£880 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2016 888Live Poker Festival London
£880 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2016 888Live Poker Festival London
Buy-in
£880
Prize Pool
£228,096
Entries
288
Level
25
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Volpi and Sapiano Lead Day 1a of 888Poker's London Live Main Event
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Andrea Volpi has just 500 chips more than Albert Sapiano after the two men ruled supreme over the 97 entries on Day 1a of the 888Poker London Live Main Event.
Play started timidly for a Main Event, with only two players busted in the first three levels, but once the action heated up, players could hardly stay in their seats. Team 888Poker Pro Dominik Nitsche busted and in doing so, won his conqueror a bounty of £880, but other flag-bearers for the 888Poker team were flying high. Kara Scott would end the day highest-placed on 271,900 chips after some superb river calls to elevate her stack and keep her above average for almost all the day.
Elsewhere, Natalie Hof hung in contention and trebled when her 
ousted pocket nines and tens from pre-flop when she turned an ace. Antonio Esfandiari quickly left the tournament, but others were destined for big stacks. Charles Chattha (127,600) and Christopher Brammer (129,300) shared the felt most of the day, and both progressed with a healthy chance of running deep on Saturday's Day 2. But Kevin Allen had more than both put together after a superb session at the felt ended on 290,000 for the Londoner.
With play in tomorrow's Day 1b set to begin at 12 noon, we look forward to welcoming more players to the £200,000 guaranteed Main Event...and seeing if anyone can grab the bounty on Team 888Poker player Sofia Lovgren's head.
We'll see you right back here tomorrow for more action from the felt at Aspers Casino in London.
End of Main Event Day 1a Chip Counts
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
| Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|
| Andrea Volpi | 302,000 |
| Albert Sapiano | 301,500 |
| Kevin Allen | 290,000 |
| Kara Scott | 271,900 |
| Catherine Hanna | 204,100 |
| Arron Fletcher | 173,600 |
| Gerald Ringe | 151,900 |
| Christopher Brammer | 129,300 |
| Charles Chattha | 127,600 |
| Adrien Alain | 123,900 |
| Chris Da-Silva | 120,000 |
| Andy Achillea | 114,100 |
| Sorie Kamara | 108,800 |
| Ka Him Li | 85,900 |
| Andrew Pursue | 74,700 |
| Enzo Del Piero | 74,000 |
| Jonathan Roux | 54,800 |
| Natalie Hof | 49,500 |
| Ciprian Paunescu | 27,400 |
| Santiago Lopez | 23,000 |
Three More Hands
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
With the tournament clock paused, there will be three more hands. Big stacks in the room include Albert Sapiano, who has the only stack we can tell by eye is over 300,000 chips.
Other players who will not fear the first few levels of Day 2 include Kara Scott, Kevin Allen and Andrea Volpi, although as an average, the feature table for the last two levels including Natalie Hof, Arron Fletcher and Chris Da-Silva, although each of those players look to have plenty to come back with.
As soon as we have the details, so will you.
From Two Antes to Twenty Big Blinds - Charles Akadiri
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Charles Akadiri must feel like he is bulletproof right now after being all-in and at risk three times in a row and surviving each time.
"You've got twenty minute to spin that up!" said Kevin Allen as Akadiri looked down at two antes after a crushing defeat when losing with a flush to a full house in a previous hand.
He got those into the middle with 
and as it would have was suddenly front and centre in a three-way all-in against pocket nines and pocket eights. The board of 
more than trebled Akadiri up to 2,600.
That was still less than two big blinds, so in it went in the next hand, this time due to a raise from Kevin Allen and isolation from a player with 
, looking to more than treble-up again with 
.
The board of 
paid off Akadiri again. Seven big blinds and a dream.
The third hand in a row saw Akadiri move all-in, get raised by one player then re-raised all-in by another player, and with a fold from the middle position original raiser, Akadiri was heads-up to treble-up again. This time, he was in poor shape, with 
well behind his opponent's 
.
The flop of 
saw Akadiri remain behind.
"Seven for a chop?" he asked the poker Gods.
The dealer found a 
instead.
"Heart for the win?" Akadiri requested, upgrading his wish.
The river gave Akadiri the unlikeliest of three consecutive hands in which he more than trebled up, and he now has 21 big blinds, more than enough to pass the next hand. And probably exhale.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
35,600 | -75,500 |
Kara Scott Busts Another
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Kara Scott called the all-in of Angelos Nastos, who had moved all-in pre-flop for his last 50,000 chips.
Angelos Nastos: 
Kara Scott: 
The board of 
had four-flushed Nastos dead by the turn, and Scott moves up the leaderboard again, now threatening the very highest chip stacks.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
221,500 |
Level: 9
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
Players on Final Break
Level 8
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
The remaining 33 players wil enjoy 15 minutes respite from the focus of reaching for Day 2 and return for one more level at 10.15pm local time. So too will we!
Jacobsen Busted Again in the Best Company
Level 8
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Martin Jacobsen's career highlight will always be intrinsically shared with a poker player he never had to face when he won the WSOP Main Event. We're talking about legendary presenter and player Kara Scott, who was hosting the World Series spectacular that fateful night when the Swede turned his dreams into reality.
Since then, Kara Scott told us yesterday, the pair have actually met a few times at tournaments. Scott, whose best result remains a runner-up finish at the Irish Open for €312,600, has built a great stack of around 144,000 so far on Day 1a, well above average and looking good for a Day 2 adventure unless something terrible happens in the final level after the break.
Jacobsen, meanwhile busted in Scott's company in the £2,000 High Roller last night and has done the same here, all-in with 
, called by Kevin Allen's and busted by the river.
When they meet again, Jacobsen might wait for a table move to go all-in!
Kevin Allen Reaching High
Level 8
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
It's a case of a tournament high chip-wise for Kevin Allen as the popular London pro was one of two callers to 2,600 pre-flop on the button.
The flop of 
saw all three men check, but on the turn Allen bet 3,500 and only one caller followed him. The river saw Allen make it 9,000 and that elicited a fold.
Albert Sapiano has the chip lead in the Main Event with 300,500 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
300,500 | |
|
213,400 |