Listen, this is normally the time of the week where we focus on the big weekend action at PokerStars. It's what's Mondays are meant to be. I mean, just look at all these PokerStars results from the weekend of August 22-23. From Mike "StrungOut1" Wasserman winning the Sunday Million to hhecklen coming back to win the Sunday Warm-Up, to all the other results, it was a weekend to behold.

But, hey, all of that aside, if you weren't paying attention to poker's biggest news over the weekend, you missed a lot. Fortunately, we make it our business to make sure you get caught up.

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See, EPT and its sister tour the Estrellas Poker Tour both landed in Barcelona, and it's made for a record-breaking weekend. I mean, how often do you see a Main Event of anything get more than 3,000 unique entries anymore?

With that in mind, here are some stories you might have missed over the past few days.

Estrellas Main Event pulls in more than 3,200 players

Lynn Gilmartin wins EPT Barcelona Ladies Event

November Niner Pierre Neuville hits up Barcelona

Neymar Jr hits royal lush on PokerStars.es

Ongoing Estrellas Barcelona coverage

Ongoing EPT Barcelona Super High Roller reports

EPT Barcelona Main Event reports

EPT Barcelona side event results

When Adrian Mateos won the EPT Grand Final last season, one of the European Poker Tour's long-standing hoodoos was broken. Despite countless near misses, and despite hosting an EPT tournament during every season, Spain had somehow never produced a winner--until that moment in May.

Always in search of a new hoodoo to replace the old, it got me pondering which country would now take over the title of the EPT's most underachieving nation. But only a cursory investigation revealed that, in fact, we had maybe been a little hard on Spain. They weren't even the biggest European nation who have never produced a champion.

Step forward Turkey to collect that honour. Seventy-eight million people and not an EPT champion between them.

That too is perhaps a little harsh. Turkey is not exactly a poker stronghold and EPT Istanbul is a long way off. According to everybody's favourite online encyclopaedia, gambling in Turkey is strictly regulated, and the country's last casino closed in 1998.

Each of Europe's top ten most populous other nations has crowned at least one EPT champion, with the United Kingdom, the fifth biggest country in the continent, leading the way with 16 former winners. (That's 15 uniques and one re-entry; Vicky Coren-Mitchell's double triumph.)

It's pretty easy to determine the continent's overachieving nations, and they are all up there in the Nordic region. Sweden's 9.7 million population makes it only the 18th biggest in Europe, yet there have been nine champions under the blue and yellow flag. That's one EPT title per 1.07 million people.

Similarly Denmark is punching well above its weight. Its population of around 5.6 million puts it 25th on the size table, but its seven EPT titles can be shared around at a rate of one per 800,000. Only the Danes have managed to pull off back-to-back-to-back title-winning runs too, when Mickey Petersen, Frederick Jensen and Jannick Wrang won in Copenhagen, Madrid and Campione, respectively, in Season 8.

Taking all of this into account (and ignoring countries outside of Europe) the new EPT underachievers, I think, are Russia. The biggest nation in Europe has more than 146 million people in its vast land-mass, but has provided only three EPT champions, and none since Andrey Pateychuk in Sanremo in Season 8.

That's one EPT title per 48 million people, and that really is not enough to go round.

EPT PERFORMANCES OF EUROPE'S TEN LARGEST COUNTRIES

RUSSIA
Population: 146 million
Winners: 3 (Max Lykov, Vladimir Geshkenbein, Andrey Pateychuk)

GERMANY
Population: 81 million
Winners: 13 (Andre Lettau, Sebastian Pauli, Julian Track, Daniel Pidun, Martin Finger, Benny Spindler, Martin Schleich, Michael Eiler, Sandra Naukoks, Moritz Kranich, Sebastian Ruthenberg, Michael Schulze, Duc Thang Nguyen)

TURKEY
Population: 78 million
Winners: None

FRANCE
Population: 66 million
Winners: 9 (Jan Boubli, Pascal Perrault, Arnaud Mattern, Bertrand Grospellier, Christophe Benzimra, Lucien Cohen, Ludovic Lacay, Remi Castaignon, Jean Montury)

UNITED KINGDOM
Population: 65 million
Winners: 16 (John Shipley, Ram Vaswani, Mark Teltscher, Victoria Coren x2, Roland de Wolfe, Julian Thew, Will Fry, Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, Toby Lewis, David Vamplew, Roberto Romanello, Rupert Elder, Zimnan Ziyard, Tom Middleton)

ITALY
Population: 60 million
Winners: 2 (Salvatore Bonavena, Antonio Buonanno)

SPAIN
Population: 46 million
Winners: 1 (Adrian Mateos)

UKRAINE
Population: 43 million
Winners: 1 (Oleksii Khoroshenin)

POLAND
Population: 39 million
Winners: 1 (Dominik Panka)

ROMANIA
Population: 20 million
Winners: None

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.

Earlier today one of the large food and drink trolleys that waiting staff wheel around the vast tournament area finally pitched up in the area where the Super High Roller final table was taking place. Steve O'Dwyer had requested a coffee some 20 minutes ago and was glad that it had arrived. Most of the players asked for water but O'Dwyer, who already had a bag of trail mix (or similar on the table), also purchased a banana as did Dzmitry Urbanovich.

A short time ago the Super High Roller went on a 75-minute dinner break and whatever the Polish phenomenon tucks into during this time will taste pretty sweet as he's got almost half the chips in play with four players remaining.

Dzmitry Urbanovich (Poland) 11,970,000
JC Alvarado (Mexico) 6,050,000
Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) 3,040,000
Sylvain Loosli (France) 2,685,000

They're all guaranteed €446,800 whilst the winner will get €1,224,000. Should Urbanovich win it wouldn't even be his largest score as he collected €1,446,600 for his runner-up finish in the EPT12 Grand Final Super High Roller.

With six players remaining Urbanovich was all but tied for the chip lead with JC Alvardao, but whilst the Mexican's chip stack has stayed static Urbanovich has put on the afterburners to stretch into the lead.

Eliminating Ivan Luca in sixth place with tens against sixes helped as did taking care of Micahel Egan in fifth (ace-jack against ace-ten), but this hasn't simply been a case of winning all-ins. He's pulled out the four-bet and the overbet from his bag of tricks. We've been here before though as Urbanovich had a large lead heads-up before being pegged back and overhauled by Erik Seidel. Will history repeat itself here or will we see a little bit more history from Urbanovich?

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.

Before this week, Mario Lopez had well proven himself at the poker table already over recent years. The Argentinian traveled to the Spanish coastal city having previously amassed nearly $1 million in tournament earnings with an LAPT Main Event title in Chile last year and a runner-up in a WSOP event this summer highlighting an illustrious catalogue of cashes.

He's been here a week and will be sticking around for another as the festival continues. But when he does leave, he'll be doing so with his standing in the poker world having been further heightened thanks to an impressive victory in the record-breaking 3,292-player Estrellas Barcelona Main Event.

Today Lopez is standing tall.

