2023 888poker LIVE London

£1,100 Main Event
Day: 1b
Event Info

2023 888poker LIVE London

Final Results
Winner
Winning Hand
aj
Prize
£83,100
Event Info
Buy-in
£1,100
Prize Pool
£367,500
Entries
385
Level Info
Level
30
Blinds
50,000 / 100,000
Ante
100,000
Players Info - Day 1b
Entries
257
Players Left
124

McDermott and Chung Among the Leaders on Day 1b of the £1,100 Main Event

Level 12 : Blinds 800/1,600, 1,600 ante
Jack McDermott
Jack McDermott

Another flight is in the books as Day 1b of the £1,100 Main Event at the 2023 888poker Live London festival has wrapped up after 12 levels of play. It was the largest of the three flights, attracting a total of 202 entries with just 62 players moving on to Day 2 tomorrow. One more flight, Day 1c turbo edition, is currently taking place and those results will be filtering in shortly.

There were four players who bagged up over 200,000 chips but none of them were able to catch the Day 1a leader Jiaze Li who finished with a whopping 375,500 chips. Leon Campbell emerged as the chip leader on Day 1b when the dust settled and will return to a stack of 231,500. He will be joined at the top by Paul Haycock (206,000), Jack McDermott (204,500), and Timothy Chung (203,000).

McDermott may be one of the most recognizable names near the top of the leaderboard as he often goes by "pieface" when streaming on Twitch and YouTube. With plenty of success playing in the online streets, McDermott is looking for his first major title on the live felt. A large five-figure payday in just a couple of days could go a long way to adding to the streamer's resume.

Meanwhile, Chung has already had plenty of success at live tournaments with over $1.2 million in career earnings thus far. Playing at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino brings back some good memories for Chung who captured the GUKPT Main Event title last year for his largest payday of over $250,000.

There were some more 888poker contingent in this flight as well, as some of the ambassadors jumped into the field after their VIP sit-and-go was completed in the early afternoon. However, for the likes of Ian Simpson, Vivian Saliba, and Ricardo Mateus, none of them were able to find a bag to advance to Day 2. Some are still fighting their way through the Day 1c flight in order to build a stack.

Leon Campbell bagged the Day 1b chip lead
Leon Campbell bagged the Day 1b chip lead

A full list of chip counts from Day 1b and Day 1c will be posted once the final flight wraps up later this evening. After the first two flights, a total of 316 entries have been recorded with 95 players advancing to Day 2 thus far. Late registration will remain open until the cards go back in the air with a starting stack worth 30,000 chips.

The action will resume at 12:00 p.m. local time with the blinds at 1,000/2,000 and a 2,000 big blind ante. The levels will also be increased to 60 minutes with a total of 10 levels on the schedule for Day 2. The money bubble is expected to burst after just a few levels but the full prize pool and payouts will be posted when available.

The PokerNews live reporting team will be back on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates as the action unfold en route to bursting the money bubble and making its way toward the final table.

Tags: Ian SimpsonJack McDermottJiaze LiLeon CampbellPaul HaycockRicardo MateusTimothy ChungVivian Saliba

Simpson Cracks Kings to Double-Up

Level 10 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Ian Simpson
Ian Simpson

Ian Simpson raised to 2,000 from the cutoff and Lin Chen just called from the small blind. The flop came Q109 and Simpson continued with a bet of 2,000. Chen check-raised all in and Simpson snapped off his stack of 14,100.

Ian Simpson: 109
Lin Chen: KK

Simpson out-flopped Chen with two pair but still had to fade the final two community cards. The 7 on the turn changed nothing and the 9 on the river improved Simpson to a full house to double up.

Player Chips Progress
Lin Chen gb
Lin Chen
159,500
89,000
89,000
Ian Simpson gb
Ian Simpson
34,200
1,700
1,700
888poker

Tags: Lin ChenIan Simpson

A Cooler Sends Saliba to the Registration Desk

Level 10 : Blinds 500/1,000, 1,000 ante
Vivian Saliba
Vivian Saliba

Picking up the action on a completed board of JJ9K10, Vivian Saliba was heads-up with Neophytos Neophytou. There was around 15,000 in the pot already and Saliba led out with a bet of 7,000.

Neophytou moved all in and Saliba shrugged as she called off the rest of her stack for just under 20,000. Neophytou turned over KJ for a full house while Saliba showed her J10 for an inferior full house, forcing her to the registration desk for another bullet.

Player Chips Progress
Neophytos Neophytou gb
Neophytos Neophytou
82,500
76,800
76,800
Vivian Saliba br
Vivian Saliba
30,000
-800
-800
888poker

Tags: Vivian SalibaNeophytos Neophytou

Mateus Gets Value on the River

Level 9 : Blinds 400/800, 800 ante
Ricardo Mateus
Ricardo Mateus

Ricardo Mateus opened to 1,600 in middle position and was called by Waheed Ashraf in the cutoff. The flop fell 1052 and both players checked through to the 2 on the turn and the A on the river.

