Sam Trickett wins World Open VI heat 1

20.16

Sam Trickett

Congratulations to Sam Trickett who has won the opening heat of this year’s PartyPoker.com World Open. After a number of impressive performances over the last couple of years, Trickett has once again proved what a talent he is, and certainly a future star of the game.

1st Sam Trickett
2nd Marty Smyth
3rd James Akenhead
4th Ian Frazer
5th Peter Jetten
6th Lee Atherton
7th Dan Fleyshman
8th Neil Channing

20.03

Marty Smith

It’s all over as the chips hit the middle one more time.

As has been the case with previous all-ins, it was left for Marty Smyth to make the final decision, but upon seeing a bullet looking back from the glass, he had little option but to call for his tournament life with and shove his remaining 650,000 across the felt.

On this occasion, he was a gnat’s nostril hair in front, Trickett’s holding of pretty to look out, but still in need of improvement to take the pot.

Improvement is exactly what occurred as the flop came to give Trickett top pair and leave him just two cards away from victory.

But he wasn’t counting his chickens just yet, as the Poker Gods had proved to be in mischievous mood, and with Smyth flopping a straight draw, there was still a glimmer of hope that a miracle would arrive to double the Irishman through.

The turn and river, however, were both close, but no cigar, and after a dogged nine hours, Heat 1 was finally in the bag with Sam Trickett the first player to make it through to the final.

19.53

Don’t Get Mad, Get Even

It’s one 50-50 each as Sam Trickett levels the score. It was Trickett with his tournament life on the line this time, his just about coin flipping against Marty Smyth’s . The flop favoured the Irishman, but the delivered a plethora of outs, one of which came in the counterfeiting river.

More twists and turns than a Columbo episode here as Trickett once again retakes the lead.

19.46

Latest Chip Counts

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 1,444,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 915,000

19.43

Smyth Doubles Through

Within just a few hands, Marty Smyth has doubled through, calling all in with before pipping Sam Trickett’s to the post on an ensuing board.

19.41

Neil Channing discusses our most recent elimination James Akenhead…

19.35

James Akenhead

With under 15 big blinds, James Akenhead decided to move all in from the button with , but after Marty Smyth folded in the small blind, Sam Trickett took one look at his cards, shrugged his shoulders and made a quick call with .

It seems as though Trickett has his running shoes on today, as he won another important race, the board coming As] to deliver him the scalp of the former November Niner and leave him heads-up with Marty Smyth.

Armed with 1.6 million in chips, Trickett is no doubt the favourite heading into the heads-up encounter, but if he does emerge victorious it will be well deserved as he has played admirably throughout, and showed a great understanding of the stack sizes and when to apply the pressure on his opponents.

But, don’t count Smyth out just yet, as he has plenty of experience in TV shootouts after winning this very tournament back in 2008, not to mention his Poker Million victory several months later. He’s also a very patient player, and could easily work his way back into contention with a timely double through.

Let battle commence.

19.19

Level 7

Blinds are now at 15,000 and 30,000.

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 1,045,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 445,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 795,000

19.15

Tricky Trickett

The players experienced a short break after the last hand, but Sam Trickett has returned with just as much testicular fortitude as he boasted before, and on the first hand back he was three-betting James Akenhead’s open of 45,000 with to 105,000 with just . After a grimace and a slight shake of the head, Akenhead conceded the hand, and ‘Tricky Trickett’, as he has been labeled by Mike Sexton, lapped up the pot.

19.00

Ian Frazer

It looks as though it’s going to be Sam Trickett’s day as he triumphs in the most crucial coin flip of the day against PartyPoker’s Ian Frazer.

Unlike other pots of late, it wasn’t a swift raise-shove-call affair, the two players instead able to reach a five-bet shove by making considerably smaller raises.

It was ‘The Raiser’ who lit the first spark, looking down at in the cut-off and pushing out a raise of 45,000.

Seated on the button, Trickett bumped it up to 125,000 with , only for Frazer to make what appeared to be a minimum raise. Despite Frazer showing considerable strength with this play, Trickett decided that his hand was too strong to lay down, and duly announced all-in to put the decision firmly back on the shoulders of Frazer.

