Ding Fan Dominates Day 1a of 888poker UKPL Coventry
Day 1a of the 888poker UK Poker League Coventry £560 Main Event saw a compact field of 46 entries assemble at Grosvernor Casino inside the Building Society Arena. After 15 levels of play, the first of four starting flights of the £100,000 guaranteed tournament had reached its conclusion, and only six players remained.
They are led by Ding Fan, who expanded the starting stack of 50,000 to a whopping 842,000 by the night's end, good for 84 big blinds at the start of Day 2, which will take place on Sunday, October 16. Fan secured the chip lead shortly before late registration closed, and seemed unable to lose a pot afterward. During the final few hands of the night, Fan increased his lead considerably by picking up aces against a preflop open-jam of over 30 big blinds.
As a testament to Fan's domination, his closest competitor, Vitor Paiva, bagged less than half of the chipleader's stack with 399,000, followed by Graham Carter with 341,000 and Ling Chen with 276,000. This year's UKPL Reading Main Event champion Dale Wilson made it through Day 1a as the shortest stack, although his 223,000 still gives him plenty of room for play on Day 2.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Day 2 Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ding Fan | United Kingdom | 842,000 | 84 |
| 2 | V.P. | 399,000 | 40 | |
| 3 | Graham Carter | United Kingdom | 341,000 | 34 |
| 4 | Ling Chen | United Kingdom | 276,000 | 28 |
| 5 | E.C. | 245,000 | 25 | |
| 6 | Dale Wilson | United Kingdom | 223,000 | 22 |
Some notable players who showed up at Coventry were less lucky and unable to make it through the day. Bracelet winner Steve Jelinek was among the early eliminations of Day 1a and opted not to reenter. Grosvenor pro Matthew Davenport fired a bullet when the starting stack amounted to ten big blinds, but booked a quick exit just before the end of late registration. Meanwhile, UK regulars Lin Chen and Wantao Tang were among the final eliminations of the night.
Day 1b will provide another opportunity to qualify for Day 2 and will start tomorrow, Friday, October 14, at 1 p.m. local time. Day 1c also takes place on Friday, beginning at 6 p.m. with a slightly faster structure. As on Day 1a, both flights will play 15 levels, with the late registration and possibility for unlimited reentries being open for the first 12.
PokerNews will be back on the floor for full coverage of Day 1b, so tune back in then for more action from the 888poker UK Poker League's final stop of the year.