At noon local time, cards will be in the air for the first of four starting days of the €1,100 EPT National at the 2018 EPT Barcelona. The Barcelona National has been one of the most popular 1K's in Europe for years. Last year drew an astonishing 4,557 runners, making it the largest live event in PokerStars history. Tons of players were already spotted in and around Casino Barcelona last night, including 800 players in the EPT National satellite, and another bumper field is expected in the sun-drenched Catalonian city.
Last year, flying under the PokerStars Championship Banner, Argentina's Pedro Cairat conquered the massive field for a life-changing payday of €432,178. Two years ago, back when it was called the Estrellas Main Event, Mohamed Samri won it for €353,220, after chopping with Teun Kooij heads-up, who walked away with the bigger payday of €372,060.
Two $30,000 Platinum Passes are added by PokerStars to spice up the EPT National even further. The eventual winner on Sunday, August 26 will receive one, as well as one lucky winner of the Crazy Pineapple hand challenge on Day 2. Both of them will be able to punch their ticket to the Bahama's for the PokerStars Players NL Hold'em Championship, held from 6-10 January 2019.
Day 1a will commence at noon local time and will feature 40-minute levels throughout the day. Play will be suspended after 15% of the field is remaining, which means Day 2 has to be reached in order to make the money. A second starting flight will kick off at 7 p.m. tonight and feature 20-minute levels instead. One entry per flight is permitted, allowing players to buy in up to four times in this tournament, one for each starting day.
PokerNews will cover one of the most popular tournaments in Europe wire-to-wire and will bring you all the live updates from this event, as well as eight other events over the course of the next twelve days. PokerNews will also live cover this event in Spanish and French.
Day 1a Blind Schedule
| Level | Blinds | Small Blind | Big Blind | Ante |
|---|
| 1 | 40 min | 100 | 100 | |
| 2 | 40 min | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| 3 | 40 min | 100 | 200 | 200 |
| Break 20 min | | | | |
| 4 | 40 min | 100 | 300 | 300 |
| 5 | 40 min | 200 | 400 | 400 |
| 6 | 40 min | 200 | 500 | 500 |
| Break 20 min | | | | |
| 7 | 40 min | 300 | 600 | 600 |
| 8 | 40 min | 400 | 800 | 800 |
| 9 | 40 min | 500 | 1000 | 1000 |
| Dinner Break 75 min | | | | |
| 10 | 40 min | 600 | 1200 | 1200 |
| 11 | 40 min | 800 | 1600 | 1600 |
| 12 | 40 min | 1000 | 2000 | 2000 |
| Break 20 min | | | | |
| 13 | 40 min | 1000 | 2500 | 2500 |
| 14 | 40 min | 1500 | 3000 | 3000 |
| 15 | 40 min | 2000 | 4000 | 4000 |
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Pedro Cairat
![Profile photo of [Removed:158]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
flop, Merlin checked, Engel bet 400, Merlin check-raised to 1,600 and Engel called.
turn and Engel stuck around. On the 
river, Merlin bet 5,100 and Engel called after ten seconds.
for a pair of queens but was second best as Engel opened up 
for a backdoor flush to drag a sizable pot right off the bat.
