It's busy today in Barcelona as the festival prepares for the Main Event, which starts tomorrow at noon. Before that, the organisers somehow have to compress both the Estrellas main event and the Barcelona Cup down to a manageable size to leave sufficient space, plus there's the issue of the Estrellas High Roller, which has predictably gone nuts.

Martin Harris is still the man to take you through the Estrellas action. He loves Spanish poker so much now that you have to pronounce his first name "Marteeeeeen" otherwise he doesn't answer.

But as that monster edges closer to the final table it will never reach, let's have a quick glance at those other events.

The Barcelona Cup has been a knockout. Of course. This is the event that costs €300 to enter but offers six starting flights. If you make it through to the end of any of the flights, that's your stack for Day 2. But if you are eliminated on any of the days, you can buy back in the next.

That means you can, if you want, have seven stabs at the tournament. You can play all week!

It's not immediately clear if anyone has needed (or wanted) to take that option, but the fact remains that the tournament has gradually swelled in size day by day. There were 141 players in Flight A (of which 21 made it through); 229 in Flight B (35); 290 in Flight C (44); 431 in Flight D (65); 754 in Flight E (113) and 1,162 in Flight F, with 173 going through.

It means that 451 will come back at 8pm today after which, finally, NOBODY ELSE CAN BLOODY WELL JOIN IN. They can then legitimately start thinking about the €876,201 prize pool. It means 453 players will be paid, €510 is a min-cash and the winner will earn €135,600.

If you fired only one €330 bullet, that's return of 410 times your buy-in. For comparison, a one-bullet winner of the €50,000 Super High Roller will get a little less than 25 times his buy-in. The Estrellas main event pays 446 times its €1,000, so marginally has the nod in that respect.

Over to the Estrellas High Roller, which began today at noon. To the surprise of absolutely nobody, this tournament has proven popular. When registration closed after 4pm, there were 1,073 players in this one, stumping up €2,000 apiece. There were, of course, plenty of well-known faces.

Liv Boeree, ElkY, Johnny Lodden, Theo Jorgensen, Matthias de Meulder and Eugene Katchalov, Marc-Andre Ladouceur were there, representing Team PokerStars Pro and Team Online. And Pierre Neuville has hopped into this one too, warming up for the November Nine later this year. Zvi Stern is doing the same while Michiel Brummelhuis, who has been there, is involved too. Oh, and isn't that Martin Jacobson? And Ryan Riess?

Ognyan Dimov is on the list as well as Jannick Wrang, Sebastian Pauli, Pieter de Korver, Michael Tureniec, David Vamplew, Kevin MacPhee, Max Lykov, Robin Ylitalo, Kevin Stani, Dominik Panka, Benny Spindler, Joao Barbosa, Martin Finger and Andrey Pateychuk. And, if I'm honest, they're just the former EPT champions I noticed. I'm sure there are more.

The prize pool for that is yet to be fully calculated, tabulated and divided. But here's what we know: it'll be a lot.

Start your journey to EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS. All the EPT Barcelona bumf is on the main EPT Barcelona page, while blow-by-blow Super High Roller coverage is on the Super High Roller page.

We apologise for sounding like a broken record but it seems the B in Barcelona stands for bigger. Events have been off the charts so far with attendance records getting smashed. A case in point is the Woman's event, which has just wrapped up, was supposed to be a one day event but had to be extended to two as 148 ladies took part. That's up 45% on the 102 who played last year and meant that the decision to stop play at 5am and return today was taken.

By that point the event was well into the money but whilst the seven players who unbagged chips this afternoon had all locked up €1,205 there was more than five times that - €6,890 to be precise - reserved for the winner. It took about three hours of play for the champion to be decided and she's a familiar face to anyone who follows poker as it was Lynn Gilmartin who took the title. The Australian, who lives in Los Angeles, and is the host of the WPT and Alpha 8 coverage couldn't contain her smile as she relaxed after winning. "It's so satisfying, I'm elated to have won. Life's good!"

A heads-up deal with fellow Australian Heather Dorazio meant Gilmartin took home an adjusted €5,890 and she was complimentary to her vanquished opponents. "The competition was tough, especially at the last three tables, as there were some really great players. I made some great friends and had a good time."

For Gilmartin this trip is a refreshing change of pace as when she usually attends this festivals its to work, but she's in town with her boyfriend Angel Guillen for a holiday with a little poker mixed in. "My boyfriend is playing the Main Event and so I came along with him and as a rare treat I'm actually here as a player and not working, so I thought I'd play the ladies event and here I am, I can't believe I've won it. I think ladies events are great, they're fun and I enjoy playing them."

As Gilmartin well knows you need a bit of luck to make it to the winner's circle and hers came courtesy of the best hand in poker. "Early on I got my first ever royal flush," she tells the PokerStars Blog. "I got paid too, not when I hit it but along the way when I was chasing it. My opponent mucked and I never show my cards but I said 'I have to show these cards,' it was spades so it was the ultimate!"

With form and euros in her locker she's contemplating mixing more poker into the trip than was first planned. "Now I'm contemplating playing the main event," she says with a grin. "Before buying into this event I said that I was going to use this as my satellite for the main event so now I feel like I should commit to that. I think I'll play more even if I don't play the Main Event, but I like to balance out my trips. I've come here to have a good time and see Barcelona so I'm definitely not going to spend every day in the casino."

Whatever tournaments or trips this money goes towards there's something that Gilmartin has earned here in Barcelona that will never be taken away from her. "The trophy means the world and to get the title means so much more for sure. The money does mean a lot to me but I really wanted this title. I've been around poker for six years, watching victories and trophy presentations and interviewing the winners and it's so exciting to have my little moment."

Winner selfie tradition continues -- this time with MYSELF!!! Just won the #EPTBarcelona Ladies Event!! #lifesgood pic.twitter.com/lVpQE7WRao

— Lynn Gilmartin (@LynnGilmartin) August 23, 2015

Start your journey to EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS. All the EPT Barcelona bumf is on the main EPT Barcelona page, while blow-by-blow Super High Roller coverage is on the Super High Roller page.

Help yourself to whatever's in the fridge

Alright we admit it, this scenario is not likely to crop up any time soon. But in the interests of always being prepared, if there ever comes a time when you have to pick a poker player to babysit your kids, you'd do worse than pick Christoph Vogelsang - working on the assumption that he would have no choice.

The reasons are plentiful.

For a start he's hugely successful as a super high roller. His career was kick started in 2014 with a third place finish in the Big One for One Drop worth more than $4 million, but his is a resume based on big cashes. The man knows how to play cards well, which comes in handy as you play endless rounds of Go Fish, Old Maid and Sleeping Queens.

Then there's his intellect. Aside from two University degrees, he took to poker in a matter of weeks, going from $10 to $5,000 in a month according to interviews. If even a fraction of that analytical mind rubs off on your cherished little ones then you're retirement starts to look a little rosier.

Then there's his character. Vogelsang's world view extends beyond poker. It's a game, and he enjoys immensely, but there is life out there as well. After his One Drop success Vogelsang told PokerListings how he took a break from playing online. Not for him the incessant need to be present at the tables. Instead he took time to reflect and plan his future. In this age of the internet and instant gratification, it's a virtue that's anyone would be wise to work on.

Then there's his temperament. He could hardly be accused of being hot-tempered, a point emphasised in a hand a short while ago. JC Alvarado shoved with ace-queen and Vogelsang called with ace-king. The German barely flinched as two queens landed on the flop. Vogelsang has frequently expressed how his Christian faith keeps him level-headed in a game that can lend havoc to a man's ego. Well, whatever it is, the capacity to remain calm in situations like that is rare and admirable. That comes in handy when you need to get small people to bed by 8 o'clock.

Finally there's his appearance. Just look at his bag. For some the natural option is a grotesque man bag, as garish as is it too small for any practical purpose. But Vogelsang is different. He carries a dated brown leather briefcase. It looks like it might contain banking transactions, or maybe papers of vital importance to the government. In reality it carries his lunch, a few snacks and an extra sweater in case the air-con gets a little frisky. Any parent leaving kids in his charge would be thrilled by this forward thinking practicality. I like to think it also has a few dollars in a secret pocket for emergencies.

So there you have it. File this away under "could happen, but most likely won't", and then get back to watching him tearing through yet another Super High Roller field.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

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If you wanted to make a joke about German efficiency -- as, apparently, is de rigueur when there isn't a sun-lounger and a towel in sight -- you would have had a field day at the start of this last session of the day in the €50,000 Super High Roller.

As the clock ticked down to the start of Level 15, ending the 75-minute dinner break, none of Fedor Holz, Igor Kurganov, Max Altergott or Christoph Vogelsang were back. Prepare weak national stereotype joke...engage: So much for the famed German efficiency, huh, huh, huh. Am I right?

Yes, it's true: just as the first cards were being peeled off decks on the remaining three tables in this tournament, the bounding locks of Kurganov were sighted bobbing through the crowd to the far corner of the room, alongside the more precise, athletic gait of Altergott.

Holz, meanwhile, was busy high-fiving friends on the side of the rail having showed up about 30 seconds previously, while Vogelsang was ambling slowly and deliberately to his table, without a care in the world.

A change in the rules at the beginning of this season, which means a hand is valid if a player is back in his or her seat when the last card comes off the deck (previously it was the first), meant that three out of four of these players did actually get to see the first hand.

Only Altergott was left remonstrating that it was impossible for him to have missed a hand, but the complaints fell on stony ground and were quickly forgotten.

Regardless of their dinner timekeeping, the German quartet remaining in this event are having a ball. (We're referring to Kurganov as German, even though he has dual nationality and plays under the Russian flag.) There were 21 players remaining at break time, and four of the top five were German.

This is the kind of dominance we grew familiar with when Tobias Reinkemeier and Philipp Gruissem seemed to live inside the top three of High Roller payout tables, but the baton has maybe passed now to Holz and Vogelsang, via Altergott.

For the sake of completeness, who's interested in the precise order the Super High Roller players returned to the tables after the dinner break? I can't see you. Hands up. There. I knew you'd be fascinated.

Well, first up was Mike McDonald, seated behind his stack with fully five minutes on the dinner break still remaining. He was having a nice chat with the dealer. Jason Les was next to arrive, running exceptionally well in his third Super High Roller event. He was the only non-German in that top five.

Stephen Chidwick, last night's leader, was next through the door. He is no longer at the top of the leader board, but will hardly be disappointed with a stack of about a million. Michael Egan, with close to double that, was next to sit down again.

JC Alvarado ambled next into the tournament area, but did not immediately take his seat. He went through a series of stretches, dancing up and down like a championship fighter, then plunging down to touch his toes repeatedly.

This is boring, isn't it. Here's a list: Viacheslav Buldygin, Hassan Fares, Mustapha Kanit, Imad Derwiche, Why Did I Even Start This, Ivan Luca, Sylvain Loosli, Steve O'Dwyer, Still Reading, Byron Kaverman, Paul Newey, Ben Tollrene, Igor Kurganov, Max Altergott, Christoph Vogelsang. Where's Dzmitry Urbanovich? Maybe I missed him.