From that big field a final table of eight convened early this afternoon to determine how the last €1.39 million or so of the tournament's huge €3,193,240 prize pool would be divided. Jose Carlos Garcia -- one of a few young Polish phenoms taking poker by storm of late -- began the day with the chip lead and a heady reputation of his own after having final tabled two other big EPT prelims this year, taking fourth at LAPT Bahamas in January and fifth in the FPS Monaco Main Event in May.

In fact, it was a crucial hand in which Lopez managed to find a big call -- for his tournament life -- against a river bluff by the aggressive Garcia that proved the turning point for both players today, helping propel Lopez to victory.

It was an eclectic group who assembled for today's final table, representing seven different countries and a variety of backgrounds and ages.

The excitement began from the day's second hand when the short-stacked Spaniard Daniel Selles picked up ace-king and ran not just into pocket kings but Knut Nystedt's pocket aces, too, to end his day early in eighth.

The player with kings in that hand -- Simon Sennhauser of Switzerland -- was hit hard as well, then not too long after would be disappointed by cowboys a second time to be knocked out in seventh. Garcia's ace-jack outdrew his K-K that time to carve the field to six.

Those two eliminations allowed Morocco's Konah Abdelhadi to ladder up a couple of spots before running into some bad fortune with pocket tens versus Nystedt's pair of deuces. Abdelhadi flopped a set, then watched Nystedt draw out a runner-runner wheel to cause him to finish in sixth.

One more small stack -- that belonging to Eduard Sanchez of Spain -- was claimed shortly thereafter in a similarly hard-luck way, his ace-eight falling to Nystedt's ace-seven when a seven came among the community cards.

It was at four-handed that Garcia put Lopez to the test, shoving the river with a massive overbet in what had been an innocuous-seeming hand to that point. On a [9d][5h][Jc][5d][3c] board, Lopez found a way to call with [Qd][9s], then saw Garcia had but [7s][4c].

Suddenly Lopez was leader, Garcia was the short stack, and later in a three-way pot would lose the last of his chips to take fourth.

Nystedt, for whom things had gone so well early today, then saw his fortunes slip thereafter to end with a third-place finish after the final trio couldn't agree to a deal. The Norwegian's knockout uncannily echoed how he had taken out Sanchez earlier, as his ace-ten fell to Jonn Forst's ace-seven when a seven rudely fell on the river.

That pot gave Forst the chip lead to start heads-up play, but only barely with 41.1 million to Lopez's 40.9 million, the difference coming down to a single chip as the lowest in play then was worth 100K.

Speaking of differences, the pair then decided to lessen the one scheduled between first- and second-place payouts (a whopping €240K), with each taking €338K and playing for just €70K thereafter.

Lopez immediately seized the advantage and began chipping up against Forst, then at last used ace-queen to best Forst's ace-six to stop the Austrian's run one spot shy of the title.

Lopez is a medical doctor, and he certainly diagnosed his opponents today well -- especially Garcia in that memorable bluff-call -- on his way to victory. Congratulations to him and all eight of those who made it through the record ESPT Barcelona field.

Event #5: Estrellas Main Event Day 1A €1,000 + €100

Entrants: 3,292

Prize pool: €3,193,240
Places paid: 487

1. Mario Lopez (Argentina) €408,000*
2. Jonn Forst (Austria) €338,000*
3. Knut Nystedt (Norway) €168,000
4. Jose Carlos Garcia (Poland) €139,500
5. Eduard Sanchez (Spain) €116,540
6. Kondah Abdelhadi (Morocco) €93,600
7. Simon Sennhauser (Switzerland) €71,400
8. Daniel Selles (Spain) €52,100
*= denotes a two-way deal

Click here for detailed live updates of the entire final table. And for a complete list of payouts for the 487 who cashed in ESPT Barcelona, click here.

Thanks for following our coverage of the Estrellas Main Event, and stick close here at PokerStars Blog for much more excitement as more players find ways to stand tall in Barcelona.

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.

It is as common in poker as the hoodie, as familiar as chips, and to some almost as important. Without them many players would be driven insane. Others would even cease to exist, or at least would be unable to prove it. For a phone, or a tablet of some kind, are now as mandatory in poker as a chip and a chair. And there's no going back.

Hossein Ensan

And maybe there's good reason to be grateful for this perpetual phosphorescent glow. Even the cynic would find it hard to denounce them completely (take this post for example). And what's more in a poker sense, they're invaluable.

Sergio Aido

It used to be that the only way to succeed in this game was to pay attention to even the smallest of detail in between hands - even if you weren't involved. Many of us tried that, and soon realised we had little idea of what they were supposed to be looking for. It also cost us a fortune.

John Juanda

But walking around the tournament room today, it's clear that the phone in your hand or tablet in your lap means you can bypass ignorance - or at least Google it. Sure, you probably would do well to pay attention, but somewhere online is your opponent's record. A few clicks will often tell you a lot about the type of player they are. If you're not doing it to them, they're doing it to you.

Pablo Reis

There's another factor, and one probably the most important: boredom.

We may love the game, talk about it, read about it, watch it. But those long periods between hands, those agonising minutes when it's not about us, particularly on a day like today when play is slow and nothing will be decided, can drive us nuts. We may one day ask ourselves what we have become, and whether the internet might be controlling us, rather than the other way round. Maybe on that same day we'll switch off our devices and play on without them. We might even enjoy it for a while. Then we'll get impulsive, mistaking a hand of utter rubbish for a powerful off-suit drawing hand. Before we can text our friends to tell them everything will have gone down the toilet.

Lijo Lander

So you take solace in whatever keeps your mind and your swiping finger busy at the tables. Could we live without them? Almost certainly. But we'd be fools to risk it.

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? Like the idea of playing an EPT? Join the world's biggest site now.

You may have noticed recently that PokerStars, in association with Jake Cody, is running a "Lads Night In" promotion to raise money for Prostate Cancer UK.

The idea is to get everyone playing poker and giving at least some of the prize pool to the very worthy cause. The winners of a competition running alongside will get to play their home game chez Cody at a VIP location in London.

I was reminded of this earlier while watching Charlie Carrel's table at EPT Barcelona. Carrel has put together a stack of about 75,000 in the early stages, and is enjoying his afternoon. There is, you might say, the feel of the home game about it, especially in the conversation between Carrel and Arne Coulier, from Belgium, who joined late today but already has about 65,000.

Coulier raised from mid position, making it 1,100 to go, and Carrel three-bet to 3,800 from the small blind.

"You are the table captain," Coulier said, as he considered his options, all other players having folded.
"I'm not any more, man," Carrel said. "You took that title from me."
"Sometimes players get lucky," Coulier chirruped back and folded.

The absence of cards allowed Coulier to attend to the problem of an unopened bottle of beer he was guarding with his life. A waitress came over and cracked off the cap, permitting a deep draw.

