This week's Super Tuesday was a bit of a sleeper compared to its usual self, what with EPT Barcelona in full swing. A crowd of 394 turned out for the tournament, which took the payouts down a bit from where they've been recently but didn't begin to touch the quality of the field. The final table was packed with as many recognizable players as you're likely to find at a PokerStars major. In the end a player who just missed out on a Super Tuesday title several years back was able to lay claim to some redemption.

The game got underway at 2:00 p.m. ET and 394 players had signed up by the time late registration closed three hours later. That made for a $394,000 prize pool with $76,239 set aside for the winner. The 209 players remaining at that point worked their way down to 45 over the next two hours and 45 minutes, when czechpepe busted in 46th place to pop the money bubble.

An hour later there were just 20 players, with 2015 TCOOP winner Chile's Nicolas "chilenocl" Yunis holding the lead, and the final table bubble had arrived one hour after that with him still ahead of these other eight players:

Seat 1: Christian "C.K." Kruel (168,944 in chips)
Seat 2: Helio "hneves182" Neves (150,965 in chips)
Seat 3: Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis (241,248 in chips)
Seat 4: Juan Manuel "proggrezive" Copani (95,328 in chips)
Seat 5: Nicolas "chilenocl" Yunis (381,829 in chips)
Seat 6: Andreas "daskalos20" Christoforou (355,508 in chips)
Seat 7: Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet (277,707 in chips)
Seat 8: actaml (101,302 in chips)
Seat 9: Valentyn "touchmynuts1″ Shabelnyk (197,169 in chips)

Two-time Super Tuesday champ Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet, who last made the final table here back in April, didn't have the chip lead as the final table got started. But he didn't have to wait long to close in on it. He opened Hand #5 for 12K with [Th] [Td] and went into the time bank before calling after his fellow past Super Tuesday champion, Argentina's Juan Manuel "proggrezive" Copani, moved all-in for 92K in the big blind. Copani held [Ah] [Qd] and took the lead on the [7s] [4c] [Qs] flop, only to be left drawing dead with the [Ts] appeared on the turn. The [2s] came on the river and proggrezive bowed out in 9th place ($6,895).

The next significant pot, worth 148K after flopping top pair with [Ad] [Ks], also went to Van Fleet to propel him just ahead of Andreas "daskalos20" Christoforou, who took 8th place in the 2014 WCOOP Main Event, for the lead. Both players grew their stacks ans the hands went by, while the rest of the table mostly had to wait its turn. Two-time Sunday 500 winner Helio "hneves182" Neves and past EPT champ and TCOOP winner Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis split a pot when Lewis' [Ac] [Td] and Neves' [Ad] [2d] both made two pair with a king kicker on the river.

The short stacks were all looking for a chance to get in action and actaml found one on the next hand. apestyles opened for 16K and actaml, holding, re-raised all-in for 69K. Valentyn "touchmynuts1″ Shabelnyk, who chopped the Super Tuesday and then finished runner-up back in 2011, called with [Ah] [Qh] and was drawing to 10 outs by the turn of the [Kh] [4c] [9s] [Jc] board. The [As] was on of those 10, giving touchmynuts1 the 172K in the middle and eliminating actaml in 8th place ($9,456).

Six hands later daskalos20 opened under the gun with a minimum raise, holding [Tc] [Th], and called when hneves182 moved all-in for 112K on the button. Neves' [Ad] [Qs] didn't catch up on the [9s] [4h] [9h] [5s] [Td] board, knocking the Brazilian out in 7th place ($13,396).

daskalos20 backed into a king-high straight with [Kh] [Qc] 12 hands later to finally move into an uncontested chip lead. With the board reading [Ts] [6d] [8c] [Js] [9c] and 79K in the pot, daskalos20 bet 77,777 and chilenocl check-called, only to muck. Two hands later the Chilean picked of [As] [5s] on the button and moved all-in over the top of Toby Lewis' 16K opener. Lewis went into the time bank with [Ah] [Qc] and eventually called, leaving just 53K behind to contend with the 4K/8K/1K blinds and antes in the event of a loss. Instead the board came [4h] [Jc] [Qh] [Ad] [3d], Lewis won 230K with two pair, and chilenocl was gone in 6th place ($17,336).

Going out with a bang

Seat 1: C.K. (134,036 in chips)
Seat 3: 810ofclubs (284,217 in chips)
Seat 6: daskalos20 (619,376 in chips)
Seat 7: apestyles (481,389 in chips)
Seat 9: touchmynuts1 (450,982 in chips)

The only player in immediate danger now was Christian "C.K." Kruel. But 35 hands later he was still cruising right along with 103K, while two of the big stacks took each other on in a hand that would change the course of the final table.

apestyles opened the betting for 20.5K under the gun and after some thought touchmynuts1 re-raised to 48.6K in the cutoff. The rest of the table cleared out of the way and apestyles eventually made it four bets and 117K to go, which seemed to almost drive touchmynuts1 away before he shoved all-in for 605K. That had Van Fleet covered but he snap-called with [Ah] [Kc] anyway, making him a 3-to-1 favorite over touchmynuts1's [Kh] [Qc] before the flop came [7d] [Qs] [6h]. The [Js] on the turn gave him seven outs, but the [9c] on the river ended apestyles' run in 5th place ($22,458).

That moved touchmynuts1 over the 1-million-chip mark, nearly double that of daskalos20, three times more than Toby Lewis, and almost 10 times as much as Christian Kruel. It fell to daskalos20 to take out the short stack, who finally moved all-in for 63,500 with [Ad] [6c] on the 5,000/10,000/1,250 level after touchmynuts1 opened for 20,000 on the button. daskalos20 called in the big blind with [Kh] [4h] and touchmynuts1 folded. That gave daskalos20 the 157K-chip pot after the board came [5c] [3h] [Kc] [4c] [Ts], and Christian "C.K." Kruel left in 4th place ($32,505).

Toby Lewis was in dire straits with the game three-handed, holding 21 big blinds against stacks worth 67 and 107. Within five hands he found them even more dire after he re-raised all-in from the small blind with [Ks] [6s] over the top of touchmynuts1's opening raise on the button and daskalos20 moved all-in for 348K more from the big blind. touchmynuts1 got out of the way, leaving Lewis up against daskalos20's [7d] [7s]. He went from being just 32 percent to win before the flop to 86 percent after it came [Kd] [3h] [Ad]. daskalos20 needed a seven and only a seven but didn't get it on the [3c] turn or [2c] river, and Lewis doubled into second place with 474K.

