Today is Day 2 of the three day 888Live Poker Festival London Main Event at Aspers Casino Westfield.
Abu Khalek begins the day as chip leader with 332,000 and the only player to break the 300k barrier.
From a total 427 entries there are 141 survivors who have bagged up chips. Registration is still open until the start of the Day 2 and shortly after the day begins the final prize pool and pay-out structure will be announced. What is sure though is that the £400,000 guarantee has been exceeded.
Some of the notables through to Day 2 include WSOP star John Hesp (86,600), Niall Farrell (154,900), Christopher Yong (153,800), Alex Goulder (139,600) and Steve Watts (134,800).
Cards are in the air at 2 p.m. and the PokerNews Live Reporting Team will bring you all the drama from the felt including the always exciting money bubble on the road to crowning a new 888Poker London Main Event Champion.
Tiffany Michelle got off to a good start knocking out short stacked Krzysztof Spisack. Michelle had a pair of sevens and they help up against the ace-king of Mitchel to bust him.
Not long after that though a short stack shoved with king-jack off suit and Michelle had queens in the small blind and called. There was a jack on the flop and then a king hit on the turn to knock her below ten big blinds.
Michelle then shoved from late position with king-jack suited and got looked up by a player holding ace-eight to end her tournament.
The Feature Table starring Parker “Tonkaaaap” Talbot and the ginger ninja Niall Farrell is live now with commentary from David Tuchman and 888Poker Ambassador Kara Scott.
The damage was done to Hesp’s stack when his Aces were cracked by a player flopping a flush against him and he was out a short while later as related just after his bust out.
There was a limp from under the gun, a call from the player in the cut-off and a call from the small blind.
Hesp was in the big blind and shoved for 8 big blinds with and got a call from the player in the cut-off who had .
The board was with a set on the turn sealing the deal and Hesp was out but was still all smiles shaking hands as he left with a vice like grip and good eye contact like a true Yorkshireman.
There are 35 runners for the ladies event and it looks like this event is going to be a lot of fun as the champagne corks popped and it was Asper’s finest bubbly all round with most players accepting a glass.
Not that the tournament won’t be extremely competitive, as there is an added prize for first place of a $13,000 World Series of Europe package. Late reg is open for 8 levels and a £55 buy-in gets you a 10,000 starting stack.
In the field already are Team 888Poker Ambassadors Kara Scott, Natalie Hof and Sophia Lovgren.
Team 888Poker Ambassador Parker “Tonkaaaa” Talbot is through to the final day of theLondon Poker Festival Main Event as the sole surviving Ambassador with 453,000 in chips.
Talbot was left flying the flag for Team 888Poker as the Twitch king spent most of the day under the heat of the feature table lights and the glare of the delayed stream and then hopped into the commentary booth on his breaks to help David Tuchman with some hand analysis.
Registration closed as soon as play started and the prize pool was announced as a guarantee breaking £427,730.The winner will receive £88,888 and the trophy while 45 places would be paid with a min-cash worth £2,365.
Some of the notables who busted short of the money included 2017 WSOP Main Event 4th Place finisher John Hesp, Niall Farrell, Ludovic Geilich, Alex Goulder, Tiffany Michelle and Steve Watts.
The bubble, when it arrived, took over an hour to burst and it was Patrice Alan Brandt on the button who moved all in with for just three big blinds. Shah Athar was in the big blind called with . The board ran out and the remaining players were all in the money.
Play resumes at 2 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16 and will continue until a new champion is crowned.
The ladies event went into the early hours and Sarah Grant had a look at what made it so special.