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Defending champion Gang Wang felt like “God kissed” his hand last year. Now it’s time to find out which lucky player has the divine touch in another edition of the 888LIVE London £1,250 Main Event.
Day 1b begins today at noon local time. The event got underway yesterday, with 106 players coming to the Grosvenor Victoria Casino in the heart of the British capital for the event’s first flight. Just 18 players managed to bag up for Day 2, led by WSOP bracelet winner Hector Berry with 384,000. French star Julien Sitbon followed in second with 345,000, while Chris Balmforth, coming off a run to the High Roller final table earlier in the day, finished with 311,000.
Day 1a Top Ten Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hector Berry | United Kingdom | 384,000 | 128 |
| 2 | Julien Sitbon | France | 345,000 | 115 |
| 3 | Chris Balmforth | United Kingdom | 311,000 | 104 |
| 4 | Longmao Fan | China | 308,500 | 103 |
| 5 | Simon Burns | United Kingdom | 231,500 | 77 |
| 6 | Marius Conan | France | 211,500 | 71 |
| 7 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | 192,500 | 64 |
| 8 | Sebastien Jung | United Kingdom | 159,000 | 53 |
| 9 | Alexios Zervos | Greece | 128,000 | 43 |
| 10 | Tamer Kamel | United Kingdom | 125,500 | 42 |
Longmao Fan (308,500) and Simon Burns (231,500) rounded out the top five, while 888 ambassadors Ian Simpson (192,500), Lucia Navarro (123,000), and Ricardo Mateus (122,000) also secured their tickets for Day 2.
Players on Day 1b begin with a 30,000 starting stack. Levels will be 40 minutes, with a 40-minute dinner break at the end of Level 6. The schedule calls for 14 levels to be played today.
There is also a turbo Day 1c flight taking place later tonight at 8 p.m. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2 tomorrow at noon, so players have plenty of opportunity to hop in and chase a share of the £250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
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