00:48 – Play Has Ended; Chris Thomson Leads With 142,000
As the title of this post suggests, play has ended for the night and the players have bagged their chips. Chris Thomson is the chip leader with 142,000 followed by Stephen Bean on 125,300.
Join us on Friday from 14:00 for Flight 2 and 20:00 for Flight 3.
00:28 – £15,480 Already in the Kitty
The prize pool of the partypoker WPT National UK Milton Keynes Main Event already stands at £15,480 with two starting flights left to play! There are some casinos not a million miles from The Casino MK who have a £15,000 guaranteed event this weekend and we are going to completely blow them out of the water! Want to play for big bucks? Then you simply have to come play in this superb £200 accumulator tournament.
00:26 – Play Slows Down as Flight 1 Nears the End
There are less than 10 minutes remaining of Flight 1 and it is not surprising that play has slowed down significantly as players who are planning on only using one bullet try to hang on for dear life.
00:19 – Conning’s Spin Doesn’t Go to Plan
Shaun Conning was true to his word when he said he was going to attempt to spin his stack up in the dying minutes of Flight 1. Sadly, for him at least, it did not go to plan and he will now have to play on Flight 2 or 3 if he is to leave Milton Keynes with the title of partypoker WPT National UK Milton Keynes champion.
00:10 – Last Level of the Night
The blinds have increased for the final time tonight and Level 8 has started. In around half hour’s time, play will end and the sleepy eyed players will head home to get a few hour’s shut-eye.
00:03 – A Trio of Counts
Lynne Beaumont’s snake card protectors seems to be a lucky charm as she now finds herself with 42,000 chips, while James Browning’s stack contains 23,400 chips.
One young man to look out for is the partypoker qualifier Ben Spraggons who has increased his stack to 35,500 and looks extremely comfortable at his table. Spraggons has over $1.8 million in online poker tournament winnings, $400,000 of which come from him bossing the tournament tables at partypoker.
23:58 – Thomson Adds More to His Stack
Christopher Thomson is now armed with 57,000 chips and up among the chip leaders in this tournament. We didn’t see who Thomson’s latest victim was but a player was heading to the sidelines and Thomson was busy restacking his mountain of chips.
One of Thomson’s table mates turned around to speak to Shaun Conning and Conning informed him that “I will be spinning this in about 10 minutes,” so we will keep an eye out for Conning making a move soon.
23:43 – Nines Are Good For Christopher Thomson
Carl Spicer’s tournament has come to an abrupt end at the hands of Christopher Thomson. A couple of hands prior to his exit, Spicer had raised and then folded to a shove only to be shown . On his final hand, Spicer open-jammed all-in for 5,300 chips and was called by Thomson. The big blind looked set to call, but folded when he realised he would not have been heads-up with the all-in Spicer.
Spicer:
Thomson:
Board:
Game over for Spicer while Thomson’s stack swells to over 45,000.
23:33 – 61 Players Remain As the Penultimate Level Looms
The sixth level is almost completed and 61 players from the original 86 starters still have chips in front of them. How many of them will make it through to Day 2? How many will make it through to Day 2 but still play on subsequent starting flights? We will find out soon enough.
23:24 – Conning’s Club (Sandwich) Helps Him Chip Up
Shaun Conning is probably one of the more experienced players in today’s field thanks to his $157,000 in live tournament winnings. When we last checked on Conning, his stack had dwindled somewhat and he looked more interested in his mobile phone than the tournament he had paid £200 to enter.
A quick walk around the room resulted in us seeing Conning now improved stack of 22,000, a revival we put down to Conning having devoured a delicious looking club sandwich from Clary’s Bar & Grill. Should you find yourself low on chips and on an empty stomach, follow in Conning’s footsteps and get something to eat from the casino’s restaurant!
23:15 – Another Big Pot Goes to Banys
He may have gotten lucky with ace-ten versus ace-king earlier in today’s tournament, but Giedrius Banys continues to win pots with pure aggression.
