Jake Cody wins WPT London!

01.32

Current standings:-

Justin Smith – 870,500
Tony G – 571,000
Bruno Fitousso – 277,000
Freddy Deeb – 247,500

Deeb has chipped up a little as a result of picking up the blinds several times in a row…

03.23

WPT London winner speaks to PartyPoker.com

Congratulations to WPT London winner Jake Cody. Here he is talking to Tatjana Pasalic after picking up his WPT bracelet and the small matter of £273,783.

02.05

We spoke to Kristoffer Thorsson following his exit from the final table.

He’s proved himself an incredible player and we were fascinated by what he had to say.

You will be too…

01.44

00.45

One year ago, could Jake Cody have imagined that he’d be sitting here as an EPT and WPT Champion, sipping champagne on camera with Kara Scott, Mike Sexton and Jesse May whilst Mike Sexton announced him as the first WPT London Champion?

It’s been an incredible rise for the young English pro, and a great future beckons for him in the game.

Could he be the third member of the triple crown club and join Gavin Griffin and Roland de Wolfe as the only players to have won WPT, EPT and WSOP titles?

But that is looking ahead.

For now Cody can enjoy this wonderful moment with his friends. He has made himself hot property and can expect ot be the darling of the press for the immediate future.

Here is a shot of Cody celebrating with his friends including EPT champion Toby Lewis and Irish Open champion James Mitchell following the win.

00.20

Nichlas Mattsson on the button raises to 160 with the and Jake Cody…three-bets to 380k…

Mattsson stares into space briefly…then moves all-in…and Cody snap-calls!

Cody has him in all kinds of trouble with pocket queens and is one pot away from the title!

The board comes out and Cody’s advantage holds…the title is his!

So Nichlas Mattsson finishes up in 2nd place, collecting £176,979 – so close but yet so far to that WPT title but Jake Cody wins £273,783 and the WPT title amid jubilation from his fans who mob him and begin cheering on their hero.

What scenes!

It’s been an incredible year for English poker, and an incredible year for Jake Cody who collects his second major title of the year and will surely be a force for years to come. This field wasn’t the biggest but it was studded with a number of legends of poker and he overcame some stiff opposition to bully his way to the title.

Congratulations also to Nichlas Mattsson who came up against a formidable opponent on top of his game, and there was no escaping his final hand – just a cooler to see him eliminated.

Well done Jake Cody!

More to follow…

00.07

00.06

00.04

The chips are now divided as follows:-

Cody – 4,555,000
Mattsson – 2,025,000

00.03

Cody calls a raise from Mattsson holding , Mattsson with the on the button.

The flop comes , Cody spiking 2nd pair to take the lead and he check calls a bet of 180k from Mattsson.

The turn and see Mattsson give up and Cody check it down, leaving the Englishman to sweep up the pot and turn round the recent flow of chips from Mattsson to Cody…

00.03

00.03

00.02

00.01

00.01

00.01

23.58

Mattsson has a few tricks up his sleeve yet…

Moments ago the pair went to a flop – Nichlas checking it then calling Cody when he led out for 135k.

The turn was the and now Nichlas checked again, leading Cody to bet out once more…we think around 230k…

Nichlas now had that fixed look on his face, staring at a point in the distance, which is his trademark. We think he should upgrade to a bearsuit or maybe a monocle, but for now…it’s all he’s got…

Anyway the screensaver stare is working out for him, as he now check-raises allin in slow motion, and Cody makes a swift pass.

Mattsson back to 2 million.

Now Cody three-bets Mattsson’s opening raise…and Mattsson four-bets allin!

Wow, he’s really changed his approach here…it’s starting to pay dividends as he eats into Cody’s lead.

Maybe this isn’t the cakewalk it looked like being earlier…

23.47

Mattsson Fights Back…

Well it was a small pot but every little thing is helpful now with Mattsson’s back pressed tight against the wall.

Cody raises to 135k and Mattsson calls.

The flop falls and when Mattsson checks, Cody also checks, perhaps worried about being bluffed or semi-bluffed on a very drawy board.

Come the turn – the – Mattsson fixes his stare at the board, then cuts out 160k…and bets it.

