Main Event
Day 1a Completed
2015 partypoker World Poker Tour UK
Main Event
Day: 1a
Event Info
Final Results
Event Info
Level Info
2015 partypoker World Poker Tour UK
Buy-in
£2,000
Entries
450
Level
31
Blinds
60,000 / 120,000
Ante
20,000
Simon Deadman Leads the 2015 WPT UK Main Event After Day 1a
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
While the £250,000 guaranteed World Poker Tour UK High Roller and WPT500 UK were busy working their way towards crowning their respective champions, the £2,000+£200 buy-in WPT UK Main Event, featuring a £1 million guaranteed prize pool, kicked off in earnest and attracted 148 players through the welcoming doors of Dusk Till Dawn.
Over the course of 10 levels, each 60-minutes in length, almost two-thirds of the field had fallen by the wayside, leaving 56 players with the welcomed task of having to bag chips as the witching hour neared.
Simon Deadman, a familiar face at Dusk Till Dawn, ended Day 1a as the runaway chip leader. His 312,500 stack is so large that he could double any of the players who finished fifth or less and still not be eliminated from the tournament. Deadman has a wonderful record in live events as of late and is regarded as one of the best poker players in the world, not just in the confines of the United Kingdom.
The nearest anyone got to Deadman was Daniel Parsonage, who amassed 201,300 chips by the time the curtain came down on the opening flight’s proceedings. A relative unknown in the grand scheme of things, Parsonage looks set to make a name for himself in Nottingham if he keeps up the pace of his blistering start.
Plenty of other notable players punched their tickets to Thursday’s Day 2 including WPT Prague winner Alex Goulder (162,300), 2015 WPT500 Las Vegas winner Craig Varnell (161,800), Jamie O’Connor (148,300), Mitchell Johnson (125,800), Ben Jackson (103,000), WSOP bracelet winner Craig McCorkell (101,000), Ben Dobson (50,100), Richard Trigg (38,200), Paul Jackson (34,700), Ben Vinson (31,800), Nick Hicks (24,800) and Deadman’s wife, Shola Akindele Deadman (11,000).
Day 1b commences at 12:00 p.m. UK time on Wednesday and needs 352 players if the £1 million guarantee is to be hit. Among the expected bumper crowd are a host of partypoker qualifiers plus some players who busted on Day 1a including Marcel Luske and the reigning champion Matas Cimbolas.
Tune into PokerNews from midday on Wednesday for all of the action from Day 1b of the 2015 WPT UK Main Event.
Official End of Day 1a Chip Counts (full)
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Here are the official chip counts for Day 1a of the 2015 WPT UK Main Event.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
312,500 | 92,500 |
|
201,300 | |
|
162,300 | |
|
161,800 | 107,800 |
|
155,500 | 101,500 |
|
148,300 | 118,300 |
|
146,100 | |
|
133,800 | 63,800 |
|
127,700 | 86,700 |
|
125,800 | 105,200 |
|
122,100 | |
|
121,800 | 51,800 |
|
104,900 | 49,900 |
|
103,000 | 74,775 |
|
101,000 | 16,000 |
|
|
98,600 | |
|
|
89,400 | |
|
87,600 | |
|
|
87,200 | |
|
|
83,600 | |
|
82,200 | |
|
78,800 | |
|
75,500 | |
|
|
75,000 | |
|
73,800 |
Deadman Felts Kalmar and Takes the Chip Lead
Level 10
: 500/1,000, 100 ante
Simon Deadman opened to 2,300 in middle position, and from an effective stack of 48,000 Jon Kalmar three-bet to 7,600 from the small blind. Deadman called.
The flop fell 
, Kalmar bet 11,000 and Deadman called.
Kalmar moved all-in on the 
turn , and Deadman made the call, flipping over 
for a set, much stronger than the 
of Kalmar. The 
river improved Deadman to an unnecessary full house and he soared into the lead as a result.
Kalmar shows pocket jacks, but Deadman has flopped a set of sixes. The dealer pushes the 4s onto the river. Kalmar leaves the competition, and Deadman takes the chip lead.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
220,000 | |
|
|
Busted |
Level: 10
Blinds: 500/1,000
Ante: 100
Haycock High-tails It Out of Town
Level 9
: 400/800, 100 ante
Paul Haycock has come unstuck in a pot against Zafar Aslam.
Haycock found himself all-in with 
on a 
flop only to discover Aslam held 
for trip nines. The 
turn was of no help to Haycock and neither was the 
river, which confirmed his exit.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
65,000 | |
|
Busted |
Dando Loses Out to Duarte
Level 9
: 400/800, 100 ante
The board showed 
and there were three players involved in the hand.
Nuno Duarte checked out of the big blind, Paul Dando bet 9,600, and Phillip Mighall called on the button. Duarte moved all-in for 29,700, Dando called and Mighall folded, later claiming to have folded jacks.
Duarte: 
Dando:
A cooler for Dando. The river card was the 
and Dando hands over a decent chunk of his stack to Duarte.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
70,000 | |
|
|
55,000 | -15,000 |
|
|
54,000 |
Gryko Gone
Level 9
: 400/800, 100 ante
British star Richard Gryko has bust at the hands of Daniel Parsonage who now has 140,000 chips thanks to Gryko's set of queens coming unstuck versus Parsonage's 
on a 
board with the chips going in on the turn.
Castrillion Sends Jones to the Rail
Level 9
: 400/800, 100 ante
Rhys "floppinhel" Jones is no longer competing on Day 1a after running into Fontan Castrillion's 
with his 
. No help arrived on the 
board and Jones headed into the cold, Nottingham night.
| Player | Chips | Progress |
|---|---|---|
|
|
56,000 | |
|
Busted |
Level: 9
Blinds: 400/800
Ante: 100