Clearly unhappy with the situation, Frazer began mulling over his options, wondering if this was a hand that he could possibly get away from. But the 4:1 pots odd were more alluring than an oiled belly dancer, and so Frazer slid his remained 200,000 stack into the already 861,000 pot and revealed his hand.

Naturally, the Londoner was mighty relieved to find himself in a 50-50 spot, but it was of little comfort as the board came to send him to the rail.

On that note, Trickett has not only become the chip leader, but also the first player to surpass the one million mark with a whopping 1,075,000.

18.32

Peter Jetten

Forget a rabbit’s foot, Marty Smyth must have an entire bunny stuffed into his pocket as he triumphs once again in an all-in showdown.

Not for the first time today, his sparring partner was Peter Jetten, and with the action folding around to them in the blinds, the chips found their way into the middle with Smyth relieved to be coin flipping with versus .

It wasn’t easy though, and he certainly left it late, the flop proceeded by a before that killer card arrived on the river to shatter the hopes of Jetten: the .

Smyth’s coin had been buttered the right side, whilst Jetten caught a slap from Lady Luck and was forced to join three others on the poker scrapheap. Smyth, meanwhile, is king of the castle, and the new chip leader with 748,000.

Four gladiators remain.

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 561,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 557,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 748,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 504,000

18.23

Latest

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 571,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 527,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 488,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 335,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 449,000

18.22

Power Poker

Despite taking a few knocks, Sam Trickett has kept his foot firmly on the accelerator, and has regained the chip lead after finding a number of marginal hands and continually three-betting all in. In fact, the amount of all in reraises we’ve seen over the last few orbits has cemented the following message at the forefront of the players’ minds: ‘If you’re going to make that first raise, then you have to be prepared to call for your tournament life, because you’re gonna get raised!’

Trickett currently on 591,000.

18.16

Smyth Doubles Through

James Akenhead raised it up from the button with eights, only for Marty Smyth to move all in from the small blind for a total of 139,000 with . Akenhead quickly made the call.

The flop looked safe as houses, but the turn wasn’t, and by the river it was project overkill.

Smyth survives, whilst Akenhead slips a notch to 527,000.

18.13

Level 6

Blinds are now at 10,000 and 20,000.

James Akenhead is the chip leader, despite only having 621,000. Only Marty Smyth has less than the average stack.

18.07

Frazer Doubles Through

It would appear as though the Poker Gods have a dinner date today, as we once again witness an automatic all-in showdown. The victim this time was Sam Trickett, who, faced with an open to 35,000 from PartyPoker.com sponsored pro Ian Frazer, raised it up to 80,000 before calling the inevitable all-in. With hands turned onto their backs, the rail learned that Frazer had his man by the short and curlies with versus , and was within just five cards from doubling up.

The improved both hands, but kept Frazer in front, and with the turn and river hitting the felt, the bubbly Londoner duly doubled up. He’s now back over the half a million mark.

17.56

Atherton LBW-ed

Down to just 115,000, Lee Atherton decided to move all in preflop from the cut-off. Sam Trickett, one seat down, followed suit by moving all in on the button and removing any temptation away from the blinds. On their backs, and Trickett found himself with his nose in front, his looking good against Atherton’s inferior . Despite willing one of six outs onto the felt, the dealer didn’t olblige, the board coming an anti-climatic to send him home.

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 760,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 661,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 115,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 580,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 262,000

17.48

Akenhead Doubles Through

In a pot that was cooler than the Fonz in the Artic, we fell upon an inevitable all-in showdown:

Sam Trickett:
James Akenhead

Board:

And after flopping the stone cold nuts, Akenhead finds himself back in contention with around 650,000.

17.38

Latest Chip Counts

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 908,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 282,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 115,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 595,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 269,000
Seat 8: Lee Atherton — 209,000

17.36

Jetten Doubles Through

Play folded around to Marty Smyth who raised it up in the small blind with and Peter Jetten flat-called from the big blind with . On the flop, Smyth check-raised all in and Jetten flat-called, before surviving a turn and river to double through.

After being the chip leader earlier on, Smyth is now your current short stack with just 115,000.