The schedule for today shows that we will play either ten levels or until a final table of eight is reached. The latter is practically impossible but the former can be done. Still around for another four hours.

Start your journey to EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS. All the EPT Barcelona bumf is on the main EPT Barcelona page, while blow-by-blow Super High Roller coverage is on the Super High Roller page.

Over the past few years - and you suspect in the next few as well - countless hours have been spent in numerous offices, taverns and court rooms debating whether poker is a skill game or a game of chance - read luck. Exhibit A in the former's case could well be Daniel Negreanu's deep run in this year's WSOP Main Event, as the most successful tournament player of all-time - in terms of money won - tore his way through a field of thousands. But, you could equally use it in the latter's case too, after all Negreanu got it in good but the turn of a card saw his hopes dashed.

The exact percentage of skill and luck in this card game we love fluctuates depending on the example used, but what we can't deny is that hidden luck can often play a cameo role in the outcome of any one tournament. We're talking seat draw, a misdeal changing the course of a tournament or simply picking up a monster hand at the same time as someone else.

As we reported, when the 21 remaining players returned from dinner break Jason Les was the only non-German in the top five chip counts, he didn't even had time to get his seat warm before he was unceremoniously bounced from this tournament when he got the short end of the stick in a hand against some guy called Dzmitry Urbanovich, who as a result is now the chip leader. You might remember him from such Super High Roller final tables as the last one, where he finished runner-up to Erik Seidel. It was a result that secured him the EPT11 Player of the Year award, which he'll receive this week in Barcelona.

The hand in question was one of those set-up scenarios containing a large dose of hidden luck, but the pertinent details are that Les held pocket queens in the small blind and Urbanovich pocket kings in the big. JC Alvarado's opening bet from the button was the kindling that created a massive fireball of some 3,600,000 chips which all ended up in the middle preflop. Such was Les's bad luck that Urbanovich even had his suits covered. No queen, or unlikely straight emerged and Les was left with fumes which evaporated in the very next hand when he was eliminated by Max Altergott.

Urbanovich was still stacking chips at this point and now looks well placed for another remarkable result and is in a great position to attack the bubble. We'd say remember the name, but it's likely you already do.

Start your journey to EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS. All the EPT Barcelona bumf is on the main EPT Barcelona page, while blow-by-blow Super High Roller coverage is on the Super High Roller page.

1:13 a.m.: Slav Sariyski eliminated in ninth

Shortly after Level 33 began, Slav Sariyski open-raised all in for 1,680,000 from middle position, and it folded to Jose Carlos Garcia on the button who asked for a count, then after a short bit of thought called the raise. The blinds folded, and the players tabled their hands:

Sariyski: [4s][4c]
Garcia: [6h][6s]

It was a bad spot for Sariyski, and five cards later -- [Tc][As][Td][2s][Jd] -- he was out in ninth.

Players are bagging their chips now. We'll be back in a short while with a recap of this exciting Day 3 that played all of the way down from 98 players to the final eight.

1:07 a.m.: Level 33 begins

The blinds are now 120,000/240,000 with a 30,000 ante.

12:57 p.m.: Last break of the night

Level 32 has come to an end with all nine players still battling. They'll take that 10-minute break now and come back for one final level tonight.

12:49 a.m.: Planning the Day 3 endgame

The tournament director just announced that should they reach the end of Level 32 with nine players still with chips, they'll take a short 10-minute break and come back for one more one-hour level with the plan to stop either with the next elimination or the end of Level 33, whatever comes first.

12:37 a.m.: Garcia getting active again

Players are operating cautiously during this Level 32, not wanting to risk missing the final table and a chance for the €491,000 first prize tomorrow's winner will claim. After a long spell of mostly folding while nursing what has now become a short stack, Jose Carlos Garcia has been getting active again, as evidenced by a couple of hands with Mario Lopez.

In the first Lopez raised to 400,000 from middle position, Garcia raised to 800,000 from a couple of seats over, and Lopez called. Both checked the [7s][7h][Ts] flop, then when Lopez led for 350,000 at the [Jh] turn, Garcia waited a couple of minutes then pushed all in. Lopez thought about a minute himself before folding.

The next hand saw Lopez raise again to 400,000 and Garcia just call this time. The flop came [3c][4c][Ts], and Lopez check-called Garcia' bet of 725,000. The turn brought the [6s] and another check from Lopez, and when Garcia bet again, Lopez folded.

Lopez still has about 11.5 million while Garcia has chipped up to about 5 million.

12:13 a.m.: Sariyski shoves get through

Slav Sariyski just open-shoved twice -- once from the button, then from the cutoff -- getting no callers either time. He's up around 4 million now, still among the short stacks with Kondah Abdelhadi and Jose Carlos Garcia. Meanwhile Jonn Forst still leads.

11:57 p.m.: Level 32 begins

The final nine players have all made through the end of the level without too much drama, only Kondah Abdelhadi open-shoving his stack once and getting no action.

The blinds are now 100,000/200,000 with a 30,000 ante.

11:42 p.m.: Updated chip counts; 9 remain

Players are back in their seats and Level 31 continues with about 17 minutes left to go. Here is where the nine are seated along with their stacks to start this not-quite-final final table:

Seat 1: Mario Lopez - 13,710,000
Seat 2: Daniel Selles - 5,925,000
Seat 3: Jose Carlos Garcia - 5,525,000
Seat 4: Eduard Sanchez - 8,905,000
Seat 5: Knut Nystedt - 10,215,000
Seat 6: Simon Peter Sennhauser - 12,630,000
Seat 7: Kondah Abdelhadi - 4,890,000
Seat 8: Jonn Forst - 17,475,000
Seat 9: Slav Sariyski - 2,710,000

11:27 p.m.: Esa Karttunen out in 10th

Esa Karttunen just lost his short stack to go out in 10th after his [Kh][Js] couldn't catch up to Jonn Forst's [Ad][5d] on a [3c][7c][6c][8d][Ts] board.

Down to nine now, there will be a brief pause to redraw to a single table, and then they'll play down to the offical final table of eight.

11:14 p.m.: Forst earns huge double through Garcia, claims lead

A huge hand just happened between the German Jonn Forst and the Polish player Jose Carlos Garcia.

The pair battled to the river with the board coming [Ac][Jc][5c][8s][2h]. Forst had begun the hand raising the button and Garcia was playing from the big blind, but Garcia took the lead postflop, then by the river was shoving all in. Forst thought just a couple of beats and then called, tabling [As][8d] for two pair. Garcia didn't want to show his hand but was made to -- [Ts][3c].

Suddenly Forst is up around 17 million and the new chip leader while Garcia plunges to about 4 million.

11:04 p.m.: David Stocker eliminated in 11th

Jose Carlos Garcia raised to 350,000 from the button and David Stocker called from the big blind. The flop came [8c][4h][6h]. Stocker checked, Garcia bet 400,000, Stocker pushed all in for around 2.5 million, and Garcia called.

Stocker had [7s][6s] for middle pair and a straight draw while Garcia had [9s][8h] for a better pair of eights. The turn was the [Kh], then when the river brought the [5h] Stocker pounded the table, appearing for a moment he thought he'd won with his straight. Then he saw Garcia's flush and realized he was out in 11th.

Garcia is back to about 14 million after that one.

10:56 p.m.: Sennhauser's big call earns double through Garcia

Jose Carlos Garcia opened with a raise to 340,000 from middle position and Simon Peter Sennhauser defended his small blind with a call. The flop came [9d][Ts][3d]. Sennhauswer bet 580,000, Garcia raised to 1.16 million, and Sennhauser called. The turn brought the [Tc] and a check-call from Sennhauser of Garcia's bet of 850,000.

The river was the [Ah], and when Sennhauser checked, Garcia declared he was all in and after some thought Sennhauser called.

Sennhauser had [Qh][Td] for trip tens, while Garcia's tabled hand was whisked away too quickly to see. That brings Sennhauser up to 12 million or so, Garcia down to 10.5 million, and puts Mario Lopez back in the lead for the moment.

10:46 p.m.: Stocker's dramatic double

David Stocker was 11th of 11 to begin play after dinner, and soon was open-pushing his short stack of 1.2 million all in and getting called by Simon Peter Sennhauser sitting to his left.

"I think you have me beat," said Stocker before turning over [8s][8c], but he was racing with Sennhauser's [Kh][Jh].

The flop came [9s][Th][8d], giving Stocker a set but Sennhauser a straight draw, and after the [Qd] fell on the turn Sennhauser leaned forward in his seat. He fell back, though, after the [Qh] river that gave Stocker a winning full house, then rapped the table while congratulating his opponent.

Stocker is up to about 2.5 million now while Sennhauser has about 6.6 million.

10:34 p.m.: Level 31 begins; 11 remain

Players are back in their seats after the dinner break as Level 31 begins. The blinds are now 80,000/160,000 with a 20,000 ante.

The young Polish player Jose Carlos Garcia owns the chip lead at present with the Argentinian Mario Lopez in second position. Here are how the stacks look as play resumes:

Jose Carlos Garcia - 16,005,000
Mario Lopez - 13,045,000
Knut Nystedt - 10,975,000
Eduard Sanchez - 9,005,000
Jonn Forst - 7,265,000
Simon Peter Sennhauser - 6,885,000
Kondah Abdelhadi - 5,610,000
Daniel Selles - 5,530,000
Slav Sariyski - 2,920,000
Esa Karttunen - 2,530,000
David Stocker - 1,225,000

The plan is to play until there are three more eliminations and the final eight-handed table is set.

Click here for Level 23-26 updates
Click here for Level 27-30 updates

Key ESPT Barcelona Main Event Facts:
- The tournament is scheduled to play down to an eight-handed final table today
- 3,292 players entered the event (a record), with the total prize pool €3,193,240
- Click here for a full list of chip counts among the 98 players starting Day 3
- Click here for ESPT Barcelona prize pool and payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Haven't gotten a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now.

By now you know the drill, there's lots of tournaments taking place here in Barcelona and in most of them the numbers are off the charts and subsequently the prize pools are too. So we're going to skip all the bumpf and get straight down to brass tacks. The ESPT6 Barcelona €2,000 High Roller is massive. 1,055 players entered and 151 get paid. Tomorrow - or more likely at some point this week - the winner will be given a trophy and €372,500 whilst anyone who squeaks into the money will earn €3,600.

A short time ago Day 1 drew to a close after 15 forty-minute levels were completed. When the clock was paused and the last few hands declared 198 players were still in, allowing for a few last hand hail mary's going awry we can expect 190 or so players to come back tomorrow at 12.30 local time.

Leading the pack when time ticked down was Francisco Oliveira who'd amassed a gargantuan 504,000. That meant that barring any last minute doubles ups he finished well clear of Joao Baumgarten who had 395,000. The Brazilian led a chasing pack of big stacks that included: Fergal Cawley (360,000), Henning Wendlandt (355,000), Romain Paon (300,000) and Ondrej Goetz (270,000).