Cody passes quickly and Mattsson gets a few chips back…

23.42

The blinds have gone up to 30k/60k/5k now…

23.40

Mattsson has picked up a couple of reasonable hands and been able to re-shove against Cody’s raises over the last few hands…

So far Cody hasn’t found anything he wants to take a shot with, but sooner or later…

Cody – 5,145,000
Mattsson – 1,595,000

23.27

Cody now has a 4-1 chip lead with 80% of the chips in play…

23.26

Mattsson makes one of his first raises of the final, min-raising to 100k, only for Cody to once again stamp down on his greedy little fingers with those dominating jackboots that have stomped all over this final.

Cody makes it 280k…and…

Mattsson folds and is now even shorter….

He needs to take a stand soon or there will be only one winner.

23.23

Heads up Jake Cody has extended his chip lead a little further…up to 5,230,000 to Mattsson’s 1,525,000.

We expected Mattsson to open up his requirements for calling and re-raising headsup, but he is playing a pretty tight game and Jake Cody’s sheer aggression is steamrolling him at present…

Can he turn things round????

23.15

Next hand, Cody raises it up but folds to Mattsson’s three-bet…

However when Mattsson limps his big blind, he is having none of it and makes it 125k…Mattsson laying down…

23.12

This is truly where dreams are made.

It will be incredible if Jake Cody wins his 2nd huge title of the year and will truly propel him onto the World Stage as a major player.

Nichlas Mattsson looks relaxed though, and although he has played a pretty tight game up till now, he will surely open his range now the pair are heads-up…

First hand is interesting, Nichlas raising to 125k and Jake Cody making the call.

The flop falls and both players check…the turn is the and now Cody leads out for 165k, which is called.

The river falls the and Cody cuts out a bet of 300k…but Nichlas lays it down.

First blood Cody…

23.09

23.05

So Jake Cody is heads up with Nichlas Mattsson with a big chip lead.

One of these two men will take the title and here are the counts as the two prepare to battle to the title.

Death or glory! Let’s get it on!

Jake Cody – 4,845,000
Nichlas Mattsson – 1,920,000

23.03

Jake Cody has been a monster throughout this final.

Very difficult to play when he opened yet again for 115k having won the last two pots, Bruce Atkinson pushed all-in for his remaining 700k with but once again Cody knew exactly where he was, snapping with for a superior hand…

With Atkinson’s tournament life on the line, he stood up and did a little dance – ready for a full Elvis impersonation if he could slip the noose here.

The flop was dealt and it was good for Atkinson – the giving him a flush draw and two live pair draws, leaving Cody to break into a smile, and Atkinson to shout out “come on baby” in a Elvis-esque growl…

The turn was another interesting card, the appearing to give Atkinson a gutshot, although now a king was no good as Cody would make a broadway straight…

The river was crucial and it came…the !

A blank on the river and Bruce Atkinson was eliminated in third place, collecting £93,316 for his performance over these five days of play.

He played a very tight game on the final, taking less chances than some of the players but his performance enabled him to ladder up to a very healthy payout, which he surely would have taken at the start of the final.

Well played, but Bruce Atkinson has now left the building…or at least will once he collects his sizeable cheque.

22.53

Three handed now the blinds are 25k/50k/5k and the chip counts are as follows:-

Jake Cody – 4,075,000
Nichlas Mattsson – 2,075,000
Bruce Atkinson – 650,000

These are the remaining prizes for the three men left in contention:-

1 – £273,783
2 – £176,979
3 – £93,316

22.43

Thorss-On The Rail

Thorsson was short with 430k so when he shipped small blind to big on Jake Cody’s 50k Big Blind, it was no surprise when Cody called with the

However Thorsson had found a hand – the for the second hand in a row so was favourite for a double through.

Once again though, the poker gods were not on his side and as he saw the flop fall followed by a crunchingly-painful on the turn, his ambitions for the WPT title and that 0k bonus were dissolving fast.

A blank on the river and whoosh! the dreams had all died.

Kristoffer Thorsson is consigned to 4th place and £56,311 in prize money.

It’s been a superb performance by Thorsson who gave himself every chance of winning it, including a mesmerising 5 bet shove earlier versus the hard-as-nails Jake Cody, however he hasn’t quite run good enough today.

He’ll be back some other time we are sure though, he’s clearly got great game…

22.36

With hundreds of thousands of pounds up for grabs, this is the time to run good…

Just now, Nichlas Mattsson open-shipped and it was folded to Kristoffer Thorsson.