Lewis began chipping away at touchmynuts1's lead, climbing as high as 691K. daskalos20 limped in before the flop with a pair of queens from the small blind a few hands later and ended up losing out to touchmynuts1's [Kh] [3s], taking daskalos20 down to 191K. He chipped back up to 280K by the time he picked up [Kc] [Th] in the big blind on the 6K/12K/1.5K level. He moved all those chips in after touchmynuts1 raised the minimum on the button, but touchmynuts1 called with [Ad] [Ac]. The [4h] [5c] [4s] [3d] [Kd] board gave daskalos20 kings and fours, but they were no good against the aces so he left in 3rd place ($43,340).

Take two

Seat 3: Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis (532,816 in chips)
Seat 9: Valentyn "touchmynuts1″ Shabelnyk (1,437,184 in chips)

Toby Lewis offered to chop the prize pool up as the break began immediately after daskalos20's departure, and touchmynuts1, who chopped this tournament heads-up several years back, agreed to look at the numbers. They quickly reached a deal that left $8,000 on the table and got back to the game.

When Valentyn Shabelnyk chopped the Super Tuesday back in 2011 he'd been behind as heads-up play began. This time around he had a big lead to play with, and aside from an early pot where Lewis hit a straight to climb to 673K, Shabelnyk put it to consistent use en route to a win. He worked Lewis down to 316K after flopping two pair in the big blind with [Jc] [6h], and two hands later the tournament would end with a bang.

Lewis opened for the minimum on the button with [Qh] [3d] and Shabelnyk simply called with [Kd] [Ks], bringing the [Jd] [Th] [9d] flop. Shabelnyk check-called Lewis' 42K-chip bet there, then check-raised all-in after making top set on the [Kc] turn. Lewis called with the king-high straight and was poised to chip back up over 600K, but the [9s] on the river made a full house for Shabelnyk, toppling Lewis' straight to end this week's installment of the Super Tuesday.

Lewis' share of the deal came to $60,278.39, a nice haul after spending much of the final table in the middle of the pack. After four years' wait, meanwhile, Shabelnyk finally laid claim to the winner's share of a Super Tuesday heads-up deal, worth $73,090.61. Congratulations to both players for outlasting a high-caliber final table.

8/25/15 Super Tuesday ($1,050 No-Limit Hold'em) results
Entrants: 394
Prize pool: $394,000
Places paid: 45

1. Valentyn "touchmynuts1″ Shabelnyk (Ukraine) $73,090.61*
2. Toby "810ofclubs" Lewis (United Kingdom) $60,278.39*
3. Andreas "daskalos20" Christoforou (Cyprus) $43,340
4. Christian "C.K." Kruel (Brazil) $32,505
5. Jon "apestyles" Van Fleet (Canada) $22,458
6. Nicolas "chilenocl" Yunis (Chile) $17,336
7. Helio "hneves182" Neves (Brazil) $13,396
8. actaml (Poland) $9,456
9. Juan Manuel "proggrezive" Copani (Argentina) $6,895
* - denotes results of a heads-up deal

Jason Kirk is a freelance contributor to PokerStars Blog.

Whilst the PokerStars Blog has been keeping you entertained for a week already with coverage of the Estrellas Main event, the EPT Super High Roller and the opening flights of the EPT Main Event from today you've got the option to add moving pictures to your ways of keeping up with what's going on at the record breaking #EPTBarcelona.

Yes #EPTLive is back on the air and will bring you the action every step of the way until a winner is crowned on August 30th. The coverage will start at 12.00 CET every day apart from the final day when, due to the coverage being cards up on a one hour delay, it'll start at 13.00 CET.

Be you a new or veteran viewer then you'll notice a few changes to the coverage, chief amongst which is the set. No longer is the TV set cut off from the rest of the tournament, it's now integrated within the main hub of the tournament and looks all the better for it. There's a doozy of a feature table to kick things off too as it features Team PokerStars Pros ElkY and Eugene Katchalov and EPT11 Player of the Year Dzmitry Urbanovich.

To those of you who know the drill - and almost 300,000 of you tuned in per day during Season 11 - you can expect the usual regulars broadcast in 13 languages. If you thought they were running out of ideas for Challenge Stapes then think again, it's back and we're promised a whole new spin to the series.

The EPTLive league is also back, starting tonight at 19.15 CET there's a $2,000 prize pool and a cap of 30,000 players. As usual the only way to get the password is to tune in to the coverage. The 'one buck bounty bonanza league' is also back and they'll be plenty of wacky competitions every day where James, Joe and Matt give away prizes. No doubt they'll be more than a few surprises and new features along the way too.

In the opening hour of action there's already been a double gibbons and a chop pot (yes that song is back and Stapes has a smorgasbord of new sounds effects that he's just dying yo use. So, what are you waiting for?

Watch here:

PokerStars TV
Twitch
YouTube

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.

There are many methods by which one can measure the scale of this festival, including (but not limited to) opening the Excel spreadsheet bearing all the names and then wearing your index finger to the bone while scrolling through it.

Another way is to simply look at the list of late arrivals, the 18 players who left it to the last moment to join the €5,300 Main Event, ie, the start of Day 2. They offer a distillation of the talent in the field.

Here are those folk, and you may recognise one or two names among them:

Jason Mo, United States
Anton Astapau, Belarus
Zhapar Sultanov, Kazakhstan
Mihai Popa, Romania
Jens Kyllonen, Finland
Niklas Astedt, Sweden
Ilari Sahamies, Finland
Haralabos Voulgaris, Canada
Henri Jaakkola, Finland
Ambrose Ng, Canada
Farid Jattin, United States
Liv Boeree, United Kingdom
Vadzim Markushevski, Belarus
Ville Mattila, Finland
Jose Carlos Garcia, Poland
Wilfried Harig, Germany
Dzmitry Urbanovich, Poland
Denis Ursu, Moldova

Mo and Astapau both played the €50,000 Super High Roller and the €25,000 one-day High Roller tournament, and Voulgaris played the former. Boeree, meanwhile, is a late arrival to the Main Event because her week in Barcelona has been hectic even by her heady schedule.

On Day 1A of the Main Event, the Team PokerStars Pro was going through a familiar routine of interviews. On Day 1B, she spent the morning fly-boarding with the PokerStars VIP Club and then came back to the casino to play the €25,000 single-day high roller.

At 5am, she was still involved in that tournament, into the final three, and guaranteed a pay-day of €391,000. There is, however, €865,900 for first. It seems that Boeree may have not lasted too long in the main event. She is, at time of writing, missing in action.

