Anaras Alekberovas Leads WPT Barcelona Day Two

(Photo: Anaras Alekberovas)

We have carved a considerable hole in the World Poker Tour (WPT) Barcelona field today. We started with 148-players and after six, ninety-minute levels, there was only 42-players left with bums on seats.

If we were to choose one word to describe the Day Two action it would have to be ‘crazy’. The deck had a mind of it’s own as it created some of the most interesting, absorbing and downright ridiculous pots that we have seen in three days of play.

When all was said and done the man with more chips than anyone else was Anaras Alekberovas with 467,000 chips, who won the majority of them playing in one of those ‘crazy’ pots that you can read about later in this recap.

Joining Alekberovas in the Day Three draw are the WPT Champions Club member, and reigning champion, Lukas Berglund, Bryn Kenney, Steve O’Dwyer, Benjamin Pollak and Kevin Vandermissen.

Here are the highlights of Day Two….

When the Tournament Director announced, ‘Shuffle Up & Deal,’ somebody must have lit the blue touch paper because the action exploded onto the felt. In the first 90-minutes of play we saw 30-players biting the dust in the worst way possible. Former WPT Player of the Year, Faraz, Jaka, Daniel ‘Jungleman’ Cates, Ilan Boujenah, Gaelle Baumann and the 1995 VH1 Male Model of the Year, Mark van der Loo, all eliminated before anyone had even settled in.

(Photo: Mark van der Loo)

But for every loser there has to be a winner. Two U.K pros making the most of the mass exodus of players with Toby Lewis winning a flip to double up – 88>AK; and Simon Deadman winning a three-way all-in – QQ>AK>JJ – to triple up.

The second level of the day continued the same trend, with quality player after quality player heading for the Barcelona sunlight. WPT Champions Club member Davidi Kitai ran his short stack, and king-queen, into ace-nine; and Kevin MacPhee found his [Ah] [Qh] getting called in two spots, and finishing third, behind ace-king and a set of sixes. We then lost the current WPT POY leader, Matt Salsberg. An elimination you can hear about right here.

(Photo: Matt Salsberg)

Those eliminations meant we finished the level with 90-players on the clock and the relatively unknown Tahiri Hassani at the top of the charts with 230,000.

Level 11 saw Ogjnen Sekularac take a real strange hold on the tournament just before the break, and it was a hand with the overnight chip leader, Sergio Fernandez that gave him his breakthrough. It was a four-bet pot and the pair were soon staring at a [Qc] [Qh] [7h] flop. Sekularac checked, Fernandez bet 13,600, Sekularac check-raised to 27,500, Fernandez raised to 45,600, Sekularac moved all-in and Fernandez folded. Sekularac moved up to 270,000 chips and the Fernandez day went south from there on in.

Another player who was making moves at the top was Kevin Vandersmissen; but Nicholas Verkaik delivered the suck out blow to halt the Belgian’s progress dead in its tracks. It was a seven-bet, all-in pre flop pot, with Vandersmissen holding ace-king and Verkaik holding ace-queen. A lady showing her pretty face on the flop to hand Verkaik the double up.

The level ended with 77-players running to the dining area for a spot of grub.

We lost the two Spanish Senoritas in the twelfth level of play. Leo Margets lost most of her chips flipping with Raul Paez before running king-queen into ace-queen. Next out was Ana Marquez, and it happened in a hand against Anaras Alekberovas. The money going in on the turn on a board of [Qc] [Jc] [4s] [Jd] [6h] with Marquez holding king-queen and Alekberovas holding ace-jack.

(Photo: Ana Marquez)

Lauri Pesonen and Fedor Holz soon followed before we had the biggest and best pot of the day, to send Benjamin Pollak to the summit of WPT Barcelona and sending Morten Mortensen home with nothing but a great bad beat story. You can read the hand in its entirety here and also the hand in the words of Pollak himself right here.

Level 12 finished with 59-players left and Pollak in full control.

The penultimate level of the day saw an exodus of top stars and an unfamiliar name deposing Pollak at the top. WPT Baden runner-up, Paul Berende, lost the majority of his chips after turning a set of treys in a hand against Paul Testud. The Frenchman had flopped a set of sevens, and Thomas Harold took the Dutchman out a few orbits later when Berende moved all-in with ace-rag and was called by pocket sevens.

Rebecca Gerin ran pocket tens into the pocket aces of Carmelo Placenti, Besim Hot pushed ace-jack into the ace-queen of Atanas Gueorguiev, Toby Lewis ran his last 20BB and ace-eight into ace-queen and Simon Deadman followed his compatriot out of the competition after pushing 19BB and jack-ten-suited into ace-king.

The level ended with a quite remarkable pot between an amateur and a pro; with the pro ending up on the sidelines. Tahiri Hassani opened the action from early position holding [8c] [6s], Andreas Berggson three bet from position holding [As] [9d] and Hassani made the call. The flop was [Td] [9h] [7h] to hand Hassani a straight, and after some betting action the pair found themselves waiting for the dealer to burn and turn fourth street. It was the [9s] – the worse possible card in the deck for Berggson – who called off a ridiculous over bet shove by Hassani, and it was the last piece of action he would participate in at WPT Barcelona. Hassani taking the lead with 530,000 chips.

(Photo: Tahiri Hassani)

The level ended with 49-players on the clock.

The main talking point in the final level of the day centred on Anaras Alekberovas. The Lithuanian feels at home in Barcelona, where he finished fourth at EPT Barcelona in 2012. Maybe that’s why he thought his pocket treys were indestructible? Alekberovas five-bet jamming in a 400k pot against Yigit Aktulga only for Aktulga to wake up with pocket aces. But the deck has bigger plans for Alekberovas, who hit a third and fourth trey on the flop and river, to hit quads, and send a bewildered Aktulga to the bar.

So that’s a wrap for Day Two. We’re all off for a few hours sleep before we return bright and breezy for Day Three at 14:00 (CET). Please do make sure you join us.