Carrel seemed interested. "If everyone else at the table agrees to drink, I'll drink," he said. "Just to even it out. I think that's fair." He then turned to Dmitry Bayramov to his right and added, "And you have to drink two because you're Russian."

Bayramov laughed a hearty, Russian laugh. He looked like the kind of man who would happily drink two, or three, that each of these willowy western European youths could muster. Actually four.

Right about this point, attention turned to the man in seat four, who made a point of lifting his beer bottle out of his cup holder and taking a deep swig. It was as though all this talk of beer by people who weren't actually drinking it had offended his sensibilities.

This man, it should be known, is named Brynjar Bjarkason and he hails from Iceland. One suspects that one is shamed from the Bjarkason family if one is seen not to be drinking ale after 6pm.

"Ha," Coulier said. "I always seem to find one partner in crime when I drink." Coulier did well to notice, actually, because he was busy watching the Arsenal v Liverpool game on his phone at the time and Petr Cech just pushed Philippe Coutinho's angled drive on to the post. Coulier leapt out of his seat and nearly spilled his beer.

Carrel was now involved in another hand, having raised pre-flop and picked up a call from Sergi Escote in the big blind. They saw a flop of [qd][9c][5c]. It went check, bet, call. (I was watching the football too on Coulier's phone. I didn't see the sizes.)

The [7h] came on the turn and Escote checked again. Carrel bet 9,300 and after a long, long dwell in the tank, during which he asked three times how much the bet was, he folded.

Carrel did the only thing he could. He ordered a beer.

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.

The 12th season of the European Poker Tour is officially one day old. After an awful lot of very high volume preliminaries, which comprised the bulk of the Estrellas Poker Festival, Edgar Stuchly took to the microphone around noon today and officially welcomed EPT players to the fray.

And, of course, in they all came. This time last year, a new record was set for players at an EPT Main Event. Eventually 1,496 showed up, but "only" 475 played Day 1A. Today, there were at least 459, so we're on track for something very similar.

At the end of the first eight levels, Imad Derwiche bagged the most, but he should not be getting carried away. Michael Mizrachi held the chip lead at this stage yesterday and he was out of contention long before the bubble burst.

While Derwiche, of course, who finished runner up to Charlie Carrel at the €25,000 High Roller in Monaco, will hope to avoid that fate, and has 170,000 at this stage, he will know how choppy the waters can get from here on. Among the chasing pack he will spot Martin Vallo (163,300), Patrik Antonius (103,800) and the likes of David Yan (95,100), John Juanda (89,300), Mustapha Kanit (83,200) and Isaac Haxton (79,200) nestled among this little bunch of names:

Imad Derwiche, 170000
Martin Vallo, 163300
Jesse Liljegren, 153100
Vladimir Troyanovskiy, 115600
Patrik Antonius, 103800
David Yan, 95100
John Juanda, 89300
Mustapha Kanit, 83200
Charlie Carrel, 79300
Isaac Haxton, 79200
Sebastian Pauli, 78400
David Vamplew, 75300
Leo Fernandez, 74700
Naoya Kihara, 69400
Benjamin Pollak, 68000
Dong Kim, 66000
Leo Margets, 55300
Jason Gray, 49900
Kevin MacPhee, 48700
Antonio Buonanno, 43000
Byron Kaverman, 41000
Anthony Zinno, 37200
Christoph Vogelsang, 33900
Sam Greenwood, 31200
Stephen Chidwick, 20500
Martin Jacobson, 18300
Mike McDonald, 17400

Theo Jorgensen joined the action full of confidence for the day ahead. But the Team PokerStars Pro from Denmark was one of the first to bust.

That seemed to start a race to the door for some of poker's brightest lights as Jason Mercier, George Danzer, Max Silver, Adrian Mateos, Ole Schemion, Andrew Chen, Paul Newey, Martin Finger, Erik Seidel, David Peters and Jonathan Little all freed themselves up for a crack at tomorrow's €25,000 one-day event.

What's that you say? They could have played that anyway? Ah hell, it's too late now.

Anyhow, that's broadly how Day 1A played out at this year's EPT Barcelona Main Event. Of course, speaking strictly in poker terms, it's only half a day old. Tomorrow is another day. Day 1B to be precise. And there will likely be close to 1,000 showing up.

Look back on all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action will be on the Main Event page. We also finished the Super High Roller, details of which are on the Super High Roller page.

The Estrellas Main Event also played its final table. Action from that was 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.

With 17 players left in this tournament Dzmitry Urbanovich was the recipient of a full double up with kings against the queens of Jason Les. That cooler gave him the chip lead and although his stack at that point only amounted to what would be an average stack with seven players left, it seemed as if was his tournament to lose at that point and that the Pole was set fair to go one better than he did in the same event at the EPT Grand Final back in May.

But just as in Monaco, Urbanovich fell at the final hurdle here in Barcelona as Sylvain Loosli became the first Frenchman to win a Super High Roller title. Tonight the 2013 November Niner he has a shiny trophy to take back to France along with €1,224,000. It's a victory that was unexpected, not because of Loosli's poker ability, but because of the size of Loosli's stack. He returned today in sixth place of the nine remaining combatants and never troubled the upper echelons of the chip counts or took the chip lead until heads-up play began.

By that point Loosli could have taken the view that he was freerolling as he'd got it in bad and doubled three times whilst play was six handed or more, been as low as 3.8 big blinds with seven players left and was the basement dweller when play was four-handed and three-handed. Having dodged all those bullets he may well have been of the belief that his name was already on the trophy (do we have an EPT trophy engraver?). "I've been playing a lot of these tournaments for the last few years so I just know it's never over," he told the PokerStars Blog. "Even if you're down to a few big blinds sometimes you get lucky a lot. That's tournament poker. You just have to hold on to your chips and keep focusing on your game."

When Loosli took care of the impressive Christoph Vogelsang in third place he had a slim lead going into heads-up play and if there's been a weakness in Urbanovich's armour in these big buy-in tournaments it's come at this stage of the tournament. In quick order Loosli stretched out to a two to one chip lead. It was one way traffic until Urbanovich doubled back to parity (threes against [Kh][Tc]) but it was to be short lived.

A big hand in which Loosli check-raised all-in on the river reduced Urbanovich to 20 big blinds. "In the heads-up match I check-raised all-in on the river against Dzmitry and I turned my hand into a bluff. I might have had the best hand, I'm not sure. I feel like I was representing a big hand and decided to put my tournament at risk at this point," said Loosli of that pivotal pot.

The final hand came when Urbanovich shoved with [Jd][Ts] and Loosli called with pocket fives. A five on the turn gave Loosli a set and the title. "It's been a rollercoaster," said the Frenchman after the dust had settled. "The final table was filled with great players. You had to fight to win every single pot. It was so tough and I had to play my best."

The win is Loosli's biggest result since his fourth place finish in the WSOP Main Event in 2013. "It's a different the Main Event, which was amazing," he said. "But this is a win and you play poker to win tournaments and titles."

