Ponomarev Tops Day 1d; Poulengeris Bags the Most on Day 1e
The final two starting days of the 2019 888poker LIVE Festival London £1,100 Main Event have wrapped up at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City and the field size has increased to 506 total entries thanks to the far-biggest flight for the flagship tournament of the festival.
After three previous starting days, 261 entries had set the event on track to meet the £500,000 guarantee and Day 1d turned out to attract 165 unique players. Along with 39 re-entries, an additional 204 were added to the equation and the final turbo heat 1e pushed it up further thanks to 38 unique players and three re-entries.
The five starting days at a glance
| Day | Unique Players | Re-Entries | Total Entries | Survivors |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1a | 52 | 6 | 58 | 13 |
| 1b | 62 | 14 | 76 | 24 |
| 1c | 111 | 16 | 127 | 49 |
| 1d | 165 | 39 | 204 | 79 |
| 1e | 38 | 3 | 41 | 19 |
| 2 | ? | Total | 506 | 184 |
Following the trend of the previous flights, Day 1d bagged up slightly more than one-third of the field as 79 hopefuls punched their tickets for Day 2. Nikolay Ponomarev came out on top with 222,500 but Matthew Anderson trailed him by fewer than one big blind with a stack of 221,500. Third in chips is Frenchman Maxime Chilaud (192,000), a single chip ahead of Craig Smith (191,500).
Ponomarev had already tried his luck in previous flights without success and Day 1d turned out to be the charm. In the penultimate level of the night, Ponomarev sent Serkan Ersoy to the rail who flat-called a raise and then four-bet jammed for almost 80 big blinds with pocket sixes. He was called by Ponomarev with pocket eights and neither player hit anything on the board.
Chilaud won the second-biggest pot of the day just before heading into the final break of the night at the end of level nine. In a three-bet pot he flopped top pair with ace-queen and fired three barrels to get hero-called eventually by Richard Kellett with pocket tens. Kellett dropped to half the starting stack but still made it through to Day 2 thanks to a late surge, as he claimed 128,500 to his name.
Top five counts after Day 1d
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nikolay Ponomarev | Russia | 222,500 |
| 2 | Matthew Anderson | United Kingdom | 221,500 |
| 3 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 192,000 |
| 4 | Craig Smith | United Kingdom | 191,500 |
| 5 | Anthony Andreou | United Kingdom | 171,000 |
Other notables from Day 1d with a big stack include Anthony Andreou (171,000), Victor Ilyukhin Sr (153,000), Adrian Constantin (147,500), Nicholas Lee (106,000), Christopher Yong (101,000), Sang Leung (99,000), Vamshi Vandanapu (87,500) and William Kassouf (76,500) to name just a few.
The long list of casualties, unfortunately, included the 888poker ambassadors Kara Scott and Ana Marquez, the former came up short on the live stream table. Furthermore, James Mitchell, Kelly Saxby, Alexios Zervos, Sebastian Gohr, Natalia Breviglieri, Javier Zarco, Ryan Mandara, Kevin Allen and Brandon Shiels were all eliminated.
Local legend Albert Sapiano was the center of chip changes throughout the day as he took several attempts in order to run up a stack. His wild roller-coaster ride brought massive swings in quick succession and he would not bag up chips in either Day 1d and 1e respectively.
With regards to the final turbo heat, a moderate field of 41 total entries was cut down to 19 survivors in 11 levels of 20 minutes each. Antonis "Tony" Poulengeris more than quadrupled his starting stack to claim the honors of Day 1a chip leader with a stack of 124,0000. Neophytos Neophytou (106,000), former football striker Steve Watts (68,500), Brandon Sheils (59,500) and Carl Shaw (37,500) used their last chance.
Top five counts after Day 1e
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Antonis Poulengeris | United Kingdom | 124,000 |
| 2 | Jose Planells | Spain | 116,500 |
| 3 | Neophytos Neophytou | United Kingdom | 106,000 |
| 4 | Stephen Buxton | United Kingdom | 96,500 |
| 5 | Paul Grummitt | United Kingdom | 94,000 |
The field size is not set yet as the late registration and re-entry period remains open until the cards go back in the air for Day 2 as of 2 p.m. local time on Sunday, December 1st, 2019. The money bubble will be reached and the field is expected to get whittled down to the final three tables or fewer as the level duration increases to 60 minutes each for the remainder of the tournament.
