William Robinson Bags One Sixth of Day 1a's Total Chips as First Flight of the Moneymaker Tour, Newcastle Concludes
After 14 half-hour levels at Aspers Casino, Newcastle, just two tables' worth of Day 1a players still had chips in front of them, and an outsize share was stacked in front of chip leader William Robinson. His 433,500 chips - more than double average - put him in good stead for Day 2 regardless of the performance of the runners in the upcoming start days.
The first of four flights in the £140 Main Event of Newcastle's Moneymaker's Road to PSPC 2020 attracted 87 entries (including 26 re-entries) and although this made for a relatively petite field, it was, after all, a Wednesday night. More are expected for tomorrow's Day 1b, with hundreds likely to descend over the weekend in the hopes of winning both what has become one of the most prestigious grassroots events and the added Platinum Pass that will be awarded with the trophy on Sunday.
The Platinum Pass itself is worth €26,000 and includes entry into the €22,500 PSPC 2020 event in Barcelona in August, accommodation, expenses and more. Chris Moneymaker, the PokerStars Pro whose satellite-win-to-WSOP-victory tale has inspired a generation of poker players, is travelling on his namesake tour awarding Platinum Passes from Sochi to Dublin, with three stops in the UK.
Lying in second and third overall at the end of the day were Ari Seppanen (308,000) and Jed Turnbull (297,000); both had risen to chip dominance early in the day and suffered no real setbacks. The last hour of play was unusually attritional, with players such as Brett Angell, Jamie Nixon, Paul Dargan and Matthew Gray narrowly missing out on Day 1a survival. Also eliminated during the day's play, but highly likely to make another appearance, were Thomas Dunwoodie, Jonathon Prested, Andrew Dodson and Gerard Conway.
Everything starts from scratch with Day 1b tomorrow, as new 30,000 stacks await newcomers and refreshed bustees from Day 1a alike. Play, and live reporting on PokerNews, begin at 7pm local time.