As for Urbanovich, it was another near miss to winning a Super High Roller title. Whilst the history books will show that he finished second again, the manner of this runner-up finish in comparison to Monaco was markedly different. There he stumbled to the final table as the second shortest stack and wore a suit for the occasion, here he was third in the overnight chip counts, wasn't even in his seat when play began and came dressed in shorts and a hooded sweatshirt.

When he did show up he quickly set about adding to his stack and was chip leader when the official final table began. He retained that position - or was close to it - for the entire final table and it's easy to forget that he's barely 20 having celebrated that birthday in May. Whilst he may not have won, the reigning EPT Player of the Year has laid down a big marker for the season ahead.

In one of those strange quirks of tournament rules we had our final table when play started at 12.30 local time only we didn't. Final tables on the EPT are, as standard, eight handed, but nine remained. All were seated around the one table but one more player would have to be eliminated before the official final table photos could be taken.

It took 80 minutes for that to happen but Byron Kaverman would ultimately be the first to go. He was the shortest stack when play began, nines into the kings of Ivan Luca did the most damage before Urbanovich dealt the fatal blow, although that doesn't tell the whole story.

The next exit would come far quicker, like London buses some would say, and it was the last remaining Englishman who was sent on his way. Paul Newey is starting to become a regular fixture at the final table of these events but there was nothing he could do when the poker gods decided it was ace-king's turn to win the classic race against his queens.

Newey hopped into the Main Event and the next player out would be one of only two players to have pulled off the Main Event and Super High Roller EPT double (the other is Martin Finger). Steve O'Dwyer's record in high roller events is simply ridiculous and he again put up another solid showing. His exit hand was, like Newey's, a case of a big pair against two overcards. His 16.45 big blind three-bet shove with pocket jacks was called by Ivan Luca who held [As][Ks], a king on the flop sent O'Dwyer to the payout desk to collect €221,000.

Luca would be next to feel the hangman's noose. Along with Urbanovich the Argentinian player had been the breakout star of Season 11 of the EPT and like the Pole he's quickly gone about showing it was no fluke. His rollercoaster of a final table came to an end when he ran pocket sixes into the pocket tens of Urbanovich. The two have struck up something of a friendship, or at least a mutual appreciation, as they were seen bumping fists on a couple of occasions at the final table.

It remains to be seen if Michael Egan has a big a impact on the tour as Luca has in the past nine months, but the Australian has fired a decent opening salvo. The start of day chip leader had a tough seat to the left of Urbanovich and Christoph Vogelsang who were both well stacked and couldn't get anything going. He busted in fifth place when his [Ah][Ts] didn't get there against Urbanovich's [As][Jh]. A €358,900 payday is his best yet.

The four players headed off to dinner but when play resumed Urbanovich was nowhere to be seen. A few hands later JC Alvarado was probably wishing he'd missed the first few hands as he went from second in chips to out in just five minutes. First he doubled up Vogelsang with [Js][7d] against pocket tens and he then lost the rest to Loosli. Fourth place was good for €446,800

At this juncture Vogelsang and Loosli were all but level in chips but over the next 25 minutes Loosli would loosen those chips from the German before dealing the knockout blow. The two players saw a [Js][Ah][Th] flop and Vogelsang check-raised all-in with [Qc][8s]. Loosli made a quick call with [Ac][8s] and held on the [3d] turn and [8d] river.

That hand gave Loosli a slight chip lead and the platform on which to build his victory.

EPT12 Barcelona - Super High Roller
Buy-in: €48,500+€1,500
Entries: 85
Re-entry: 14
Total entries: 99
Prize pool: €4,753,485

1st.Sylvain Loosli (France) €1,224,000
2nd.Dzmitry Urbanovich (Poland) €841,500
3rd.Christoph Vogelsang (Germany) €551,485
4th.JC Alvarado (Mexico) €446,800
5th.Michael Egan (Australia) €358,900
6th.Ivan Luca (Argentina) €280,500
7th.Steve O'Dwyer (Ireland) €221,000
8th.Paul Newey (United Kingdom) €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. Action from the side events can be found 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 were remarking earlier about the long, winding path to victory presented by any poker tournament, even a fast-structured affair like the single-day €25K High Roller, now approaching the dinner break.

Like your typical high buy-in contests, side bets have been the order of the day, including several early on by those attempting to predict a final total of entries for the event.

Scores in those bets were settled just a short while ago with the start of the day's ninth half-hour level. Currently, the big board shows 147 entries total (counting rebuys), with 97 players left. (Official numbers to come.)

There were a few last longer bets, too. Of course, the whole tournament is essentially a last longer bet, bought into by the entire field. And with the goal being to finish things here in a single day, we're expecting that last longer to go longer and longer until a winner is found.

Not sure if anything tangible is on the line in the last longer between Barcelona FC teammates Gerard Piqué and Neymar Jr, but from Piqué's perspective to lose would be more devastating than allowing an opposing team's striker to slip past him during injury time for a winning goal.

During the afternoon levels, Piqué chipped up over 200,000. Meanwhile Neymar has been scoring from all angles today.

Earlier Neymar used aces to best Davidi Kitai's pocket sixes to bust the Belgian. Then his ace-ten outran the ace-queen of David Peters to notch another elimination. A little later pocket aces again enabled the Brazilian to take all of Mustapha Kanit's stack, the Italian's pocket nines having failed him.

Still more chips found their way across the felt into his stack, like so many players racing across the pitch. By the day's second break Neymar had spun his 100K starting stack all of the way to nearly 500,000, making him the leader of the 100-plus players remaining.

A mid-afternoon check of his teammate's progress caused Piqué to wince.

"I have to beat him," explained the defender to PokerNews' Remko Rinkema. "If not, in the dressing room I'll be dead."

But the last level before late registration closed was less kind to Neymar. First Jeff Rossiter doubled through him in a hand that saw Rossiter all in and at risk with pocket nines versus Neymar's pocket fives, a five fall on the flop, then a river nine save the Aussie.

Then Dani Stern, Neymar's neighbor to the left all day, managed a double-up as well in a huge hand in which Stern's set of sevens bested Neymar's top pair of aces. That knocked Neymar back under 100,000.

That's below average, but perhaps more importantly, below Piqué.

Scouting about the rest of the player area, Steve O'Dwyer, Martin Finger, and Fedor Holz joined the ranks of those losing their initial stacks today in the early going, but all three chose to exercise the single reentry option. Meanwhile EPT10 Grand Final champion Antonio Buonanno, Team PokerStars Pro Online member Isaac Haxton, and Kevin MacPhee were all thriving at the start.

The Neymar-Piqué last longer continues, the drama of the striker-versus-defender battle heightening now that reentering is not an available option. So, too, does the ultimate last longer in which all of the players are participating become a degree more intense.

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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Fatima Moreira de Melo

I thought I was finally going to see it, a hand that involved a decision lasting so long it went in the break at one end and came out at the other.

There were still a few minutes on the board when Moreira de Melo paused to think over a shove from Danyl Amri, one worth 15,300, or about half of her remaining stack. She'd already been thinking for a while. Turned out she was nowhere near finished.