Thorsson tanked for some time, requesting a list of the prize jumps to assist him make a good decision…before making what proved a great call with the

The pot was an enormous 2 million chips and this was such a crucial pot. With a million dollar bonus potentially thrown in, some of the eligible qualifiers for example Alexander Gruissem watched on nervously to see if Thorsson’s edge could hold…

The dealer peeled a flop of – a crucial spike for Mattsson.

When the turn and river came the then the , nothing had changed, other than Mattsson’s hand improving to trip jacks and suddenly, Thorsson had gone from 2nd place to last place!

He had just 430k left following this huge hand and he was to make a move shortly as you will see…
Meanwhile though Mattsson is up to 2.2 million and in contention for this WPT title…

22.23

And Kristoffer Thorsson may still be some way off Jake Cody but he hasn’t given up thoughts of winning this WPT just yet.

Twice in the last three hands, he moved in preflop to collect the not inconsiderable blinds and antes (95k) so 180k is added to his stack.

Oh look, he does it again! For a third time, his chips are over the line and once again he collects the 95k in the middle.

He’s making a little ground on Cody now.

Here’s the new standings…

Jake Cody – 3,795,000
Kristoffer Thorsson – 1,555,000
Nichlaus Mattsson – 945,000
Bruce Atkinson – 595,000

22.18

The Million Dollar Man

Kristoffer Thorsson is playing for that additional 0k bonus as a result of being eligible for PartyPoker’s million dollar promotion.

The stakes couldn’t be higher but Thorsson seems cool as a cucumber, as PartyPoker’s Tatjana Pasalic discovered during the break earlier.

Here’s his thoughts with that big prize in his sights…

22.13

Since that elimination Cody has really ramped up the pressure, moving in twice over the top of raises, knowing that players will have a tough time making calls for their stack.

It’s all going his way now and he’s up to almost 4 million chips…

22.11

Giovanni Safina was short after having raised and had to fold to a shove from Bruce Atkinson moments ago…

Left with 515k, he was going to move soon and did so with but Jake Cody has known where he is seemingly in every hand he’s played today and knew would be ahead of the Italian#s 10 BB shoving range, so made the call very quickly.

Safina looked resigned to his fate when they turned over the cards.

The board was dealt out …so a few split outs and 3 scoop outs for the Italian on the river BUT finally it came the blankest of blank and we were down to 4!

Safina has represented himself and his country superbly but today, things just haven’t gone his way.

Giovanni Safina finishes up in 5th spot collecting £42,322.

He’ll have hoped for better after coming back with the chip lead but it’s still a great performance from PartyPoker Team Pro Safina. Well played sir.

The game continues…

22.05

The players have just taken a short 5 minute break but they are now returning to continue playing for that coveted WPT title, bracelet and of course all the accolades and glory that will come with winning the first WPT London title.

The blinds are now 25k 50k with a 5k ante…

Then first hand back we have a big hand and a knockout.

Here it is!!!

21.48

Those significant hands have left Cody with a big % of the chips. Thorsson is still doing well in 2nd though and is likely to be a durable opponent.

Meanwhile the others just need one big hand to push them right up the leaderboard.

Here’s the new standings….

Jake Cody – 2,917,000
Kristoffer Thorsson – 1,338,000
Niclaus Mattsson – 974,000
Giovanni Safina – 902,000
Bruce Atkinson – 710,000

21.44

An intriguing hand played out moments ago between Jake Cody and Giovanni Safina.

It all started when Cody raised up to 85k and Safina made the call with the inferior and dominated

However when the pair went heads up to the flop – the tables had turned and suddenly it was the Italian who was in great shape.

He didn’t know this for sure however so when he checked to Cody, he just called his 125k continuation bet.

The turn was a very significant card though…the appearing to give Cody top pair and a flush draw…but Safina two pair!

Safina led out for 175k and Cody wrinkled his brow, unsure of quite what the Italian could have…then made the call.

So Safina was ahead but Cody had a lot of outs to regain ground and when the appeared on the river, he had made the 2nd nut flush to gain the upper hand.

Safina gave it one last chance at winning the pot, betting out 200k, but Cody made a quick call and the 1.2 million chip pot was shipped to Cody who is looking more and more dangerous with every hand.

Safina meanwhile looked a little disconsolate, if not yet beaten…

Cody now has over 40% of the chips remaining in play. Who can stop him?

