Laurence Essa Leads After Day 2 of the partypoker 2015 WPTN London Accumulator
The second day of the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour National London £200 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator at Aspers Casino started fast and furious with one-fourth of the 205 remaining participants being sent to the rail within the first two levels. After 12 levels of 40 minutes each, only 24 players remained, and it was Laurence Essa who bagged up the lead with 1,069,000 in chips.
The vast majority of Essa's stack came off two coin flips despite Essa not preferring the pressure of these situations.
Among the early eliminations were Carlo Citrone, WPT Champions Club member Tony Dunst, James Akenhead, Tamer Kamel, and July 2014 WPT National London champion Gabriel Tuna.
On the stone-cold bubble, Jeraint "JJ" Hazan would make a hazardous move to crack the pocket kings of Francisco Manuel Salvador Flores, and the bubble burst in Level 19 when Jacques Arama could not hold up against Christopher Yong.
Once in the money, the eliminations came in quickly, and Surinder Sunar, as well as Xuan Nguyen, were among those to settle for a min-cash worth £600. With Kelly Ann Saxby (34th) and Alexandra O'Brien (31st) bowing out in the second payout step for £690, an all-male affair for the final day of the tournament was created.
The chip lead was decided in a massive coin flip that sent Martin Spearing to the rail in 30th place, and then another five players ended up on the rail in the last level of play. With upcoming blinds of 10,000/20,000 and a running ante of 3,000, more fireworks can be expected right from the start of Day 3 at 1 p.m. UK time.
All remaining 24 players are guaranteed at least £895 for their efforts, whereas the first-place payout of £22,500 and the title of WPT National champion are still up for grabs. Some of the contenders with big stacks include Rahim Tadj-Saadat (921,000), Christopher Yong (784,000), Kevin Allen (709,000), Jesus Gracia (687,000), and 2014 WPT Nottingham champion and Day 1b chip leader Matas Cimbolas (589,000).
Be sure to tune back in with the PokerNews Live Reporting team as we'll be here to deliver all key situations on the way to write another chapter in the WPT history books.
Day 3 Seat Draw
| Table | Seat | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Andrew Bell | 295,000 |
| 1 | 2 | Jeraint Hazan | 625,000 |
| 1 | 3 | Lucio Pacifico | 537,000 |
| 1 | 4 | Marius Lietuvninkas | 361,000 |
| 1 | 5 | Kenny King | 400,000 |
| 1 | 6 | Umberan Akhtar | 388,000 |
| 1 | 7 | Petrit Papushi | 386,000 |
| 1 | 8 | Paul Siliceo | 587,000 |
| 2 | 1 | Christopher Yong | 784,000 |
| 2 | 2 | Michel Melkert | 362,000 |
| 2 | 3 | Laurence Essa | 1,069,000 |
| 2 | 4 | Jesus Gracia | 687,000 |
| 2 | 5 | Saulius Tumosa | 133,000 |
| 2 | 6 | Justin Kean | 105,000 |
| 2 | 7 | Matas Cimbolas | 589,000 |
| 2 | 8 | Karl Roberts | 574,000 |
| 3 | 1 | Kevin Allen | 709,000 |
| 3 | 2 | Chan Ha | 413,000 |
| 3 | 3 | James Manlove | 60,000 |
| 3 | 4 | Jamal Gormati | 232,000 |
| 3 | 5 | Christopher Gordon | 417,000 |
| 3 | 6 | Rahim Tadj-Saadat | 921,000 |
| 3 | 7 | Darren Mapley | 469,000 |
| 3 | 8 | Matthew Buckland | 158,000 |
and Spearing held 
. The board ran out 
to bust Spearing in a pot of more than one million.
and ran into the 
of Justin Kean. The board ran out 
and that was it for the Brit.
and got looked up by Lucio Pacifico with 
. The Czech would spike a set on the 
and had two over cards to the 
of Yong. The 
board provided the blow on the final community card and Arama was the last player to leave empty-handed.
, Hazan jumped up, ecstatic and then erupted in celebration. "TAKE THE #### PICTURE NOW" he said, impossible to calm down and shortly after started laughing.
. Gary Pearce moved all in and Alexandra O'Brien was caught off guard. "Always getting into these stupid hands," she said in table chat. Some more consideration would see her call off for the last 49,500 chips with 
. "I hate pocket kings," she said and received a one hand penalty for acting out of turn.
on the turn. Nader Zadeh took his time before moving all in for his remaining 70,000 chips and was snap-called.
only to end up second-best to the pocket queens of the player in the big blind.
to see a king appear on the flop and turn, leaving him drawing dead.
