High Roller Day 1 & Huge Giveaway For 888Live Main Event at Aspers

There were 57 entries for the 888Live London High Roller at Aspers Casino, Westfield in Stratford London with the action kicking off at 7:30 p.m. and ending at 2 a.m after eight 45-minute levels.

Some of the biggest names in the UK poker scene turned up at Aspers to flex their high roller muscles and in some cases their drinking arm. Although the buy-in was a steep £2,200 for most people, these players take it in their stride and having spent many hours facing off against each other over the felt the atmosphere is noticeably convivial even though the competition is fierce.

Among the notables at the table on Day 1 of this 2 day event were Team 888Poker Ambassador Chris Moorman, his wife Katie Lindsay and some of the most well know players on the UK scene. Niall Farrell, Jake Cody, Ludovic Geilich, Tom Hall and Nick Persaud were all in attendance.

For the first time in 888Live tournaments Aspers saw the introduction of the Shot Clock. Every time action was on a player the dealer activated a 30 second timer. Each player then had two Time Chips if they needed extra thinking time and their hand was dead if they failed to act before the time ran out

The players appeared to embrace the shot clock, some seemingly adding it to their poker armoury to put opponents in difficult spots. Geilich certainly seemed to have it on his mind in a couple of hands.

You can read more about the Shot Clock which will be used in both the High Roller and the Main Event later in the Festival.

One hand in particular got the attention of a number of players and it was the exit of Moorman at the hands of Lindsay. Harry Lodge opened the action for 5,000 from the cut-off and got a call from Moorman on the button before Lindsay three-bet from the big blind to 15,000.

Lodge got out of the way of this particular confrontation pretty quickly but Moorman called.

The flop was and Lindsay tapped the table to check.Moorman cut some chips and bet 16,000. Lindsay moved all in and Moorman called.Lindsay showed for middle set.

“Fucks sake,” Moorman said as he showed his two pair.

The turn was the and the river the .

“Sorry honey,” Lindsay offered as Moorman departed to a few heckles from the other players, “I’m definitely on the couch tonight.”

The High Roller concludes with Day 2 starting at 5 p.m. but it is also Day 1a of the Main Event and 888Poker in conjunction with Aspers Casino has come up with an incredible prize giveaway tomorrow.

The first 200 players to preregister or enter before the end of the first level for the £1,100 Main Event tomorrow, Thursday 12th October, will be eligible to spin the wheel for the chance to win an amazing Immerse 360 Action Camera worth £200.

That's £40,000 worth of giveaways!

The catch? If you are lucky enough to be one of those 200 spinning the wheel, your odds of winning the camera are 52-1 on. That means there are 52 slots on the wheel where you will win the camera and just one losing slot.

The PokerNews Live Reporting team is here bringing you all the action.