Among the other big names in that concentrated list of talent, we find two famous Finns: Jens Kyllonen and Ilari Sahamies. Kyllonen is a former EPT Copenhagen champion, while Sahamies is still known as Ziigmund and was a hero in Barcelona on Season 9.

Oh yes, and there's Dzmitry Urbanovich too, the reigning EPT Player of the Year. Urbanovich has grown accustomed to late registering events, largely because he is pretty much always among the late finishers in all of the other tournaments.

Here he finished second in the €50,000 Super High Roller, so is more than €800,000 up for the week already. Now he is trying to spin his 37 big blinds into another few hundred thousand euros.

The tournament administrators now need to go through the process of figuring out precisely how many entries we have. It's not quite so easy as adding up all the players in the room, as there are usually a few no shows, who have bought in or qualified online and then not arrived.

It'll take a few hours until we know for certain, but it's already 1,691 at least.

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 the side events is on the side events page. It will be busy over there today.

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.

Anybody who lives near Marius Irimia in Bucharest, Romania, might be suspicious of some strange nocturnal habits. Several times over the past few months, the light has been on in his home long, long into the night.

But today we can reveal what Irimia has been up to when even the sun is asleep: he has been parlaying €2 investments into €5,300 live tournament tickets on PokerStars.

Irimia is one of those online qualifiers that has given PokerStars Blog some of its finest stories throughout the years. He entered a satellite costing €2 on PokerStars and won a ticket into a €27 tournament. From there, it was into a €215 tournament and then, at around 5am, with daylight breaking across Romania, he had secured his trip to EPT Barcelona and a place in this record-breaking field.

"I play little qualifiers because I'm not so rich," Irimia said when we caught up ahead of play today. However, in tournament terms, he is one of the wealthiest. After a day that was heaven sent yesterday, he bagged 164,700 at the close, which is the eighth largest stack in the room.

Irimia described the hand that took his stack from a merely healthy 90,000 to that chip-lead challenging total. He had pocket kings and had a full house by the end after three sevens fell on the board. That was enough to beat a couple of huge draws in two opponents' hands.

Pocket kings has come to be Irimia's signature hand on the European Poker Tour. Barcelona is not actually his first rodeo. Irimia also followed the precise same satelite route to EPT Vienna a couple of seasons ago, spinning €2 into a trip to the Austrian capital.

He was eliminated short of the money that time around, with pocket kings, and accepts, as all poker players must, that you win some and you lose some. However, the fact that he has now made two trips to the EPT for €2 investments has given him a measure of confidence in his abilities.

"The first time, I thought that I was lucky," he said. "But now I think maybe that I know something about this game."

****

Irimia is far from along in the ranks of PokerStars qualifiers on an enormous spin-up. We also have the following to keep an eye on:

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 the side events is on the side events page. It will be busy over there today.

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 Day 437 of the EPT12 Barcelona Festival.

Check that. Counting back to the first satellites and the Neymar Jr Charity Home Game, we're in fact witnessing the start of Day 9 of the 71-event series, although with so much happening at once, each day does feel like it should be counted several times over.

Today's schedule features seven new side events, plus a satellite, kicking off one after another from the early afternoon until late tonight. We're turning this way and that to keep up with it all.

There's a €500 Turbo (Event #40) that's already underway up in the Marquee Room. Word had been Barcelona FC star and Team PokerStars SportStar Neymar Jr may be back to play in that one, although a couple of levels in he had yet to arrive. There's also a €5K pot-limit Omaha (Event #41) also being played in the Marquee Room, with a €500 seven-card stud hi/low (Event #42) happening shortly.

Then later in the afternoon and evening come the first day of a two-day €2K NL Turbo (Event #43), a €200 NL Turbo (Event #44), a €500 PLO (Event #45), and a €200 NL Turbo (Event #46), all of which will be variously playing out around the edges of the ever-winnowing Main Event field.

That was the schedule even before a couple of events that lasted deep into the night -- and ending not that many hours ago, in fact -- have added still more to consider on this busy Day 9.

The €2K NL Turbo (Event #38) turbo'ed its way from 220 players all of the way down to just three last night, at which point it was decided to finish things this afternoon, starting at 3 p.m.

2014 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure Main Event champion Dominik Panka was part of that final table, finally going out in fifth, with Kasra Pour Khomamy following him in fourth. Left to return today were Aram Sargsyan (3.21 million chips), Eric Rabl (2.025 million), and Nikolaus Teichert (1.33 million). They'll be vying for a handsome €90,250 prize when they resume their battle.

Finally, you likely heard about the other event paused shortly before reaching a conclusion, the no-longer-accurately-titled Single Day €25K High Roller (Event #36) that made it down from 152 entrants to three former EPT Main Event champions, EPT8 Prague winner Martin Finger (7.64 million), Team PokerStars Pro and EPT6 Sanremo champ Liv Boeree (3.86 million), and EPT2 London titlist Mark Teltscher (3.7 million).

As the indefatigable Stephen Bartley reported here just before dawn, around 4:30 a.m. that trio decided after 16-plus hours of poker to take a rest. Finger and Teltscher had already played and busted the EPT Main Event, but Boeree hadn't entered and so was one of 18 start-of-Day-2 entrants this afternoon.

The provisional plan was for them to complete their event tomorrow (Thurs.) at 4 p.m., although if Boeree were to bust today that might be changed and in fact they could play it out today. We spotted Boeree earlier, taking her seat mere hours after last night's marathon had concluded.

The battle for the remaining €25K HR prizes -- €865,900 for first, €586,500 for second, and €391,000 for third -- will resume eventually, pending how Boeree fairs in the Main.

We'll continue to train our peripheral vision on all of the side action to let you know what's happening in between watching EPT Live and following the Main.

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.

Dzmitry Urbanovich returns to this 12th season of the European Poker Tour having become an EPT star during the previous go-round. The Polish player made 15 final tables and collected six trophies over the course of Season 11, including a record four at a single stop in Malta.

Following the first break of Day 2 of the EPT12 Barcelona Main Event, Urbanovich picked up a couple more EPT trophies, earned for clinching two of the three EPT Player of the Year tiers for Season 11.

With buy-ins ranging from €100 to €100,000, the EPT offers different levels of POY awards -- Platinum (including all events), Gold (including only events with buy-ins worth $3K USD and lower), and Silver (including events with buy-ins $600 and lower).