A live stream with hole cards displayed on a 30-minute security delay will be available on the 888poker YouTube channel after the first break of the day and the PokerNews team will provide all the action from the tables until the 888poker LIVE circuit has crowned a new champion.
Main Event Day 2 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Jaime Rueda Sampedro | Spain | 40,000 | 20 |
| 1 | 2 | Samuel Kerr | United Kingdom | 137,500 | 69 |
| 1 | 3 | Paul Grummitt | United Kingdom | 94,000 | 47 |
| 1 | 4 | Stefanita-Catalin Buzatu | Romania | 65,500 | 33 |
| 1 | 5 | Jacek Skiscim | Poland | 125,000 | 63 |
| 1 | 6 | Jamie Munro | United Kingdom | 56,500 | 28 |
| 1 | 7 | Kenny Lim | United Kingdom | 55,000 | 28 |
| 1 | 8 | Jurij Kolesnikov | Lithuania | 33,000 | 17 |
| 1 | 9 | Lukas Gloor | Switzerland | 221,500 | 111 |
| 2 | 1 | Borja Picon | Spain | 38,000 | 19 |
| 2 | 2 | Boris Velev | Bulgaria | 31,500 | 16 |
| 2 | 3 | Jonathan Lemon | United Kingdom | 68,000 | 34 |
| 2 | 4 | Reza Movasat | United Kingdom | 26,000 | 13 |
| 2 | 5 | Carl-Fredrik Tingvall | Sweden | 37,500 | 19 |
| 2 | 6 | Sam Acheampong | United Kingdom | 46,500 | 23 |
| 2 | 7 | Getnet Kassa | United Kingdom | 52,500 | 26 |
| 2 | 8 | Ion Albu | Romania | 79,000 | 40 |
| 2 | 9 | James Williams | United Kingdom | 64,500 | 32 |
| 3 | 1 | Isabelle Tsaplina | France | 40,500 | 20 |
| 3 | 2 | Catalin Dumitrascu | Romania | 97,500 | 49 |
| 3 | 3 | Rahnaz Rehman | United Kingdom | 58,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 4 | Tom Winstone | United Kingdom | 22,500 | 11 |
| 3 | 5 | Riyazur Samad | United Kingdom | 37,000 | 19 |
| 3 | 6 | Joseph Bodner | United Kingdom | 85,000 | 43 |
| 3 | 7 | Freddy Moutousamy | United Kingdom | 37,000 | 19 |
| 3 | 8 | [Removed:321] Usmani | United Kingdom | 33,000 | 17 |
| 3 | 9 | Lee Mulligan | United Kingdom | 60,500 | 30 |
| 4 | 1 | Simon Abou Zaki | United Kingdom | 71,000 | 36 |
| 4 | 2 | Atanas Pavlov | Bulgaria | 25,000 | 13 |
| 4 | 3 | Carlos Gutierrez | Spain | 83,000 | 42 |
| 4 | 4 | Neil van der Merwe | United Kingdom | 92,000 | 46 |
| 4 | 5 | Dino Brivati | United Kingdom | 137,000 | 69 |
| 4 | 6 | Sang Leung | United Kingdom | 99,000 | 50 |
| 4 | 7 | Michael Panteli | United Kingdom | 102,500 | 51 |
| 4 | 8 | Nikolay Ponomarev | Russia | 222,500 | 111 |
| 4 | 9 | Christophe Panetti | France | 53,000 | 27 |
| 5 | 1 | Tore Pedersen | Norway | 13,500 | 7 |
| 5 | 2 | Joseph Parsons | United Kingdom | 96,500 | 48 |
| 5 | 3 | Ionut Dragomir | Romania | 52,000 | 26 |
| 5 | 4 | Bojia Zhang | United Kingdom | 122,500 | 61 |
| 5 | 5 | Manuel Bueno | Spain | 103,500 | 52 |
| 5 | 6 | Andy Achillea | United Kingdom | 47,000 | 24 |
| 5 | 7 | Raafat Sharawi | United Kingdom | 123,500 | 62 |
| 5 | 8 | Eric Le Goff | France | 24,500 | 12 |
| 5 | 9 | Damian Bell | United Kingdom | 33,500 | 17 |
