Day 3 of the €1,100 EPT National Kicks Off at Noon
The tension in the room is palpable as Day 3 of the €1,100 EPT National at the PokerStars European Poker Tour is about to kick off. Only 49 out of 4,348 players are left standing after two long and gruelling days of poker in Casino Barcelona. Each of them has already locked up €9,500, nearly nine times their original investment, but the lion's share of the €4,127,560 prize pool is still up for grabs, with a mouth-watering €547,000 and a highly-valued $30,000 Platinum Pass awaiting the winner on Sunday night.
Leading the way after two days is Valentin Cristea (6,830,000), who pipped Luis Rodriguez Cruz (6,765,000) by one big blind on the leaderboard last night. Rodriguez gained notoriety under his online alter ego "Turko_man", and has won the Sunday Million on PokerStars twice, among countless other accolades, including three live six-figure scores as well.
Rodriguez is not the only man who knows how to close out a tournament, as the dangerous Ludovic Geilich (5,365,000) isn't sitting far behind in third place. Geilich, playing as "ludovi333" on PokerStars, has plenty to boast with his own poker resumé, which features over two million in lifetime winnings.
Other notables that are still in the hunt for the sizable six-figure cash are Upeshka De Silva (4,270,000), Matthias De Meulder (3,175,000) and Joris "BillLewinsky" Ruijs (2,820,000). As faith would have it, De Silva, Geilich, De Meulder and Ruijs have drawn four seats next to each other at the same table. Defending champion Pedro Cairat (3,240,000) also still has a shot at one of the most improbable back-to-back victories after winning last year's 4,557-runner event for €432,178.
Cards go back in the air at noon local time with blinds returning at 40,000/80,000 and a big blind ante of 80,000. Levels will be 60 minutes long for the remainder of the tournament and play will likely continue until the final table has been reached, which will then be played out on Sunday, August 26. Keep following PokerNews and don't miss a beat from the most exciting 1K in Europe as continued coverage of the EPT Barcelona rolls on.
flop, Meran checked, Faria bet 180,000, Meran check-raised all in for 1,700,000 and Faria called it off after thinking for quite a while.
hit the felt. Faria needed a nine of heart to end Meran's run in the National and did just that as the 
rolled off on the river. Meran finished in 43rd place and received €9,500.
and Teunis checked. Rodriguez continued for 850,000, Teunis check-minraised to 1,700,000, Rodriguez shoved for 4,530,000 and Teunis called all in for 4,460,000, creating an 11 million chip pot just like that.
turn nor 
river helped him and he was left with a mere 70,000. Teunis, from Holland, suddenly became the overwhelming chipleader with 39 players remaining.
turn, Faria kept up his aggression with a bet of 1,460,000 and Gunnarsson called again after some thought.
and Faria emptied the clip. Without hesitation, Gunnarsson called it off for 4,400,000 total.
to give Di Giacomo the set he needed to escape elimination.
Dentler put De Silva all-in. 
and De Silva 
and river 
was no help for De Silva, and he was eliminated in 33rd place for €11,950.
. The board ran out 
and Chiva was left with just 400,000. 
, he bricked on the 