According to a formula provided by the Global Poker Index, Urbanovich earned enough points to pick up both the Platinum and Gold POY trophies for Season 11.

Urbanovich had only just busted the Main Event shortly before the break and ceremony had come, although with a runner-up finish in the €50K Super High Roller last week, he nonetheless leaves Barcelona having enjoyed yet another successful EPT stop.

Meanwhile the Silver POY winner for Season 11, France's Jean-Jacques Zeitoun, was also on hand to pick up his trophy. Zeitoun managed nine cashes and five final tables during EPT11 to help him earn the hardware.

The festivities having concluded, play has resumed with the 1,700-player starting field having now shrunk under 750. Prize pool information will be delivered later today, at which point remaining players will know just what kind of cash they are playing for -- along with those EPT12 Player of the Year points, of course.

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.

We knew poker players were not typical of the breed. They're equipped with a unique ability to survive on bar food and massages, and have a knack for staying awake when the rest of us are either asleep on the couch, or hitting the snooze button for a fourth time.

The proof of this almost superhuman ability - or ambivalence - is before us today. They're the players who only a few hours ago were in a completely different event, and playing for completely different stakes, and racing the sun to bed. But not one of them seemed concerned about the time they had to rest before they had to return.

Liv Boeree, currently second in the Single Day High Roller as it moves into its, ahem, second day (to be played out tomorrow), was adamant, when asked at 5am this morning, that she would return to pay the main. She did, but was out within 45 minutes of taking her seat. Meh, that's part of the game.

Jeff Rossiter too. He finished in 7th position and also had an appointment today. Wasn't it on his mind? The prospect of playing on with little sleep? Evidently not.

"I don't go that deep in a 25 K event that often," he said. "So it's no big deal. I got to bed at around 4.30am so I still got six hours of sleep."

Like Boeree, Rossiter's return was short lived. He busted in the first few hours of the day. But the point still stands. Poker players don't think like the rest of us. Sleep is one thing, but the game has to be played.

Jani Sointula

Jani Sointula is the same. OUT of the High Roller in fourth at 4.10am, IN to the Main Event by 12 noon.

The same goes for Isaac Haxton, out of the High Roller in sixth. Earlier this week he asked why it was poker players, unlike say golfers, feel compelled to play for 22 hours straight. Last night he gave a practical demonstration. He's still in the Main, and looks unfazed by the late night.

Bright as a button: Isaac Haxton

Sebastian Pauli too. Not a high roller finalist, but winner of the €500 Limit Razz event which concluded in REM sleep.

But perhaps these are the normal ones. After all they had something to play for. The real superheroes are not the ones who had a reason to be up so late (or 865,000 reasons to be exact), but those who were railing their friends, who had a legitimate reason to turn in early, with their pals good luck, and catch up first thing in the morning, refreshed, perhaps after breakfast. Players like Mustapha Kanit and Dario Sammartino who, carrying a few beers, stuck it out to the end.

Both are back today, looking better than most of us, and building stacks worthy of day 3. It's remarkable really, and shouldn't be tried at home.

Unless you're a poker player that is.

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.

Although he was missing for much of the two opening flights, Andre Lettau did eventually show up late last night in a bid to defend his EPT Barcelona crown. It was unsuccessful. He was eliminated before the end of play, and the same fate befell Samuel Phillips, the official runner up last year, whose prize-money outstripped Lettau's.

Although the top two from last year's final were therefore absent when Day 2 got under way, it didn't mean there wasn't still a strong whiff of 2014 about proceedings. All of Hossein Ensan, Andrea Dato, Andrey Shatilov, Kiryl Radzivonau, Ji Zhang and Slaven Popov, who finished third through eighth last time out, had made it into Day 2 this time. Two of them, Ensan and Dato, were on the same table again.

Dato, the Italian player who followed up a WPT triumph with fourth place here, couldn't spin his 33,900 into something manageable today, however. He is now out. But Ensan is still there and he has about 180,000, which is a fine stack for this stage of the game.

A refresher on Ensan: he first came to our attention at this festival when he won the first senior's event the EPT had hosted. But that was nothing. He then hopped in the Main Event and played superbly, picking up €652,667 for his third place.

The roll continued. He made a final table in Rozvadov on the Eureka Poker Tour, and then went to Malta and again made the final table of the Main Event, his second of the season. His sixth place was worth another €153,700.

Ensan then won two side events in Monaco, and I think quite convincingly proved that his success here last year was no fluke. He may have even been an outside bet for Player of the Year had Dzmitry Urbanovich not gone so crazy.

Ensan may well be prospering, but his table is a brute. He has Samuel Chartier, Aku Joentausta, Dominik Nitsche and Sergio Aido for company.

Andrey Shatilov, who finished fifth last time on what was his second EPT final table, started his Day 2 today upstairs in the marquee, where he began with 65,200. His table has since been broken and we're not certain if he remains in the tournament, but Radzivonau, sixth, certainly is.

Nobody could miss Radzivonau last time around. He wore a Barcelona soccer jersey, with his online nickname "Angry Moron" proudly embroidered across his shoulders. The big news is that the Moron is back and he now has a stack of about 230,000.

His volatile play is the style that tends to get paid off, and I saw the tail end of one hand where Radzivonau managed to get the maximum from Daniel Mcaulay, the PokerStars qualifier from the United Kingdom.

The board was out to the river -- [qs][6h][2c][5d][td] -- and there was at least 60,000 in the middle. Radzivonau had bet about 100,000 at the pot, an amount to cover Mcaulay, who was therefore facing a decision for his tournament. After a moment's pause, Mcaulay called and was shown Radzivonau's [ah][ac].

Mcaulay shook his head and made for the door as the dealer said, "I've got to show." He turned over Mcaulay's mucked hand - [6d][7d] - and away he went. It seems that Radzivonau is up to his old tricks if he can get an opponent to call for his tournament life with third pair.

Popov and Ji have suffered the same fate as Popov. Their tables have broken and so they are either scattered in the field or out. We will find out later on, when we either notice them in the field or confirm that they are not.

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 the side events is on the side events page. It will be busy over there today. There's also EPT Live for your video-based needs.

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.

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

Relatively speaking, one would not suspect the far corner of the Marquee Room to be where much of the day's excitement would be occurring on this especially full day of poker at EPT Barcelona.

It's about as far from the main poker room as one can get and still be part of the festival. But with seven different new events starting today -- plus one satellite and one or two others finishing from yesterday -- something had to go there.

