button in SafariDaniel Samson Bags the Chip Lead on a Busy Day 1b of the 888LIVE London Main Event
The Grosvenor Victoria Casino was abuzz with activity today as hundreds of players descended on the poker room to chase the title on Day 1b of the 888LIVE London £1,250 Main Event.
Only 36 managed to survive the event’s second starting flight, and Daniel Samson bagged up the chip lead with 459,000. The local London pro, who already has nearly $1 million in total live earnings, won a three-way pot with two queens on the last level to score a knockout on his way to the top of the chip counts heading into Day 2.
Day 1b Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Samson | United Kingdom | 459,000 | 153 |
| 2 | Francisco Salvador | Spain | 418,500 | 140 |
| 3 | Haoran Dai | United Kingdom | 366,000 | 122 |
| 4 | Joe Hindry | United Kingdom | 331,500 | 111 |
| 5 | Christopher Guertin | United Kingdom | 239,500 | 80 |
| 6 | Yinchuan Liu | United Kingdom | 218,000 | 73 |
| 7 | Christos Anagnostopoulos | Ireland | 216,000 | 72 |
| 8 | Yiannis Liperis | Cyprus | 210,500 | 70 |
| 9 | Bandar Alireza | United Kingdom | 204,000 | 68 |
| 10 | Brandon Sheils | United Kingdom | 191,000 | 64 |
Francisco Salvador (418,500) follows close behind, while Haoran Dai (366,000), Joe Hindry (331,500), and Christopher Guertin (239,500) round out the top five. Hindry was put at risk late in the night by Umberan Akhtar, but he managed to find a call with aces and queens to beat Akhtar’s aces and tens and earn the massive double up.
Other players through to Day 2 include 2023 888LIVE Coventry champion Yiannis Liperis (210,500), Brandon Sheils (191,000), Nikolay Ponomarev (126,500), David Algarra (117,000), last year’s runner-up Calogero Morreale (81,500), and Martins Adeniya (32,000). Among those to fall short were UK legend John Duthie, defending champion Gang Wang, High Roller champion Bryan Taylor, as well as Cedric Schwaederle, Yucel “The Mad Turk” Eminoglu, 888LIVE Glasgow champion Martin Lechner, and Conor O’Driscoll.
The 177 entries on Day 1b brought the total field up to 283 through two starting flights. There are also 73 players registered in the turbo Day 1c flight that is ongoing. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow at noon, so there is a chance the field can grow substantially larger as players continue to hunt a share of the £250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
The action on Day 2 picks up on Level 15 with blinds of 1,500/3,000 and a 3,000 big blind ante. The official prize pool should be announced shortly after the start of play. The plan is to play down past the money bubble and onwards to the final table tomorrow.
PokerNews will be following along the entire way, so come back tomorrow for all the action here from London.