The thing is she had plenty of things to size up. For Amri was no ordinary opponent. One minute he was taking a picture of his chips, the next laughing uncontrollably, the next pretending to light a cigarette to startle the floor staff. He looked confident. Surely he had it? But as Moreira de Melo would say later, confirmed by another player at the table, "He does that sh** because he enjoys it."

So yeah, this was a complicated decision.

The clues were on Moreira de Melo's face. She stared at the board: [3d][5c][as] [8c][7h], and then stared at Amri. He'd check-called her bet of 1,100 on the flop, and again when she bet 2,200 on the turn. Then he shoved on the river. Moreira de Melo was a little pissed off.

"What do you have?" she asked, not exactly expecting an answer. By now things had moved into the break.

She wanted to see if she could pick up anything from his behaviour, but she couldn't be certain. Had he not carefully worked up a reputation as being a bit unpredictable, all these signs she was seeing would be, well, predictable.

Ten minutes into the break they were still at loggerheads. Amri said he would not call time, a gracious act, but then he started laughing again. He was enjoying this.

"You're really not going to show me? After all this time?" she asked.

"Nope," he replied.

And so with 8 minutes 48 seconds left on the clock, she folded.

"So random," she said, admitting she'd folded ace-king. "He's a very nice guy, but he's really random," she said during what was left of her break.

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.

As interviews go, it was neither the most exhaustive, incisive or illustrative, but the key message came across.

"I'm back," Luca Pagano said. "I'm back."

This occurred over the breakfast buffet in the Pullman Skipper Hotel. That's the place just around the corner from the casino that, once a year, is transformed from a well-appointed five-star joint, perfect to take the kids, to a well-appointed five-star joint, a bloody nightmare for anyone who is not a poker player.

Pagano was fidgeting around the cereal section while your humble correspondent was looking for a spoon. It had been a while since a quaint tableau such as this had been arranged, but it used to happen all the time.

As the early adopters of PokerStars Blog will know, Pagano used to feature incredibly heavily. He was one of the first players ever to be snapped up by Team PokerStars Pro, and he was a regular face at final tables on the European Poker Tour.

Indeed, for years Pagano, who is now 37, held the record for the highest number of cashes on the EPT and for final table appearances. I think both have now been overhauled, but 20 Main Event cashes and seven finals is a tremendous haul.

It all stopped towards the end of Season 8, when Pagano began focusing much more on his business concerns, namely Pagano Events. Although he came out of exile to make a final table of a High Roller in London in Season 9 (and win a tournament on the IPT), Pagano at the poker tables has been a relatively rare sight.

But -- key message alert -- he is back. He was not fidgeting around the cereal section for a laugh. He was piling down the sustenance for what he hoped and expected to be a long day back at his first day job.

"It's been up and down," he said, just as Level 5 began this afternoon. Pagano was sitting with about 33,000 chips, representing marginally more than his starting stack, but seemed to be perfectly content with that.

He had Ryan Riess to his left, a player who wasn't anywhere close to being World Champion when Pagano was doing his best work on the EPT, and he won't mind me mentioning that there are a few more grey hairs these days than when he was in his pomp. (Blame that on the business.)

Otherwise, the same red-framed designer glasses were in place and he was going through the motions in the same well-practiced fashion. "I am back," he said once again.

Taking a quick look at the Pagano EPT results (see below) demonstrates actually that he perhaps has one other record that cannot be broken. Pagano has cashed in EPT Main Events in 13 different countries, including almost all of the places that the tour never visits anymore.

In addition to in-the-money finishes in Barcelona, Monaco, Prague and the PCA, Pagano has cashed in Deauville, Vienna, Copenhagen, Dublin, Dortmund, Warsaw, Tallinn, Vilamoura, London and Snowfest. Although Dublin (at least) is making a comeback, it seems unlikely any of his younger rivals will be picking up many of those flags.

If only he'd have done better in Baden, Budapest, Berlin and Kyiv, Pagano would have the full compliment of cashes in defunct EPT locations. And that's some record!

LUCA PAGANO ON THE EPT

Season 1
Barcelona, 3rd, €20,000
Deauville, 8th, €13,500
Vienna, 14th, €5,750

Season 2
Barcelona, 24th, €7,800
Copenhagen, 24th, DKr 47,776

Season 3
Dublin, 13th, €20,330

Season 4
Dublin, 24th, €10,210
Copenhagen, 27th, DKr 84,346
Grand Final, 6th, €337,000

Season 5
Dortmund, 6th, €153,000
Grand Final, 55th, €31,000

Season 6
Warsaw, 4th, zł 357,790
Prague, 6th, €100,000

Season 7
Deauville, 72nd, €10,900
Tallinn, 26th, €8,000
Vilamoura, 52nd, €7,263
Prague, 43rd, €10,000
Snowfest, 50th, €6,600

Season 8
PCA, 30th, $40,000
Deauville, 7th, €110,000

Season 9
London, High Roller, 7th, £60,930

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 everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

If you've been following coverage of the single-day €25K High Roller, you may have heard mention here and there and, well, just about everywhere.

Most recently we shared news of Neymar delivering a series of headers to successive opponents, scoring several knockouts and collecting enough chips to enjoy the lead for a short period.

But like he does on the pitch, Neymar was constantly moving thereafter, and ultimately started to lose back the chips he'd gained earlier. He managed somehow to avoid losing the last of them in a two-pair-versus-set situation against Tobias Reinkemeier.

But he wasn't so fortunate after flopping a king-high flush in a multi-way hand, then getting his stack in only to see Jeff Rossiter's flush was ace-high.

The news of Neymar's elimination spread quickly -- indeed, you may have heard about it already. We caught Paul Newey at a neighboring table, who incredibly appeared to be reading all about Neymar's bustout hand in the early evening edition.

It sounds like Neymar's Barcelona FC teammate, Gerard Piqué, has just been eliminated as well, meaning he'll be the one enjoying last-longer boasting between the two. Meanwhile the Neymar news continues to circulate, with word of his intention to play the €2K NL Turbo starting in a short while.

We trust there will be some report about it if he does.

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.

David Lappin knows a good story. He originates from the home of some fine literary stock and has more than just dabbled in a little screenwriting and journalism over the years.

"You looking for a story?" he said, watching an aimless tournament reporter amble past, killing a bit of time before the dinner break.
"Have you got one?" said the waif.
"Not really. It's just a bit of a wild table," Lappin said.

As if to prove the point, Javier Garcirreynaldos Biarral (did Joyce himself name this guy?) opened a pot, making it 900 to go.

Seeking confirmation of the bet size, Lappin called from the cut off, which tempted both blinds into the pot as well. One of those, Marc-Andre Ladouceur, in the big blind, came along in the most emphatic fashion, with a shove all in for about 11,000.