21.30

Tatjana also grabbed a few words with 7th placed finisher, PartyPoker qualifier Fabian Quoss…

Here’s Quoss with his take on events…

21.26

The new chip counts following that monster hand between Cody and Thorsson…

Jake Cody – 2,276,000
Giovanni Safina – 1,551,000
Niclaus Mattsson – 1,058,000
Kristoffer Thorsson – 1,042,000
Bruce Atkinson – 714,000

21.22

We grabbed an interview with first to fall, Gareth Teatum following his exit today.

Here’s what he had to say to our very own Tatjana.

21.17

Next hand Cody three-bets Thorsson’s opening 80k raise to 200k and although Safina looks like he’s about to get involved, he doesn’t and no one makes the call.

The Cody gravy train continues CHOO CHOO!

21.14

Suddenly we have a huge pot!

Cody raises it up again, undeterred by previous aggression shown when he has raised and Thorsson moves all-in!

Cody takes little time to call with and he catches Thorsson at it – he’s only able to show

The pot is worth 2 million chips and the winner of this pot will be the chip leader. So exciting!

The flop comes which looks pretty safe for Cody but the turn causes a few butterflies in the stomachs of Cody’s fans.

They needn’t have worried – it was only a temporary scare – as the river is black but a spade, the peeling to secure Cody’s ascent to the chip lead.

21.10

Safina, buoyed by that 3 bet of Cody perhaps, raises up the next hand to 125k and picks up the blinds…

He looks busy but then suddenly he raises to 125k again, and this time Thorsson stands up to him, making it 320k…Safina passes and Thorsson pads his chip lead yet further…

21.02

Cody’s had a bad start following the break.

He raises it up to 85k and Safina now makes it 225k. Cody can’t call it and throws his hand away, slipping to 4th in the chip counts in the process…

21.00

Atkinson raises up A3 to 87k, and Safina makes the call with

The pair play it very cautiously, checking down the board, only for Safina’s rivered pair to take it down.

Atkinson has been a little gunshy at times when it comes to post-flop bluffing and there have perhaps been a few pots he could have won if he had ramped up the aggression a little.

20.55

Just to note, the new blind level is 20k/40k with a 4k ante…there’s 80k in the middle preflop every hand and we expect these players to fight over every chip…

20.54

The players have all filled their bellies, re-thought their strategies and worked on tactics to get past the so far flawless Kristoffer Thorsson.

We’re back in action and first hand we see a shove, Cody opening to 85k, only for Mattsson to move allin for one million.

Cody declines to call and now Cody, Safina and Mattsson are all virtually tied for 2nd with 1.2 million apiece.

Thorsson remains out in the lead with 2.2 million with Bruce Atkinson bringing up the rear. A huh huh.

19.48

And with that the players are on a 60 minute break to grab some food and catch their breath.

We will return with the chip stacks looking something like this:-

Kristoffer Thorsson – 2,190,000

Jake Cody – 1,335,000

Giovanni Safina – 1,261,000

Nichlaus Mattsson – 1,045,000

Bruce Atkinson – 983,000

The battle between Cody and Thorsson is fascinating. You get the feeling that the winner of that battle will take down the tournament, but all the other players have stacks big enough to have a big say in what happens.

We’re looking forward to playing this out – back in one hour to continue the road to crown the new WPT champ.

See you then!

19.36

Bruce Atkinson raises it up, only for Kristoffer Thorsson to move all-in!

Atkinson ponders his move for a while…before folding pocket nines face-up!

Thorsson doesn’t show but it’s another step toward victory for the young player – in line for a half million dollar bonus payout if he wins this tournament remember…

There is no animosity between the two however shown as they share a joke following that hand…

19.33

Three-Bets All The Rage!

If a quality of a poker final is determined by the regularity of three-betting, then this has been a final of the highest quality.

We’ve seen three bets aplenty, Bruce Atkinson (shoving all-in over the top of a Mattsson raise) then Jake Cody (re-raising a Thorsson raise) the latest to pick up pots and add to their stacks through sheer, unshowndown aggression.

There are no easy chips at this table and we are going to have a war right to the finish. It really is very attractive poker to watch.

19.23

Atkinson has chipped up, four-betting over the top of a Jake Cody re-raise of Thorsson’s initial raise.