Early action in that location came with the first side event of the day, a €500 NL Turbo (Event #40) that attracted 251 players. The big field pushed all of the way back into that corner where sat a player who has caught our notice more than once this festival.

Back for more today was Barcelona FC striker and Team PokerStars SportStar Neymar Jr after having played both the 25K (Not Quite) Single-Day High Roller during the afternoon and another smaller event last night.

This time around Neymar made it through more than half the field before becoming short and shoving his last 12 big blinds with jack-ten suited, only to be called by an opponent with queens. A jack flopped, but no further improvement came, and Neymar departed.

But we're hearing again Neymar has his sights set on another of the smaller events this evening, something we're sure to hear about, from whatever corner.

As tables broke there in that part of the Marquee Room, another relatively exciting event took place with the restart of the €2K NL Turbo (Event #38) from which just three were left from a field of 220.

It didn't take long for those three to play down to a winner, with Aram Sargsyan of Armenia taking the trophy and top prize (€90,250), Eric Rabl of Switzerland finishing second (€60,770), and Nikolaus Teichert third (€42,850).

Other action continues as well in the Marquee Room, including the €5K PLO (Event #41) which drew an impressive 74 entries for a €98,700 prize pool.

Stay tuned as we continue to search all of the corners of the Casino Barcelona to see who else like Neymar is taking their shots.

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.

"He called me the worst fu@#ing player he'd ever seen."

When you get that kind of 'respect' from Phil Hellmuth you know you've made it. The Poker Brat's outburst came during Day 2 of the 2015 WSOP $10,000 Razz Championship event and was directed at 22-year-old Englishman Adam Owen. They'd see a lot more of each other over the next 24 hours as Owen went on to finish third for $104,914 whilst Hellumth would defeat Mike Gorodinsky heads-up to win his 14th bracelet.

It would be the springboard to a breakout summer for Owen who would also finish seventh in the $10,000 2-7 NL Single Draw event - which is regarded as one of the toughest events on the schedule - and he'd follow that up with a 10th place finish in the $1,500 Seven Card Stud Hi/Lo. He cashed a couple of hold'em events too but the main game has never been Owen's game of choice. "Hold'em is my least favourite game, I've put a decent amount of work into it but everyone is so good at hold'em," he says during a break in play on Day 2 of the EPT12 Barcelona Main Event.

And it's not like Owen was introduced to poker via hold'em and then transitioned away. "The very first game I played was Five-Card Draw, I was on a ski trip and I made a flush, which I didn't know about and I won some money and left! I thought it was amazing and fun and started watching poker on TV. My first online cash actually came in a badugi freeroll! I found these other games along with trying to learn hold'em. So It's always been other games from the start."

You can imagine Owen having to swim against the tide of players who gravitate to hold'em due to its 'minute to learn' mantra but luckily Owen had some kindred spirits. "When we were in sixth form a few friends and I used to carry around a big jar of pennies and play 4p/8p H.O.R.S.E, which was great. I found 2-7 Single Draw in my late teens and played heads-up sit and gos in that and learnt it really well. I then just learnt the games one by one really."

Unlike in hold'em where there are numerous resources full of learning materials - like Poker School Online - Owen had to do much of the learning of the other games on his own. "There is stuff out there but in general some of the strategy is hush hush, there's basic information out there in books and videos but not to the depth you see with hold'em. That game is at such an advanced stage that a beginning player could become so advanced within a year and be better than a very good player from a few years ago for example. I would definitely encourage people to try mixed games, if you spend a week or a month studying a game that isn't hold'em you'd be way more competitive in that game than in hold'em."

At this point you're probably thinking, 'but limit games are boring and take ages' Owen, naturally, thinks differently. "Razz is amazingly fun to play live, I can't stress that enough," he says. "It's so quick, in hold'em there's a tanking epidemic. Players will pause for 30 seconds pre-flop before they pick up chips. Razz and fixed limit games in general are just so quick. People fold properly, they turn their up card over and flick their cards in. You probably play two or three times as many hands an hour. My favourite game is probably NL 2-7 Single Draw but there's not much action online right now. Most of my volume comes in Razz, some Badugi and 8-game."

The young Englishman not only mixes up what games he plays but also the type: "I play both cash and tournaments online. I play all the tournaments in the 'other games' that there are. There aren't many, there are weeklies and they've also added $27 daily tournaments too, which is a bit small but I still play them a decent amount. Most of my volume is in cash games, I play up to $30/$60 limit. There's still action, 8-game is running at most stakes and Razz is quite popular. I would encourage people to at least try other games, most people who do get hooked and don't want to go back to hold'em. Obviously in hold'em you can win much more money, but purely for fun and to be competitive instantly I'd recommend mixed games."

Owen has also been getting in plenty of volume in the live arena at EPT stops. He's already finished second in the €5,000 Razz event here in Barcelona and says that's ensured it's a profitable trip for him. His first final table on the EPT came at EPT11 London in October 2014 when he finished fourth in the £1,000 8-Game Championship and it's the increased number of mixed game events that keep Owen and others like him coming back to the EPT. "This is the first time I've played the Main Event and I did qualify online. I wouldn't be here if they didn't have the mixed games on the schedule and there's s a few guys like that, he states. "To the EPT guys who are considering expanding the mixed schedule, which they're continuing to do, then you're getting our custom which you wouldn't otherwise have. Whilst I'm ok at hold'em I wouldn't travel just to play it. I'd like to see more draw events on the schedule and there's going to be a mixed draw event in Malta which I'm very excited about. A €1k or €5k single-draw event would be awesome and all these events are really bringing the EPT up to WSOP standards in terms of the variety of games they offer."

Let's get back to Owen's WSOP for a moment, he says that his best game is probably 2-7 NL Single Draw and he set about proving that when he was one of only 77 players who entered the $10,000 Championship event. "The standard was very good, there were a few things I picked up on from the non-specialists in that game. But it was full of players like Erik Seidel, Dan Smith, Phil Galfond and Eli Elezra, all these heroes who play that game really well. It's poker in a nutshell really, is this guy bluffing?"

But the event that sticks out for him is the $10,000 Razz event in which he finished third. "It was an amazing experience playing on the main stage with all these people that I hero worshipped. All those guys on that final table were so tough, Shaun Deeb is someone I respect immensely, Stephen Chidwick, Mike Gorodinsky and Brandon Shack-Harris is probably the best Razz player ever to me. It was great."

