£880 Main Event
Day 1b Completed
2016 888Live Poker Festival London
£880 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2016 888Live Poker Festival London
Buy-in
£880
Prize Pool
£228,096
Entries
288
Level
25
Blinds
40,000 / 80,000
Ante
10,000
Aleksandar Kacharov Tops Day 1b of 888Poker London Live Main Event
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
After nine levels of play, and 195 entries on the day creating a total field of 288 entries overall, Day 1b of the Main Event saw the £200,000 guarantee smashed in style as champions and legends of the game took their seats. Aleksandar Kacharov ended the day highest in chips, with 299,700 to his name, a three-bet behind Day 1a's dominators, Albert Sapiano (301,500) and Andrea Volpi, the overall leader with 302,000.
Antonio Esfandiari, Sam Grafton, Tom Middleton, Michael Mizarachi, as well as Team 888Poker ambassadors Chris Moorman and Sofia Lovgren were all in the field. However, Leo McClean got off to the fastest start when he twice got paid for value with two-pair.
Michael Mizrachi got off to a good start once he sat down and late registered. He was up to 160,000 chips when most of the field had less than a third of that amount, before making the decision to leave for an early fitness break to swim at the Olympic Aquapark. He returned after the dinner break with just as much force as he left it and promptly doubled to lead the way by a country mile with 300,000. While Mizrachi would end slightly lower on 182,100, The Grinder was a huge driving force behind the day.
Kuljinder Sindhu won a huge hand against Terry Jordon at a dynamic table, which also featured Tom Middleton. Middleton and Jordon would both bust to Shah Raza Salma's rivered quad fives and that left a path for Sam Grafton to dominate. Grafton ended highest at that table, and only behind Kacharov with 266,200 to his name. Andrew Hulme, who tangled with Mizrachi late on, ended up ahead in that battle and also carried a huge stack through with 231,000.
Behind Hulme, two ladies dominated the story. Laura Glasgow has 210,800. Sinem Melin ended the day 5th on Day 1b with 199,300 after being down to just 4,00 chips halfway through the day. Three flopped sets in an orbit put her right back into contention.
We'll be back in action at 12 midday on Saturday as we play a further nine levels or to the final table of nine players, whichever comes first.
In the mean time check out this video of 888 Partner Henri Bühler.
End of Day 1b Chip Counts
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
With 59 players from Day 1b joining the 20 survivors from Day 1a, here are the full chip counts:
| Player | Chips |
|---|---|
| Aleksandar Kacharov | 299700 |
| Sam Grafton | 266200 |
| Andrew Hulme | 231100 |
| Laura Glasgow | 210800 |
| Sinem Melin | 199300 |
| Kzetil Hove | 198700 |
| Demetris Tryantafillou | 186500 |
| Jose Lopez | 183600 |
| Michael Mizrachi | 182100 |
| Phillippe Souki | 181500 |
| Francisco Blanco | 175100 |
| Daniel James | 161000 |
| Leo Mc Clean | 155400 |
| Sofia Lovgren | 149200 |
| Shah Raza Salma | 144300 |
| Kuljinder Sidhu | 135000 |
| Ishaq IlaJ | 132000 |
| Graham Parzin | 128200 |
| James Parker | 116000 |
| Paul Martinez | 114300 |
| Tony Douggett | 112800 |
| Sam Meeuse | 106400 |
| Dominik Nitsche | 103900 |
| Philip James | 91800 |
| Mikhail Pokrepa | 90200 |
| Vitalii Seman | 88000 |
| Alejandro Torres | 86000 |
| Antonio Maiolo | 85100 |
| Cristian Mihu | 82600 |
| Lawrie Inman | 74200 |
| Hosein Akbari | 72100 |
| Martin Spearing | 71100 |
| Vernon Sellahewa | 68500 |
| George Hassabis | 67800 |
| Al-Farouk Obe | 67300 |
| Paul Vanwalsem | 66000 |
| Paul Skipper | 62000 |
| Kasper Blanbford | 56500 |
| Salah Khelfa | 55600 |
| Christopher Cornelius | 55300 |
| John Games | 52800 |
| Terje Sirnes | 52300 |
| Ali Chaaban | 51200 |
| Timothy Vukson | 49700 |
| Andrey Veselov | 48300 |
| Luke Hayward | 46600 |
| Tomas Kozlovas | 46200 |
| Cedres Seijas | 44100 |
| Jonathan Linton | 43800 |
| Henri Buehler | 43600 |
| Ewouj Snijder | 37700 |
| Russel Crouch | 37200 |
| Leon Milcs | 32900 |
| Oahn Bui | 32500 |
| Patrice Brandt | 30700 |
| Denise Velndnovern | 30100 |
| Alasdair Alexander | 29600 |
| Marian Dodos | 29000 |
| Praninskas Rytis | 26800 |
Day 1b Is Over
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
After nine levels of action, we've reached the end of play. With Michael Mizrachi and Andrew Hulme especially both getting involved in huge pots towards the end of the announced last three hands, the chip leader could be them or Kully Sidhu on the Sam Grafton table.
