Andrew 'Statto' Hulme has taken some chips from Michael Mizrachi after flopping the straight with 
. The board read 
and Hulme, who made a strong river bet of around 20,000, was raking in chips by the end of the hand.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
252,000
-48,600
|
-48,600 |
|
||
|
201,000 | |
Alexander Kacharov has overtaken Michael Mizrachi as the biggest chip-stack in the room, with 280,600 after being all-in against two players on a flop of 
.
Kacharov held 
for a set of fives, but was up against 
and 
. The turn of 
gave his opponent the straight, but the river 
gave Kacharov Quad fives and left pocket aces in last place.
Kacharov shares the felt with Tom Middleton (78,000) and Sam Grafton (72,000) as well as Michael Harb (25,000) and Terry Jordon (201,000)
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
280,600
280,600
|
280,600 |
Tom Middleton lost the chip lead he had over his table in one hand, up against Terry Jordon on a table also featuring Sam Grafton.
"Terry had pocket aces and hit top set. That's fortunate!" Middleton told us as he volunteered reasons why he lost over 100,000 chips to the ebullient Jordon. "What are the chances of both of those things happening?"
The answer came from Grafton at the other end of the table.
"He did say 'I have the nuts' on the turn. That was the clue for me." Grafton teased to laughter from the table.
"And then he bet 30,000 on the river and said 'I can beat anything you have.'" Grafton continued, "Apart from that, though, he looked weak."
Middleton grins and blushes at the same time.
"I have trust issues." he jokes.
Jordon smiles too, needing to say nothing to be on the right side of the gag. He has 205,000 chips, almost three times Middleton's (or Grafton's) stack.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
205,400
131,100
|
131,100 |
|
78,000
-85,200
|
-85,200 |
|
||
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!
Level: 9
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 200
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!
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
|
65,100 |
|
||
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
|
157,900 |
|
|
Busted | |
|
|
||
|
|
Busted | |
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.