| 6 | 1 | Jose Echevarne Gomez | Spain | 91,500 | 46 |
| 6 | 2 | Gary Bertram | United Kingdom | 43,000 | 22 |
| 6 | 3 | Alexander Donev | France | 105,000 | 53 |
| 6 | 4 | Vikrum Mehta | United Kingdom | 160,000 | 80 |
| 6 | 5 | Alexandru Tornea | Romania | 70,000 | 35 |
| 6 | 6 | Edward Overall | United Kingdom | 166,000 | 83 |
| 6 | 7 | Artan Dedusha | United Kingdom | 72,000 | 36 |
| 6 | 8 | Martin Jacobson | Sweden | 60,000 | 30 |
| 6 | 9 | Michele Denuzzo | Italy | 24,500 | 12 |
| 7 | 1 | Malcolm Mckinlay | United Kingdom | 36,500 | 18 |
| 7 | 2 | Guillaume Chiron | France | 89,500 | 45 |
| 7 | 3 | Mohammed Zahour | United Kingdom | 84,500 | 42 |
| 7 | 4 | Nicholas Lee | Australia | 106,000 | 53 |
| 7 | 5 | Tobias Revenas | Sweden | 104,000 | 52 |
| 7 | 6 | Richard Kellett | United Kingdom | 128,500 | 64 |
| 7 | 7 | Renee Xle | China | 53,000 | 27 |
| 7 | 8 | Katie Lindsay | United States | 39,000 | 20 |
| 7 | 9 | Mohammed Ifzail | United Kingdom | 86,000 | 43 |
| 8 | 1 | Maria Lampropulos | Argentina | 21,500 | 11 |
| 8 | 2 | Craig Smith | United Kingdom | 191,500 | 96 |
| 8 | 3 | Thomas Berends | United Kingdom | 118,000 | 59 |
| 8 | 4 | Arvin Vahdat | Iran | 35,500 | 18 |
| 8 | 5 | Francisco Jesus Campos | Spain | 123,500 | 62 |
| 8 | 6 | Tsvetelin Goranov | United Kingdom | 14,000 | 7 |
| 8 | 7 | Tony Poulengeris | United Kingdom | 124,000 | 62 |
| 8 | 8 | Chris Moorman | United Kingdom | 82,000 | 41 |
| 8 | 9 | James Millman | United Kingdom | 41,000 | 21 |
| 9 | 1 | Bobby James | United Kingdom | 235,000 | 118 |
| 9 | 2 | Sanjay Patel | United Kingdom | 72,000 | 36 |
| 9 | 3 | Kasim Oz | United Kingdom | 59,000 | 30 |
| 9 | 4 | Mark Wong | United Kingdom | 93,500 | 47 |
| 9 | 5 | Christopher Rowlands | United Kingdom | 70,000 | 35 |
| 9 | 6 | James Walsh | United Kingdom | 53,500 | 27 |
| 9 | 7 | Tamer Kamel | United Kingdom | 59,000 | 30 |
| 9 | 8 | Stephen Miles | United Kingdom | 48,500 | 24 |
| 10 | 1 | Josep Vives | Spain | 53,500 | 27 |
| 10 | 2 | Daniel Habib | United Kingdom | 101,500 | 51 |
| 10 | 3 | William Miskelly | United Kingdom | 160,000 | 80 |
| 10 | 4 | Abdullah Atshanti | United Kingdom | 39,500 | 20 |
| 10 | 5 | Richard Watts | United Kingdom | 82,500 | 41 |
| 10 | 6 | Kfir Ivgi | United Kingdom | 419,000 | 210 |
| 10 | 7 | Alfie Adam | United Kingdom | 144,000 | 72 |
| 10 | 8 | Stephen Smith | United Kingdom | 29,500 | 15 |
| 11 | 1 | Sinead Priestley | United Kingdom | 83,500 | 42 |
| 11 | 2 | Kim Johansson | Sweden | 82,500 | 41 |
| 11 | 3 | Andrew Connell | United Kingdom | 72,500 | 36 |
| 11 | 4 | Juan Bautista | Spain | 52,000 | 26 |
| 11 | 5 | Anthony Andreou | United Kingdom | 171,000 | 86 |
| 11 | 6 | Catherine Hanna | United Kingdom | 40,000 | 20 |
| 11 | 7 | Shaun Decesare | United Kingdom | 31,000 | 16 |