Team PokerStars Pro and Online was well represented today and it looks as if at least three of their number have advanced to Day 2.Chief amongst them is Johnny Lodden, the Norwegian has a penchant for running up big stacks and got his hands on another today as he was sitting behind a stack of around 265,000 when play wound down. He'll be joined tomorrow by Liv Boeree (128,000) and ElkY (120,000).

In a field as big as this there were, naturally, many notables and a number of them will return tomorrow to try and add another cash to their ledger. They include: Ryan Reiss (90,000), Benny Spindler (50,000), Craig McCorkell (230,000), Andrey Shatilov (110,000), Tom Hall (150,000), Adam Owen (215,000) and Shyam Srinivasan (90,000).

However, the likes of Robin Ylitalo, Dany Parlafes, Rasmus Agerskov, Luciana Manolea, Jean Montury, Sam Grafton and Martin Jacobson must turn their attention to other events tomorrow.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Haven't got a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now.

Chip leader Michael Egan

At one point yesterday this Super High Roller was all about the new guys. New players, bidding for elite status, walked up to the registration desk to enter the first big one of the year. But as things closed on day 2, it was not these cast of newbies who held fast at the top, but the same old players that usually grace this end of an event this size. Perhaps we shouldn't be that surprised.

See for yourself.

1. Dzmitry Urbanovich (Poland) 4,325,000
2. Steve O'Dwyer (Ireland) 2,450,000
3. Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) 4,765,000
4. JC Alvarado (Mexico) 2,485,000
5. Byron Kaverman (United States) 495,000
6. Sylvain Loosli (France) 1,200,000
7. Ivan Luca (Argentina) 2,580,000
8. Paul Newey (United Kingdom) 1,035,000
9. Michael Egan (Australia) 5,410,000

But that's not exactly true. There's an exception to the rule in the form of Michael Egan. The Australian not only guarantees his first cash outside of his native Australia tomorrow, but he leads going into the final eight. From down under to up and over, if he can go all the way tomorrow.

The others, well, their' names are synonymous with success. The likes of O'Dwyer, an EPT Grand Final winner, as well as a Super High Roller winner from Macau last year and the PCA back in January.

Then there's Vogelsang, who only ever seems to cash in the biggest of events, either on the EPT or in the Big One for One Drop (and who today seemed to play every hand). JC Alvarado came second in this same event in 2012, while Byron Kaverman is fresh off a bracelet and two high roller wins from Las Vegas this year. Ivan Luca also earned a bracelet this past summer, while Paul Newey can take pride in a second Super High Roller final. Oh, and did we mention Dzmitry Urbanovich? Last year's player of the year and winner of six titles so far this year?

But the shape of tomorrow was determined by the last two levels of the day, with a stream of eliminations.

As Viacheslav Buldygin's departure burst the bubble there followed a two hour spell that put life back into the event.

Igor Kurganov was the first player to cash, sent to the rail by Egan. O'Dwyer, complete with lucky shoes, was also busy. The shoes you ask. They're bright yellow things, handmade in Morocco and passed on to O'Dwyer by a Mrs Kanit of Italy, albeit via her son Mustapha. Regardless of their gaudiness, they're working. O'Dywer busted Stephen Chidwick in 14th and later Ben Tollerene in tenth.

Luca, the open shirted Argentinian, carried on in his usual fashion. Almost aloof in appearance, he carefully, but deliberately, demolished Max Altergott in 13th and then Fedor Holz in 11th, leaving Egan to dispatch Mike McDonald in between. For his part McDonald at least managed some ironic good humour in defeat.

This doesn't tell the whole story of the day. For that you'll need our hand for hand coverage, which you can find here. But the following might also help fill in the gaps.

There was the late night hyper turbo offering a last minute entry and which would welcome five more players into the ring, alongside the likes of this guy, as well as the the usual youngsters.

There were chips and there were chairs, and as long as you had both there was no risk of you standing out in the crowd, unless you wanted to.

That didn't include anyone cramming into Casino Barcelona for the Estrellas High Roller, and the Barcelona Cup which is beginning to take on a life of its own.

Back in the high roller we came up with some crucial advice on the Super High Roller best suited to babysit your kids, while normal service resumed at the top of the chip count page.

While that brings the day's action in the Super High Roller to its natural cliff hanger, recap on everything Estrellas on our live coverage page.

Onwards to tomorrow.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Haven't got a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now.

"I haven't even looked at the payouts, to be honest."

So said Austria's Jonn Forst to us following the conclusion of today's lengthy, hard fought Day 3 of the Estrellas Barcelona Poker Tour Main Event. Forst did well for himself on this day, playing some gutsy poker in order to move into the chip lead late, then increase it considerably during the night's final hands.

"I'll take a look in the morning," he continued, saying for now he's going to relax and enjoy the rest of the evening. Bagging a huge stack of 24.090 million -- nearly twice that of his nearest challenger with just eight players left -- should help him achieve that last goal for the night.

There were 98 players -- survivors from the record-breaking 3,292-player field -- returning for today. The young Polish player Jose Carlos Garcia was the center of attention early on as the start-of-day chip leader, and he continued to stay in the spotlight as he remained in first position as the field swiftly whittled down.

Scott Montgomery (81st, €4,950), Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari (80th, €4,950), Farid Chati (71st, €6,000), Liliya Novikova of Team PokerStars Pro Online (60th, €6,000), Hugo Pingray (57th, €6,000), Joao Barbosa

(56th, €6,000), Sebastien Sabic (42nd, €7,560) were among those going out relatively early today. Then as they settled into the evening Sam Chartier (35th, €9,550), Peter Traply (22nd, €16,500), Dermot Blain (21st, €16,500), and Jude Ainsworth (18th, €19,700) also were sent to the rail.

By the time they reached the final two tables, Mario Lopez of Argentina had spent a short period in the top spot, but Garcia would retake the lead as Maximillian Senft (16th, €22,900), Laurent Olive (15th, €26,100), Christopher Frank (14th, €26,100), and Padraig O'Neill (13th, €29,300) were knocked out. Just before the late dinner break, Ivan Ruban had his aces cracked to go out in 12th (€29,300), and with 11 players left Garcia was still in front.

Post-dinner things go interesting, however, with Garcia unsuccessfully trying to push first Simon Sennhauser, then Jonn Forst off hands with big all-in shoves. Both players looked up Garcia and showed winners, knocking Garcia back down to the bottom of the counts while moving upwards themselves.

Forst would be in first position through David Stocker's demise in 11th (€33,000) and Esa Karttunen's being cut down in 10th (€33,000), and he'd remain on top until Garcia finally knocked out Slav Sariyski in ninth (€39,600) to set up tomorrow's finale.

Here's how the counts will look when the first hand of tomorrow's final table will be dealt, with nearly a full level of 120,000/240,000/30,000 awaiting the players:

Seat 1: Mario Lopez (Argentina) - 14,410,000
Seat 2: Daniel Selles (Spain) - 3,120,000
Seat 3: Jose Carlos Garcia (Poland) - 8,855,000
Seat 4: Eduard Sanchez (Spain) - 7,420,000
Seat 5: Knut Nystedt (Norway) - 7,705,000
Seat 6: Simon Sennhauser (Switzerland) - 13,490,000
Seat 7: Kondah Abdelhadi (Morocco) - 2,895,000
Seat 8: Jonn Forst (Austria) - 24,090,000

Play resumes at 12:30 p.m. CET tomorrow, at which point we'll be back once more with start-to-finish coverage of the tournament's final day. We'll have profiles of the final eight for you in the morning, too, to prepare your following of the day's coverage.

For now, though, we'll follow Forst's lead and try to relax a bit. Back mañana to concern ourselves with all those riches awaiting tomorrow's deepest finishers, including the massive €491,000 up top.

Until then, buenos noches!

Level 23-26 updates
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Prize pool and payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

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In a little more than 13 days all eyes at PokerStars will be on becoming the next World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) bracelet winner. All 70 WCOOP events will be covered of course right here at the PokerStarsBlog as players vie for $45 million in guaranteed tournaments. Speaking of guarantees, the $400,000 Sunday Warm-Up held a small overlay after coming up short with 1,972 runners. Hhecklen would overcome Bagelakis23 heads-up to claim the win and $64,000.00.

Read on below for hhecklen's victory dance (and possible funding for the WCOOP High Roller tournament):

MicroMillions champ dev209 was searching to add a Sunday Major title with only two tables remaining. But, the two-time Sunday Warm-Up final tablist would not make it three collecting $1,600.00 in 18th place.

Fifteen minutes into the eighth hour Bagelakis23 would speed up play a bit taking out 88118811 and ihaterivers in a three-way all-in preflop with pocket jacks in 15th ($2,300.00) and 16th ($1,600.00) place respectively.

Nine minutes later antepia27 would pick up a key 2.5 million chip pot with the blinds at 25K/50K ante 5K. All with pocket tens [Tc][Ts] facing hhecklen's big slick [As][Kh] covering all bets and Raistj's [Ah][Qc]. The clean [5d] [Jc] [8d] [7h] [2d] board would send Raistj to the rail in 13th place ($2,300.00) and knock hhecklen down to 546K.

Evan "PURPLE"K"99" Parkes would stretch a shortstack as far as the elastic would go, finally bowing out in 11th place ($3,000.00) just ten minutes before the ninth hourly break.

On the final hand before the break, Foxxy13 was fresh off losing a big flip against Chancew and forced all-in in the small blind between a raising WhoAreYoux1 and Bagelakis23 in the big blind. Both players would check down to the river [Th] [2h] [Ac] [7h] [7s] as WhoAreYoux1 slid out a small bet and Bagelakis23 got out of the way of WhoAreYoux1's jacks [Jh][Jc]. Foxyy13's king-high [2d][Ks] would not be enough to continue as the Sunday Warm-Up final table commenced below:

Seat 1: Bagelakis23 (7149013 in chips)
Seat 2: hhecklen (3399493 in chips)
Seat 3: Grayson "gray31" Ramage (919490 in chips)
Seat 4: Contado (2081700 in chips)
Seat 5: chisna (789837 in chips)
Seat 6: antepia27 (1235232 in chips)
Seat 7: Chancew (1608018 in chips)
Seat 8: WhoAreYoux1 (1671785 in chips)
Seat 9: ImluckNuts (865432 in chips)

Ten minutes after the ninth hour break, Bagelakis23 would make a small button raise into a shortstacked gray31. However, WCOOP 2014 Challenge Series Main Event champ Grayson "gray31" Ramage had no thoughts of going quietly into the night. Ramage would shove 753K with pocket sevens [7d][7s] and racing against Bagelakis23's [9s][As]. With an ace and a nine on the [Ac] [2h] [5s] [9h] [3h] board, Grayson would settle for ninth place ($3,800.00).

Three hands later with the blinds up to 50K/100K ante 10K antepia27 would shove from the button holding pocket deuces [2s][2h] looking to pick off the blinds. WhoAreYoux1 looked down at pocket tens [Td][Tc], called, and watched the [3d] [3c] [Ks] [5h] [8s] board ship the 2.3 million chip pot. Antepia27 would chalk up a decent sized score, earning $6,800.00 in eighth place.

