Day 1 of EPT Barcelona concludes

Patrik Antonius is well-positioned after Day 1 (file photo).

After two flights of play in Barcelona, Spain, 543 entrants have been weeded down to 209 players. Beside chip leader Dan Stern, Day 2 will see a lot of familiar and unfamiliar faces contend for a first prize in the $1.5 million tournament.

The fourth season of the Poker Stars European Poker Tour has kicked off with its first stop in the Catalonian capital of Barcelona.

The €8.000 buy-in has attracted players from all over Europe as well as the rest of the world, including a strong lineup of US pros.

In a pretty impressive starting field, a lot of notorious overachievers have been seen biting the felt during the first two days of play, such as Johnny Lodden, Rolf Slotboom, Isabelle Mercier, Humberto Brenes, Luca Pagano and Liz Lieu.

Nevertheless, no shortage of solid tournament players have survived into Day 2, including Daniel Negreanu, Patrik Antonius, Johnny Chan, Katja Thater, David Williams and Paul Wasicka.

The tournament will go on for another three taxing days of play before the season's first EPT winner can be announced.