And just to show that Hellmuth isn't all bad Owen has an addendum to his encounter. "Getting berated by him was definitely a life goal. He is a nice guy actually, although he did a bit more of that on the final table he apologised afterwards and offered to buy me two bottles of champagne!"

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 all the details from the side events can be found here.

You can also begin plotting your own bid for mixed games 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.

Host countries for every European Poker Tour stop tend to be well represented in the festivals they stage.

Indeed, for the larger countries they almost invariably tend to have the highest percentage of players in every field, and for that reason alone -- and perhaps the less tangible edge provided by home field advantage -- often win a handsome share of the prize pools and silver spade trophies.

When it comes to EPT Main Events, it took 106 festivals for Spain to produce its first champion, with 21-year-old Adrian Mateos taking down the EPT Grand Final in Monaco in May. At the moment with less than 450 players left in the EPT Barcelona Main Event, Samuel Bernabeu, Carlos Vallve Arias, and Jonathan Concepcion are currently representing the home country well and sporting big stacks.

Concepcion -- who goes by "OMGjonyctt" on PokerStars -- is coming off a Super Tuesday win just a month ago, and has a WCOOP title under his belt as well.

Speaking of Spanish players' success online -- and here at EPT Barcelona -- PokerStars SuperNova Elite Javier "MuckeDBoY" Tazon earned his first major title this week here by winning the €2k Estrellas High Roller, topping a field of 1,055 to earn €202,630 after a four-way final table deal.

Like so many in the online poker world, Tazon is a former Starcraft player who made the move to poker in earnest several years ago, having been a SuperNova Elite for four years' running now. The 32-year-old earned extra notice back in 2012 when he set a world record for playing the most online poker hands in a 24-hour period.

With his victory, Tazon joined three other EPT Barcelona winners from Spain so far in the festival.

Miguel Seoane Iglesias picked up a €20,300 prize and the trophy for topping 189 players in the €500 NL Hyperturbo (Event #11). His fellow countryman Pedro Lamarca likewise won a hyperturbo, this one the 530-player €1K (Event #27), to capture a €36,260 first prize and a silver spade. And Sergio Soler Medem bested 140 to take down the €200 Seniors Event, winning an EPT trophy and €6,520.

With a host of side events left to go, we'll see how many more silver spades hosts can claim.

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.

Today was almost proof that Brazilians would dominate the festival headlines. It's not just for SEO purposes that we once more mention Neymar Jr. Anyone doubting the sincerity of his enthusiasm need only examine his schedule today - it started with training, continued with a €500 Turbo and will finish with a €200 Turbo.

Back for more: Neymar Jr

Funnily enough, while he returned to the tables, his poker mentor - the man he turns to for advice - is proving exactly why he was the perfect man for the job. Over in the Main Event Brazilian Team Pro Andre Akkari bagged up 543,300 tonight, which as the clock stopped looked good for the lead, and was, until Nick Petrangelo appeared.

Showing them how it's done: Andre Akkari

While Petrangelo might have ruined the odd "Vamoooos!" his ascent to the lead could hardly be described as surprising.

In form: Nick Petrangelo

Petrangelo is enjoying a career best year. So far in 2015 he has won a $5K side event at the PCA, reached two final tables in Monaco, and a WSOP bracelet in the summer. With earnings in excess of $1.4 million, Petrangelo, as he demonstrated today, is a man in form. He bagged-up 570,000 tonight.

But today was not about winners, for nothing was won today, only lost. The field was nearly a thousand strong at noon today. As play ended that figure was down to 367. Hump Day proved a tough one for most, including the likes of Liv Boeree, Eugene Katchalov, Jan Heitmann and newly crowned EPT Player of the Year Dzmitry Urbanovich, all of whom will play no further part.

the new EPT Player of the Year Dzmitry Urbanovich

But for the remainder there awaits the prospect of a cash finish and then who knows, maybe even a Vamos!

That includes the following:

Nick Petrangelo, 570,000
Amir Touma, 543,900
Andre Akkari, 543,300
Bruno Soutavong, 470,200
Jesper Feddersen, 451,000
Alexander Ivarsson, 440,100
Shyam Srinivasan, 433,000
Matti De Meulder, 401,300
Rui Sousa, 395,500
John Juanda, 371,000
Jerome Kobina Evans, 338,900
Michael Eiler, 353,700
Dario Sammartino, 335,400
Jussi Nevanlinna, 334,300
Christian Campan, 331,400
Hossein Ensan, 317,000
Stuart Mcdonald, 314,300
Oleksii Khoroshenin, 305,200
Dan Murariu, 301,500
Ran Niv, 300,200
Joao Brito, 299,000
Ryan Reiss, 284,400
Saar Wilf, 281,100
Patrik Antonius, 265,100
Aku Joentausta, 238,700
Jens Kyllonen, 214,000
Govert Metaal, 205,500
Daniel Dvoress, 196,000
Mike Watson, 191,800
Steven Watts, 189,000
Joep van den Bijgaart, 183,900
Mike McDonald, 178,200
Jeffrey Hakim, 156,400
Jason Les, 152,200
Kitty Kuo, 143,000
Natalie Hof, 131,200
Leo Margets, 128,500
Pascal LeFrancois, 120,100
Max Greenwood, 111,200
Felix Stephensen, 106,200
Johnny Lodden, 97,400
Jeremy Ausmus, 92,400
Charlie Carrel, 92,100
Dani Stern, 87,100
Roberto Romanello, 82,300
Nacho Barbero, 73,000
Lynn Gilmartin, 67,900
Fatima Moreira de Melo, 49,500
Bertrand Grospellier, 46,100
Winfred Yu, 33,900
Isaac Haxton, 28,100
Anthony Zinno, 24,600

Play continues tomorrow at 12 noon when we work on cutting the field down even further and into the money. And if Neymar Jr wins the €200 Turbo you'll read it here first.

For now you can catch up on all of the day's action on our live coverage page, which also has the features from the day.

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.

We report back tonight following a late dinner at one of the many restaurants in nearby Barceloneta, a neighborhood in the city's Ciutat Vella district.

It's a warm night with lots of activity on the beaches, even at this late hour, and the walk to and from the restaurant was most pleasant. What did we have? Paella, of course, the national dish, a delicious jumble of seafood and rice and spices.

Before signing off from our reporting this evening, we're serving up to you a mix of updates from the various side events in action today. If you recall, while the Main Event pushed forward through Day 2, no less than seven different tournaments got started today (not counting an eighth one -- a satellite). So let's ladle some small portions of each.