17.33

Frazer Survives

You didn’t need a crystal ball to know the chips were going in on this hand, and when Peter Jetten opened to 30,000 from the cut-off with , it was of no surprise to see Frazer make a raise one seat down with . What was intriguing, perhaps, was that Frazer didn’t move all in, instead raising to 120,000 and leaving himself with around 130,000 behind. As the action folded round to Jetten, the Canadian announced all-in, and with the pot bulging at 432,000, Frazer paused momentarily, before making what was likely an obligatory call.

Despite being in search of one of three ladies, the flop provided additional outs, as did the turn, and with the river coming the , Frazer was able to blow out his cheeks and pick up half the pot.

17.26

Live Misclick

Fatigue may be setting in as the players are beginning to make a few unforced errors. Just now Marty Smyth passed out of turn, and the hand before Sam Trickett limped under the gun thinking he was in the big blind.

Peter Jetten decided to punish him (although it does help when you have by raising it up to 50,000.

“How can I misclick live?” laughed Trickett before reluctantly relinquishing his hand.

17.12

Dan Fleyshman

After an extended period of eight-handed play, they are now beginning to fall like lemmings on a tightrope as the blinds start to become more foreboding.

The second weakest link of the day is Dan Fleyshman, the 28-year old finding his tournament life on the line with versus the of Sam Trickett.

The flop was as clinical as the Royal London Hospital, and despite the providing outs for a split pot, any hopes were dashed on the river and Fleyshman was gone.

Fleyshman, a CEO of an online cardroom, put up a dogged fight, but in the end he met his match in Trickett and was forced to join Neil Channing on the rail.

Trickett now boasts more chips than Harry Ramsden’s with 953,000 and is threatening to run over the table.

Six remain, but something tells me it’ll soon be five.

17.03

Level 5

Blinds are now at 7,000 and 15,000.

Sam Trickett remains the chip leader with 630,000. Lee Atherton and Peter Jetten are join short stacks with 231,000.

16.50

Channing Eliminated

It’s lucky there aren’t too many flashing lights in the truck, because if I’d blinked I would have missed it. In what appeared to come out of nowhere, we witnessed our first exit of the day as Sam Trickett raised it up from the cut-off only for Neil Channing to move all in from the big blind with . Trickett made the call with before surviving a harmless board.

This wasn’t the first time these two had locked horns. Only the hand before, Channing had checked-folded on a board to Trickett’s after calling a three-bet preflop, so it’s likely their previous history, and, perhaps more predominately, Trickett’s recent display of preflop aggression, played a major part in how the hand played out.

Nevertheless, as a result of taking the scalp of Channing, Trickett has now recaptured the chip lead with 625,000, whilst Channing can only recapture his seat in the bar.

16.37

Visual Treats

It feels as though every hand there has been a large holding beaming through the glass, and the first hand back was no different as Lee Atherton peeked down at in the big blind. If that wasn’t enough of a visual treat, he then he got to witness Peter Jetten raising it up to 22,000 from the button with . Atherton inevitably moved all in for his final 170,000, and with equal inevitability, Jetten made the fold.

16.02

After a lack-lustre final few hands in which blinds were snapped up with strong holdings, players are now commencing a 15-minute break.

Marty Smyth — 448,000
Dan Fleyshman — 333,000
Sam Trickett — 326,000
Neil Channing — 300,000
Ian Frazer — 287,000
Peter Jetten — 270,000
James Akenhead — 266,000
Lee Atherton — 170,000

15.46

Third to First

On the first hand of the new level, it looked as though Bonfire Night was about to come early as the dealer dealt out three pairs, as well as an to Marty Smyth who opened the action with a raise to 24,000. Although Neil Channing released his , Frazer was going nowhere and decided to flat call with , as did Lee Atherton who peeked down at in the blinds.

Nobody approved of the flop, but Smyth decided to follow through with his story by leading out for 44,000. Frazer gave up his hand, and after a sigh and a grimace, so did Atherton, allowing Smyth to pick up the pot uncontested with the third best hand. With the lack of preflop action and the uninviting flop, a potential fire-cracker fizzled out and Smyth was able to extend his lead to 448,000.

15.36

Level 4

Blinds are now at 5,000 and 10,000.