Another three hands later hhecklen would double up to 3.2 million after the bullying chip leader, Bagelakis23, chose the wrong time to open shove from the small blind. On the next hand, Chancew would lead with a min-raise as ImluckNuts shoved for 914K, and hhecklen's new-and-improved stack would also shove for 3.2 million. Chancew folded as hhecklen's [Ac][Kd] found enough clubs on the [2h] [8c] [2c] [9c] [Qc] board to overcome ImluckNuts' rivered pair [Qh][Ah] as ImluckNuts took away $10,000.00 in seventh place.

Barely past the first quarter hour, we lost yet another player. The blinds remained at 50K/100K ante 10K as Chancew needed some luck after running pocket tens into WhoAreYoux1's aces. Chancew would lead off for a 591K chip shove as Bagelakis23 and chisna both called. Both would check down the entire [8h] [4d] [Jd] [5h] [7s] board as only chisna's [Kh][Ac] would become visible (until tomorrow's replay with hole cards shown) knocking out Chancew in sixth place ($14,000.00).

Things would calm down a bit until back-to-back eliminations with twenty minutes left in the first hour of final table play woke up railbirds a bit. First, with the blinds moving up to 65K/130K ante 13K Bagelakis23 would defend the big blind from a 1.83 million chip shove by WhoAreYoux1 in the small blind. Bagelakis23's pocket nines [9c][9h] would trump WhoAreYoux1's [3d][Kc] on the [Js] [Ah] [4d] [4s] [5h] board sending $18,000.00 to WhoAreYoux1 in fifth place.

The next hand, Contado's shortstack would hit the middle after the flop [3c][Ac][9h] and continuation bet by chisna. But, the shove with pocket sevens [7c][7h] was not enough to dissuade chisna from calling with [4h][Ad]. No two-outer on the [Jd] turn nor [Qd] river as Contado took home $24,000.00 in fourth place. Not a big as Contado's SCOOP 2013 score, taking away $38K after chopping Event #32-M, but definitely will help with WCOOP 2015 on the horizon.

Several all-ins would pepper three-handed play but all three would safely make it to the ninth hourly break.

After the break was a different story.

The threesome would play for twenty minutes as the blinds moved up to 125K/250K ante 25K and chisna would three-bet all-in for 4.9 million. Bagelakis23 made the call holding [Ah][Th] and managed to side-step chisna's [Jh][Kc] on the double paired [8s] [4d] [4s] [Qs] [8d] board. Chisna would claim $36,000.00 in third place as Bagelakis23 would start heads-up play with a 14 million to 5.7 million chip lead.

That lead would not hold.

Hhecklen was not going down without a fight especially doubling up with pocket fives versus big slick ten minutes into the race for the $64K up top.

Nine hands later with the blinds up to 150K/300K ante 30K Bagelakis23 tried shoving a smaller stack over a min-raise by hhecklen. But, hhecklen backed up the play with a call holding [Jd][Ad], towering over the [8h][As] held by Bagelakis23. A lack of eights on the [5h] [Qh] [4s] [7h] [7s] board gave hhecklen a 15.4 million to 4.2 million chip advantage.

Another eight hands later they would settle the title over a preflop flip. Bagelakis23's [Ad][Jh] would not catch up to hhecklen's tens [Tc][Ts] on the seven-high board [5h] [7d] [7s] [2d] [2s] shipping $64,000.00 and this week's Sunday Warm-up title to hhecklen!

PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up results (08-23-2015)

Entrants: 1,972
Places Paid: 288
Prize Pool: $400,000.00

1. hhecklen (Denmark) $64,000.00
2. Bagelakis23 (Greece) $48,000.00
3. chisna (Russia) $36,000.00
4. Contado (Norway) $24,800.00
5. WhoAreYoux1 (Belgium) $18,000.00
6. Chancew (Mexico) $14,000.00
7. ImluckNuts (Russia) $10,000.00
8. antepia27 (United Kingdom) $6,800.00
9. Grayson "gray31" Ramage (Canada) $3,800.00

American poker exile Mike "StrungOut1" Wasserman, a self-declared "professional nit" by way of his Twitter bio, claimed the top prize in this week's Sunday Million after a four-way deal. Wasserman has earned over $3.4 million in multi-table tournaments on Stars and has multiple final table finishes in the Sunday 500 and the notoriously tough Super Tuesday, however, tonight marked his largest career online score. Wasserman contended with a tough final nine that included 2013 WCOOP champion JNandez87 and 2015 SCOOP winner TheDegenFund en route to the title.

Perhaps owing to the late summer weekend or the record-breaking festivities at the EPT Barcelona, for the first time in recent memory, the Sunday Million had a slight overlay. 4,962 players competed for a share of the $1 million prize pool. 720 places were paid out, with the champion set to earn $156,430.00.

With ten players remaining, the blinds were up to 100,000/200,000 and four were below the ten big-blind threshold. Handebraken picked up [Ks][Qh] and moved all-in for 1,689,325 from the cutoff and StrungOut1 called from the big blind with [Jd][Jc]. The [Ac][Jh][4s] flop gave StrungOut1 a set of jacks and Handebraken a gutshot straight draw, but it was all over when the [Js] turned, making StrungOut1 quad jacks. Handebraken hit the rail in tenth place, sending us to the final table.

Final table chip counts

Seat 1: JNandez87 (4,380,880 in chips)
Seat 2: StrungOut1 (8,558,369 in chips)
Seat 3: franco50 (11,011,545 in chips)
Seat 4: DMS75 (1,878,026 in chips)
Seat 5: $tupidann (1,353,224 in chips)
Seat 6: XR-1 (3,872,592 in chips)
Seat 7: TheDegenFund (8,380,728 in chips)
Seat 8: triinukene (8,986,882 in chips)
Seat 9: brenddis (1,197,754 in chips)

Brenddis arrived at the final table with the fewest chips and was the first player eliminated. Down to 1.1 million with 200,000 already committed in the big blind, brenddis called triinukene's small blind shove with [As][Ts]. Unfortunatey for brenddiss, triinukene had the goods with [Jd][Js] and flopped a set on the [Jh][8h][3d][Ah][Tc] board, ending brienddis's run in ninth place.

Moments later, with the blinds up to 125,000/250,000, JNandez87 led off the action with a min-raise to 500,000. StrungOut1 called and DMS75 three-bet shoved for 1.61 million. The action folded back around to JNandez87, who reshoved for 5.03 million and StrungOut1 called, having both players covered.

JNandez87 [Th][Tc]
DMS75 [9c][9s]
StrungOut1 [Ah][As]

StrungOut1's pocket aces held up on the [Kh][5s][2s][7s][4d] board and he raked in the massive 12.25 million chip pot. DMS75 finished in 8th place, while JNandez87 earned seventh-place cash.

Three hands later, $tupidann had 250,000 of his remaining 363,000 committed in the big blind. Triinukene opened for 525,000 and $tupidann called all-in with [Ac][3c]. Triinukene was behind with [Kd][Qd], but hit a boffo [Kh][Qs][5s] flop to make top two pair. $tupidann didn't catch up on the [5c] turn or the [Ts] river and departed in sixth place.

With the field down to five, XR-1 was, by far, the shortest stack remaining with only 1.34 million (5BB), while StrungOut1 was up to 21.6 million, thanks to that double KO. StrungOut1 opened for 502,555 and XR-1 moved in for 1.31 million with [Kd][Qs]. StrungOut1 called off the additional 813,000 with [Qd][5h], but XR-1 caught a king on the [Kc][Th][7c] flop. The [5c] turn paired StrungOut1 and the [Qh] gave both players two pair, but XR-1 had the upper hand with kings and queens and doubled to 3 million.

Five-handed play slogged on for another twenty minutes and the blinds were up to 200,000/400,000 when StrungOut1 made it 1,000,000 to go. Franco50 called from the small blind and XR-1 called from the big. The flop came down [Td][5h][2h] and both blinds checked to StrungOut1, who bet 1,543,240. Franco50 folded and XR-1 raised all-in for 2.54 million. StrungOut1 called, his [Ah][6c] well behind XR-1's pocket nines. The turn was the [4c], the river was the [8h], and XR-1 doubled again, this time to 8.28 million.

Five hands later, XR-1 did it again. TheDegenFund opened for 800,000, triinukene flat-called, franco50 called from the small blind and XR-1 shoved for 7.68 million from the big. TheDegenFund reshoved for 8.04 million and both triinukene and franco50 got out of the way.

TheDegenFund [Qd][Qc]
XR-1 [As][Ad]

TheDegenFund was on the wrong end of a cooler, and his pocket queens failed to improve on the [Jc][Td][8h][6d][2d] board. XR-1 doubled to 17.1 million and TheDegenFund was left with only 359,000. He was eliminated in fifth place on the next deal when his [9s][2d] fell to franco50's [Ah][2s].

During four-handed play, the table agreed to pause the action and discuss a potential deal. Here's how they stacked up at the time:

StrungOut1 - 25,709,938
XR-1 - 11,884,411
franco50 - 6,456,735
triinukene - 5,568,916

While the shorter stacks were happy to accept an ICM deal, chip leader StrungOut1 was looking for a larger payout, somewhere in between the chip count chop and ICM numbers. XR-1 and franco50 relinquished $2,321 and $3,661 respectively from their shares, appeasing StrungOut1 enough to close the deal. With $20,000 still in play for the winner, action resumed.

Four hands after cards went back in the air, XR-1 open-shoved for 15.46 million from the small blind and triinukene called all-in for 4.42 million from the big. Triinukene's [Qh][Ts] did not improve vs. XR-1's [Ks][8s] and triinukene went out in fourth place, earning $83,064.37 thanks to the deal.

Five more hands passed before StrungOut1 opened for 1,206,555 on the button and franco50 shoved from the small blind. StrungOut1 called, his [Kd][4h] leading franco50's [Qd][3c]. StrungOut1 flopped a pair of fours on the [As][9s][4c][6h][Js] board and franco50 hit the rail in third place, $83,000.00 richer.

Heads-up chip counts

Seat 2: StrungOut1 (29,428,252 in chips)
Seat 6: XR-1 (20,191,748 in chips)

"GL you two," declared final table host Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome, reminding them of the extra $20,000 on the line. "A big sit and go now!"

Despite the significant chunk of change still at stake, it only took 13 hands for this heads-up match to finish. XR-1 took down several small pots to start and nearly evened the chip counts, before StrungOut1 fired three times at a [9s][3h][2d][3s][Qh] board and got a fold on the river, claiming an 11 million-chip pot. StrungOut1 moved up to 31.3 million while XR-1 slipped to 18.35 million.

Three hands later, XR-1 opened for a min-raise to 1.6 million and StringOut1 three-bet to 3.87 million. XR- called and they both checked the [Ad][Jh][Ts] flop. The turn came the [Qd] and both checked again, but when the [4s] rivered, StrungOut1 bet 2,171,227. XR-1 looked him up, but mucked in the face of his [Jc][4d] for two pair. StrungOut1 climbled to 37.3 million, while XR-1 was left with 12.2 million.

