Orpaz Bags Chip Lead after Day 1 of €50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance
After nearly 18 levels of play in the €50,000 Super High Roller Second Chance here at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona, Tom Orpaz has emerged as the overall chip leader, bagging 2,740,000 chips to end the day.
Day 1 saw a total of 24 entries which generated a total prize pool of €1,164,240. Only five players found a bag for Day 2, all of whom will be in the money and guaranteed at least €100,600. All remaining players will undoubtedly have their sights set on the top prize of €442,440.
Day 2 Seat Draw
| Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
| 1 | Erik Seidel | United States | 615,000 | 12 |
| 2 | Justin Saliba | United States | 900,000 | 18 |
| 3 | Biao Ding | China | 970,000 | 19 |
| 4 | Tsugunari Toma | Japan | 775,000 | 16 |
| 5 | Tom Orpaz | Israel | 2,740,000 | 55 |
Orpaz was chip leading for most of the day and was directly responsible for eliminating at least six players, including Jean-Noel Thorel, Nacho Barbero, Sam Grafton, and PokerStars ambassador Alejandro “Papo MC” Lococo towards the end of the day when he turned a set of sixes against Lococo’s top pair. Orpaz already won a €25,000 event earlier on during the 2023 EPT Barcelona and will be looking to add a second title to his resume by the end of the series.
Shortly after Lococo’s elimination in seventh place, a deal was made by the remaining six players to pay the bubble, making Lococo the official bubble boy for the tournament.
Justin Saliba also had a strong showing today and at several points managed to close the chip lead gap between himself and Orpaz only for Orpaz to pull further away. At one point Saliba was on the right side of a massive cooler against Spanish soccer legend Gerard Pique, getting it all in with pocket aces against Pique’s pocket kings to get a full double up.
Pique was the final casualty of the day, finishing in 6th place for €65,000 as per the deal the final six players made on the bubble. Pique would go out in brutal fashion after getting it in with ace-jack against the ten-four offsuit of Tsugunari Toma, who would end up rivering a straight to crack Pique's top pair.
Tsugunari Toma also advanced to Day 2 with 775,000 chips and is guaranteed to surpass Masashi Oya on the all-time money list for Japan with the money he has already locked up for making the final five.
Previous EPT champion Erik Seidel also remains in contention, ending the day with 615,000. Seidel was in control for most of the earlier parts of the day, at one point eliminating Steve O’Dwyer from the tournament. Seidel did find himself short-stacked toward the later stages of the tournament but managed to secure a crucial double-up on the soft bubble of the tournament to stay in contention.
Rounding out the Top 5 is Biao Ding, who already has two five-figure cashes at this year's EPT Barcelona and is now guaranteed a six-figure cash from this event.
Day 2 starts tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. local time with the intention of playing down to a winner. Action will start with 26 minutes left on Level 18, with the blinds at 25,000/50,000 and a 50,000 big blind ante.
As always, stay tuned to PokerNews for all your live coverage needs for this and every other event at the 2023 PokerStars European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona.
