2014 PokerStars.com UKIPT Isle of Man Day 1b: Matthew Baker Thrives, PokerStars Pros Fall
The 2014 UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event continued Friday with the second starting flight at the historic Villa Marina venue in Douglas. After 10 levels of play only 77 players remained as a mixture of pros, local amateurs and staff members of the Rational Group — the parent company of PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker — came together to test their nerve, skill and luck at the tables.
Matthew Baker (pictured) finished at the top of the leaderboard on Friday, bagging up 235,600 in chips. Baker won a huge 100,000 pot toward the end of the day when he knocked out Chris Jonat. All the chips went in on the flop with Baker holding a set of sevens and Jonat a pair of kings. Sitting behind Baker in second place is Wei Li with 172,000, and Barry Curtis finished third with 146,100.
As expected the big guns turned out for Day 1b of the second ever PokerStars 'Home Game' including Team PokerStars Pros Chris Moneymaker, Eugene Katchalov, Luca Pagano, Matthias De Meulder, Jake Cody, Theo Jorgensen and Victoria Coren as well as PokerStars Team Online Pros Ike Haxton, Vicente Delgado and Adrienne Rowsome.
The total number of runners for Day 1b was 257, which resulted in a combined field of 402 entrants made up of 344 unique and 58 re-entries. The £350,000 guaranteed for the Main Event means there will be an overlay of £68,600 falling 98 short of the number required to make up that guarantee for this £700 + £70 Main Event.
Notable survivors on Day 1b include Coren Mitchell (129,000), Cody (60,400) Delgado (76,000), Pagano (66,400) and Full Tilt Poker Ambasador Martins Adeniya, who was the first player to be eliminated on Thursday but stormed back on Friday to finish on an impressive 97,500.
Defending champion Duncan McLellan re-entered after his bustout on Day 1a but his attempt to climb the tournament leaderboard ended just before the dinner break after a very swingy day. Katchalov was another player on his second bullet and had a steadier day than the erratic McLellan, but he eventually ran ace-king into kings after six hours of play with no sign of an ace on the final board.
Moneymaker had a swingy day too but kept his table entertained with his subtle needles, constant aggression and willingness to talk strategy to those interested. Moneymaker fell in Level 8 when he got it all in on the turn of a board reading A♣J♥K♣6♣ holding A♦J♠ but his opponent tabled Q♣8♣ and caught his 9♣ on the river.
Haxton busted toward the end of Level 8 shortly after he three-bet jammed the turn with J♠10♠ on a board reading Q♠5♠8♥7♦ and got a reluctant call from Martin Stuart holding A♠6♠. “I’m in bad shape against that one.” Haxton said, and indeed he was as the 7♥ on the river was no good to leave him short.
The remaining Day 1 fields will combine on Saturday with 122 players returning to continue to fight it out for the first place prize of £65,900. The first order of business to be decided however will be the bursting of the money bubble, always a tense and exciting moment in any poker tournament. Pay-outs start at 55th place and a min-cash is worth £1,660.
Be sure to join the PokerNews Live Reporting team from 12 p.m. as we bring you all the latest news from the felt and exclusive videos here at the home of PokerStars on the Isle of Man.
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