Four more hands passed before XR-1 limped in on the button and StrungOut1 raised to 2.4 million. XR-1 shoved and StrungOut1 called. XR-1 had the preflop advantage with [Ac][9c] against [Ks][Th], but StrungOut1 caught a king on the flop to take the lead. The board finished out [Kc][Qd][4d][2d][5d] and StrungOut1 at last had every chip in front of him.

Congratulations to Mike "StrungOut1" Wasserman on joining the ranks of Sunday Million champions! He banked $145,865.63 for the win, while runner-up XR-1 earned an even $100,000.00.

PokerStars Sunday Million results for 8-23-2015

Players: 4,962
Prizepool: $1,000,000.00
Places paid: 720

1. Mike "StrungOut1" Wasserman (Mexico) $145,865.63*
2. XR-1 (United Kingdom) $100,000.00*
3. franco50 (United Kingdom) $83,000.00*
4. triinukene (Estonia) $83,064.37*
5. TheDegenFund (Mexico) $42,500.00
6. $tupidann (Netherlands) $32,500.00
7. JNandez87 (Switzerland) $22,500.00
8. DMS75 (Russia) $12,500.00
9. brenddis (Lithuania) $8,000.00

*= reflects the results of a four-way deal that left $20,000 in play for the winner

When you look into the weary eyes of the waiting staff at the hotel breakfast buffet, or the security guards directing patrons through the labyrinth of the casino, this next sentence sounds especially ridiculous: Today is the start of EPT12 Barcelona!

I think we all know by know that festivals on the European Poker Tour stretch far wider than only one major tournament. The EPT festival, encompassing the largest Estrellas Poker Tour event ever seen, plus various other record-breaking add ons, has been running for more than a week. Folk in these parts are already deep into a furrow of late nights and early mornings and people walking in the out and out the in.

But when players and observers talk about "winning an EPT" or an "EPT champion" their shorthand is referring actually to the EPT Main Event, the showpiece tournament of the festival. It is that specific event that begins today, at 12 noon, in Casino Barcelona. It will be eyes down in search of a 106th EPT champ.

To refresh your memory, the German online cash-game player Andre Lettau won here in Barcelona 12 months ago, beating a field of 1,496 to pick up a €794,058 pay-day. That cheque was deal-adjusted; Samuel Phillips became the millionaire when they chopped it three-ways (with Hossein Ensan). Phillips won €1,021,275, but lost to Lettau heads-up.

More recently, Spain crowned its first EPT champion when Adrian Matteos (pictured left) clinched victory at the season-ending stop in Monaco in May. We all took some time off over the summer, before returning for action to start again this week.

Of course, there will be a lot of chatter in the room over the coming couple of days as to whether the record for attendees can be broken once more. Last year's tally was the biggest EPT Main Event in the tour's 11 seasons, and it seems madness to expect it to be beaten again.

But with crazy numbers attending all tournaments across the festival this week, it is far from impossible that the total is toppled again.

Expect all your favourite poker stars to take their seat over the coming couple of days. There are, as normal, two opening flights: Day 1A today and Day 1B tomorrow. Entry costs €5,000+€300, players begin with 30,000 in tournament chips and the plan is to play eight 75-minute levels, with a dinner break after level six (approximately 8.10pm).

It should all be done and dusted by about midnight, before we rinse and repeat tomorrow.

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. We also have the final of the Super High Roller, which will be on the Super High Roller page.

The Estrellas Main Event also plays its final table. Action from that is on the side events page.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.

From a huge, record-smashing turnout of 3,292 players, just eight players remain in the Estrellas Barcelona Main Event, with the final table set to play out this afternoon and evening. The huge field for this €1,000 + €100 tournament added up to a €3,193,240 prize pool, and almost €1.39 million of that is still up for grabs to be divided among the final eight.

With play set to start in about an hour, let's get to know a little more about each of today's final tablists:

Seat 1: Mario Lopez (Argentina) -- 14,410,000

A 38-year-old doctor and businessman, Lopez began playing poker over a decade ago and has met with a great deal of success, accumulating numerous tournament cashes including many on the Latin American Poker Tour where he's been a regular player since nearly the beginning of the LAPT's eight seasons. Indeed, with today's cash the Argentinian crosses the $1 million mark in career tourney earnings.

In March 2014, Lopez became an LAPT Main Event champion, winning LAPT7 Chile for nearly $118K after a final table deal. Then this past summer he picked up his biggest cash ever in the $1,111 Little One for One Drop event at the World Series of Poker, finishing runner-up out of 4,555 entries for just under $400K.

Seat 2: Daniel Selles (Spain) -- 3,120,000

One of two Spaniards at today's final table, 32-year-old Daniel Selles has just a few small cashes on his poker tournament résumé to this point, with a win in a $1K event at the WPT Doyle Brunson Five Diamond World Poker Classic in Las Vegas in 2013 earning him his biggest cash by far of $31,494.

Seat 3: Jose Carlos Garcia (Poland) -- 8,855,000

Despite being only 22, Jose Carlos Garcia has already gathered plenty of experience playing at final tables in which big cash prizes are on the line.

As "TryToExploit" on PokerStars, Garcia has accumulated significant earnings in tournaments including a Sunday Million win in March 2014 worth more than $230K. We've seen the young player from Stalowa Wola at big final tables on the EPT this year as well, as he finished fourth in the LAPT Bahamas Main Event at the PCA in January (winning nearly $120K) and fifth at the FPS Monaco Main Event at the EPT Grand Final in May (winning just under $300K).

Seat 4: Eduard Sanchez (Spain) -- 7,420,000

Like both Lopez and Forst, the 25-year-old "Edu" Sanchez earned his way into this event by qualifying online at PokerStars. He has just one small tournament cash previously for a third-place showing in a €150 event here at Casino Barcelona a year-and-a-half ago, so today will mark his biggest score by far, regardless of his finish.

Seat 5: Knut Nystedt (Norway) -- 7,705,000

Norwegian Knut Nystedt has a few previous cashes to his credit from the Norwegian Championships, a tournament series many are surprised to find has been held in England, Latvia, and Ireland. It was in Dublin that Nystedt earned his biggest career cash of €6,425, which means he's joining other players at this final table enjoying a career-high score today.

Seat 6: Simon Sennhauser (Switzerland) -- 13,490,000

Simon Sennhauser has earned three dozen cashes in Las Vegas tournaments over the last three years, the largest coming for a second-place finish in a $1,600 Deepstack Extravaganza event at the Venetian, good for a $74,431 score.

Seat 7: Kondah Abdelhadi (Morocco) -- 2,895,000

Longtime player Kondah Abdelhadi has nearly 100 tournament cashes to his credit, the majority of which he's earned in Marrakech in his native Morocco, with total lifetime earnings exceeding $440,000.

Seat 8: Jonn Forst (Austria) - 24,090,000

The 31-year-old chip leader Jonn Forst of Vienna grabbed the lead away from Garcia late yesterday with 10 players left, calling a huge bluff and then adding still further to his stack to start today's final table with nearly a third of the chips in play.

Forst final tabled the Eureka 5 Main Event in Hamburg back in May, finishing fifth for a career-best €22,940 that he'll be exceeding today no matter where he finishes.

When the final eight return today, here is what they'll be playing for:

1st: €491,000
2nd: €256,500
3rd: €168,000
4th: €139,500
5th: €116,540
6th: €93,600
7th: €71,400
8th: €52,100

Play begins at 12:30 p.m. Central European Time -- that's six hours ahead of Eastern time, and two hours in front of GMT. We'll have live updates throughout the final table, so stick close to see who among this group sticks around for those huge payouts up top, and which one emerges with the coveted ESPT Barcelona Main Event trophy and €491,000 first prize.

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

Haven't gotten a PokerStars account yet? Join the world's biggest site now.

7:07 p.m.: Mario Lopez wins ESPT Barcelona (€408,000); Jonn Forst runner-up (€338,000)

Mario Lopez opened from the button with a min-raise to 1,600,000, and Jonn Forst didn't hesitate long before announcing he was all in. Lopez didn't even wait for a count of Forst's stack -- about 16 million -- before declaring his call.

Lopez: [As][Qc]
Forst: [Ad][6h]

Both players stood and the crowd on the rail noisily noted each postflop street, with the [8d][4d][Th] flop and [7h] turn providing some intrigue in the form of an open-ended straight draw for Forst.

Then came the river -- the [Ts]! Lopez stood on his chair in triumph as his rail cheered. To his LAPT7 Chile win Lopez now adds an Estrellas Barcelona Main Event title!

Thanks to the heads-up deal, Lopez earns €408,000 for the win and Forst a handsome €338,000 for taking second. Stay tuned for a full recap of this exciting final day of poker.

6:59 p.m.: Lopez chips up further

A series of small pots has seen Lopez increase his lead further over Jonn Forst. He has about 66 million right now while Forst is down around 16 million.

6:48 p.m.: All in and call

In a limped pot, the flop came all aces -- [Ac][Ah][As] -- and Jonn Forst check-called a bet of 800,000 from Mario Lopez. Forst check-called again after the [2s] turn, the bet being 3.6 million this time.

The river was the [2d], putting a full house on the board. Forst checked, and Lopez hesitated a short while before announcing he was all in. Forst called immediately, then both showed they were playing the board, Lopez with [Jd][3s] and Forst with [9c][7d].

6:41 p.m.: Lopez opens lead

Jonn Forst opened for 1.8 million from the button, Mario Lopez reraised to 5.8 million, and Forst called. The flop came [Qd][7c][2d], and Lopez led for 4.3 million. Forst called. The turn was the [6h], and Lopez fired again for 6.8 million. Forst called once more.

Both then checked the [6c] river. Lopez turned over [Jh][2h] for sixes and deuces, and Forst shook his head as he mucked before saying "good hand."

Lopez pushes up around 59 million with that one, while Forst slips back to about 24 million.

6:29 p.m.: Small one for Lopez

Jonn Forst raised to 1.8 million from the button, Mario Lopez called and then checked after the [Jh][4h][3d] flop. Forst continued for 1.5 million and Lopez called again. Both then checked down the [7s] turn and [7d] river. Lopez showed [Qs][4d] and Forst mucked.

6:25 p.m.: First ones to Forst

A couple of raises and one three-bet gave Jonn Forst the first three small pots of heads-up play without any flops.

6:18 p.m.: Heads-up begins

Jonn Forst and Mario Lopez are back in their seats and the first hand of heads-up is being dealt.

6:05 p.m.: Deal time

Indeed, with that knockout of Knut Nystedt, Jonn Forst has exactly 41.1 million chips and Mario Lopez 40.9 million -- as close as they could be without being even, since the black 100,000 chip is the lowest in play.

Deal discussion ensued with some initial back-and-forthing before both agreed to an even chop. Each player is now guaranteed €338,000, and they will play for the other €70,000 and the ESPT Barcelona Main Event trophy.

They're taking an additional break now before starting back. Stick close to see who wins!

5:49 p.m.: Knut Nystedt eliminated in 3rd place (€168,000)

On the very first hand of the level, Knut Nystedt opened with a raise to 1.6 million from the button, then Jonn Forst made it 4 million to go from the small blind. Mario Lopez quickly pitched his cards away, and Nystedt didn't waste much time before announcing he was all in. Forst swiftly called.

