Paul Vas Nunes Storms to the Lead as Final Table of the 888poker Live London Main Event is Set
The road to the final table was paved in gold for Paul Vas Nunes on Day 2 of the 888poker Live London Main Event.
Vas Nunes brought the night to an early end when he busted Javier Zarco in 10th place and will take the chip lead with 2,495,000 into tomorrow’s final table. Vas Nunes was the first to hit 1,000,000 earlier in the day, then scored a big double knockout when he won a flip with ace-king against Fraser Bellamy’s tens, sending out both Bellamy in 18th and the short-stacked Jiaze Li in 19th.
Vas Nunes then shoved the river on Abel Aspas and got the 2022 888poker Live Madrid champion to call for his last 225,000 with a pair of tens, but Vas Nunes showed top pair of kings to win the pot and bust Aspas in 14th. He finally rivered a nine to beat Zarco’s ace-high and send the Spaniard out on the final table bubble. Vas Nunes already has fond memories of the Grosvenor Victoria Casino, winning a GUKPT Main Event in this same room in November 2023 for £140,000. A win tomorrow would put his live earnings past $2,000,000.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Vas Nunes | United Kingdom | 2,495,000 | 62 |
| 2 | Calogero Morreale | United Kingdom | 1,750,000 | 44 |
| 3 | Akshat Bansal | United Kingdom | 1,675,000 | 42 |
| 4 | Ravi Sheth | United Kingdom | 1,200,000 | 30 |
| 5 | Jamie Dwan | United Kingdom | 1,040,000 | 26 |
| 6 | Michael Rosaman | United Kingdom | 795,000 | 20 |
| 7 | Geoffrey Mooney | Australia | 650,000 | 16 |
| 8 | Gang Wang | China | 515,000 | 13 |
| 9 | Mario Trattou | United Kingdom | 440,000 | 11 |
Calogero Morreale (1,750,000) and Akshat Bansal (1,675,000) are his closest challengers. Bansal earned a big double up off Vas Nunes when he picked off a bluff on the river, calling for his last 360,000 with two pair as Vas Nunes could only show a missed straight draw.
The final table lineup includes two players already enjoying a successful series. Ravi Sheth (1,200,000) was runner-up in the High Roller event a few days ago, while Michael Rosaman (795,000) beat out a field of 435 in the Mini Main Event for £26,650 and will try to add the Main Event title to his collection tomorrow.
Politician-turned-poker crusher Jamie Dwan sits in fifth place with 1,040,000, thanks to two fortunate hands with pocket sevens. Dwan was all in for 150,000 with sevens but ran into Antonis Poulengeris’ queens. A seven came on the flop to give Dwan a set as he earned the double up. He then snap-called Santino Dean’s turn shove and showed two aces against Dean’s jacks to double up again, before flopping another set of sevens to send out Martin Hellmuth in 15th.
Geoffrey Mooney (650,000), Gang Wang (515,000), and Mario Trattou (440,000) are the short stacks when the final table begins tomorrow at 1 p.m. local time. The action picks up with 27 minutes remaining in Level 26 with blinds of 20,000/40,000 and a 40,000 big blind ante. Levels will be extended to 60 minutes at the final table.
The 85 surviving players from the three starting flights were joined by 11 new arrivals at the start of the day to create a total field of 367, boosting the prize pool up to £383,500. The first goal was to make the money, and 888poker team pros Ian Simpson, Aaron Barone, Vivian Saliba, and Lucia Navarro were among those to finish short of the money, as were Jack Hardcastle, Chris Da-Silva, Philippe Souki, and Robbie Bull. With 46 players remaining and only 44 making the money, Bansal counterfeited Andrei Teodorescu on the river to score the knockout. At the same time at another table, John Duthie was all in and ahead with king-high, but Min Ji spiked a jack on the river to make the British poker legend the official bubble boy.
Adam Wilkinson (35th), Day 1b chip leader Karl Harris (31st), Jamie Walden (23rd), and Kully Sidhu (16th) were then sent off to collect their payout. Arun Sood, the Day 1a chip leader who was near the top of the counts for the better part of the day, was then eliminated in 13th by Zarco when he moved all in on the turn with a straight draw and Zarco called with top pair.
The final nine players are guaranteed £7,100 for making it this far. The champion tomorrow earns £86,600 and the 888poker Live trophy. Action will be streamed on 888poker’s official YouTube and Twitch channels.
The trophy is within reach for the final nine, but only one can grab it. Follow along as PokerNews returns tomorrow to provide updates from the final table.