The beanie hat sporting cutoff opened and Banys three-bet to 2,400 from the big blind. The cutoff didn’t believe Banys’ story and stuck in a our-bet to 5,750; a bet that sent Banys into the proverbial tank. Banys stayed submerged for close to a minute before taking back his 2,400 chips and replacing them with 9,500 instead. The cutoff raise his eyebrows and let his hand go, leaving Banys to win a chunky pot without showdown.
23:01 – Quads For Thomson
“All-in.”
Two little words that have a powerful meaning; that you are prepared to put your tournament life on the line with the cards that you currently hold.
“Call”
We dashed to the table to see a board reading . The suited gentleman who called turned over [7x][6x] for a straight, a strong hand to hold in Texas Hold’em, but one that was completely destroyed by the
in the hand of Christopher Thomson.
Thomson’s was covered by 3,300 chips so earned a full double and is now sat proudly behind a few piles of chips with combined worth of 34,000.
22:54 – Ladies and Gentlemen, We Give to You Our Chip Leader
It must be nice sitting behind a pile of chips that are worth more than double the amount of the average stack. It must be nice to be Mark Thomas because that is the situation that he finds himself in.
Thomas has 63,000 chips at his disposal and is easily the chip leader and therefore on course for a seat in a special sit & go at partypoker where he could win a $1,000 package to the WPT National UK London Main Event.
“It’s only double the average,” joked Thomas when he saw us attempting to count his colossal stack. “There’s a long way to go,” Thomas added.
We asked Thomas how he had accumulated so many chips over the course of four 30-minute levels.
“I got them without any big pots; I’ve won lots and lots of small ones.”
Forget the one big pot, folks and concentrate in winning plenty of smaller ones because it seems to be working for Thomas.
64 players remain.
22:42 – Brisland Knocks Out Kassouf
Remember we mentioned that Andrew Brisland had won a car in this casino? Well he is now racing towards the chip leaders and leaving the rest of the field in his dust.
Brisland informed us that Will Kassouf opened, received two callers and then a third when Brisland decided to see a flop with his [4x][4x]. The flop fell [Ax][Kx][4x] with two hearts, and after a raising battle between Kassouf and Brisland broke out, Kassouf found himself all-in with a draw to the nut flush. No more hearts appeared on the turn or river, Kassouf busted and Brisland is definitely out of first gear now and armed with 45,000 chips.
Sorry, we’ll stop the car puns now.
22:40 – Xie Busts, But She’ll Be Back
During the break we caught up with Renee Xie who informed us that she had busted towards the end of the last level. Down to 15 big blinds, Xie open-shoved on the button with a king in her hand and couldn’t get their against her opponent’s ace-jack.
“I’m playing again tomorrow,” said Xie, “But only the 20:00 because I have to work.”
See you tomorrow evening for Flight 3 then!
22:38 – The Cards Are Back in the Air
The players are back in their seats and the dealers instructed to shuffle up and deal, which is exactly what they have done.
22:17 – Level 4 Ends; Registration Closes; Players Go On Break
The fourth level of play is over and that means the players get to go on their first break and will no doubt be telling bad beat stories for the full 20-minutes. The conclusion of Level 4 also means the shutter has come down at the registration desk, meaning Flight 1 of the WPT National UK Milton Keynes Main Event has attracted an impressive 86 entries, a number made more impressive by the date’s close proximity to Christmas and the driving winds and rain currently hammering Milton Keyes.
22:14 – Banys Banishes His Opponent
“That was won of the worst calls I have ever seen,” said the now busted player as he exited the tournament area to a chorus of slow claps from his friends. Harsh words, but they often are when someone has busted you from an event such as this.