We'll be back with a full recap and end of day chip counts very soon.
Tim Timotheu Busts to Lovgren
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
All-in with pocket aces pre-flop for around 13 big blinds, Tim Timotheu moved in over the top of Sofia Lovgren's opening bet of 4,500. She declared that she was priced in to call and did so with Q-7 off-suit.
"The flop came 7-8-9 and then she hit the queen on the turn," Timotheu told us, "The river was a four, and that was it."
Timotheu was very short, but others on the feature table are not. Sinem Melin is up to 199,000.
Raza Hits Queens to Bust Middleton and Jordon
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Shah Raza was all-in with the biggest stack after Tom Middleton opened, and with Middleton and Terry Jordon calling for their tournament lives, at least one player was going to end the day cursing their luck.
Raza: 
Jordon: 
Middleton: 
With Sam Grafton actively and vocally anti-railing his friend Middleton, the flop came 
giving Raza the best hand and Jordon hope.
"Yes! The queen. We love to see that." shouted Grafton amid the chaos of raucous laughter.
The turn was another queen, the 
and the river a 
. Shah did not have the most equity going into the play-out, but he ended up with the best hand.
Grafton cheered and amusingly asked Middleton to leave the table, while Jordon was out too, to considerably less amusement on his part than Middleton showed. But then, Tom Middleton finished second in the High Roller here last night for £18,400!
Shah Raza has 159,700 and is right back in with a chance of winning the 888Poker London Live Main event!
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
157,900 | 157,900 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
The Needs of Nitsche
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
Team 888Poker Pro Dominik Nitsche had a fairly disastrous High Roller tournament, but is still in the hunt for the London Live Main Event title. He told us about his time so far in England's capital.
"The High Roller couldn't have gone much worse. I'm hoping to run better in the Main." he said, but also confirmed that he's been having fun pranking his new Team 888Poker team-mate Natalie Hof.
"It's been great. I used to live in London, but I didn't like it as much as where I live now in Edinburgh. I have friends there and I love being there."
Nitsche spends a huge chunk of his time on the road, of course, but has no plans to slow down this year.
"I'll be going to Manila and Macau for some big tournaments, and then Prague."
Nitsche isn't focused on titles like winning a WPT or EPT as opposed to just winning tournaments. He clearly loves the action and a shot at glory and he's still going for that in the Main Event with 75 players left. With only 20 into Day 2 from yesterday's thrilling Day 1a, everyone has Andrea Volpi's overnight lead of 302,000 as a sighter.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
65,100 | 65,100 |
Last Level Under Way
Level 9
: 800/1,600, 200 ante
There was a 15-minute break for players to refresh themselves, swap bad beat stories and strategise for the final level, but we were too busy speaking to Team 888Poker ambassador Dominik Nitsche about his tournament so far and what his current poker plans are.
Stay tuned for that and hold onto your hats - we're in to the final level and Michael Mizrachi has the chip lead again....we're in for an entertaining ride!
Level: 9
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
Hand of the Day - Antonio Esfandiari vs. Tom Middleton
Level 8
: 600/1,200, 200 ante
Check out 888poker's 'Hand of the Day' from yesterday £2,000 High Roller final table. It features Big One for One Drop winner Antonio Esfandiari and English pro and former EPT winner, Tom Middleton.
Both men are still involved on Day 1b but on separate tables, they may need to make Day 2 to renew acquaintances at the felt. Here's hoping they do!