| 11 | 8 | Stefan Dimitrov | Bulgaria | 77,500 | 39 |
| 12 | 1 | Neophytos Neophytou | United Kingdom | 106,000 | 53 |
| 12 | 2 | Vivian Saliba | Brazil | 78,000 | 39 |
| 12 | 3 | Egidijus Alsauskas | United Kingdom | 107,500 | 54 |
| 12 | 4 | Jimmy Kebe | France | 37,000 | 19 |
| 12 | 5 | Colin Macandrew | United Kingdom | 54,500 | 27 |
| 12 | 6 | Alexander Schechter | United Kingdom | 179,500 | 90 |
| 12 | 7 | Alexander Zeligman | United Kingdom | 80,000 | 40 |
| 12 | 8 | Maxime Chilaud | France | 192,000 | 96 |
| 13 | 1 | Daniel Rudd | United Kingdom | 52,500 | 26 |
| 13 | 2 | Fraser Macintyre | United Kingdom | 57,500 | 29 |
| 13 | 3 | Mauro Suriano | United Kingdom | 42,500 | 21 |
| 13 | 4 | Savvas Mitsikouridis | Greece | 122,500 | 61 |
| 13 | 5 | Sofia Lovgren | Sweden | 41,000 | 21 |
| 13 | 6 | Justin Tsui | United Kingdom | 85,500 | 43 |
| 13 | 7 | Matti Kinnunen | Finland | 60,500 | 30 |
| 13 | 8 | Scott Berko | United Kingdom | 35,000 | 18 |
| 14 | 1 | Charles Akadiri | United Kingdom | 30,000 | 15 |
| 14 | 2 | Lee Whiddett | United Kingdom | 131,500 | 66 |
| 14 | 3 | Victor Ilyukhin Sr | Russia | 153,000 | 77 |
| 14 | 4 | Giulio Mascolo | Italy | 111,000 | 56 |
| 14 | 5 | Nguyen Le | United Kingdom | 142,000 | 71 |
| 14 | 6 | Christopher Yong | United Kingdom | 101,000 | 51 |
| 14 | 7 | Leon Louis | United Kingdom | 92,500 | 46 |
| 14 | 8 | Alexandru-Bogdan Bouru | Romania | 58,000 | 29 |
| 15 | 1 | George Achillea | United Kingdom | 114,500 | 57 |
| 15 | 2 | Victor Hairapetyan | United Kingdom | 26,500 | 13 |
| 15 | 3 | Iaron Lightbourne | United Kingdom | 256,000 | 128 |
| 15 | 4 | Brandon Sheils | United Kingdom | 59,500 | 30 |
| 15 | 5 | Vamshi Vandanapu | United Kingdom | 87,500 | 44 |
| 15 | 6 | Christos Xanthopoulos | Greece | 139,500 | 70 |
| 15 | 7 | Akshay Reddy | United Kingdom | 123,000 | 62 |
| 15 | 8 | Kanan Farzaliyev | United Kingdom | 20,500 | 10 |
| 16 | 1 | Gladys Long | United Kingdom | 29,500 | 15 |
| 16 | 2 | Jonathan Schuman | United Kingdom | 80,500 | 40 |
| 16 | 3 | Enzo Del Piero | United Kingdom | 80,000 | 40 |
| 16 | 4 | Ronan Nally | Ireland | 77,500 | 39 |
| 16 | 5 | Chris Da-Silva | United Kingdom | 150,000 | 75 |
| 16 | 6 | Pavlos Xanthopoulos | Greece | 48,000 | 24 |
| 16 | 7 | Gary Miller | United Kingdom | 231,500 | 116 |
| 16 | 8 | Manh The Nguyen | Vietnam | 54,500 | 27 |
| 17 | 1 | Tan Le | United Kingdom | 25,000 | 13 |
| 17 | 2 | Jose Planells | Spain | 116,500 | 58 |
| 17 | 3 | Nuno Duarte | Brazil | 80,000 | 40 |
| 17 | 4 | Bhavin Khatri | United Kingdom | 53,000 | 27 |
| 17 | 5 | Charlie Combes | United Kingdom | 51,500 | 26 |
| 17 | 6 | Abhekesh Basdeo | Trinidad and Tobago | 60,500 | 30 |
| 17 | 7 | Stephen Buxton | United Kingdom | 96,500 | 48 |
| 17 | 8 | Duc Nguyen | Vietnam | 74,000 | 37 |
| 18 | 1 | Neil Mcculloch | United Kingdom | 115,500 | 58 |
