Another 139 players entered Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 on Day 1c, and just 21 advanced to Day 2.
Leading the way is Stephen Baker who sits with the overall chip lead after three flights, bagging 588,000. His cause was helped after a stunning hand in which he three-bet jammed with ten-five suited into pocket aces, only to river a flush.
He was also responsible for bursting the bubble after his pocket eights fell behind to ace-king on the flop, but he went runner-runner to ensure that he would sit in the chip lead ahead of Day 2.
"It was a bit of a loose shove," Baker said about the ten-five hand after bagging. "There was bubble pressure but I'd already gotten up to 200k. There was a hand where I made quads in a three-way all in so that certainly helped."
Baker isn't the only player over 500,000 in chips, with Ahmad Jerjis (546,000) and David Gough (pictured below) (537,000) also sitting pretty. Then there is a substantial drop back to PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome Ambassador Kelly Saxby (308,000).
David Gough
Notables to play and bust on Day 1c included Chris Moneymaker, James Hartigan, Craig Sweden, Asif Warris, Antoine Saout and Ben Martin.
Day 2 gets underway at the revised time of 12 p.m. on Saturday, with all survivors of the four flights combining for the first time.
We sat down with PokerStars LIVE at the Hippodrome Ambassador Chris Da-Silva to talk all about his role, the Hippodrome card room and the Platinum Pass up for grabs right here in the capital.
PokerNews: Chris, thanks for speaking with us. Tell us about you and what you do as a PokerStars LIVe at the Hippodrome Ambassador?Chris Da-Silva: Ultimately I play poker for a living! My responsibilities are to promote the brand, the game and the premises.
PN: How long have you played poker for?
CD-S: I've played poker since 2006, but professionally more since 2011. I've been playing full time for three years and I've been sponsored by the Hippodrome since the start of this year, so it's coming up for eight months.
PN: Talk to us about the London scene, because we know how strong the poker community here is?
CD-S: Every time you see people it's like a time to re-network with each other. But at the same time, you can't forget that we're all competitors. You share a drink, you exchange pleasantries, but when you're back at the table everyone ultimately has the same goal - to be victorious.
Chris Da-Silva
PN: Is that challenging when you see everyone so regularly around the London card rooms?
CD-S: It certainly has its challenges, but at the same time for people like myself, I play this for a living so I travel a lot. It just means that because this is a big hub, it's special when I get to reconnect. You make the most of the breaks to catch up with people. And every once in awhile there's good news like a win to celebrate, whether that's you or someone else.
PN: What is the quality of poker in London?
CD-S: It's a special place to play poker, but it's a tough scene. Players in London and those from across Europe who come here are very competent. Everyone knows what they're doing so it makes it slightly harder at times.
PN: How has your year been so far?
CD-S: So far it's had its ups and downs. More ups than downs but still a mixed bag. Poker is like that. I've only been playing tourney poker for four years max so it's something I get my head around. Last year was definitely my best year results-wise, but I've still got two months to go for this year so we'll see how it goes.
PN: What do you say to people at the table who ask what your patch means?
CD-S: My role is to continue to promote the brand, share/spread the word and get people to visit the Hippodrome. Because I'm very confident that once people visit they'll fall in love with it like I did. Before I was directly an ambassador I only had good things to say about them. Anyone who has played at the Hippodrome and across London would say that the Hippodrome is the best card room in the UK. Just the professionalism, game options and the premises. It's just a very well-run card room.
The Hippodrome Casino
PN: What is your view on other sponsored pros in poker, whether that's for a specific property like yourself or for a site in general?
CD-S: Sponsorship is a business. When they're signing people in emerging markets it shows they've got ambition. from a business perspective, it makes sense. from a players perspective, I think it's great. It creates awareness for the brand but also creates a following of the individual. differnet terms but typically it broadens your scope int erms of what events you can or can't play. It's every poker player's dream to be sponsored.
PN: And the awareness of the brand in this case is for the Hippodrome as a property?
CD-S: Exactly. London might not be an emerging market, but not many people know about the Hippodrome outside of London. If I'm going to Blackpool or Nottingham, people outside of the London bubble don't know about it. But you get speaking about it and people start asking questions about it. I invite them! I tell them I'll get them a drink and to come check it out.
PN: And does that approach work?
CD-S: It does actually. In the last few weeks i've been in Luton, Nottingham and Malta. The amount of people i've spoken about the Platinum Pass and that they can win it in london for £140. They're all asking me where! And I tell them about the Hippodrome and they look into it. As long as they're willing to look into it that's the main thing.
Ben 'TheBenMartin98' Martin is an active member of the Lex Veldhuis community and had jumped into the Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 field today to try and win a Platinum Pass.
He hadn't had it all his own way, but had grinded up a stack over the eight hours that the tournament has been going. However, after blinding down to eight big blinds, he got in against and was eliminated.
He told us that he will be looking forward to future Moneymaker Road to PSPC events, including the one at Aspers next month (Nov 4-10).
The Moneymaker Tour, offering players the opportunity to get their hands on a Platinum Pass, might be going from strength to strength in 2019. However, Chris Moneymaker admits his poker performances have been anything but.
"Last year I played at eleven stops and cashed in seven," Moneymaker said. "But the London players are just really good. This stop I've played five bullets and busted. That'll probably be seven by the end of today."
Moneymaker has been a busy man, flitting across the Atlantic handing out Platinum Passes at European Poker Tour Open Sochi and Run It Up Reno.
"Sochi was amazing," he said. "Great turnout. We had almost 1,000 runners for the Moneymaker event there as well as a good turnout for the Open.
"I had a deep run in the deep stack and the Main Event, and I have to say for me I take more pictures there than anywhere else on the planet. It's amazing — the poker is really growing there, got a lot of fans."
