WPT Barcelona and some PokerStrategists

Florian Langmann and Tobias Reinkemeier aka "Morgoth" and "PokerNoob" survived their first day and enter the second one with about 40k chips each.

With only 253 participants, the organisers of the event cannot really be pleased. Especially with regard to the rationalisation measures of the World Poker Tour, some tournaments will be put to the test after this season. The WPT operators were already flirting with the idea of cancelling the stop in Barcelona some time ago. It took place this time, but a TV broadcast was dismissed. Furthermore, the buy-in was lowered this year from €7,500 to €5,000.

Florian and Tobias advance

Maybe due to this, our coach's Florian "Morgoth" Langmann
first impression was that the level wasn't as high as on other majors. He did have a very good first day though. With 39k chips he's ranked 34th in the chip count and has a good starting situation for the second day. More infos about his stay in Barcelona can be found in his German blog entry in the Pro blog.
Still in the race is also Tobias "PokerNoob" Reinkemeier, who is currently in 32nd place with 40k chips. Julian "crazytalent" Peschel also took a shot, but was already sent to the rails after day one.

Michael Keiner placed 80th with 20k in chips. Ahead of him are both Swiss players Rino Mathis (20k) and Claudio Rinaldi (25k). Also both Austrians Alex Leviev (39k) and Yin Cailin
(42k) are still going strong. Leviev has been known in the Austrian poker scene for years and has several cashes to show in his career. In March, he finished second in a €3,000 NLH event of the Vienna Spring Poker Festival. Markus Golser and Erich Kollmann are already eliminated.

Also some top stars around

Even though the really big stars from the US are missing, some known top players are present and don't want to miss the only opportunity to win a WPT title on European ground. Kristian Kjondal survived his first day as 17th with 50k chips. He is followed by Annette Obrestad with 48k on rank 19. Patrik Antonius is 26th with 44k chips. Naturally, the Spaniard Carlos Mortensen also participates and finished the day as 42nd with 36k. Chip leader after Day 1 is Thiago Nishijima with 85k chips. Overall, 135 players will enter Day 2.