Cody was getting close to the price he might have called with a wide range of hands but with 919k in the pot and 483k to call, he decided it was too much of his remaining stack to call and the price wasn’t quite right…
Atkinson up to 919k, Cody takes another hit, down to 1.1 million…

The old guard showing the young guard they can play a little bit…

19.19

Chip Counts:

Here’s how they are lining up with the finishing tape in sight.

It’s so tense out there. Jesse May is going bananas!

Kristoffer Thorsson – 2,207,000
Jake Cody – 1,448,000
Giovanni Safina – 1,239,000
Nichlas Mattsson – 1,133,000
Bruce Atkinson – 657,000

19.11

Although some of the players have already perished in the firestorm of a start, we have short biographies of all the players who turned up to contend this WPT final.

Here is the list of WPT London Finalists.

19.03

Just five remain now, the blinds have risen to 15k/30k/4k and the pressure is mounting at every stage…

18.28

Thorsson’s aggression has been very impressive.

Moments ago, he kept the pressure on, raising it up to 61k, only for Giovanni Safina to make the call, then check in the dark…

Come the flop, Safina’s dark-check counted…and Thorsson was in no mood to slow down, leading out for 75k…enough to take down another pot…

18.26

Sandiep Khosa Busts in 6th!

With just 136k, Khosa was going to move in at the first sign of a hand and was more than good enough.

However Nichlas Mattsson woke up with and was more than happy to take him…Khosa needing to win this crucial flip to stay in contention.

A board of looked very interesting, giving Khosa the up-and-down draw, but he blanked turn and river a meaningless and non-helpful peeling off to consign him to the also-0rans.

Well played Sandiep Khosa, he bows out in 6th place, collecting £34,189 for his troubles.

18.16

Mattsson Shows His Ni-chlas

It’s been a high quality final so far, but did we see the first mistake? It’s hard to be critical of the players at this stage, the blinds are getting big so hand ranges are widening for steals and re-steals but when Sandiep Khosa raised to 75k, then called Nichlas Mattsson’s shove with , he had got it wrong this time as Mattsson held and had him dominated.

A flop of was pretty decisive with Mattsson spiking top set.

No runner runner on the turn and river and Khosa was crippled with just about 150k or so left, whilst Mattson is up to over 850k and is back in contention…

Shortly after than the aggressive Thorsson three-bets a Bruce Atkinson opening raise from 75k to 170k and takes down the chips.

He’s proving a versatile and dangerous opponent…

18.06

Cody raises to 52k and for the 2nd time in 4 hands, Safina 3 bets …162k the re-raise.

Cody throws his hand away and Safina is starting to rise once again…

18.05

Saarisilta or Nicholas Mattsson just made his first move for a while, pushing his 13 Big blind stack in preflop, then laughing as he collects the blinds.

It’s been a bad day for Mattsson so far…but could things be turning around for him?

18.04

An incredible hand sees Cody raise to 75k from under the gun, only for Thorsson to make it 169k.

Undeterred Cody now re-raised to 380k and Thorsson after some thought…five bets all-in!

He has Cody covered and the young Englishman is forced to fold.

We knew this pair would go to war soon and it looks like first blood goes to Thorsson who has now bullied his way to the chip lead with 2.2 million in chips now.

Incredible play!

18.01

Let’s not forget Giovanni Safina however.

Although the Italian has not had the best of times today, he has shown suiperb poker instincts throughout this tournament and he still has a stack that can take him to the title with a little luck.

Moments ago, he took on Kristoffer Thorsson who opened to 51k…but Safina was having none of it, three-betting him to 135k and Kristoffer backing off, leaving the Italian to sweep up a healthy 90k pot…

17.58

People are a little scared of Cody now, you can feel it. He looks utterly unperturbed as he dominates proceedings, simply calmly and calculatingly making the right moves at the right time.

Moments ago, he raised it up to 52k, Kristoffer Thorsson making the call.

However when the flop comes , Cody’s 80k continuation bet is enough to scare Thorsson off and another pot goes the young Englishman’s way.

You get the feeling that these two might be waiting to scrap however. Will we have a huge pot in store?

17.52

A quick reminder of the payouts awaiting the final 6 players…

1 – £273,783
2 – £176,979
3 – £93,316
4 – £56,311
5 – £42,233
6 – £34,189

17.51

Bruce Atkinson refuses to roll over, moments ago he saw a raise and call in front of him from Jake Cody and another player and moved all-in for 800k…

His bravery was rewarded with two passes as he chipped up to 950k…

17.48

It’s not been a great start for Giovanni Safina.

