World Series of Poker Europe: Chris Ferguson Among Leaders of £1,000 Buy-in Heading into Day 2

The second day of action in London at the World Series of Poker Europe presented by Betfair saw over 300 hopefuls jump into the fray for Day 1b of the £1,000 no-limit hold'em event. While the official chip counts are not yet in, Chris Ferguson joins Nicholas Levi, Stephane Hansen, and Fabien Dunlop among the chip leaders going into Day 2.

With the second of two flights complete, the final numbers include 608 total entrants with a prize pool of £608,000 that will pay out the top 63 finishers. The winner will get £136,803 and the first World Series of Poker bracelet awarded in London this year.

Today's field consisted of some big-name pros including Men Nguyen, Howard Lederer, Annette Obrestad, Antonio Esfandiari, Jeff Lisandro, Allen Cunningham, John Juanda, Andy Black, Tony Cousineau and November Niners James Akenhead, and Phil Ivey. Ivey, who has two WSOP bracelets this year and eight players to defeat for a Main Event title, arrived during the third level of play. He was able to double up and take in a massage at the table before finally busting out against an opponent who turned two-pair, besting Ivey's turned top-pair.

One of the bigger hands of the day saw Julian Thew raise pre-flop with [Ax][Kx] and get called by Stephane Hansen. Thew bet on every street and the final board read . Hansen, however, was skeptical the entire way through and called all of Thew's bets before revealing pocket threes,which were good enough to best Julian Thew's Ace-high and scoop the pot.

The remaining field will combine tomorrow at the Empire Casino at 2 p.m. GMT +1, and it will be JP Kelly, Day 1a chip leader who will lead the pack as they attempt to play down to a final table before play ends for the night.

Be sure to follow all the action live tomorrow with PokerNews and for up to the minute news and entertainment be sure to follow us on twitter.