2015 Estrellas Day 1A Breakdown

A huge field turned out for Day 1a of the €1,100 Estrellas Main Event today, the first big tourney of EPT Season 12.

The 592-strong field was a 35% increase on last year's 438 players but, by the end of the day (12 x 45-minute levels), just 166 players remained. Spain's Fernando Heredia is the chip leader with 336,200; he won his seat in a live satellite yesterday.

Other notable survivors include EPT Barcelona HR finalist Carlos Mora (currently 7th with 207,700), Vladimir Troyanovskiy (61,100), British pro Niall Farrell (157,000), FPS Deauville winner Niels van Leeuwen (60,700), Estrellas PoY Heinz Traut (23,500) and "Nosebleed" star Sebastian Sabic (63,400).

Day 1b looks set to attract an even bigger field with 540+ already registered. See the list here.

They include Team PokerStars Pro George Danzer, Team Online's Liliya Novikova (who has made Day 2 of Barcelona Cup, see below) and PokerStars-sponsored Miss Finland Sara Chafak. Also set to play are Zachary Korik, former EPT Player of the Year Jan Bendik, New Zealand's David Yan, EPT Berlin champion Kevin MacPhee, Jonathan Little and Irish Open champion Kevin Vandersmissen.

Nearly 70 players snagged their seats in a huge super satellite this evening which garnered 390 entries.

Last year's Estrellas champion was Matias Ruzzi who defeated a record 2,560-strong field to take €198,550 back home to Argentina.