Way back at 12 noon a €500K NL Turbo (Event #40) started the day-long feast, with 251 players enjoying a midday meal of fast-paced poker and Neymar Jr among them.

The top 31 finishers shared a €121,735 prize pool, with the Czech Republic's Vitek Pesta taking the largest helping of €25,750 and the winner's trophy.

A €5K eight-handed PLO (Event #41) started shortly after that one, and at the moment they're down to a final table there with 74 players having worked their way down to the final four. Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer took eighth in that one. Meanwhile those remaining are vying for a handsome €98,700 dish up top.

There was a €500 7-Card Stud Hi/Lo (Event #42) that drew 66 players for a €32,010 prize pool that's still in progress. Same goes for Day 1 of the two-day €2K NL (Event #43) that drew 510 players to create a big €989,400 prize pool to be divided by the top 71 finishers.

The field for that €2K included lots of players who routinely dine at the cashier's tables here at the EPT, including at least 13 former EPT champions in Anton Wigg, Salvatore Bonavena, Christophe Benzimra, Max Lykov, Tom Middleton, Kevin MacPhee, Michael Tureniec, Antonio Matias, Dominik Panka, Ognyan Dimov, Nicolas Chouity, Kevin Stani, and Jannick Wrang.

Jack Salter, Pierre Neuville, Pablo Gordillo, Ole Schemion, Dominik Nitsche, Max Silver, and Ihar Soika were part of that field, too, along with Marc-Andre Ladouceur of Team PokerStars Pro Online.

The other three events are all still in action as well, with the dessert of a final table and a winner still to come.

The €500 PLO Turbo (Event #44) drew 79 players for a €38,315 prize pool and €10,530 first prize. Pieter de Korver, Billy Chattaway, and Amos Ben were among those participating in that one.

Another €200 NL Turbo (Event #45) a little after that one, drawing a huge field of 624 players, more than half of which are still playing. There's a €121,056 prize pool with €23,170 up top, with Elisabeth Hille and Madis Muur among those participating. Neymar Jr took a seat in this one, too, for a few hours before being eliminated.

And for a nightcap, a €1K NL Hyperturbo (Event #46) is playing out, too, with 244 playing, a €236,680 prize pool, and €50,060 for the winner.

We'll be getting back to you with more from these events tomorrow, probably at some point after hitting the breakfast buffet. Meanwhile we hope today's EPT coverage satisfied your appetite for now, and we'll see you back tomorrow for yet another serving.

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.

When there are lot of beans, there's a lot of bean-counting to do, and players at EPT Barcelona this week have known for a long time that they are playing for an absolute mountain.

Owing to some unfortunate behind-the-scenes issues, it has taken a while to get this information published. But the figures have finally been tabulated and calculated and we know precisely what we're playing for.

The headline amounts are as follows:

There were 1,694 entries to EPT Barcelona Main Event.
There's €8,215,900 in the prize-pool.
The winner will receive €1,420,500.
The top 247 players will be paid.

The full schedule is below, but it means that with 343 players remaining at the start of play today, the bubble will drift close in the coming couple of levels this afternoon.

Full payout schedule for EPT12 Barcelona

1 € 1,420,500
2 € 796,100
3 € 557,900
4 € 405,100
5 € 320,400
6 € 253,900
7 € 194,100
8 € 137,080

9 € 104,800
10-11 € 87,750
12-13 € 78,300
14-15 € 70,050
16-17 € 61,800
18-20 € 53,570
21-23 € 45,350
24-27 € 37,550
28-31 € 32,125
32-39 € 27,400
40-55 € 22,840
56-71 € 18,320
72-95 € 15,600
96-119 € 13,475
120-143 € 11,500
144-183 € 10,350
184-223 € 9,450
224-247 € 8,800

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 the side events is on the side events page. It will be busy over there today. There's also EPT Live for your video-based needs.

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.

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

EPT Live coverage is below. While you're watching, be sure to keep up with all our hand-for-hand and feature action.

MAIN EVENT LIVE COVERAGE
SINGLE DAY HIGH ROLLER LIVE COVERAGE
SIDE EVENT REPORTS
SIDE EVENT RESULTS

Ready to sign up for PokerStars? Click here to get an account.

The 'PokerStars LIVE Macau' poker room is set for the 23rd edition of the Macau Poker Cup which runs from Aug 28 - Sep 13.

The previous installment of Asia's popular poker festival had impressive totals of 3,883 players and HK$27,571,268 (USD $3.56m) in prize money. Players can safely expect similar masses of entrants and prize pools over the 17-day schedule of MPC23.

While the minds of many will be on the following week's legendary Red Dragon main event, there's plenty to get excited about on opening weekend with three Official Asia Player of the Year events at hand.

Here's a look at the leadoff events at MPC23:

The HK$2,000 Deepstack NLH opener on Friday night comes with a HK$200,000 guarantee and acts as the warm-up to the official warm-up for Saturday's Baby Dragon event. Last March, Eric Fung took the Baby Dragon trophy.

The HK$6,000 Baby Dragon comes with a HK$1 million guarantee. Since its creation last season, the Baby Dragon has averaged over 300 players and more than HK$1.5 million in prize money. It will be interesting to see if any former Red Dragon winner will ever be able to manage to add a Baby title to unify the iconic trophies.

Sunday concludes the first of three weekends with the HK$2,500 KO Bounty event.

For the complete Macau Poker Cup schedule please visit www.PokerStarsLIVEMacau.com

We were marveling yesterday at an EPT Barcelona schedule containing seven new events, a satellite, plus another tournament completing from the day before.

Today's line-up is even more crowded, if you can believe it. The situation is requiring the ever-resourceful EPT staff to go well beyond the simple traffic light staples of red, yellow, and green. No, today chartreuse, magenta, and caramel are all in play, as well as cerulean and cinder block.

Even the tables have lighted rings around them corresponding to their event's assigned color. It's ingenious.