Biarral, who had slightly more than 25,000 didn't just call. He shoved all in over the top of Ladouceur. Lappin, who had just north of 50,000, didn't seem to like what he saw, but he moved all in as well. After the small blind folded, Lappin said, "I didn't want to play this like this," and flipped over [ad][kd].

But he was in pretty good shape. Ladouceur said, "I hope you both have that," and showed [Tc][Td]. But Biarral was in dire straits with his [ac][9c].

The dealer didn't hang around, burning through a board of [5s][2d][6c][5h][3h], which sent Biarral packing. Lappin paid off Ladouceur's shove, but then got it back (with a little bit extra) from the side pot he won from Biarral.

"You guys all happy?" Ladouceur said, like a pilot reassuring his passengers after bumping through some turbulence. "Same crew all here?"

Biarral was gone but the others were happy. Lappin stacked up slightly more than 50,000 again, while Ladouceur had three times what he had before and is now above his starting stack for the first time in a while.

And the aimless stray got his story as well.

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 everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

The random seat draw today conspired to throw together two of Team Pro Online's finest. You may not know their faces but you most likely know their names, or more pertinently their screenames. Whilst both Mikhail 'innerpsy' Shalamov and Marc-Andre 'FrenchDawg' Ladouceur, are Supernova Elites on PokerStars they don't spend all their time holed up in their bedroom clicking buttons. Ladouceur makes frequent appearances on the live circuit - he has over $1,700,000 - in live earnings and when Shalamov isn't making moves like this he's indulging in his favourite hobby or using poker as a conduit to travel the world.

When the PokerStars Blog arrived at their table both Shalamov and Ladouceur had slipped below their starting stack whilst Michel Leiggorin was off to a fantastic start as he had nearly quadrupled his. We decided to stay for an orbit to see what happened.

This is how the table shaped up at the start of the orbit, the blinds were 150/300 ante 25 throughout:

Seat 1: Mikhail 'innerpsy' Shalamov, Russia, Team Pro Online, 22,000
Seat 2: --Empty--
Seat 3: Ali Amelipour, Germany, 17,000
Seat 4: Robert Askarov, Russia, 60,000
Seat 5: David Lappin, Ireland, 26,250
Seat 6: Michel Leibgorin, France, 110,000
Seat 7: Per Wikstrom, Sweden, 13,000
Seat 8: Marc-Andre 'FrenchDawg' Ladouceur, Canada, Team Pro Online, 17,500
Seat 9: Roberto Morra, Italy, 30,000

Hand one: Button is with Mikhail Shalamov
It looked like it was going to be one hand, one walk, but Ali Amelipour limped from the small blind and Robert Askarov checked his option from the big blind. A bet of 500 from Askarov was enough to see him bully Amelipour off the pot.

Hand two: Button is with Ali Amelipour
A three-way dance in this one with the action started by Michel Leibgorin when the elderly Frenchman raised to 850 from under-the-gun. He is visually impaired in some way and so he has two magnifying glasses on the table to help with this issue. One is a static one through which he peers as he looks at his hole cards, the second is your more standard circular magnifying glass which he uses to look at the community cards.

He would need that on this occasion as Morra, Shalamov and David Lappin (big blind) all called his bet. They then all folded when he bet 1,600 on the [Qs][4d][8d] flop.

Hand three: Button is with Robert Askarov
From under-the-gun Per Wikstrom opened the action to an unknown amount, although it was less than a 1,000 as he used a 1k chip from which he received some change. His raise was called by both Amelipour and Lappin and the three of them saw a [Kh][5d][6d] flop hit the felt.

The action was checked to Wikstrom, the Swede bet 1,400 and both players stuck around to see the [2s] hit the turn. There was to be no betting on this street though and the [8h] rounded off proceedings. First to act was Lappin and the Irishman led for 4,400. There then followed a swift fold from Wikstrom and although Amelipour tanked he too let his cards go.

"Show the bluff," said an opponent at the table and Lappin obliged by opening [7s][6h]. "You bluffed," said Leibgorin before adding. "Ah no, you have a pair!"

"I was bluffing though," said Lappin to Leibgorin.
"You had me beat," replied Wikstrom.
"I'm not sure I had you both beat though," said Lappin with a smile. Did he? We'll never know.

Hand four Button is with David Lappin
Team Pro Online's Mikhail 'innerspy' Shalamov was back in the action again in this hand as he opened to 750 from middle position. His only caller was Leibgorin and after the Frenchman called he said: "check in the dark," and looked on as the [3s][7h][Jd] flop hit the felt. Shalamov threw out a bet of 1,100 and Leibgorin reluctantly folded his hand.

Hand five: Button is with Michel Leibgorin
Congratulations if you've got this far! You're about to be rewarded with the two biggest pots of the orbit. In this hand action folded to Askarov in the hijack, he opened to 700, Lappin called only for Leibgorin to 'squeeze' to 3,100 from the button. It folded back to Askarov and he was not for budging. Instead he bumped the price of poker up to 7,200 total, Lappin looked at his cards and folded but Leibgorin then asked the dealer if he could tell him how much more Askarov had.

The dealer said he wasn't allowed to do that and he's quite right that is ordinarily the rules. However Leibgorin is - as previously mentioned - visually impaired and said "It's allowed because of my sight, call the floor!" David Lappin then stepped in to ask if he was allowed to tell Leibgorin how much Askarov had back (50,000), Askarov didn't seem to mind and with all that resolved Leibgorin made the call.

So there was already around 16,000 in the pot by the time the dealer fanned a [Td][Ks][4s] flop. First to act was Askarov, the Russian bet 7,500 and Leibgorin dwelled all the time looking at his cards. He then pushed them over the line one card at a time saying. "This is a good hand I'm folding."

"You got me to fold tens in the middle there," said Lappin to Leibgorin so Askarov - or possibly Lappin - potentially had a lucky escape.

Hand six: Button is with Per Wikstrom
It had been a quiet orbit so far for Marc-Andre Ladouceur but he got involved in a hand at last. Leibgorin, who had been very active in this small sample size opened to 800 from the cutoff, Ladouceur flatted from the small blind and Morra did likewise from the big.

On the [9h][4c][3h] flop Ladoucuer led for 1,600 and it was enough to win him the pot.

Hand seven: Button is with Marc-Andre Ladouceur
Another meaty pot to tell you about and it was a three way dance between Lappin and the two members of Team Pro Online. Lappin was the pre-flop aggressor, he raised to 650 from middle position and Ladouceur (button) and Shalamov (big blind) both called.

The [5c][4d][6c] flop was checked to Ladoucuer, the Canadian bet 1,300 and both Shalamov and Lappin smooth called. The [Td] fell on fourth street, Shalamov checked again but this time Lappin took the lead, he bet 1,725 and only Shalamov called.

The [Ks] fell on fifth street and again Shalamov checked, Lappin fired again this time for 8,925 and once more Shalamov called. Lappin immediately rolled over [8c][7c] for the flopped straight, whilst Shalamov showed [Th][6h] for two pair. That pot boosted Lappin to around 45,000 and dropped Shalamov to 11,200.