Both stood to table their cards -- [Ad][Tc] for Nystedt and [As][7c] for Forst -- and each watched intently as the [9h][Qd][2d] flop and [2s] turn kept Nystedt in front.

Then came the river... the [7h]! Forst let out a short yell as Nystedt shook his head disappointedly, then Forst offered condolences to Nystedt before the Norwegian departed.

It looks like with that pot Forst just barely passes Lopez to take the chip lead into heads-up play.

There will be a pause before play commences. Back in a few.

5:46 p.m.: Level 37 begins

They're back at it, with the blinds now up to 400,000/800,000 with a 100,000 ante.

Recall how the starting stack was just 25,000 in this one? The green 25,000 chips have now been removed as no longer necessary.

5:38 p.m.: Updated chip counts; 3 remain

Mario Lopez - 41,800,000
Jonn Forst - 26,000,000
Knut Nystedt - 14,200,000

5:32 p.m.: Break time

Play having reached the end of Level 36, the three players are taking another 15-minute break.

5:31 p.m.: Lopez says no to Nystedt shove

Mario Lopez raised to 1.2 million from the button and both of his opponents called from the blinds. All three checked the [Qh][Th][8s] flop. The turn was the [9h] and Knut Nystedt led for 1.8 million from the small blind. Jonn Forst folded, and Lopez called.

The river was the [Kd], and Nystedt pushed all in for about 7.5 million. Lopez thought for a while, then finally shaking his head back and forth he relinquished his cards.

5:19 p.m.: Forst takes a few

Mario Lopez limped in from the button, then Knut Nystedt raised to 2.2 million from the small blind. Jonn Forst called the raise from the big blind, then Lopez repopped it to 4.8 million, prompting a quick fold from Nystedt.

Forst paused, then announced he was all in. Lopez waited for a full count of the amount of Forst's raise to be completed -- 19.5 million -- then folded.

Mario Lopez - 48.5 million
Jonn Forst - 25 million
Knut Nystedt - 8 million

5:04 p.m.: River raise works for Lopez

After Jonn Forst limped in from the small blind, Mario Lopez raised to 1.2 million from the big blind and Forst called. Both checked the [Qs][Qh][9s] flop, and Forst again checked the [Ad] turn. Lopez bet 1 million, and Forst called.

The river was the [Ah], putting a second pair on board. Forst led with a bet of 3 million, then Lopez set out two stacks of chips representing a raise to 12 million. After about a half-minute, Forst folded.

4:46 p.m.: Forst gaining

The action has slowed down, with more limped pots and cautious play.

Just now a hand arose with Jonn Forst limped in from the small blind, Mario Lopez raised to 1.8 million from the big blind, and Forst called. The flop came [Qd][6c][4h]. Forst checked, Lopez bet 1.5 million, and Forst called. Both then checked the [Kc] turn.

The river was the [3c], and this time Forst led with a bet of 3 million which Lopez called fairly quickly. "King," said Forst, turning over [Kd][9h] for top pair, and after a recheck of his cards Lopez sent his hand into the muck.

Lopez is at just under 40 million now, Forst up to about 29.5 million, and Nystedt has about 11.5 million.

4:31 p.m.: Level 36 begins

Blinds are now 300,000/600,000 with an 75,000 ante.

4:23 p.m: Forst takes from Nystedt

In a three-way limped pot, the flop came [3d][9s][Ad]. Jonn Forst led for 500,000 and only Knut Nystedt stuck around. The turn ws the [Th]. This time Forst bet 1 million, and Nystedt called once more.

The river was the [Jc]. Forst fired a third bet of 4 million, and after thinking a bit Nystedt called one more time. Forst showed [8s][7c] for a straight, and Nystedt mucked.

Forst is up over 20 million now while Nystedt is down around 5 million.

4:11 p.m.: Forst forces issue, Lopez lets it go

Soon after play resumed, a hand arose that saw Jonn Forst open for 900,000 from the small blind, then Mario Lopez make it 2.6 million to go from the big blind. After pausing a few beats, Forst announced he was four-betting all in for roughly 19 million, and without dwelling on it too long, Lopez let his hand go.

4:08 p.m.: Second deal attempt scuttled

They played a single hand, stopped to discuss a deal once more, and once again decided just to play on.

3:57 p.m.: No deal as yet

The final three players just finished discussing the possibility of a deal to narrow those huge pay jumps scheduled at the end. Without a deal, the third-place finisher would earn €168,000, second would get €256,500, and first a huge €491,000.

Here are the counts at present:

Mario Lopez - 51,000,000
Jonn Forst - 19,375,000
Knut Nystedt - 11,825,000

After a few minutes of talk and running some numbers, the trio decided to continue forward, so there's no deal for now. Play has resumed.

3:40 p.m.: Jose Carlos Garcia eliminated in 4th (€139,500)

Jose Carlos Garcia open-raised all in for his last 2.15 million from the button and both Knut Nystedt (small blind) and Jonn Forst (big blind) called. Those two then checked down the board as it came [Tc][9s][7s], then [9d], then [8h].

Nystedt showed a pair of fives, but Forst's [Ah][Td] gave him a better pair. Garcia had [Qc][2c], and he finishes in fourth -- another strong showing for him at an EPT event.

It looks like there will be a short pause as the final three players count chips and initiate some deal talk. More in a moment.

3:27 p.m.: Lopez trips up Nystedt

After a spate of slow action at the start of Level 35, a hand arose that saw Mario Lopez raise from the button, Knut Nystedt three-bet to 2.7 million from the big blind, and Lopez call.

The flop came [6d][5h][Tc], and Nystedt led out for 2.8 million, earning a call from Lopez. Nystedt then checked the board-pairing [Ts] turn, and with some deliberation Lopez pushed out 4.3 million. Nystedt called.

The river was the [3c]. Nystedt checked again, and again Lopez bet -- 6.9 million this time. Nystedt thought a few beats, then finally set out the calling chips.

Lopez tabled his [Td][9d] for trips, and Nystedt tossed his hand into the muck.

Every pot is big now, both in terms of the chips in play and the money on the line. Lopez leads now with about 45 million while Nystedt drops back to around 15 million.

3:06 p.m.: Level 35 begins

A new level has begun, with the blinds now 200,000/400,000 with a 50,000 ante.

3:03 p.m.: Updated chip counts; 4 remain

The dark orange 500,000 chips have been put in play. Here are the updated counts at the break:

Knut Nystedt - 32,475,000
Mario Lopez - 29,000,000
Jonn Forst - 16,050,000
Jose Carlos Garcia - 4,450,000

2:48 p.m.: Break time

The final four players are now taking a 15-minute break.

2:47 p.m.: Big call from Lopez picks off Garcia bluff

Mario Lopez opened the small blind with a raise to 750,000, and Jose Carlos Garcia called from the big blind. The flop came [9d][5h][Jc]. Lopez checked, Garcia bet 600,000, and after some thought Lopez called. The turn was the [5d]. Lopez checked again, Garcia fired 1,400,000 this time, and again after a pause Lopez called.

The river was the [3c]. Lopez checked a third time, and without much delay Garcia announced he was all in -- a huge overbet, as Lopez had about 11.7 million behind.

Lopez tanked for the final five minutes of the level and then some before finally emerging with a call. Garcia showed him [7s][4c] -- as we'd seen him do yesterday, Garcia had made a big river bluff -- and Lopez showed [Qd][9s] for nines and fives, and that he'd made a brave call.

Garcia is now down under 5 million while Lopez grabs the lead with close to 30 million.

2:29 p.m.: Eduard Sanchez eliminated in 5th place (€116,540)

Daniel Sanchez open-raised all in from under the gun with his last 2.725 million, and Knut Nystedt called from the next seat. The table folded, and Sanchez showed [Ad][8h], having the preflop edge over Nystedt's [Ah][7d].

Alas for the Spaniard, the flop came [9s][Th][7c] to pair Nystedt, although Sanchez still had outs to pair his eight or hit a straight. The turn was the [Qh] and river the [As], however, and Sanchez is out.

Nystedt adds to his leading stack, and appears to have about 30 million at present with 15 minutes to go in the level.

2:17 p.m.: Kondah Abdelhadi eliminated in 6th place (€93,600)

Knut Nystedt opened for 600,000 from middle position, and Kondah Abdelhadi reraise-pushed from a seat over for about 2.7 million. It folded back to Nystedt who called.

Nystedt: [2s][2h]
Abdelhadi: [Td][Tc]

Abdelhadi was well in front, and the [3h][Ac][Th] gave him a set to make his lead even greater. But the [4s] fell on the turn, then the [5c] landed on fifth street to make a wheel for Nystedt and end Abdelhadi's run in sixth place.

2:08 p.m.: Lopez cracks Garcia's aces, earns huge double

Mario Lopez opened with a raise, and Jose Carlos Garcia three-bet behind him. It folded back to Lopez who reraised all in for 8.13 million total, and Garcia called right away.

Lopez turned over [8h][8c], but he'd run into Garcia's [As][Ah], and after the [7c][6h][Qs] flop things looked dire for the Argentinian. But the [8d] fell on fourth street to put Lopez in front, and after the [Kc] river he'd survived.

Lopez is up around 16.5 million now, while Garcia still has a healthy 20 million or so.

2:01 p.m.: Simon Sennhauser Eliminated in 7th place

Mario Lopez opened with a raise to 600,000 from the hijack seat, then Jose Carlos Garcia three-bet to 1.525 million from the cutoff. It folded to Simon Sennhauser in the big blind who announced he was all in, and after a count of his chips it was shown his shove was for 4.025 million.

Lopez folded, then after just a few seconds Garcia called, tabling [As][Jd]. Sennhauser showed [Ks][Kh], and stood to watch the dealer spread the flop.

Sennhauser winced a little at the sight of the first three cards -- [Ad][7c][5d] -- which put Garcia in front. The turn was the [8s] and river the [6s], and just as happened to start the day, kings had failed Sennhauser again.

Others consoled-slash-congratulated him, and he moved to the cashier's desk to collect seventh-place winnings. Garcia now has about 27 million.

1:50 p.m.: Abdelhadi doubles through Forst

It folded around to Kondah Abdelhadi in the small blind who open-raised all in for his last 1.915 million, and after thinking a short while Jonn Forst called from a seat over.

Abdelhadi had [Ah][Ts] and Forst [Kh][8d], and Abdelhadi's supporters began calling from an ace from the rail. They got their request with the [Js][As][4s] flop, and after the [5h] turn and [5s] river Abdelhadi had improved further to a flush to win the pot and keep his seat.

Abdelhadi has about 4.2 million now while Forst sits with 13.8 million.

1:43 p.m.: Level 34 begins

The blinds are now 150,000/300,000 with a 40,000 ante.

1:40 p.m.: Garcia takes from Lopez

With the board showing [7c][Qd][2d][2h][4h] and about 3.2 million in the middle, Mario Lopez bets 1.625 million, then Jose Carlos Garcia raises to 6 million, sending Lopez into several minutes' worth of deep thought. Finally Jonn Forst asked for the clock, and after nearly a minute more Lopez let his hand go.