Your current chip leader is Marty Smyth with 405,000, although he did just lose a hand to Neil Channing. Looking to nick the blinds with , the Irishman made a raise to 16,000 but was flat called by Channing who held . Smyth took a shot at the flop with a bet of 25,000, but before Channing had barely thrown in his raise, Smyth was revealing his hand with a red-faced chuckle and passing the pot over to Channing.

15.27

Frazer Says Nein with Nines

Ian Frazer is back below his starting stack with 280,000 after folding preflop to neighbour Dan Fleyshman. It was Fleyshman who kick-started the action, raising it up to 15,000 from the hijack. Without too much hesitation, Frazer made it 35,000 to play one seat along, thus putting the pressure back on Fleyshman. But pressure’s easy to handle when you have the goods, and the American opted to reach for chips and pull out a reraise to 85,000.

At this point, Frazer commenced a dwell that would have made Rodin’s ‘The Thinker’ look decisive, either suspicious that his opponent was four-betting him light, or simply wanting to send a message of ‘don’t mess with me again’. Either way, and after asking for a spread of the pot (129,000, to be precise), Frazer relinquished his hand and was shown for his troubles. If this wasn’t on TV, and I were in Frazer’s spot, this would be where I’d claim to have folded queens.

15.16

Frazer Traps

Sam Trickett raised it up preflop with and Ian Frazer called in the small blind with . On the flop, Trickett continuation bet 17,000 before checking the turn. Frazer then decided to trap-check the river, but to no avail as Trickett checked behind before throwing his hand into the muck.

Trickett — 230,000
Frazer — 321,000

15.11

Latest Chip Counts

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 253,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 313,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 429,000
Seat 4: Neil Channing — 275,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 270,000
Seat 6: Dan Fleyshman — 350,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 283,000
Seat 8: Lee Atherton — 206,000

15.06

Fleysh… Oh Oooooooh

Just as I was concluding my last post, we encountered our first ‘all-in and a call’ of the day. Up until now, little has gone right for Dan Fleyshman, and he seemed to be on the verge of defeat as his push for 127,000 with on a flop was met by a second all-in from Sam Trickett who held . What’s worse, Peter Jetten, who was the third player to see the flop, folded to decrease Fleyshman’s outs by two.

But, as Jimmy Greaves once said (although, I confess, perhaps not referring to poker), “It’s a funny ol’ game,” and with the dealer popping an unlikely turn onto the felt, the fat lady began singing from the corner of the room. An academic later and the chips went to Fleyshman and his turned straight, whilst Trickett was left to rue his recent lack of fortune.

And on that bad beat of a note, we have a new chip leader: Marty Smyth with 400,000.

14.53

Marty Smyth

Continuing a trend of preflop aggression, Sam Trickett raised it up to 12,000 and received two callers: Marty Smyth on the button with and Peter Jetten in the big blind with .

The flop favoured the Irishman, but it was the Brit who came out firing, leading for 22,000 after Jetten had checked. After a brief pause, Smyth made the call and Jetten released his hand.

The turn was an intriguing card, and one that triggered a second consecutive bet from Trickett who threw 37,000 across the line. However, to his chagrin, he was met by a swift reriase by Smyth who bumped it up to 90,000. After requesting a count (151,000 was the official number), Trickett made the call and began praying that one of his draws came in.

On this occasion, however, the Poker Gods were forming a wall of defense in front of Smyth, sending a blank down onto the green of the baize. Resisting the temptation to bluff for a third time, Trickett reluctantly tapped the table before folding to an immediate all-in from Smyth.

Despite this setback, Trickett remains chip leader with around 450,000, although Smyth is snapping at his heels like an alligator with tootache just a few thousand behind.

14.36

Level 3

Blinds are now at 3,000 and 6,000.

Your current chip leader is Nottingham’s Sam Trickett with 588,000.

14.32

Trickett Extends His Lead

James Akenhead’s timing is normally top notch, but on this occasion it was worse than a faulty Rolex. With Sam Trickett raising it up to 10,000 with , Akenhead decided to apply the pressure on his neighbour and reraise to 26,000 with . Back round to Trickett who four-bet to 58,000, which was enough to send the message to Akenhead who conceded the hand.

As a result of that pot, Trickett has become the first player to increase his stack two-fold. He now has 606,000 as we near the end of Level 2.