Mateus finally made a bet of 3,000 and Ashraf looked him up. Mateus flipped over AJ and his kicker was enough to send Ashraf's cards to the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Waheed Ashraf gb
Waheed Ashraf
61,000
Ricardo Mateus pt
Ricardo Mateus
45,200
16,400
16,400
888poker

Tags: Waheed AshrafRicardo Mateus

Wilson Strikes Back in Round 2

Level 7 : Blinds 200/500, 500 ante
Andy Wilson
Andy Wilson

Andy Wilson made it 1,100 to go from the cutoff and Adrian Balica called on the button as the two players went heads-up once again. The flop fell K95 and Wilson started with a check. Balica bet 1,500 and Wilson check-raised to 6,000 which Balica called.

The 9 paired the board on the turn and Wilson checked for the second time. Balica tossed in a bet of 6,500 and Wilson check-raised again to 19,000. Balica spent a few minutes in the tank before calling and the J rolled off on the river.

Wilson moved all in as the bigger of the two stacks and Balica thought over for a moment before dumping his cards into the muck.

Player Chips Progress
Andy Wilson gb
Andy Wilson
87,300
49,800
49,800
WPT 1X Winner
Adrian Balica gb
Adrian Balica
33,000
-25,000
-25,000

Tags: Adrian BalicaAndy Wilson

McDermott Starting to Heat Up

Level 5 : Blinds 200/300, 300 ante
Jack McDermott
Jack McDermott

Giorgos Onisiforou opened to 700 in early position and Jack McDermott three-bet to 2,500 in the hijack. Martin Hellmuth called on the button and Michael Moore shoved all in for jut over 22,000 in the small blind. The action folded back to McDermott who reshoved all in, forcing out Hellmuth.

Michael Moore: AK
Jack McDermott: AA

The flop came J108 which gave Moore a straight draw. The 2 on the turn and the 2 on the river bricked out which sent another pot toward McDermott.

Player Chips Progress
Jack McDermott gb
Jack McDermott
96,000
66,000
66,000
Michael Moore us
Michael Moore
Busted

Tags: Michael MooreMartin HellmuthJack McDermottGiorgos Onisiforou

Wang Forced to Reenter

Level 2 : Blinds 100/100, 100 ante
Beihao Wang
Beihao Wang

Romano Pizzo opened to 500 in the hijack and was called by Hamid Rowshanaei on the button and Andrew Salami in the small blind. Beihao Wang shoved all in for his last 2,100 in the big blind and all three players called.

The flop fell KQ2 and the action checked around to the 2 on the turn. Pizzo was the first to take a stab at the pot with a bet of 3,500. Rowshanaei folded and Salami check-raised to 10,000. Pizzo called and the 7 landed on the river.

Salami moved all in on the river and Pizzo looked back at his cards before opting to fold. Salami turned over A2 for trip deuces which was enough to eliminate Wang and his A7.

Player Chips Progress
Andrew Salami gb
Andrew Salami
53,100
Romano Pizzo gb
Romano Pizzo
17,500
-12,500
-12,500
Beihao Wang cn
Beihao Wang
Busted

Tags: Romano PizzoHamid RowshanaeiAndrew SalamiBeihao Wang

Day 1b of the £1,100 Main Event is Ready to Begin

888 poker room
888 poker room

As the weekend approaches at the 2023 888poker Live London festival, the poker room is expected to be packed to the brim at the Grosvenor Victoria Casino for Day 1b of the £1,100 Main Event. Day 1a saw a total of 114 entries over the course of 12 levels with just 33 players advancing to Day 2 on Saturday. That number is expected to be at least twice as big for Day 1b today.

Jiaze Li will be the stack that everyone will be trying to catch after Li put on a dominating performance on Day 1a. Li went on to bag up a stack of 375,500 chips, more than 12 starting stacks, to hold a comfortable lead after Day 1a. The only 888poker ambassador to advance to Day 2 was Lucia Navarro who will be returning to a stack of 46,000 chips.

The rest of the 888poker ambassadors will be busy this afternoon playing in a VIP sit and go but an opportunity still awaits as late registration will be open until the start of Day 2. There will also be a turbo flight this evening as Day 1c will be starting at 7:00 p.m. local time with 20-minute blind levels.

The action for Day 1b will begin at 12:00 p.m. noon local time and each entry will be given a starting stack of 30,000 chips. The levels will be 45 minutes in length with a 20-minute break after every three levels. There will be an extended break of 40 minutes after level six. A total of 12 levels will be played on Day 1 at which time players will bag up their chips and advance to Day 2 on Saturday.

An unlimited number of reentries are permitted in this event which allows for plenty of action right from the start of the day. Late registration will remain open throughout the evening until the start of Day 2 tomorrow. The PokerNews live reporting team will be on the tournament floor to bring you all of the live updates throughout the event.

Tags: Jiaze LiLucia Navarro888poker