£1,100 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2023 888poker LIVE London
£1,100 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2023 888poker LIVE London
Buy-in
£1,100
Prize Pool
£367,500
Entries
385
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Entries
114
Players Left
33
Jiaze Li Dominates Day 1a of the £1,100 Main Event to Hold Commanding Lead
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
It was a boisterous Day 1a of the £1,100 Main Event at the 2023 888poker Live London stop that saw plenty of players including many of the 888poker ambassadors take to the felt. A total of 114 entries were recorded during the opening of three flights with just 33 players advancing to Day 2 with a chip stack.
There was no question who the chip leader by the end of the day was as Jiaze Li dominated the last few levels of the night to accumulate a whopping stack of 375,500 chips. Li was quietly going about his business through much of the day but a massive three-way pot broke out where Li made a full house to eliminate one opponent and take a large chunk from the other.
Li continued his dominance by cracking the pocket aces of a fresh stack just moments later. To cap off the night, Li was faced with an all-in from Ajay Kejriwal who put the last of his chips in the middle without looking at his cards. Li made the call and found out that his nine-high was actually ahead. Both players made a pair but Li's was the better of the two, adding even more to his growing stack.
The next closest stack belongs to Steven Game who brought his "A-Game" to the tables today. Game mustered up a stack of 219,500 chips, good enough for second place on the day. Rounding out the top three stacks is Raymond Caabay with 179,500 which was rather impressive considering Caabay joined the field in the second half of the day.
There were plenty of 888poker ambassadors in the field for Day 1a but only one was able to make it through to Day 2. That honor was given to Lucia Navarro who scathed her way through on just one bullet en route to bagging up 46,000 chips. As for Ian Simpson, Josh Manley, Vivian Saliba, and Nick Eastwood, they will be forced to enter one of the latter flights or at the start of Day 2 if they wish to keep their hopes of a title still alive.
One of the feel-good stories of the tournament belonged to Adam Gilbert who won the opportunity for himself and his two friends, David Swain and Thomas Hayton, to enter the Main Event after winning a $5 Royal Squad tournament on 888poker. The three players had their entry fee, flight, and accommodations all paid for along with a VIP experience to a football game later this week. Unfortunately, none of the three players were able to find a stack in order to advance to Day 2.
The cards will be back in the air for Day 1b at 12:00 p.m. noon local time at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino and the field is expected to be at least twice the size. There will also be a turbo flight taking place at 6:00 p.m. local time where the levels will only be 20 minutes in length. The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates as the action unfolds.
Assorted End of Day Chip Counts (full)
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
375,500 | -2,000 |
|
279,500 | 142,000 |
|
179,500 | 179,500 |
|
176,000 | 61,800 |
|
167,000 | 59,000 |
|
159,000 | 159,000 |
|
|
155,000 | |
|
153,000 | 153,000 |
|
125,000 | 125,000 |
|
|
122,000 | 122,000 |
|
|
115,500 | 115,500 |
|
113,000 | -25,000 |
|
110,000 | 38,500 |
|
|
109,000 | -45,000 |
|
105,000 | 105,000 |
|
|
103,000 | 21,400 |
|
102,000 | 41,500 |
|
|
98,000 | 98,000 |
|
|
94,500 | 94,500 |
|
81,500 | 59,300 |
|
75,000 | 75,000 |
|
70,000 | 22,800 |
|
64,000 | -13,500 |
|
61,500 | 43,000 |
|
46,500 | -17,100 |
Li Cements His Spot at the Top
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Jiaze Li opened to 3,500 from early position and the action folded to Ajay Kejriwal in the big blind. Kejriwal shoved all in for 27,500 and confirmed that he had not looked at his cards yet.
"Please call. I either double up or rebuy tomorrow. I haven't even looked yet." Li obliged to put Kejriwal at risk and the cards were tabled.
Ajay Kejriwal: 6♣5♣
Jiaze Li: 9♥8♥
The flop came 6♦4♣4♦ to give Kejriwal the lead with a pair of sixes. However, the 9♦ on the turn put Li back out front. The J♣ on the river was a brick and Li collected another pot before the end of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
377,500 | 47,500 |
|
|
Busted |
Last Six Hands of the Night
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
The tournament clock has been paused and there will be six more hands at each table before the players start bagging up their chips.
Crisostomo Continues to Build a Stack
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
David Lopez Llacer opened to 3,500 from under the gun and Giorgio Crisostomo called from the cutoff. They went heads-up to a flop of K♣10♥8♥ and both players checked to the 8♠ on the turn.
Lopez Llacer checked again and Crisostomo fired out a bet of 4,000 which Lopez Llacer called. The 3♠ completed the board and Lopez Llacer checked once more. Crisostomo tossed in a bet of 16,000 which put Lopez Llacer in the tank for a minute before he folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
155,000 | 82,500 |
|
18,000 | -5,300 |
Kirby Goes Runner-Runner
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Gary Miller opened to 3,500 in the cutoff and Tobias Kirby ripped all in for 38,200 in the small blind. David Lopez Llacer re-shoved all in from the big blind and Miller quickly folded.
Tobias Kirby: 9♠8♠
David Lopez Llacer: A♠Q♦
The flop came K♠Q♥7♦ and Lopez Llacer took a sizeable lead with a pair of queens. However, the 2♠ and 7♠ runout gave Kirby a flush and he scored a big double-up in the last level of the night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
81,600 | |
|
|
23,300 |
Chalk Up Another for Li
Level 12
: Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
The action folded around to the small blind who just sat down with a fresh stack of 30,000 chips the hand before. He limped in and Jiaze Li raised to 6,000 from the big blind. The small blind shoved all in and was met by a snap call from Li.
Small Blind: A♥A♣
Jiaze Li: 10♣10♦
The flop came K♣10♠4♥ and Li spiked a set of tens to take the lead. The Q♦ on the turn made things sweaty but the 4♠ on the river secured the knockout for Li.
"You got me covered?" his opponent jokingly questioned.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
330,000 | 30,000 |
Level: 12
Blinds: 800/1,600
Ante: 1,600
Li Scoops a Massive Pot to Take the Lead
Level 11
: Blinds 600/1,200, 1,200 ante
Christopher Day was on the short stack with around 17,000 chips and pushed all in from the cutoff. Jiaze Li called on the button and Manh Nguyen also called from the big blind.
The flop came J♠10♥2♥ and Nguyen check-called a bet of 10,000 from Li to create a side pot. The J♦ paired the board on the turn and Nguyen checked again. Li sized up a bet of 28,000 this time and Nguyen still called.
The river was the A♠ and Nguyen checked for the third time. Li reached back for a bet of 63,000 and Nguyen mulled it over before dropping in a call. Li tabled A♣J♥ for a full house and Nguyen's A♦K♣ was not enough to beat that. Day was also eliminated after showing his Q♣J♣, sending a massive pot and the chip lead to Li.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
300,000 | 222,000 |
|
47,500 | 47,500 |
|
Busted |