Barcelona has become one of the favorite destinations for poker players in Europe and beyond, with every festival and tournament series taking place in this beautiful Spanish city posting amazing attendance numbers. So, 888poker had very little to worry about in terms of their recently concluded Barcelona event.
Without any sudden and unexpected developments to put a wrench in operator’s plans, the city came through once again, attracting thousands of players from left and right for a 10-day festival of poker featuring a rich schedule of events that fit every bankroll.
Mixing in with the crowd were the usual suspects — 888poker ambassadors like Lucia Navarro, Vivian Saliba, Ian Simpson, and Aaron Barone, who managed to find some success over the course of the festival, albeit not too much in the Main Event.
Big Attendance for the Big One
The 888poker LIVE Barcelona Main Event ended up with a total of 459 entries, each valued at €888. This resulted in an impressive prize pool of almost €350,000 and the top prize of €70,000 — a very nice return on the original investment.
A total of 55 players made the money, with everyone making it past the bubble picking up at least €2,500 for their efforts.
As mentioned, 888poker ambassadors were in the mix, but only Barone managed to make a deep run in the tournament, falling shortly after the bubble burst for a min-cash. As for Navarro, Simpson, and Saliba, all three managed to make the money in the High Roller event
A Spanish Architect Builds His Path to Victory
Everyone in the Barcelona Main Event had their eyes set on the big prize, but only one could claim it in the end. That one turned out to be Pau Veciana, a career architect from Spain, whose Hendon Mob was showing under $10,000 in live poker winnings before this tournament.
Yet, Veciana managed to defy the odds and hold his own. When the final table started, he and others had a mountain to climb, as the chip leader to start the play had a stack of almost 10,000,000. For comparison, the second place held just 4.2 million, while Veciana, who was in the middle of the pack, started the day with just 2.3 million in his stack.
When all the dust settled, the tournament came down to the final skirmish between Veciani and David McConachie from the UK. Funnily enough, McConachie started the final table as one of the shortest stacks (under one million), confirming once again that, as long as you have chips in front of you, you’re never out of a poker tournament.
The UK player started the heads-up skirmish with a big chip deficit, but he managed to close the gap and even turn things completely around, at one point achieving a 6:1 lead over Veciana.
But, despite his lack of final table experience, the architect got to rebuilding his shattered stack and, after a grueling match, was able to strike the finishing blow to his opponent, claiming the trophy and the €70,000 first prize.
Despite the big win, Veciana explained that he doesn’t expect his life or his poker ambitions to change too much. He doesn’t seem to have aspirations to become a full-time pro and rather enjoys playing the tournaments he likes, when he feels like it.
As for 888poker, the next LIVE event will be taking place in London in September, giving players plenty of time to get organized and join what’s likely to be another record-breaking festival of poker.