| 18 | 2 | Masoud Etemadiherisi | United Kingdom | 37,000 | 19 |
| 18 | 3 | Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos | Brazil | 90,500 | 45 |
| 18 | 4 | Firat Basbaydar | United Kingdom | 46,000 | 23 |
| 18 | 5 | Ben Morrison | United Kingdom | 125,500 | 63 |
| 18 | 6 | Justin Scicluna | Malta | 259,000 | 130 |
| 18 | 7 | Matthew Anderson | United Kingdom | 221,500 | 111 |
| 18 | 8 | Irena Macesovic | Lithuania | 85,500 | 43 |
| 19 | 1 | William Kassouf | United Kingdom | 76,500 | 38 |
| 19 | 2 | Francois Pirault | France | 54,000 | 27 |
| 19 | 3 | Max Deveson | United Kingdom | 100,000 | 50 |
| 19 | 4 | Sachin Joshi | United Kingdom | 93,500 | 47 |
| 19 | 5 | Georges Georgiou | United Kingdom | 104,000 | 52 |
| 19 | 6 | Ramlal Basdeo | Trinidad and Tobago | 177,500 | 89 |
| 19 | 7 | Carl Shaw | United Kingdom | 37,500 | 19 |
| 19 | 8 | Timothee Zogo | United Kingdom | 46,000 | 23 |
| 20 | 1 | Michael Isiguzo | United Kingdom | 30,500 | 15 |
| 20 | 2 | Teresa Purt | Spain | 25,000 | 13 |
| 20 | 3 | Vincent Meli | France | 76,500 | 38 |
| 20 | 4 | Jean Matthieu Choy | United Kingdom | 49,500 | 25 |
| 20 | 5 | Man Luk | United Kingdom | 86,000 | 43 |
| 20 | 6 | Jiaze Li | United Kingdom | 71,000 | 36 |
| 20 | 7 | Daria Antonova | Russia | 139,000 | 70 |
| 20 | 8 | Ioannis Kateinas | Greece | 42,000 | 21 |
| 21 | 1 | Terry Jordon | United Kingdom | 200,000 | 100 |
| 21 | 2 | Rene Lazaro | Hungary | 22,000 | 11 |
| 21 | 3 | Steve Watts | United Kingdom | 68,500 | 34 |
| 21 | 4 | Aleksandrs Golubevs | United Kingdom | 70,000 | 35 |
| 21 | 5 | Adrian Constantin | Romania | 147,500 | 74 |
| 21 | 6 | George Demetriou | United Kingdom | 31,500 | 16 |
| 21 | 7 | Daria Feshchenko | Russia | 13,500 | 7 |
| 21 | 8 | Conor O'Driscoll | United Kingdom | 39,500 | 20 |
| 22 | 1 | Xuan Nguyen | United Kingdom | 47,000 | 24 |
| 22 | 2 | Endrit Geci | United Kingdom | 39,500 | 20 |
| 22 | 3 | Kully Sidhu | United Kingdom | 32,000 | 16 |
| 22 | 4 | Alexandru Vlaica | United Kingdom | 22,000 | 11 |
| 22 | 5 | Tony Vu | United Kingdom | 60,000 | 30 |
| 22 | 6 | Paul Linton | United Kingdom | 55,500 | 28 |
| 22 | 7 | Flaviano Cammisuli | Italy | 54,000 | 27 |
| 22 | 8 | Usman Ulhaq | United Kingdom | 26,500 | 13 |
, Victor Ilyukhin Senior jammed for 62,100 and Arvin Vahdat called from one seat over for most of his chips.
turn changed nothing but the 
river improved Ilyukhin to a flush.
and Ersoy was sent to the rail while Ponomarev became a contender for the Day 1d lead.
turn. That created a pot of 60,500 and Kellett checked the 
on the river.
were revealed as per all-in showdown rule.
. The board came 
, Sapiano checked and Acheampong bet 5,000 to pick up a call by Mitchell. Sapiano moved all in and Acheampong called.
but had plenty quite some outs. The 
turn and 