Garcia is up to about 21 million and is now challenging Knut Nystedt for the lead, while Lopez sits with about 11 million.

1:24 p.m.: Nystedt leads

Jonn Forst raised to 480,000 from early position, Eduard Sanchez called from the cutoff, then Knut Nystedt raised to 1.3 million from the button. Forst called and Sanchez folded, and the two remaining players watched the flop come [6s][6h][2s].

Forst checked, then called after Nystedt bet 1.4 million. The turn brought the [5h] and another check from Forst, Nystedt bet 1.9 million this time, and Forst called again.

The river was the [Td]. Forst checked once more, and when Nystedt fired again -- for 2.9 million this time -- Forst folded.

Forst has about 18.5 million now, while Nystedt is the chip leader with around 22 million.

1:11 p.m.: Garcia on the rise

Jose Carlos Garcia just picked up another nice-sized pot that began as a three-way affair between himself, Mario Lopez, and Knut Nystedt. Fourth street gave Garcia what turned out to be the nut flush, and on the river he was able to get some value from Nystedt.

Garcia is now up close to 16 million.

12:49 p.m.: Daniel Selles Eliminated in 8th place (€52,100)

Huge action on just the second hand of play here at the ESPT Barcelona Main Event. After Jonn Forst opened with a minimum raise to 480,000 from middle position, it folded to Daniel Selles in the cutoff who reraised all in for about 3 million. Then Knut Kystedt reraise-shoved his stack of about 8 million from the button.

The action moved to Simon Sennhauser in the small blind, and he reraised all in over the top of everyone, and the big blind and Forst both stepped aside.

Selles: [Ah][Kd]
Kystedt: [Ac][Ad]
Sennhauser: [Kd][Kh]

Big, big hand all around, and after the board came an uneventful [2c][Jd][4d][9c][2h], Selles was eliminated in eighth, Sennhauser knocked back to about 5 million, and Nystedt now up around 18 million in second position behind Forst.

12:47 p.m.: Shuffle up and deal

The announcements have completed and the first hand of the ESPT Barcelona Main Event is being dealt. Blinds are 120,000/240,000 with a 30,000 to start, with nearly the entire one-hour level still left to play.

12:26 p.m.: Almost there

The players are still arriving and preparations are being made to take some photos before the ESPT Barcelona Main Event final table gets started. Jonn Forst will start with a big chip lead to begin, with nearly twice the stack of closest challengers Mario Lopez and Simon Sennhauser.

Seat 1: Mario Lopez (Argentina) - 14,410,000
Seat 2: Daniel Selles (Spain) - 3,120,000
Seat 3: Jose Carlos Garcia (Poland) - 8,855,000
Seat 4: Eduard Sanchez (Spain) - 7,420,000
Seat 5: Knut Nystedt (Norway) - 7,705,000
Seat 6: Simon Sennhauser (Switzerland) - 13,490,000
Seat 7: Kondah Abdelhadi (Morocco) - 2,895,000
Seat 8: Jonn Forst (Austria) - 24,090,000

And here's a reminder of what they are playing for...

1st: €491,000
2nd: €256,500
3rd: €168,000
4th: €139,500
5th: €116,540
6th: €93,600
7th: €71,400
8th: €52,100

Key ESPT Barcelona Main Event Facts:
- 3,292 players entered the event (a record), with the total prize pool €3,193,240
- Click here for profiles of the final eight players
- Click here for ESPT Barcelona prize pool and payouts

To get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts from EPT12 Barcelona, don't forget to download the EPT App on both Android or IOS.

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So the most likely result occurred, the player with the shortest stack of the nine who returned to play the third and final day of the €50,000 Super High Roller ended up bubbling the final table. Where's the story you might well ask and the story is that it took 80 minutes to go from nine to eight during which time a heck of a lot happened. If we just focus on Byron Kaverman - who returned as the short stack with just eight big blinds - he doubled up once, shoved and played his way out of short stack territory, doubled up Ivan Luca, trebled up his micro stack and then busted in ninth.

This then is how the final eight stack up as the final table gets under way, with Dzmitry Urbanovich (who!) starting as chip leader:

1. Dzmitry Urbanovich (Poland) 6,430,000
2. Steve O'Dwyer (Ireland) 1,935,000
3. Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) 4,475,000
4. JC Alvarado (Mexico) 3,520,000
5. Sylvain Loosli (France) 740,000
6. Ivan Luca (Argentina) 2,770,000
7. Paul Newey (United Kingdom) 675,000
8. Michael Egan (Australia) 4,760,000

Here though is how we reached that point. Whilst it ultimately took 80 minutes to set the final table it could've been over on just the second hand of play when Kaverman was all-in and at risk with [Kc][4c] against JC Alvarado's [Ah][3d]. The American flopped a flush though and that double was the first of many big pots.

Alvarado, for instance, was all-in just a few hands later this time in a pot against Ivan Luca. The Mexican raised to 140,000 from the cut-off and Luca defended the big blind. The board ran [2c][8h][jc][2h][Kh] with Alvarado betting 240,000, 425,000 and all-in for 1,205,000 on the flop, turn and river respectively. Luca tanked for some considerable time before folding to drop to 1,800,000 with the blinds at 30,000/60,000 ante 10,000.

He wasn't most at risk at this point though as Loosli (1,000,000), Newey (1,050,000) and Kaverman (800,000) were the three shortest stacks. They, and everyone else, then took a back seat to the Christoph Vogelsang and Dzmitry Urbanovich show as they played two significant pots together. It was honours (almost) even though as although both pots were large - both were above 2,000,000 chips in total - they won one each with Urbanovich profiting by about 400,000 after all was said and done. The Pole also took a few chips from Luca to manoeuvre himself towards the chip lead.

By this point the blinds had ticked up to 40,000/80,000 ante 10,000 and whilst we'd seen plenty of creative top notch play in the first 60 minutes it was a good old fashioned cooler that got the wheels in motion once more. Kaverman open jammed for about 1,200,000 with pocket nines and Luca, who had slipped to 1,075,000, called with pocket kings and held.

Left on fumes Kaverman more than tripled up on the next hand and then moved all-in for 420,000 on the next hand with [Js][Tc]. It folded to Michael Egan in the small blind and he called the bet only for Urbanovich to raise it up to 975,000 from the big blind with [As][3d]. Egan had a bit of a think before folding and the cards were exposed. A [9d][3c][Kh][6h][Ah] board didn't improve Kaverman and he exited in ninth earning €123,600. Below's a reminder of what the eight finalists are playing for:

1st. €1,224,000
2nd. €841,500
3rd. €551,485
4th. €446,800
5th. €358,900
6th. €280,500
7th. €221,000
8th. €168,700

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. and the Estrellas Main Event also plays its final table. Action from that is on the side events page.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.

We want you to be in the best possible condition when you arrive to play an EPT Main Event. Mentally alert, physically prepared, and eager to give maximum focus and concentration to the task at hand. After all, to some players, this might well be the biggest event they've ever played. You have to be on your game.

Which makes it ironic really, because we throw these lavish welcome parties on the night before you need to be in shape. Funny how things work.

Hats optional

But it's not a test. We're not actually trying to check your restraint in the face of overwhelming free drinks, as those who arrived at Danzatoria last night will verify. Instead it's a great chance to meet, and chat, with fellow players, whether they're qualifiers, professionals, or some of the Team Pros on hand to see in the new season.

Admittedly they each have their own way of doing this. For Leo Margets and Fatima Moreira de Melo, it usually looks something like this.

Whereas Jan Heitmann prefers to make a different kind of expression. For as well as being a poker player, piano player and a public speaker (not to mention a husband and father), he's also an accomplished magician. Or a witch, depending on how close you get to one of this performances.

Is this your card?

Theo Jorgensen leans towards the latter, having been left dumbfounded by one trick, almost to the point of seeking some sort of revenge. Had Heitmann tried this 200 years ago the results might have been a little more toasty, shall we say. But last night, in this enlightened age, it just left everyone open-mouthed, and in convenient need of refreshment.

Theo jorgensen comes to terms with Jan Heitmann

Luckily that was on hand into the early hours. The brave, and by that we mean those with an appointment in the Main Event on Day 1A, stayed to the very end along with those with no urgent need to get up the following morning. While the cautious, not tempted by one last Mojito, turned in early.

This is all normal for a PokerStars party, which are open to any EPT player and their guests. If you think you might like to take the test - I mean enjoy a night of music, free drinks and good company - then you could join us at our next event in Malta. Check out the PokerStars lobby for details, with satellites to suit every bankroll. And if you don't already have a PokerStars account, you can set one up in no time here.

Now the action turns back to poker, and scoring some aspirin.

The new season of the European Poker Tour is now upon us. We know this for certain because Edgar Stuchly, President of the EPT, recently picked up a microphone and stood in front of the early arrivals to the tournament room and welcomed us all officially in customary style.

It never feels quite right until this moment, but once the lights have been dimmed, the opening video has been played and Stuchly has spoken to the room, we can all sit back in our seats and get on with things.

Today's introductory video, cut over the summer by the wizards in the EPT edit suite, was slightly different to most others we will see throughout the season. Barcelona, of course, has hosted an EPT event every season for 12 years and that meant that there was a lot of Barcelona-specific content to draw from. On most occasions, the video takes us on a hop around the continent. Here we barely strayed more than 50 yards.

PokerStars Blog has also been at this event every year, and we have a similar highlights reel of coverage from Casino Barcelona. Indeed, we've been able in recent weeks to go through 25 of the alphabet's 26 letters in an A-Z Guide To Barcelona. (If only Kevin X would come to the EPT.)

The cast of today's video included the likes of Carter Phillips (winner in Season 6); Hossein Ensan (third last year); Jamilla von Perger (23rd in Season 10); and two Finns in spangly hats. We also heard the now-legendary chants of "Martin! Martin! Martin!" (which were, more hilariously, preceded by "It is enough!") as Ole Schemion was among others bellowing his countryman Martin Schleich to victory in Season 8.

You won't have seen the video unless you were in the tournament room in Barcelona (there's another chance tomorrow at noon), but you will get a chance when EPT Live begins its broadcast on Day 2. It will open the show.

Before that, you certainly can look back on all the coverage we have offered over the years. Here's where you can find the stories behind the images. Take your pick of tournament reports from down the years:

Season 1: Contemporary reporting of Alexander Stevic's victory in the first ever European Poker Tour event now lingers only beyond even Google's reach. PokerStars Blog used to be on Blogger back then, and looked very different indeed. However, the Swedish player discussed those heady days fairly recently, and there's also a way to see it in its full glory. It's on that new-fangled thing called YouTube.

Season 2: Jan Boubli was a surprise winner on Season 2, not only because the final table featured Patrik Antonius, Gus Hansen and Dario Alioto, among others. Again, the report has vanished, but search terms "ept barcelona season 2" brings up the video on YouTube.