The reason for the player’s out burst was his shove with was called by Giedrius Banys’ dominated
. Banys’ hand only stayed dominated until the
flop as he was catapulted into an unlikely lead. The
turn made a split pot possible, but the
river saw Banys’ hand stay best and he climbs to 30,600 chips.
22:02 – Card Protectors Collide
Many players love to use a trinket to protect their cards from an over-enthusiastic dealer and two such players are seated together at a table at the far end of the 150-seat poker room. One gentleman has a rather fetching multi-faceted crystal ball that is similar to the ones used in the British TV show “The Crystal Maze.” A couple of seats across from the man with the crystal is Lynne Beaumont and her model snake.
What’s your favourite card protector?
21:54 – Mr Cool is Even Cooler
Remember the player we described as the coolest looking poker player ever? Well he is even cooler now; in fact he’s probably ice cold seeing how he is in the car park on his way home having busted Flight 1. Unless he buys back in on one of the two Friday flights, we may never know who Mr Cool is.
21:52 – Registration Closes at the End of This Level
Level 4 has started and this means that the registration desk will soon close. There is around 23 minutes left to et yourself down to The Casino MK and swap £200 for 20,000 tournament chips. Come on down, you know you want to add to the impressive 83 entries so far.
21:40 – Andrew Brisland Arrives in Style
The Casino MK is a beautiful venue for a poker tournament. The paint is only just dry on the walls as Britain’s Super Casino only opened in September. As part of the celebrations, the casino ran a number of promotions and Andrew Brisland was one lucky winner.
You see, Brisland won a random draw that saw him win a brand new Audi worth a staggering £40,000! Brisland, a keen poker player, is seated at Renee Xie’s table having arrived from work in style in his new motor. The casino is obviously lucky for Brisland; will this tournament be lucky, too?
21:32 – Geoff Richards Uses Power of Position; Climbs to 29,000
Every poker strategy book worth the paper it is written on will advocate playing more hands when you have position on an opponent and playing them aggressively. It seems Geoff Richards has read such a strategy book judging by his utilisation of the button in a multiway pot a few moments ago.
The big blind checked on a flop, which put the action onto Andy Hills in the hijack seat. Hills led for 1,200 in a pot containing 2,600 chips, only to see Richards “click-it-back” and min-raise to 2,500 from the button. The big blind had seen enough and got out of the way, but Hills called.
The dealer placed the onto the turn and Hills checked its arrival. Richards pushed chips worth 2,500 over the betting line, giving Hills plenty too think about. Richards took a sip of hi drink while Hills squirmed in his seat while pondering what to do. Forty-seconds later, Hills folded and Richards scooped the pot and is now up to 29,000 chips.
21:14 – More Incentive to be Chip Leader
Every player who is seated at their table in this fantastic tournament share a common goal of making it through to Day 2, but they all secretly want to be the overnight chip leader. And why wouldn’t they want to be because being the chip leader in a prestigious tournament such as this is a remarkable achievement.
Whoever finishes as chip leader on Flights 1-3, Day 2 and Day 3 will not only have bragging rights but will also be invited to a special six-handed sit and go tournament at partypoker featuring either Marvin Rettenmaier or Kara Scott! Each of the five chip leaders will win a $33 token for a satellite to the partypoker WPT National UK London Main Event, with the winner of the sit and go walking away with a package to the same event worth a cool $1,000.
Stuart Nash won one such package to the Milton Keynes event; we will see him playing on Flight 2 and Flight 3 on Friday.
21:09 – Xie Representing the Fairer Sex
In a game that is played predominately by men, it is always to good to see women in their seats, mixing it up and taking on the gents. One such lady is Renee Xie who is seated on Table 10.
Xie is a regular at the Dusk Till Dawn casino in Nottingham but is often found plying her trade at the felt of casinos around the UK and even as far as Las Vegas.
She hasn’t had the best of starts during the first two levels as her stack has dwindled to 16,000. There’s still a long way to go and a player of Xie’s stature is well aware of that.
