2018 888poker LIVE Festival London

£1,100 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info

2018 888poker LIVE Festival London

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
k4
Prize
£121,000
Event Info
Buy-in
£1,100
Prize Pool
£649,440
Entries
656
Level Info
Level
32
Blinds
125,000 / 250,000
Ante
250,000

£1,100 Main Event

Day 1a Completed

Labat Tops Day 1a; Cynn Among 23 Survivors

Parker Talbot and Antoine Labat advance from Day 1a
Parker Talbot and Antoine Labat advance from Day 1a

The £1,100 Main Event at the 2018 888poker LIVE Festival London is off to a great start, as 76 unique players showed up for the first of five starting days. On top of that, another 21 re-entries were purchased to create a field of 97 entries on Day 1a at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City. After 12 levels of 30 minutes each, it was Antoine Labat that turned his starting stack of 30,000 into ten times as many, bagging up 300,500 in the early morning hours.

Labat finished 9th in the 2018 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas for $1 million and very recently added another six-figure score to his poker resume. Among others, Labat faced John Cynn back then in Sin City and the 2018 WSOP Main Event champion also made the trip over to London to take part in the festival in London. Cynn bagged up 76,000 on Day 1a and now has two days off before returning for Day 2 on Sunday, December 2nd, 2018.

Other big stacks and notables that bagged and tagged include the Brits Scott Adams (272,500) and Neil Mahamdi (264,000), Christopher Yong (180,500), Chris Da-Silva (126,000), Benny Glaser (101,000), and Harry Lodge (79,000). Team 888poker saw the ambassadors Ana Marquez (95,500), Parker Talbot (64,500) and Vivian Saliba (60,000) advance, while Dominik Nitsche and Sofia Lovgren were among those that busted.

Terry Jordon took several shots at running up a stack, word on the street is that he fired at least four entries already, but didn't find a bag. Other big names that came and left without chips were Steve Watts, Sam Grafton, Conor Beresford and Andrew Hulme. Beresford was ousted in the final level of the night when he lost a flip with ace-jack suited against the pocket eights of Benny Glaser.

While the entire poker room of the Aspers Casino was buzzing with two Main Event satellites, Day 2 of the £2,200 High Roller, Day 1a of the £1,100 Main Event and the cash game tables in full swing, another Brit that gained a lot of popularity in the previous year was spotted in the tournament area. None other than John Hesp sat down with PokerNews' Sarah Herring for a quick chat on Facebook live and was all smiles. The fairytale story of Hesp saw the Brit on the final table of the 2017 WSOP Main Event and he finished 4th for $2.6 million.

The Main Event continues with two starting days each in the next two days. Day 1b kicks off on Friday, November 30th, 2018, as of 1 p.m. local time and Day 1c kicks off at 6 p.m. the same day. Furthermore, Day 1d and 1e take place the next day with the final heat in a turbo format and levels of 20 minutes each.

John Hesp and PokerNews' Sarah Herring
John Hesp and PokerNews' Sarah Herring

Tags: Ana MarquezAndrew HulmeAntoine LabatBenny GlaserChris Da SilvaChristopher YongConor BeresfordDominik NitscheHarry LodgeJohn CynnJohn HespParker TalbotSam GraftonSofia LovgrenSteve WattsTerry JordonVivian Saliba

End-Of-Day 1a Chip Counts (full)

Player Chips Progress
Antoine Labat fr
Antoine Labat
Day 2 Chip Leader
300,500 300,500
Scott Adams gb
Scott Adams
272,500 272,500
Neil Mahamdi gb
Neil Mahamdi
264,000 264,000
Manh The Nguyen vn
Manh The Nguyen
261,000 261,000
Christopher Yong gb
Christopher Yong
180,500 180,500
Michael Isiguzo gb
Michael Isiguzo
168,000 168,000
Florence Allera fr
Florence Allera
164,500 164,500
Constantin Baratairu ro
Constantin Baratairu
156,000 156,000
Philippe Souki gb
Philippe Souki
129,000 129,000
Chris Da-Silva gb
Chris Da-Silva
126,000 126,000
Benny Glaser gb
Benny Glaser
WSOP 5X Winner
101,000 101,000
Ana Marquez es
Ana Marquez
95,500 95,500
Vadim Cojocaru gb
Vadim Cojocaru
90,000 90,000
Nik Persaud gb
Nik Persaud
81,000 81,000
Harry Lodge gb
Harry Lodge
WSOP 1X Winner
79,000 79,000
John Cynn us
John Cynn
Main Event Champion
WSOP Main Event Champion
WSOP 1X Winner
76,000 76,000
Parker Talbot ca
Parker Talbot
64,500 64,500
Vivian Saliba br
Vivian Saliba
60,000 60,000
Vinod Fernandez gb
Vinod Fernandez
59,500 59,500
Oliver Price gb
Oliver Price
54,000 54,000
Jonty Williams gb
Jonty Williams
54,000 54,000
Ronner Alexandre De Miranda Soares br
Ronner Alexandre De Miranda Soares
36,500 36,500
Jeremy Saderne fr
Jeremy Saderne
WSOP 1X Winner
20,000

Day 1a of the Main Event Kicks Off at 6PM!

Tournament Room at the Aspers Casino London
Tournament Room at the Aspers Casino London

At 6 p.m. local time, the first of five starting days of the 2018 888poker LIVE Festival London £1,100 Main Event kicks off at the Aspers Casino in Westfield Stratford City. The highlight of the festival in the heart of London comes with a guaranteed prize pool of £400,000 and is expected to be easily surpassed.

Both the £220 Opening Event and the £2,200 High Roller smashed their guarantees and the £1,100 Main Event will likely do so as well. All starting days will play a total of 12 levels and the first four starting days will feature levels of 40 minutes, whereas the turbo heat on Saturday, December 1st, 2018, will have a level duration of 20 minutes.

All players receive 30,000 in chips and the re-entries are available throughout each Day 1, the registration will close at the start of Day 2 on Sunday, December 2nd, 2018, at 2 p.m. local time. A 30-second Action Clock is in play and the event also features the popular big blind ante. On top of the trophy and prize money, the winner of the £1,100 Main Event will also receive a package for the 2019 WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas, courtesy of sponsor 888poker.

Main Event Day 1a Blind Level Structure

LevelDurationSmall BlindBig BlindAnte
1401001000
2401002000
340100200200
440200300300
540200400400
640300500500
740300600600
840400800800
9405001,0001,000
10406001,2001,200
11408001,6001,600
12401,0002,0002,000

The PokerNews live updates will focus on the £2,200 High Roller and the final chip counts along with a brief recap of Day 1a will be published later tonight.

£1,100 Main Event

Day 1a Started