Following the EPT staff's model of making complicated things more simple, let's just list it for you rather than make you search too deeply for what you're looking for today. Besides the Main Event, of course, now nearing the bubble on Day 3, here's what else is going on this busy Thursday:

* 10:00 a.m. - #47: Super Satellite to €10K High Roller (€500 + €50)
* 12:00 p.m. - #43 NLHE - Final Day (€2,000 + €200)
* 12:00 p.m. - #48: NLHE - Flight 1A (€1,000 + €100)
* 12:30 p.m. - #49: H.O.R.S.E. (€5,000 + €300)
* 1:00 p.m. - #50: PLO (€500 + €50)
* 2:00 p.m. - #51: Limit HE (€500 + €50)
* 6:00 p.m. - #52: Super Satellite to €10K High Roller (€1,500 + €100)
* 7:00 p.m. - #48: NLHE - Flight 1B (€1,000 + €100)
* 9:30 p.m. - #53: NLHE Turbo - Win the Button (€200 + €20)
* 10:00 p.m. - #54: NLHE Hyperturbo (€5,000 + €200)

Not unexpectedly, the €5K H.O.R.S.E. has drawn a stellar field, by the way, with late registration still open. Sebastien Sabic, Adam Owen, Max Pescatori, Erik Seidel, Matt Grapenthien, Roger Hairabedian, Jens Lakemeier, Stephen Chidwick, and Team PokerStars Pros Leo Fernandez and Jason Mercier are among the nearly 30 seated for the first levels.

There will be one other event squeezed in today, the much anticipated conclusion of the €25K High Roller (Event #36) originally referred to as the "Single Day" high roller. But after it took nearly 17 hours for a 152-entry field to play down to three players, that trio decided to postpone things and so will reconvene this afternoon at a clearly designated table on the right side of the main poker room.

All three are former EPT Main Event winners -- chip leader and EPT8 Prague champ Martin Finger (7.64 million), EPT6 Sanremo winner and EPT2 London titlist Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree (3.86 million), and Mark Teltscher (3.7 million). And green -- appropriately -- is the color for the €25K HR, what with a €865,900 going to the winner.

Originally set to begin at 4 p.m. CET, they're pushing the restart back another hour to get things going at five o'clock. The change gives Boeree and boyfriend Igor Kurganov some extra time to study up on her two remaining opponents.

Too bad there isn't a simple, color-coded map leading the way to victory here at the end of a long tourney journey.

Stick close to the €25K High Roller page for live updates and chip counts. We'll continue to do our best to make it clear and simple to follow everything else going on today, too. We're prepared to pull out vermillion, taupe, cornsilk, and even camelback, if needed.

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.

Earlier last week, my employer reminded me that I had promised to let her know what days I could work in September. I told her I would and filed it in my mental 'to do' list. Finally today, while on my lunch break, I opened my daytimer and started to look for availability.

Well...it isn't looking good for booking day shifts at the hospital.

To be fair - I had already warned her, September isn't the best month for her to book time with me, unless it's an online date! The World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP to many) starts on September 6th and runs until the 27th.

For me, this time of the year is not only when I have had some of my best successes in mixed game tournaments - it is one of the ONLY times of the year where I can play these games in a big field with some of the best in the world coming out to compete. Most significantly, I can do it all without leaving the comfort of my own home - and lucky chair.

To plan my WCOOP schedule, I write out each event that I am wanting to play, without consideration of bankroll. Then I go over it again, looking at the specifics of the events: does the time work, does the buy-in make sense, is it a two day event, how much do I enjoy the format? The pink tournaments are locked in my schedule...I will be there, the others are on my list, but will be more of a game time decision!

You might notice that I don't have any Hold 'Em events in my calendar. Simply stated, my priority this month is getting maximum enjoyment out of all the less conventional games. If you are looking to find me in a Hold 'Em tournament, your best bet is to search for me on a Sunday - the best day of the week for some no limit!

With my schedule nearly cemented, my excitement levels have been rising. You will see me playing more and more 8 game leading up to the start of WCOOP, getting in a few more hands and a bit more practice. Heck, you might even catch me with my nose in a tournament strategy book while at the pig roast!

So get writing - figure out what tournaments you want to try, refresh yourself on the rules and try to one-up me in my pursuit of a WCOOP bracelet.

Not on PokerStars yet? Click here to get an account to play in WCOOP.

Adrienne "talonchick" Rowsome is a member of Team PokerStars Pro Online

Felipe Ramos is a humble guy. The 32 year old from Brazil joined the ranks of the Red Spade this summer as a Friend of PokerStars and the general outpouring of delight stood testament to the esteem in which he is held among those of us who follow poker.

But here's a thing. Yesterday, I saw Felipe Ramos walk on water. I'm serious. In fact, he rose from the ocean on a long column, then stood still, arms spread wide surveying the world before him. It brought to mind nothing so much as the statue of Christ the Redeemer that blesses Rio de Janeiro in his homeland.

It must be said that the man they call Mojave made no such comparisons himself. He wasn't long on top of his tower until he allowed a smile to crack across his face and he began flexing tattooed biceps in triumph at the small white boat that was following his every move.

He then lost balance somehow and plunged head-first into the sea in a manoeuvre that was far from fitting for a deity. Spitting out the contents of salt-filled lungs, he then rose again but, boom, back he came to the sea. Repeat, rinse (quite literally), repeat and rinse, for the best part about 20 minutes.

Far from allowing his elevation to the PokerStars team to go to his head in the most bizarre fashion yet, Ramos was actually having his first crack at fly-boarding. If you haven't seen it, you should. It's a relatively new action sport that seems to resemble a suburban street's hosepipe fight if it was taking place among Iron Man's children.

Fly-boarders are strapped into a pair of pneumatic boots, with a pipe leading to a jet-ski's engine. When the driver of the jet-ski turns the throttle, the boots come alive: shooting out two jets of water, the fly-boarder then rises from the sea and into the sky. Provided he or she is properly balanced (and that's not easy) the fly-boarder then seems to levitate in mid-air, serene, zen-like, at perfect repose.

The most accomplished fly-boarders in the world are able to control their movements through the air perfectly. Like jet-propelled Tinkerbells, they flit and swoop and duck and dive. Our little party, which also included representatives of the press corps and the PR industry, have never been regarded as Tinkerbells, but each at least managed at one point or another to stand atop his column and, for a moment at least, feel on top of the world.

"Momma, I love you!" Ramos said when asked if he had any last words before he set off on his voyage to the stars. But it was soon all "Awesome" and "Excellent" after he was hauled back into the boat, spluttering but exhilarated.

Here's one of the moments he rose from the depths, taken from on board:

*****

Liv Boeree, of Team PokerStars Pro, and Igor Kurganov also gave fly-boarding a try this week. Sarah Herring went along with them:

The PokerStars VIP club is running all manner of trips during EPT Barcelona, including the fly-boarding excursion, a paint-balling battle and the chance to secure tickets for FC Barcelona matches at Camp Nou.

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 the side events is on the side events page. It will be busy over there today. There's also EPT Live for your video-based needs.

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.