14.25

Latest Chip Counts

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 574,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 285,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 261,000
Seat 4: Neil Channing — 248,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 328,000
Seat 6: Dan Fleyshman — 158,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 327,000
Seat 8: Lee Atherton — 215,000

14.22

Jet-Propelled

The player playing the widest range of hands at the moment appears to be Peter Jetten, but on a recent hand the Canadian unearthed the very top of that spectrum as he was dealt aces on the button. After making a standard raise, Dan Fleyshman made the call in the small blind with A-J, but subsequently check-folded to a continuation bet on a queen high flop.

A hand or two later, Jetten was back to his normal tricks, taking stabs at pots when the rest of the table seemed disinterested. In a rare multi-limped pot, six players saw a flop, but, incredibly, nobody had more than the pair that was on the board. Although I’d like to credit him with a value bet with what happened to be the best hand, it was likely that Jetten merely smelt an opportunity to pick up the pot uncontested, and indeed did so with a bet of 12,000 as the rest of the table folded quicker than a line of origami champions.

14.05

Just the Trickett

I didn’t catch the action, but Sam Trickett is now the commanding chip leader with 573,000 after making a big call against Dan Fleyshman. With the board reading , Trickett faced a raise of 80,000 into a pot of 130,000 from the young American who was all smiles under the pressure of the spotlight and his opponent’s gaze. After much deliberation, and even a brief feign as he hovered the chips over the line, Trickett eventually made the call with before being shown an inferior . The first big bluff of the day goes awry whilst Trickett prospers to become the early favourite to take down the heat.

13.56

A Couple of Cowboys

The blinds have now gone up to 2,000 and 4,000, and Neil Channing is one of the first to profit from the extra chips in the pot. He just received pocket kings for the second time today and duly raised it up to 9,000 preflop. Lee Atherton made the call in the big blind with , but subsequently check-folded to a bet of 9,000 on the flop.

Channing now on 314,000 whilst Atherton sinks down to 211,000.

13.35

Sensei Channing

But don’t worry, Channing isn’t day-dreaming and thinking of the karate suit he left at home, rather adopting a pre-match strategy where he starts off patient before changing gears further down the road.

Of course, when he does stumble upon a hand, he will go on the attack, and just moments ago he found pocket kings lying on the glass. A raise and seven folds later and Channing’s stack was back above water level with 306,000.

With more TV appearances than I’ve had hot dinners, Channing’s experience, not to mention his knowledge of his opponents, could prove a major factor as this opening heat progresses.

13.26

Early Counts

Seat 1: Sam Trickett — 318,000
Seat 2: James Akenhead — 288,000
Seat 3: Marty Smyth — 278,000
Seat 4: Neil Channing — 297,000
Seat 5: Peter Jetten — 256,000
Seat 6: Dan Fleyshman — 341,000
Seat 7: Ian Frazer — 338,000
Seat 8: Lee Atherton — 281,000

13.21

Active Start

It’s been an active start as players look to pick up some early chips during this opening blind level. On the last hand, the action folded around to Peter Jetten who made what has quickly become the table standard raise of 6,000 from the cut-off with . He received two callers: Dan Fleyshman on the button with and Lee Atherton in the big blind with .

The flop came down and both Atherton and Jetten checked, allowing Fleyshman to bet out his second pair. Atherton folded, but Jetten called. After both players checked the turn, Fleyshman made a small, enticing value bet of 6,000 on the river, but it did the job as Jetten made the call before being shown the bad news.

Meanwhile, Sam Trickett and Lee Atherton have both added to their respective starting stacks. Atherton won a nice pot with pocket queens versus the missed flush draw of Ian Frazer (‘The Raiser’ conceded the river), whilst Akenhead folded to a squeeze from Trickett who held kings.

13.03

First Blood

On the very first hand, Peter Jetten opened to 6,000 with and was called one seat along by Dan Fleyshman who held . On the flop, Jetten made a continuation bet of 10,000, and with little hesitation, Fleyshman made the call. Jetten turned offense into defense on the turn by checking, before giving up the hand to a 15,000 bet. First blood to Fleyshman.