His day gets a little worse as he raises it up to 57k and the aggressive Kristoffer three-bets him to 150k.

Safina can’t do anything about it and throws his hand away. He’s starting to look a little disturbed at the way this is playing out.

Can the Italian rally?

17.44

No sooner than we had one bustout…we have another!

Jake Cody has battered the table with his three-bets and when he three-bet Fabian Quoss’ opening raise to 52k again, Quoss decided to make a stand with . Cody had made it 123k and Quoss now moved allin for his c. 780k stack.

Cody however hasn’t put a foot wrong so far and instantly called with pocket tens, dominating Quoss with the German’s tournament life on the line.

The flop fell with not a seven in sight, meaning Quoss bows out.

Fabian Quoss out in 7th spot, collects £26,144 for his efforts.

Good game sir!

Meanwhile Jake Cody is now a commanding chip leader up to over 2 million at this point. The young englishman is playign his A game and will be tough to stop.

17.39

G..g..g..Gareth is G…g…Gone!

As the shortest stack Gareth Teatum had to make a move sooner or later and with the blinds at 12k 24lk, his 374k was perfect for a re-shove.

Moments ago, he did re-shove over the top of a Jake Cody opening raise to 52k.

As we’ve seen though Jake Cody doesn’t make many mistakes and called quickly, Teatum quickly realising he could be in trouble here.

With live cards the board peeled off to give Cody a big edge, but Teatum a glimmer of hope in the form of a gutshot, but a blank on the turn and river were not enough and we had our first elimination of the day.

Well played Gareth Teatum he shakes hands with the players and finishes up in 8th spot, collecting £18,100 for his finish.

The match continues…

17.35

Kristoffer’s stack just gets bigger…

He calls a 65k raise from Bruce Atkinson and the pair of them check every street of a board…Thorsson’s superior to Atkinson’s

Atkinson looks a bit disappointed at not making more effort to take that down…

17.29

So it’s been a fast start, but no eliminations as of yet…just lots of aggressive poker.

Following the end of the first level, here are the current chip counts as we stand, Kristoffer Thorsson having wrested the chip lead away from Giovanni Safina.

1. Kristoffer Thorsson – 1,356,000
2. Giovanni Safina – 1,276,000
3. Bruce Atkinson – 1,016,000
4. Jake Cody – 830,000
5. Fabian Quoss – 797,000
6. Sandiep Khosa – 576,000
7. Saarasilta Mattsson – 573,000
8. Gareth Teatum – 377,000

16.54

Cody finally comes off worse in a pot, raising it up to 52k, only for Sandiep Khosa to push his stack all-in.

Cody can’t call him this time and Khosa takes the pressure off his shortstack for a moment.

16.34

An interesting multi-way hand breaks out as Bruce Atkinson raises it up to 41k – Jake Cody, Gareth Teatum and Sandiep Khosa making the call.

When the flop falls however, Atkinson’s 125k is enough to take it down.

Elvis Lives!

We can’t reveal what they held in that hand, but it was quite an interesting hand in how it played out.

Watch it later..

16.28

Safina has a set-back…

He was very unlucky as he gets the the turn of a board with Fabian Quoss, holding for second pair.

He leads for 100k and Quoss makes the call with for bottom pair.

A harsh appears on the river and when Safina checks, the gum-chewing Quoss bets out for 93k.

Safina doesn’t like it, his hand wrapped round his face as he decides on his action…then he makes the call only to be shown the horrible truth…

16.24

Can Cody keep this going?

Sandiep Khosa raises to 50k and Jake Cody…moves all-in! for over 900k now…

Khosa shakes his head but can’t call and lays his hand down, Cody continuing to dominate the opening stages.

Sandiep raises the next hand to 50k and this time, he gets a fold, picking up the blinds for a little salvation. A broad grin spreads across his face…

16.12

Powerplay from Jake Cody.

He raises it up to 40k, but Kristoffer Thorsson makes it 120k.

Cody thinks about his options before deciding the best move is all-in!

He ships his 800+k stack and Thorsson takes little time to make the fold. Strong play from Cody, he is putting maximum pressure on in these early stages.

16.10

Teatum adds a few more chips to his stack.

He calls Kristoffer Thorsson’s raise to 35k, and the pair go heads up to a flop.

