A hard-fought Day 1a has come to an end for Gerard Conway, who led the field stack-wise during the first third of the day. Having seen his fortunes wane recently, Conway moved all-in preflop as a short stack with 
, running into the 
of Savvas Mitskouridis. The board (
) provided no escape.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Busted |
In a late-stage beat, Brett Angell's hopes of a Day 2 stack to work with have been dashed by Mark Robinson (with a little help from the deck). It folded to Robinson on the button, who moved all-in, covering the small blind's stack and almost equalling big blind Brett Angell's (75,000). Angell called, as is traditional with the preflop nuts:
Angell: 
Robinson:
The flop brought a gutshot for Robinson: 
. It was a runner-runner 
, however, that secured him the pot and the double up, dropping Angell down to the felt. Angell busted soon thereafter.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
160,000
101,000
|
101,000 |
|
Busted |
Level: 14
Blinds: 2,000/4,000
Ante: 4,000
One more half hour level, and Day 1a will be done. Players finishing the day with chips, but fewer than they'd like, have the option to surrender their stacks and start again on a subsequent flight (not, however, to play multiple flights and take the best stack forward).
Grace Rolfe (thanks to her for recounting this story) opened under the gun and picked up both blinds as callers (Alex Whitenstall and Matthew Gray). On the flop of 
, she continued when it was checked to her, Whitenstall folded and Gray moved all-in for around 30,000. Rolfe called quickly, showing down the overpair 
. Gray tabled 
for top pair, but failed to improve and therefore also to make Day 2 via this flight.
"I said I wanted 200,000 by the end of the day," noted Rolfe, who has now received more than her request.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
220,000
145,000
|
145,000 |
|
Busted | |
|
Busted | |
|
|
Busted |
The last two tables surviving from Day 1a are preparing to wrap for the day, noting and officially verifying their chip count rather than physically bagging and tagging, so great are the numbers expected for this event over the weekend. Chip counts and a wrap of the day to follow.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
433,500
226,500
|
226,500 |
|
308,000
32,000
|
32,000 |
|
|
297,000
117,000
|
117,000 |
|
|
222,500
80,500
|
80,500 |
|
215,000 | |
|
|
195,500
24,500
|
24,500 |
|
|
192,000
37,000
|
37,000 |
|
169,500
10,500
|
10,500 |
|
|
151,500
81,500
|
81,500 |
|
|
107,000
43,000
|
43,000 |
|
|
106,500
53,500
|
53,500 |
|
89,500
40,500
|
40,500 |
|
|
81,000
19,000
|
19,000 |
|
|
41,500
1,500
|
1,500 |
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.
£140 Main Event - Road to PSPC
Day 1a Completed