13.01

Line-Up

Seat 1: Sam Trickett
Seat 2: James Akenhead
Seat 3: Marty Smyth
Seat 4: Neil Channing
Seat 5: Peter Jetten
Seat 6: Dan Fleyshman
Seat 7: Ian Frazer
Seat 8: Lee Atherton

12.41

A Structured Approach

The first card has yet to be dealt, but we appear to be inching desperately close to kick-off as the players have now taken their seats and are being introduced to the camera by a radiant-as-ever Kara Scott.

To keep you entertained in the meantime, I bring exciting news regarding the structure: players will begin with 300,000 starting stacks and blinds of 1,000/2,000, with the level increasing every 21 hands. The full structure is as follows:

Level 1: 1,000/2,000
Level 2: 2,000/4,000
Level 3: 3,000/6,000
Level 4: 5,000/10,000
Level 5: 7,000/15,000
Level 6: 10,000/20,000
Level 7: 15,000/30,000
Level 8: 20,000/40,000
Level 9: 30,000/60,000

12.13

Late Night Blues

There are a few understandably tired faces here today, many belonging to the camera crew who were here until post-4am last night covering the epic marathon that was the WPT High Rollers event. As a result, it looks as though there might be a slight delay whilst the team find their feet and ensure every single detail is accounted for.

The extended hiatus, however, did give me time to venture onto the casino floor, and in doing so I was met by a huddle of players that included James Akenhead, Neil Channing, Ian Frazer and Sam Trickett. Channing was his usual jovial self, sharing anecdotes and preparing for his pre-match interview with Tatjana Pasalic. I congratulated/commiserated Trickett on his recent EPT ventures, and shared his frustration with his lack of fortune in the latter stages of major events. “I just want to win something,” he pleaded with a chuckle.

I also caught up with Lee Atherton, perhaps the lesser known face in this opening heat. Atherton has been playing for a while now, but recently acquired a sponsorship deal after penning an optimistic proposal to his employers, and, to his utter amazement, having his wish granted. As a result of his efforts, the 37-year old family man from Timperley participated in last week’s WPT, and is just moment’s from making his way onto the small screen.

“The countdown has begun for the biggest week of my poker life,” wrote Atherton in a recent blog entry, “and I am feeling a balanced concoction of calm, excitement and nerves. I’ve spent the last few days researching my World Open Heat 1 opponents… and with plenty of Internet and TV coverage to go at, I think its safe to say I know more about them, than they know about me!”

Entering battle as an unknown entity could be Atherton’s most lethal weapon.

11.46

Heat 1 Line-Up

Despite last night’s WPT High Rollers clinging on to the Palm Beach door frame like cats on the way to the vets, we’re back in Mayfair just several hours later in preparation for the PartyPoker.com World Open. Braced for its sixth outing, the World Open is destined to be a hotbed of poker fun as frolics as some of the world’s greatest poker prodigies hit the televised felt.

Scheduled for the limelight are a host of familiar faces such as Roland De Wolfe, Tom ‘durrrr’ Dwan and Sorel Mizzi, mixed in with some of the UK’s freshest talents in Toby Lewis, John Eames, Luke Schwartz and PartyPoker’s latest WPT winner Jake Cody. Also taking his seat will be the enigmatic Phil Laak, everyone’s favourite hoody-wearing, press-upping, banter-inducing Unabomber returning to defend his title and soothe any of those post-ATV aches and pains with another sumptuous payday.

Today’s opening heat, however, appears to be a mostly British affair with TV veteran Neil Channing joined by Marty Smyth, Sam Trickett, Peter Jetten, Dan Fleysham, Lee Atherton and 2009 November Niner James Akenhead. Completing the eight-handed line-up is PartyPoker.com sponsored pro Ian Frazer, the affable Londoner armed with a wealth of experience in televised shootouts having become the first ever player to win back-to-back televised titles. But ‘The Raiser’ is an ambitious and determined chap, and would surely love to add yet more silverware to the cabinet by taking down this year’s World Open.

The starting whistle is due to sound in around 15 minutes time, and as soon as it does, I’ll be bringing you all the news, hands, and gossip, as it happens. So, don’t go anywhere – with so much talent oozing from the table, this could be a very entertaining heat indeed. With Sensei Channing at the table, we at least know it won’t be a quiet one.

00.00