Thorsson leads for 40k, only for Teatum to make it 110k. Thorsson folds like lightning and the Doncaster man takes it down…

Safina remains the chip leader following the opening stages…

16.04

Sandiep Khosa moves allin with for 264k…and Mattsson behind him with also decides to move allin and isolate the shorstack shove.

Whilst Mattsson no doubt felt that Khosa was shoving wide here, in this case he was unlucky to run into the top of his range and going to the flop is in bad shape.

It falls …there is no outdraw – Khosa’s hand holds sway and he is back over 550k whilst the aggro Mattsson is back below 750k…

16.02

Bruce Atkinson wants his chips back and opens to 41k, but when Gareth Teatum makes his first big move of the day – an allin shove for 229k…Atkinson throws away his hand.

Next hand, Giovanni Safina opens to 50k…and takes the blinds.

16.00

Jake Cody sees Sandiep Khosa raise to 35k, and Bruce Atkinson make the call. Now he decides to hike up the price to pay in what looks like a squeeze manoeuvre – 115k the raise.

Khosa thinks and mucks, but Atkinson – who has chips to play with now, makes the call.

The flop falls and when Cody leads oout, Atkinson spends little time throwing his hand away.

Cody back in the game with a 250k+ pot!

15.57

Cody hasn’t had an easy start. He made a difficult fold versus Sandiep Khosa a few moments ago but undeterred he raises to 34k, only for Nichlas Mattsson to 3-bet him to 104k.

Cody thinks about it and throws his hand away in the face of Mattsson’s aggression…he must be a little frustrated at this opening.

Straight after though, he gets some chips back…details to follow…

15.42

Jake Cody has a special guest in the audience, Toby Lewis, fresh from his victory at EPT Vilamoura, has come to rail his friend and hopefully cheer him on to the title.

Not a bad man to have in your corner if you need to discuss a hand or two. The two young Englishmen are continuing the recent spate of English success that saw the UK players win a record-breaking five bracelets over the summer.

Both Cody and Lewis have experienced EPT success – Cody winning the Deauville leg of the EPT at the beginning of the year and the fact that both are in their early twenties illustrates the ever more youthful face of poker.

15.38

Incredible drama as we have our first all-in of the day.

The hand starts with Bruce Atkinson opening to 37k holding .

Fabian Quoss however is sat behind him with and three-bets him to 80k. Atkinson however has a monster and is undeterred, announcing all-in for his 621k stack when it is passed to him!

This is tough for Quoss, he could be crushed here, and it is a big portion of his stack to call…

Eventually however after gum-chewing and tanking for some time, he makes the call and a huge 1.3 million chip pot is in the offing.

This could be crucial…

The flop is a highly Quoss-friendly , for top pair and the nut flush draw and Elvis impersonator Atkinson is about to leave the building when suddenly, uh-uh-uh, he’s all shook up!

The spikes dramatically on the turn and Atkinson begins to perform a little dance to celebrate. What a card!

Quoss still has a decent redraw on the river, any club still good for him but instead it blanks as the and suddenly Bruce Atkinson fiunds himself vying for the lead whilst QUoss is knocked back to around 400k.

WOW!

15.30

Early excitement!

Nichlas (Saarisilta) Mattsson raises to 36k, only for big stack – the million dollar man Kristoffer Thorsson – to three-bet him to 90k.

Mattsson debates what to do but eventually throws his hand away leaving Thorsson to sweep up the pot.

First blood to Thorsson…

15.16

With the WPT London Final just moments away, here are the starting stacks as these eight players bid to write their name into history.

Italian PartyPoker.it Team Pro Giovanni Safina leads the way – as he has done for much of the tournament – but a field packed with talent is lurking just beneath him harbouring their own intentions of glory.

It should be an incredible day so stay with us as we detail all the twists and turns of this historic day.

Giovanni Safina 1,546,000
Kristoffer Thorsson 1,317,000
Fabian Quoss 1,068,000
Saarisilta Mattsson 805,000
Jake Cody 786,000
Bruce Atkinson 535,000
Sandiep Khosa 397,000
Gareth Teatum 387,000.

And here are the prizes they are playing for:

1 – £273,783
2 – £176,979
3 – £93,316
4 – £56,311
5 – £42,233
6 – £34,189
7 – £26,144
8 – £18,100