Hand eight: Button is with Roberto Morra
After all the excitement of the last few hands the orbit ended on a damp squib with a simple raise and take with Wikstrom winning the pot.

A good orbit for Lappin and a bad orbit for members of Team Pro Online but it would soon get better for Ladouceur

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 everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

"Ladies and gentleman the blinds are now 300/600 with a running ante of 75," boomed out over the PA system in the main tournament room. Not a significant announcement on its own but when put into the context of Day 1B it assumes more importance.

That missive signalled the start of the eighth and final level of the day and one player could be heard saying to his table. "It's the cerveza (beer) level." It's a tradition as old as cocktail hour, you've made the last level of the night, your work is almost done, so why wait to play is over to unwind? What not get a drink in now and start that process a little early.

It's definitely a common occurrence anywhere in the world except here in Barcelona. It appears as if a temporary prohibition law has been passed, which is localised to the card room. Whilst the waiters and waitresses who wheel the concessions cart around the room reserve a healthy piece of their real estate for the amber nectar they needn't bother. None of the 846 players who'd made the final level of the night appeared to agree that it was the cerveza level.

Even Niall Farrell, who can often be found partaking at the table, was abstaining. His drink holder contained just his mobile phone, nothing more, nothing less. If he'd had some Dutch courage it's possible the outcome of a hand between himself and Ryan McEathron might have been different. After a raise to 1,300, Farrell had three-bet to 3,500 only for McEathron to move all-in for right around 15,000. The original raiser folded and after Farrell had received a count of McEathron's shove he did likewise. "I'm probably meant to call there," he said before adding tongue in cheek. "I'm a feel player and I wasn't feeling it."

Meanwhile, across the room Tobias Fischer had something to celebrate - with water most likely - after making a big call to knock out Mikel Akiki in a strange hand. Fischer had bet 1,500 on a [Th][As][6s] flop only for Akiki to move all-in for 22,650 total. It was most of Fischer's chips to call and after tanking for a couple of minutes and saying: "Why would you shove?" he did make the call. Akiki tapped the table before showing [Ah][2h], Fischer had [Ac][Tc] and Akiki was drawing dead on the [Td] turn.

Save for the riffling of chips and the occasional conversation, it's eerily quiet right now.

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 everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

Neymar Jr dominated headlines today--and he's not done yet. Rumour has it that he'll maybe dip into a few side events and have another crack at a title.

It was easy to think he was the only Brazilian in the room, such was the press attention surrounding him. But one need only wander around the other tables for a bit to spot at least another couple of vaunted talents playing under the Auriverde.

For at least the first few years of the Brazilian poker boom, the names of both Andre Akkari and Alexandre Gomes appeared in just about every sentence. Gomes was the first Brazilian to win a World Series of Poker bracelet, in 2008, and Akkari did so a few years later. Even now, if you look at the omniscient Wikipedia, Gomes and Akkari are the only two Brazilian players it knows.

Although Gomes relaxed his poker schedule over the past few years, occasionally popping up on PokerStars as "Allingomes" and in the live arena to, say, final table the EPT Grand Final, Akkari has remained a prominent member of Team PokerStars Pro.

And this week in Barcelona, it's been something of a throwback for Brazilian poker fans as the pair of them are sitting on adjacent tables, both with big stacks.

Akkari and Gomes have slightly different styles, at least to the casual observer. Akkari seems to be the more sedate, setting about his reliable accumulation in a steady climb. Gomes, on the other hand, is all action, playing big pots and playing them often.

It was kind of amusing to think that it had been Akkari giving Neymar tips on best strategy today because the footballer's up-and-at-em approach was much more akin to Gomes's game.

Case in point: I stood between their two tables late on today, hoping to get a glimpse of both of them in action simultaneously. What I actually saw was Gomes play pretty much every hand for an orbit, winning some, losing some, while Akkari sat tight.

On the first hand, Gomes opened to 1,200 from under the gun and the cut off and big blind came along. There were two sevens and a jack on the flop and a c-bet took a small pot. Over on the other table, Akkari's button raise got through.

Next hand on table Gomes, and Abulaziz Abdulaziz opened to 1,200 and Gomes defended his big blind. The flop came [as][6h][8s] and Gomes check-called Abdulaziz's bet of 1,500. They both checked the turn of the [ah] and the river of [qh] and Gomes's [7d][7c] were good as Abdulaziz mucked.

After a wander to Akkari's table yielded no further action, my glance returned to Gomes to see him putting out a three-bet to 3,250 from the small blind over Seyyed Mirnia's button raise. Mirnia called. The flop came [kh][3s][7h] and Gomes led for 3,300, which won it.

Gomes was on the button next hand and, of course, played it. Roger Johannessen opened to 1,250, Gomes three bet to 2,650 but then they checked all the way down the board of [js][jh][qs] [7s] [Td]. Johannessen had paired his kicker in his [ah][7h], but Gomes' [8h][8s] stayed good.

Next hand, Johannessen tried again, opening to 1,250. Gomes called from the cut off and it was just the two of them to a flop of [jc][5d][7c]. They both checked. The [9h] came on the turn and Gomes called Johannessen's 1,500 tickle.

The [jd] came on the river and again Gomes called after Johannessen fired [jd]. The Norwegian player tabled [kh][jh] and Gomes mucked. You win some, you lose some.

Gomes then checked the size of his stack and learned it was still around the 100,000 mark. That's pretty much what Akkari has too, even though his recent path was a little less rocky.

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 everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

A quick late night round-up of all the side action for you -- literally happening on all sides of the Main Event at the moment.

The €25K High Roller is edging ever closer to the money bubble, just a couple of spots away -- close enough for the tournament staff to implement hand-for-hand play across the three remaining tables, as not everyone had been playing at the same vibrant rate so close to the cash.

Isaac Haxton of Team PokerStars Pro Online got off to a fast start today, and he's enjoyed a fast middle and fast latter stage, too, having amassed a 1.36 million stack to sit in first position with 25 left. Another online star, Ankush "pistons87" Mandavia, is his nearest challenger at present.

Meanwhile Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree is also above the average, while the other remaining Team PokerStars Pro, Leo Fernandez, is one of the short stacks sweating the bubble bursting.

Talk at the start of the €500 razz event -- then wedged in between a crowded Main Event field and the early stages of the €25K High Roller when more than 100 players were still seated -- was that space limitations meant the tournament would have to be limited to three tables.

But more razz-seekers arrived, and more space was able to be made, with no less than 42 players ultimately coming out to do their best to make the worst hands they could. That group built a €20,370 prize pool, to be ultimately divided by the top six finishers.

At last pass just 12 players were left sitting around two tables, with Sebastian Pauli, Martin Bieri, and Adam Owen sporting the biggest stacks at present.

The final event on today's schedule was the €2K NL turbo, playing out on tables now vacated by the Main's Day 1B. The big board reports that 219 came out for that one, with about two-thirds of those starters still with chips three hours into the event.