Season 3: All eyes were fixed on Phil Ivey when the final table began of EPT Barcelona in Season 3. The man who would go on to be repeatedly described as the greatest poker player of all time was already being touted as possibly the greatest poker player of all time. But on this day, at least, he couldn't beat Bjorn Erik Glenne from Norway, a victory you could have read all about in some highly dubious fonts on PokerStars Blog.

Season 4: When you come all the way to Barcelona, you'll probably want to split some expenses. And so Sander Lyloff and Mark Teltscher, who knew each other from the backgammon circuit, decided to share a hotel room. You would have got long odds against them being the last two left at the end of the tournament, however, but that's exactly what happened. Lyloff beat his room-mate Teltscher heads up. (But, frustratingly, the report of that happening has vanished. Bah.)

Season 5: By the time Season 5 rolled around, PokerStars Blog had got its act together and its archives properly remain intact. It allowed us to report gloriously on two things: Sebastian Ruthenberg winning for Germany, and also Jason Mercier's first stab at double EPT glory. Mercier had prevailed in Sanremo five months earlier, and was back at a second final table within a calendar year. He finished sixth.

That tournament was also notable for the arrival on the European scene of a chap from Kent, England, named Stephen Chidwick. Although stevie444 was well established in the online game by that point, and had popped up at the PCA in January, his first result on European soil was 15th place in this tournament. He looked like this.

Season 6: The sixth time we came to Barcelona remains one of the most memorable visits to these parts. Carter Phillips put on one of the most dominant tournament displays of the modern era. We were all pretty wet behind the ears back then, but Phillips' play in the run up to the final table was an emphatic introduction to the way poker was being played online at the time, and how it has continued to be. The final stages had it all, including a pantomime villain in the form of Santiago Terrazas calling the clock on Mark Goodwin after Phillips ran a huge bluff, and then a final table through which Phillips was in awesome form.

Season 7: Who could know how Kent Lundmark would become a cult hero? But that was precisely his future he after quietly steam-rollered to victory in the Season 7 decider. Lundmark's game was characterised by his steady, no-frills approach, but suffice to say not everyone followed his lead. Towards the end of the penultimate day, Francesco Notaro found all of his chips in the pot with [jc][jd] against Ognjen Sekularac's [ah][kh]. Flop and turn were blank and they went to the river with Notaro an 86 percent favourite for the hand.

Still, as Sekularec sat silently wishing for an ace or a king, Notaro decided that he wanted a five. See if you can guess what card popped up:

Notaro would go on to finish eighth. People are still rumoured to be muttering "Get it quietly" even now.

Season 8: Martin Schleich's stand-out career victory in Season 8 has come to be remembered for the languid manner in which it took place. Everyone in the room at the time now talks about a group of well-refreshed German supporters plaintively appealing for Schleich to get the job done before everybody went slightly mad.

Schleich did indeed wrap up the victory, but deep insanity seemed to have already set in. Whatever did happen to the "SY" who penned a series of suicide notes in 15-minute instalments on PokerStars Blog.

"Quiet period. No big pots, no substantial chip movement. Nothing more to be said."
"12.01am: Good morning. That is all."
"No change, with players looking visibly tired at the table - Eugene Katchalov getting caught yawning on TV."
"Still no sign of anything pivotal happening."
"Please send black coffee to media area at EPT Barcelona. Maybe some cake, too."
"You can cheer us up by sending comments. Or money. Or a bed."

Season 9: There's no doubt about it, the final table of EPT9 Barcelona was a stonewall classic, at the end of which Mikalai Pobal was left swigging the champagne. But a lot of that success owed itself to his restraint in waiting until after the poker had finished before popping corks. Ilari Sahamies and Joni Jouhkimainen had not been so careful, with predictable results.

Season 10: Thomas Middleton was already an online legend when he led the field to the Season 10 finale, but hadn't quite hit the hole so emphatically in the live arena to that point. Middleton proved to be unbeatable at the final table but, shortly after the EPT team relaxed rules on reporting of deal negotiations, we witnessed poker's equivalent of the Putney Debates as they tried to carve up the prize-pool. PokerStars Blog ear-wigged on the whole thing.

Season 11: If SY thought Martin Schleich's victory took too long in Season 9, he should have been here last year. Andre Lettau and Samuel Phillips were still trading blows when the sun was up outside and the cleaners were finishing their morning rounds.

But it was another excellent tournament, featuring the fairytale run of Bram Hanraets, and some action on the penultimate day involving Ji Zhang that required a much closer look.

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. We also have the final of the Super High Roller, which will be on the Super High Roller page.

The Estrellas Main Event also plays its final table. Action from that is on the side events page.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.

I just love a good PokerStars VIP Club Live party. And come to think of it, all of them are good. More than good, they're awesome! Like the party in Sofia, Bulgaria for instance.

As soon as you walked in you realized that this was not going to be an average night of going out for drinks. A red carpet had been placed for the guests' arrival, acrobats were going around doing their tricks, and women in poker-themed dresses where there to welcome you. Talking about a big entrance!

As we waited for the guests to arrive we had the choice of a drink from those waiting for us on arrival, or heading over to one of the open bars for a cocktail. Or we could something to eat from the "small" buffet that PokerStars had prepared for the occasion. There were hot dishes, cold snack bites, and a sushi corner. I couldn't possibly fit them all in one photo, but I hope the next one gives you an idea... Oh, and let's not forget about the delicious deserts that included (but were not limited to) strawberries dipped in chocolate. Yummy!

At this specific VIP Club Live party there was a Team Online Battle. Mikhail Shalamov, Liliya Novikova and I had to go answer trivia questions and compete in slot-car racing to win the battle. Guests were voting on who they thought the winner would be. It turned out to be Mike, and one lucky person who guessed right won an iPad!

As for how the rest of the night played out... think of acrobats hanging from the ceiling while serving champagne to guests (I know it sounds crazy but that actually did happen!) Picture artists creating poker-themed paintings on the spot. Think magicians making things disappear to the amazement of the small groups they were performing for. There video games, talking to members of PokerStars Team Pro, fireworks, caricature artists painting the guests' faces on a big deck of cards. Think of meeting old friends and making new ones, sipping cocktails and talking about poker. All that with great music playing in the background. I've done my best to describe it, but nothing comes close to actually living it! Seriously, that's how every party should be!

Now you may be wondering why I'm telling you this. The party in Sofia took place last May, so it's not exactly the latest news. But there's another party just around the corner! The VIP Club Live's next stop will be in Athens on September 5. If it's near you, purchase your invitation through the VIP Club" target="_blank">through the VIP Club and make your travel plans as soon as possible! Also, check out the contest I'm running on my blog and try to win a trip to Greece and an invite for you and your guest for as little as snapping a photo!

The next party is going to be held in an open club by the Aegean sea, and it's going to be just as amazing as any other VIP Club Live party before it (if not better!). You can't miss out on this one.

See you in Athens!

Nuance can sometimes be lost in translation, but there's often no mistaking when a Team PokerStars Pro puts a tongue in cheek.

Both Johnny Lodden and Theo Jorgensen hit up social media this afternoon with a couple of wry photographs/comments, and it doesn't take too much of a detective to notice an element of irony in both of their contributions.

Lodden's ticket was handed to him at the end of his participation in the €2,000 Estrellas Poker Tour high roller, in which he earned €4,670. He's not going to say no, but he'll hope his career still has bigger paydays.

Jorgensen, on the other hand, was taking his seat in the €5,000 Main Event, and unleashing some of his characteristic bravado. Jorgensen has a very particular line in self-confidence, in which he casts himself as the conquering hero whether on an upswing or down.

More than perhaps anyone in poker, Jorgensen really does meet with triumph and disaster and treat those two imposters just the same, usually by banging on about his superlative skills and then hitting the Omaha cash games.

Back to the €2,000 Estrellas high roller, and although the tournament is now liberated of Lodden's presence, it still has a way to go. At time of writing, there are still more than 70 players involved, including Shyam Srinivasan, Fernando Brito and Aku Joentausta.

None of the three was blessed with an especially enormous stack, but they were the most recognisable faces with great tournament experience between them.

Jorgensen's tournament, of course, has even longer to run. We are just about the mid-way point of the fourth level, of the eight that will be played on this opening flight. There are at least 440 entries today, a number certain to rise as action continues, and about 35 are already out.

Of course, there will be another opening flight tomorrow.

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. We also have the final of the Super High Roller, which will be on the Super High Roller page.

The Estrellas Main Event also plays its final table. Action from that is on the side events page.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.

When we last checked in with the €50,000 Super High Roller the final table had just been set, Dzmitry Urbanovich was leading the elite eight whilst Paul Newey and Sylvain Loosli were in need of help. Since then there's been multiple all-ins, a few changes of the chip lead and two exits to tell you about...

No sooner had the official final table photos been taken then we had significant action as the two short stacks got right into it. Loosli chanced his arm with [Ks][Jc] and found a willing customer in the shape of Ivan Luca, who had him dominated with [As][Kd]. Not to worry though as a jack on the turn doubled up Loosli. On the very next hand Paul Newey's bid for a double up would not go as smoothly. He pushed with queens, JC Alvarado looked him up with [Ad][Kd] and hit both overcards to send the Englishman out in eighth.

Luca and Loosli tangled again soon after when Luca found kings to double through Loosli who held [Kc][Jd]. That left the Frenchman short but subsequent double ups against Urbanoivch and Alvarado gave him a somewhat workable stack again.

At this stage Urbanovich and Michael Egan were lording it at the top of the chip counts whilst Steve O'Dwyer, Luca and Loosli were slumming it at the bottom. It would be Luca - who it should be noted has the loudest and largest rail today - who would be central to the action between the three short stacks as he was involved in back-to-back all-ins.

In the first all-in those spectators watching on from the rail wouldn't have known anything out of the ordinary was taking place until Steve O'Dwyer stood up to shake the hands of those left at the table. He three-bet all-in for 1,975,000 (16.45 big blinds) with pocket jacks and Luca - who was the original raiser - called with [As][Ks]. A king on the flop was all Luca needed to eliminate O'Dwyer, the Argentinian barely had O'Dwyer covered and was still stacking chips when he got involved again.

He splashed out a bet of 255,000 from under-the-gun and it folded all the way to Loosli in the big blind. The Frenchman took a look at his cards, glanced at his chips, decided it was time to go and moved all-in for 1,570,000. Luca didn't even need a count before calling it off with [Ah][Kd] which was well ahead of Loosli's [Jh][8h]. Yet again though Loosli would hit when he needed to as the [2h][6d][7c][8d][5h] board favoured the all-in player. That pot meant Loosli now had marginally more chips than Luca but also that the field was becoming bunched.

No player was in the danger zone though as Luca -with around 22 big blinds - was the shortest stack with 2,600,000, whilst Loosli (2,800,000) and Vogelsang (3,400,000) also had below average stacks. Sitting in third spot was start of day chip leader Michael Egan with (4,100,000) whilst Urbanovich (5,625,000) had been usurped by Alvarado (6,000,000).

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. and the Estrellas Main Event also plays its final table. Action from that is on the side events page.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for EPT glory by downloading the PokerStars client and having a crack. Follow this EPT event via the EPT app. There you will get all the latest news, chip counts and payouts. You can download it on Android or IOS.