£5,250 Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2013 PokerStars.com EPT London
£5,250 Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
Players Info - Day 1a
2013 PokerStars.com EPT London
Buy-in
£5,000
Prize Pool
£2,929,400
Entries
604
Level
31
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Patel on Top After Day 1a
![[user101598]](/img/avatars/avatar.svg){kind=avatar}
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
For 10 years, the European Poker Tour has come to the city of London. It is one of only two places to hold an EPT every single year since the tour's inception (the other being Barcelona). This year saw a brand new location for the event which has previously been held at both the Grosvenor Victora on Edgeware Road and also the Hilton Hotel nearby.
With Day 1a set on a Sunday, a smaller field than usual was expected due to many players' love of the Sunday online grind. There are benefits to playing the first of the two starting days, though, as anyone involved today was guaranteed to sit at a nine-handed table (the same guarantee does not apply to Day 1b due to space requirements).
There were 209 runners in total, but at the end of eight levels, it was Dhru Patel who led the 105 survivors with 241,000 in chips. Along with [Removed:17] (who finished with 128,000), he was one of the first players to break through the 100,000 mark with the highlight of his day no doubt being the elimination of poker legend Erik Seidel. Patel played the £50,000 Super High Roller a couple of days ago, busting in 19 minutes. Here in the Main Event, he took the chip lead at the end of the night after knocking out Ben Martin with pocket queens against ace-queen.
Elsewhere, Viktor Blom had a slow start but looked to be picking things up until a huge hand sent him to the rail courtesy of Dan Smith, who finished with 103,800.
Team PokerStars Pros had a mixed day. Joao Nunes was unfortunate enough to last just two hands before he was eliminated, Leo Margets and Johnny Lodden joined him soon after, while Matthias De Meulder, Eugene Katchalov and Jonathan Duhamel were knocked out later on.
Henrique Pinho fared much better and made it through with a solid 79,400, and he will be joined on Day 2 by Jake Cody (65,000), Theo Jorgensen (73,000), Christian de Leon (33,300) and Marcin Horecki (23,600).
Jorgensen in particular had a very tough opening few hours. It was only when he was all in and won a 23,000-chip pot with the 
against Alexander Schilt's 
on a 
board that the Dane arrested his decline. He will be joined in Day 2 by a triumvirate of Scandinavian former EPT winners in Ramzi Jelassi (36,800), Michael Tureniec (81,000) and Frederik Jensen (45,900).
Of course, there were still numerous casualties during the day including many who did well at the last London festival, Talal Shakerchi (winner of the EPT9 London High Roller), Sergio Aido (UKIPT London champion), Dan Shak, Sorel Mizzi and former EPT champion Kevin Stani.
Monday's Day 1b is expected to be huge and will feature the winner of the £50,000 Super High Roller, Martin Finger, UKIPT High Roller champion and Team PokerStars Pro, Vanessa Selbst, as well as hundreds of other players all hoping to supplant Ruben Vissen as the new king or queen of London.
The PokerNews live reporting team will be here from 12 p.m. local time to follow all the action right to the very end, and we hope to have you following along with us.
Official End-of-Day Counts (full)
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
241,000 | 94,000 |
|
176,800 | 176,800 |
|
156,800 | 156,800 |
|
136,700 | 38,700 |
|
128,000 | 18,000 |
|
127,100 | 127,100 |
|
112,000 | 112,000 |
|
107,900 | 107,900 |
|
|
104,200 | -800 |
|
103,800 | 3,800 |
|
|
102,000 | 102,000 |
|
100,200 | 100,200 |
|
96,700 | 41,700 |
|
|
94,400 | 94,400 |
|
|
93,600 | 93,600 |
|
93,100 | |
|
89,200 | 89,200 |
|
|
89,000 | -1,000 |
|
89,000 | 89,000 |
|
87,900 | 87,900 |
|
|
84,900 | 84,900 |
|
84,100 | 34,100 |
|
84,100 | 84,100 |
|
83,900 | 83,900 |
|
81,500 | 1,500 |
Last Six Hands
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Exactly what it says on the tin. The players are playing the last six hands of the day.
"Anyone Want One?"
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Jamie Brown checked to fellow Brit Mat Frankland on a flop of 
, and Frankland tossed out 4,525. Brown tank-called.
The 
completed the board, both players checked, and Brown showed 
for a pair of fives. Frankland had that beat with 
for a pair of kings, and raked in the pot.
"Anyone want one?" Frankland asked the table after ordering a beer.
No one answered.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
105,000 | 39,500 |
|
61,000 | -7,000 |
So Long Converstion, This Is The Age Of Gadget Poker
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
As more and more players seek solitude with their iPhones and iPads in the minutes between hands, the PokerStars Blog says so long to conversation.
Shak and Blom Bust
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
We're unsure of the action, but Dan Shak was just eliminated holding 
against the of Mario Chiang Guanilo. Shak will have a few days to relax in London before the high roller, while Guanilo has 90,000 chips.
On an adjacent table, Dan Smith knocked out Viktor Blom. The chips went in the middle on the turn, where Smith had flush and straight draws against a single pair from Blom. Smith made a club flush on the river, and Blom hit the rail.
Smith now has around 100,000 chips.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
100,000 | 37,000 |
|
|
90,000 | |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted |
Brown Can't Call Verheijen's River Shove
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Jamie Brown opened to 1,500 in the hijack seat, Gijsbert Verheijen three-bet to 3,500 on the button, and Brown called.
The flop fell 
, Brown check-called a bet of 3,200, and the turn was a repeat four - the 
. Brown checked, Verheijen fired out another 5,200, and Brown called.
The 
completed the board, Brown checked a third time, and Verheijen moved all in for 9,325. Brown begrudgingly folded, and Verheijen raked in the pot.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
68,000 | |
|
|
33,200 |
Seidel Eliminated
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Poker legend Erik Seidel has been eliminated in the last level of the day. The multiple bracelet winner had raised preflop to 1,600 with Dhru Patel calling behind him to see a 
flop. Seidel checked and then jammed for 14,000 over Patel's 3,000 bet.
Patel called with , ahead of Seidel's 
and the board ran out with a 
turn and river.
Patel is the chip with almost 150,000.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
147,000 | 44,000 |
|
Busted |
Da Silva Aggressive on the Flop
Level 8
: 300/600, 75 ante
Ben Martin opened to 1,300 from under the gun, Nelson Vaz Da Silva three-bet to 3,450 on the button, and Martin four-bet to 8,800. Da Silva called.
The dealer fanned 
, Martin led out for 7,700, and Da Silva plopped forward 28,075. Martin tanked for a bit, then folded.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
60,000 | 6,000 |
|
52,000 | -15,000 |