Some still battling in that one include Team PokerStars Pro Jason Mercier, Dzimtry Urbanovich, Anton Morgenstern, Ole Schemion, and Jose Carlos Garcia, with Garcia just coming off final tabling the Estrellas Barcelona Main Event where he finished fourth.

Meanwhile one of those who started the €2K no longer with chips is Neymar Jr, who after busting the €25K High Roller took a shot in another fast-structured event before joining his teammate Gerard Piqué on the sidelines.

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.

If we forget about Neymar Jr for a moment -- we're reluctant, but we'll do it -- the other significant news from EPT Barcelona today was the size of the Main Event field.

The odd thing was, however, that this didn't get the attention it perhaps demanded. Maybe it was record-fatigue, or maybe we really were all swooning too hard over Barcelona soccer players, but at around 2pm or 3pm today, we learnt that we were watching the biggest Main Event in EPT history.

After 459 players showed up for yesterday's Day 1A, we needed 1,101 players today to match the 1,560 who played the PCA in 2011. It didn't take long for the first 1,000 to pour in, and by the time we checked the board at the end of the day, there were more than 1,210 entries.

See that record? It's been smashed. (And registration remains open until noon on Wednesday.)

It was a hell of a job finding the chip leader tonight, given that about 790 players remained at close. But if reporters have done their job properly, that largely meaningless accolade lies at the feet of Samuel Bernabeu.

Little is known about Bernabeu beyond the fact that he's won a Deep Stack Extravaganza in Las Vegas, has made the final table of an Estrellas Poker Tour event and he's a Spanish lad who has dared to come to Barcelona bearing the name of the stadium of the arch villains in these parts (Real Madrid). Not only that, he's had the audacity to bag 202,000 chips.

We also have the following players involved still, and they find themselves on this list either by virtue of their reputation or their stack size. Sometimes both.

Samuel Bernabeu, 203000
Jonathan Concepcion, 187200
Irimia Marius, 164700
Milan Rabsz, 163900
Jude Ainsworth, 155800
Jose Besalduch, 153500
Erwann Pecheaux, 147200
Samuli Sipila, 147000
Mikal Blomlie, 109600
Gaelle Baumann, 107700
Ryan Riess, 103500
Jan Heitmann, 67400
ElkY, 36900
Matthias de Meulder, 28300
Nacho Barbero, 76900
Felipe Ramos, 69900
Fatima Moreira de Melo, 65400
Alex Gomes, 51400
Johnny Lodden, 48200
Lynn Gilmartin, 33000
Dimitar Danchev, 25700
Max Lykov, 19800
Michael Egan, 19600

By this time tomorrow, the field will be a little more manageable, and the hands that have been played a little more meaningful. We'll be able to tell you a little bit more throughout the day, and will know how much they are all playing for.

It's game over, however, for the likes of Benny Spindler, Luca Pagano, Barny Boatman, Tom Middleton, Marcin Horecki, Sam Grafton, Vanessa Selbst and Gerard Pique. They are all among the debris at the side of this long and punishing road.

More tomorrow! Join us at noon for Day 2. And somebody please get Pierre Neuville some headphones. He's had enough of Will Kassouf to last a lifetime.

You can follow all the action from the various tournament floors on PokerStars Blog. The Main Event action is on the Main Event page. And everything from Neymar's tournament -- that's the official name -- is on the single day high roller 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.

Welcome to the night shift on the PokerStars Blog, that time in between the main event of the day concluding (see our report on Day 1B of the EPT Main Event here), and the last of the side events, in this case the single day high roller.

In the spirit of all night time shows, we'll be turning the lights low and kicking back with whatever will keep up awake until these guys and gal wrap it up, which we expect to happen sometime between now and the weekend.

As things currently stand the €2K Hold'em event plays on, with the likes of Vanessa Selbst, Dominik Panka and Jack Salter playing into the night. While over the rail in the High Roller 12 remain, following the recent eliminations of Antonio Buonanno, Tobias Reinkemeier, and Farid Jettin.

Still leading is Norwegian Kevin Stani, with more than 1.5 million, pursued by Iacopo Brandi. Team PokerStars is well represented, and both are within site of the lead. Isaac Haxton has 1.3 million while Liv Boeree has 1.25 million.

But this is a turbo, and things change, so for all the latest hand for hand action check out our Live coverage page, which will be updated throughout the night.

This is the PokerStarsBlog nightshift from the EPT. Now here's 10CC with "I'm not in love"...

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.

Stephen Bartley is a staff writer for the PokerStars Blog.

Liv Boeree set to return

It was a day that started amid flashbulbs, and the arrival of one of football's most recognisable stars. Neymar Jr's entrance was certainly one of the most memorable, and his performance one unashamedly followed by fans, media, and fellow players alike.

Nearly 17 hours later though the atmosphere was entirely different. Three players, forced to stop not because of a lack of chips, but too many. Closing time at the casino meant a premature end to play.

And so this report of the Single Day High Roller will not wrap things up just yet, and the single day will instead become a second - at a date still to be decided. What we can tell you is that the three players will return and to play to a winner. Those players will line up like this:

Martin Finger - 7,640,000
Liv Boeree - 3,860,000
Mark Teltscher - 3,700,000

All three are former EPT Main Event winners, with five (with the addition of Mike McDonald and Kevin Stani) having reached the final table.

That, having started several hours earlier, quickly became a weird demonstration of how sometimes poker doesn't work as expected. Some ten all-ins were called, each going the way of the short stack. It made for some unexpected calculations, as the average stack dwindled to around 14 big blinds. Exasperated, and perhaps a little tired, they could only play on.

Sooner or later that run had to end, and it did. Iacapo Brandi, well supported by an Italian rail, departing in eighth. Jeff Rossiter followed in seventh, and Isaac Haxton in sixth. All three had spent time as the big stacks, such were the swings.

Mike McDonald would depart in fifth place, followed by Jani Sointula. To type this is to deny the full story a proper airing, but which is one you can read in full on the live coverage page. Tireless work from Remko Rinkema and Frank Op de Woerd ensured nothing was missed. It's well worth a read to see just how testing a night it was.

But when the clock struck 4.50am tournament staff, led by the able and ever courteous Thomas Gemie, had no choice but to call time. Casino rules say it must close the exhibition centre (which hosts the EPT) by 5am. Returning at a later date was quickly agreed.

It leaves a few things to look out for as those plans are made. For one thing Team Pro Liv Boeree, who played a blinder tonight having been one of the short stacks at the start of the final, plans on playing the main event (entering on Day 2) in a little over six hours from now. Then there's the matter of when they return. Will that change the dynamic of a table, one that tonight was powered by caffeine, adrenaline, and no small amount of grit.

Time will tell, and of course we'll be there to see it through to a conclusion.

It's been a great Single Day High Roller. Some 152 entries meaning there's €865,000 for the winner. It started well, and it promises to end well. Just not tonight.

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.