Chris Moneymaker
A fixture on the American circuit for the last 15 years, Moneymaker admits that he often gets photographed more overseas than in his home country and that in Sochi, in particular, he was "mobbed".
"I've been around American players enough," he said. "Players oversea just don't get to play with me as much. When I was in Sochi I was mobbed. There were so many pictures.
Moneymaker says that there are "familiar faces" on the hunt for a Platinum Pass during the tour's second season, highlighting the tour's accessibility.
Chris Moneymaker in action in Sochi
"You get to see so many unique players that don't usually play tournaments," he said. "With such an accessible buy-in and the Platinum Pass, people just want to play. I mean, I'm here as well, but the Platinum Pass might have something to do with it as well.
"It's a different clientele or player base that plays these. This is my player base. I love playing with these players. They have fun, it's enjoyable and I would compare it to Run It Up or Lex Live. It's a fun atmosphere at the start. On Day 3 it'll get serious when they're playing for the Pass, but right now everyone's cracking up on Day 1. When you bust someone, they laugh and go rebuy instead of crying."
The Moneymaker Road to PSPC 2020 has only just begun — London is only the third stop — but the veteran PokerStars Ambassador says that there will be events through until June giving players the opportunity to win a Platinum Pass.
"We haven't announced all of the stops yet. We're trying to figure out where and the timing. We're going to be releasing stops on the PokerStars Blog over the next couple of months, but there will be plenty of opportunities for UK players to win Platinum Passes."
The London location for this leg of Moneymaker's Road to PSPC means that several British regulars have joined the field, but one player has come a little bit further in order to try and acquire a coveted Platinum Pass for next year's PSPC in Barcelona.
Two weeks ago, Josh Brown saw the promotion of being able to win a Platinum Pass and hopped on a plane from Australia to be here for this event.
"It was very last minute," said Brown "I had a bit of time off work. I had a big birthday a couple of weeks ago, so I decided it was a birthday present to myself.
"I know there was an Australian guy in one of the earlier ones who had travelled to play. But when I told my mates, they all said 'Wow, that's a long way to go.' I love London and thankfully my partner is very supportive of poker so she said 'Yeah, go' and here I am!"
Brown says he's been playing recreationally for the last eight years, but over the last year or so he's gotten more into it through watching EPT live streams and listening to the Poker in the Ears podcast.
Attention fellow #pokerintheears fans. I'm traveling from Oz to London for the Moneymaker PSPC tour. Got a few ques… https://t.co/yejaSPO7Ml
— Josh Brown (@j_db89)
He says that watching last year's PSPC from afar reiterated just how big the opportunity is.
"It's huge," he said. "Watching it at the beginning of the year; the whole live stream. It was really enjoyable, watching all of the EPT stuff.
"The opportunities in Australia are quite limited, with no online poker, so when this came up I thought I'd make the most of it."
Should he win the tournament and earn that coveted Platinum Pass, brown says the prospect of another long-haul flight to Barcelona next August would be "a bit of a drain" but that he'd "make it work."
"Barcelona is a great city. The weather's a little bit different to London. But the atmosphere would be great. I'm not used to poker in Europe; even in an event like this, it's bigger than what I'm used to.
"It would be quite impressive with all the big names, things like that. But putting that to one said I'm just happy to play. I love to play."
Despite being on his third bullet after busting twice yesterday, he says he's doing much better today.
"It's more about playing the game and the money and Platinum Pass will come later if I get that far. I'm just trying to enjoy it and play the game!"
Six years since his last appearance in a live poker tournament, Simone Ferretti is back in the game — and he could not have scripted a better comeback. The 39-year-old Tuscan won the 30th PokerStars Italian Poker Open (IPO), in Nova Gorica, Slovenia last week, and with his €105,000 first prize picked up a Platinum Pass to the PokerStars Players Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona next August.
Ferretti, who goes by “Ferros80” on PokerStars.it, is a former professional footballer, who became a coach when injury cut short his playing career. He was introduced to poker by some fellow players about 12 years ago, and quickly fell in love with the game and became a well-known face in Italian poker circles. Between 2009 and 2013, he won four titles and amassed around $290,000 in cashes. But he subsequently took a break from the tournament game, admitting that he “did not manage his winnings very well”, before his dramatic comeback last week.
London is one of several European capitals that is a well-known destination for poker players looking to make a home for themselves. Therefore, all sorts of European players, as well as London regulars, have joined the field.
The latest player to saunter into Le Meridien, Piccadilly is Frenchman Antoine Saout. With just under $8m in lifetime earnings, good enough for fourth on the French all-time money list, it's no joke to say that he might have more in live cashes than the rest of the field put together.
Yesterday, PokerStars LIVE at The Hippodrome ambassador Chris Da-Silva failed to make it out of Day 1b, and today fellow ambassador Kelly Saxby has joined the Main Event early.
After 84 entries on Day 1a and 94 entries on Day 1b, a total of 28 players have guaranteed themselves seats in Day 2 of the Moneymaker Road to PSPC 2020, and today sees players have two more chances to advance.
A Platinum Pass worth more than €26,000 will be awarded to the winner, which gives free entry to the €22,500 PokerStars Players NL Hold’em Championship (PSPC) in Barcelona in 2020, as well as six nights' standard accommodation (for two persons) at a five-star hotel in Barcelona.
Players will be chasing Savvas Mitsikouridis (498,500) and Dominic Wells (405,000) who both bagged big in yesterday's evening flight, as well as Day 1a chip leader Simon Green (347,000).
Today, Day 1c gets underway at 12 p.m. and a bumper 6 p.m. flight is expected to be even bigger than yesterday's.
Registration will be open for six levels on Day 1. Players receive 30,000 chips and will have one re-entry available, and a reminder that players can only register for one flight at a time.
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