Main Event Dia 2 | 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona

2018-04-13 14:33 UTC+2

Split Luck for the Power Couple

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Nível 14 : 40,000/80,000, 80,000 ante

The partypoker sponsored pros Anatoly Filatov and Kristen Bicknell have been eliminated, the latter with queen-nine against the ace-king of the player in the big blind for her last 12 big blinds.

Bicknell walked over to the table of her boyfriend Alex Foxen and witnessed how Foxen cracked the pocket kings of Seth Davies with , casually flopping the nut straight on .

Jogador	Fichas	Progresso
Alex Foxen	7,200,000 1,985,000	1,985,000

Anatoly Filatov	Eliminado
Seth Davies	Eliminado

Kristen Bicknell	Eliminado

Tags: Alex Foxen Anatoly Filatov Kristen Bicknell Seth Davies

2018-04-13 13:45 UTC+2

The Growth of partypoker in South America and the poker boom in Argentina

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Nível 13 : 35,000/70,000, 70,000 ante

Richard Dubini signed with partypoker in the middle of the 2017 World Series of Poker Main Event and eventually finished in 12th place for $535,000, while his countryman Damian Salas got even further and finished in 7th place for $1,425,000. Just prior to that, Dubini had reached a final table in $ 1,500 No Limit Hold'em - Bounty (Event #50) before bowing out in 8th place.

Dubini is ranked within the top 10 in the all-time money list on Hendon Mob for Argentina and has over $1.5 million in live earnings. It turns out that both Argentinians, Dubini and Salas, are very good friends and were even sharing a room while running deep in the Main Event in Las Vegas.

“I signed (for partypoker) in the middle of the Main Event and that was amazing. Damian and I are big friends and we travel a lot, sometimes together and sometimes with other friends. We enjoyed all days of the Main Event, because we were sharing the room. We woke up, had breakfast, talked about poker and went to the tournament. And every day, we couldn't believe it. Down to 27 players, that was the best poker experience in my life.”

While both went so deep, they only played for one level at the same table. “Less than one level when we were 15 left, I busted on the same table as Damian. Before that we were always separate.” Being such close friends, playing against each other may have caused some dilemma. “Difficult? Yes for sure, because I really don't want to bust him, but we have to play. We prayed, we didn't want to have a cooler between us.”

Thanks to the results of Dubini and Salas, poker is booming in their home country in Argentina and in South America in general right now. “Poker in Latin America is growing up faster and people are more interested in poker because they saw us on TV. But partypoker is now doing a lot of tournaments in Latin America, the last one was in Punta Del Este and the players need this type of events with such a big guarantee, and people love poker because of it.”

However, because of his success, Dubini hasn't turned into a celebrity on the streets just yet. “Only people that know about poker recognize me and Damian. I am not famous.” In terms of success at the tables, the efforts of his sponsor are vital in bringing new players to the tables. “They (partypoker) are doing a lot of satellites and promotions. Someone can qualify online for a small amount and start into the poker world.”

Dubini entered twice without success, sharing a table with Adrian Mateos during Day 1c, while his best poker friend Salas made it through to Day 2 with an above-average stack. Whether or not there will be more glory for poker in Argentina during the festival here in Barcelona can be followed right here on PokerNews.

Tags: Adrian Mateos Damian Salas Richard Dubini

2018-04-13 11:18 UTC+2

The Race to the Money on Day 2 of the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona

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Within four different starting days and throughout 12 levels of 45 minutes each, the flagship event of the 2018 partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Grand Final Barcelona poker festival has gathered a total of 1,175 entries at €10,300 each for the Main Event. The initial prize pool with €10,000,000 was not only met but easily surpassed and the remaining 329 players are battling for their share of the massive €11,397,500 prize pool.

Leading the field is Denmark's Morten Mortensen with 11.655 million followed by Sergey Lebedev (11.35 million), while team partypoker's Philipp Gruissem sits in third place with 10.97 million. To list all big names still in contention in this field may turn into a lengthy task, as literally all tables of the previous four starting days were filled with familiar faces of the international poker circuit.

Tournament Day	Date	Further Information
Day 1a	Wednesday, April 11, 2018 @ 12:00	93 out of 338 players advanced to Day 2
Day 1b	Wednesday, April 11, 2018 @ 17:00	40 out of 150 players advanced to Day 2
Day 1c	Thursday, April 12, 2018 @ 12:00	110 out of 383 players advanced to Day 2
Day 1d	Thursday, April 12, 2018 @ 17:00	86 out of 304 players advanced to Day 2
Day 2	Friday, April 13, 2018 @ 13:00	329 of 1,175 entries remain, 60 min Levels, at Least 8 Levels Total Scheduled
Day 3	Saturday, April 14, 2018 @ 12:00	60 min Levels, 8 Levels Total or Down to Final Table
Day 4	Sunday, April 15, 2018 @ 12:00	60 min Levels, Play Down to a Winner

Preben Stokkan, who won a partypoker LIVE MILLIONS High Roller and final tabled the Main Event at the 2017 Caribbean Poker Party, sailed smoothly through Day 1b as well and returns with a stack of 10.74 million, just ahead of High Roller regular Ramin Hajiyev with 9.97 million. The top ten also feature 1d chip leader Anthony Zinno (8.95 million), Thomas Muehloecker (8.54 million) and Kenneth Smaron (8.525 million).

Team partypoker will be represented by ambasssador Sam Trickett (7.8 million), Isaac Haxton (5.33 million), team online's Josip Simunic (4.385 million), the sponsored pros Johnny Lodden (4.105 million) and Roberto Romanello (3.6 million), ambassador Joao Simao (2.755 million) and the sponsored pros Anatoly Filatov (1.65 million) and Kristen Bicknell (1.22 million).

With an average stack of just under 3.6 million, the returning players will have more than 50 big blinds on average for the first level of Day 2 at blinds of 35,000/70,000. On top of that, the level duration increases to 60 minutes for the remainder of the tournament to make for a deeper structure late on when it matters the most. The money bubble is expected to burst in the last two levels of the day and at least eight levels are scheduled, this may be increased to 10 due to the field size, though.

For all those that failed to advance to Day 2 of the record-setting event, there are two other Side Events kicking off today: The first two flights of the €1,100 Finale that comes with a guaranteed prize pool of €1,000,000 start at 12 p.m. and 5 p.m. respectively, and . the three-day €10,300 High Roller offers double of that with €2,000,000 up for grabs.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the floor to provide all the action from the Main Event and Finale until the respective champion is crowned, so make sure to tune back in regularly. You can also follow the updates on the My partypoker LIVE website, take part in competitions and watch the live stream of the feature table on a security delay of 30 minutes.

Tags: Anatoly Filatov Anthony Zinno Isaac Haxton Joao Simao Johnny Lodden Josip Simunic Kenneth Smaron Morten Mortensen Philipp Gruissem Preben Stokkan Ramin Hajiyev Roberto Romanello Sam Trickett Sergey Lebedev Thomas Muehloecker