20:59 – Villegas Climbs Up the Counts
Jay Villegas,who qualified for this event at partypoker, is up to around 35,000 chips thanks in part to a hand that went down moments ago. Shaun Conning checked from the small blind with the board reading and Villegas, in the big blind, set the price to play at 1,200. The coolest looking poker player you have ever seen, sporting mirrored shades and over-ear headphones, called from late position and Conning tossed in calling chips, too.
The turn was the and Conning checked again. Villegas increased his bet amount to 2,600 and it was enough to get the job done as both Conning and “Mr Cool” sent their hands back to the dealer.
20:54 – Look Out for Vincent Calenti
When a top poker pro fires a Tweet at you and asks you to keep an eye out for a particular player you tend to take note. Ryan Spittles messaged me and said to look out for Vincent Calenti, who is apparently known as “Celtic.”
Calenti has a number of impressive results in the live tournament arena, which when added together total more than $70,000. We will look out for Mr Calenti as this tournament progresses.
@YorkyPuds please keep your keen updating eyes on Vince Calenti. My pick for the future. X
— Ryan Spittles (@RyanSpittles) December 19, 2013
20:39 – Mohammed Suhail Gets Stacked
Mohammed Suhail finished as runner-up to John Ventre in the inaugural partypoker WPT National UK London Main Event, a result that banked the eccentric player the tidy sum of £14,230, but unless he buys in on Flight 2 or 3 (or both) he will not be repeating that impressive result.
We joined the action on a board where Andy Hills had bet from under-the-gun and Suhail was pondering what to do. He finally decided that moving all in was the best move and Hills confidently stated: “I call.”
When Hills turned over his hand, the , it was easy to see why he called so confidently as he had improved to a flush. Suhail let out a grown as he slammed his cards into the muck and exited the tournament area.
Hills told us that it was a four-bet pot preflop that was checked down to the river. With the wheel showing, Hills opted to bet big to look like he was trying to steal the pot and Suhail took the bait.
Hills is our chip leader with 40,000 chips.
20:20 – The poker room is packed!
The cards are in the air in the partypoker World Poker Tour National UK Milton Keynes Main Event and it looks like we could be set for a massive turnout. There are already 77 players who have exchanged £200 for 20,000 tournament chips and the chance to become this tournament’s champion — and we are only five minutes into the action! Amazing stuff when you consider it is the week before Christmas!
Registration is open for four levels meaning you still have plenty of opportunity to get yourself down to The Casino MK and get in on the action!
Hello and welcome to The Casino MK where in around 30-minutes time, the first of three starting flights in the partypoker World Poker Tour (WPT) UK Milton Keynes Main Event commences. Milton Keynes is the second of five planned stops on the brand new tour and if the inaugural event in London is anything to go by then Milton Keynes’ poker loving public are in for a real treat.
Tonight sees the first bunch of hopefuls descend on the newly opened poker room at The Casino MK for Flight 1 of what should be a spectacular event. Like in London, the partypoker WPT National UK Milton Keynes Main Event is played to an accumulator format, which the Poker Room Manager for Aspers, John Scanlon, explains:
“Players have the option to buy-in to one, two or all three of the Day one flights. At the end of each flight, we bag your chips and move them forward to Day 2. All chips from each flight are accumulated to give players their total starting stack for Day 2.
“The tournament is based on an innovative format from the Aussie Millions, where there was a big buzz amongst players about the best strategy to play. The structure is all about bringing more people into the game at various levels of buy-ins.”
Any player who buys in tonight receives a generous stack of 20,000 tournament chips for their £200. Blinds start at 50/100 and increase every 30 minutes. The plan of action for all three starting flights is to play up to the end of Level 8, meaning those players who are fortunate to still have their chip stacks intact will be bagging them up for the night at around 12:30 am.
Stay tuned to the partypoker blog for updates on the action from the partypoker WPT National UK Milton Keynes Main Event.
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