{"id":35057,"date":"2014-02-28T13:30:48","date_gmt":"2014-02-28T12:30:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/?p=35057"},"modified":"2019-10-31T12:31:49","modified_gmt":"2019-10-31T12:31:49","slug":"fazeli-flies-wpt-national-uk-flight-1-lead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/fazeli-flies-wpt-national-uk-flight-1-lead.html","title":{"rendered":"Fazeli Flies Through WPT National UK Flight 1 In The Lead"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"WPT_2153\"<\/a>

James Thomson (133,200) was one of the flight’s biggest winners here at Aspers Casino<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

Reza Fazeli took a monster stack through to Day 2 as the WPT UK National event in the fabulous cardroom at Aspers Casino in Stratford got off to a great start, with 217 entries. \u00a0He’ll have a chance to add to that on Flights 2 and 3, meaning potential for a mountain should Fazeli play like today.<\/p>\n

99 players made it through the field after we lost players such as Kevin Williams, Paul Zimbler and Sunny Chattha along the way. \u00a0Eight levels took place, with Philip Gould and Tom Dunning dominating big pots early on. \u00a0Other players did it the hard way, with Rahim Tadj-Saadat and Errol Ward both recovering from short-stacks to plough a late furrow.<\/p>\n

We welcomed players of all levels to Aspers as Kara Scott played for partypoker, getting past an early loss to build a stack of 33,300. Others were unable to survive. \u00a0Ali Zinhi departed when his was no match for Tommy Zhang’s pocket kings. Dave McConachie had his own kings crushed by Chevin Beckles’ pocket aces. \u00a0The 30-minute blind levels put players to decisions early on, and the spirit of the tournament was electric.<\/p>\n

When the dust settled, though, Fazeli was the biggest in chips, and he’ll surely be back today to accumulate as many chips as he can…in this form, who will be the player to stop him?<\/p>\n

We\u2019ll be back with a new blog from 2pm on Friday as we see who can add the most chips in the accumulator format during what should be a fantastic Flights 2 and 3.<\/p>\n

Hope you\u2019ve enjoyed tonight\u2019s WPT UK National Event in London\u2019s stunning Aspers cardroom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Reza Fazeli<\/span><\/td>\n143,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ryan Kelly<\/span><\/td>\n127,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philip Gould<\/span><\/td>\n126,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Steven Mitchell<\/span><\/td>\n108,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Onise Daneliya<\/span><\/td>\n98,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ross Mannion<\/span><\/td>\n86,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Branko Sprach<\/span><\/td>\n82,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tony Vu<\/span><\/td>\n81,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pantelis Antoniou<\/span><\/td>\n76,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andrew Berkecz<\/span><\/td>\n74,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
James Thomson<\/span><\/td>\n73,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Yue Tu<\/span><\/td>\n72,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Errol Ward<\/span><\/td>\n72,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kaan Can<\/span><\/td>\n71,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Philip Lee<\/span><\/td>\n69,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arvin Ravindran<\/span><\/td>\n68,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xuan Nguyen<\/span><\/td>\n67,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jonathan Baylis<\/span><\/td>\n65,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mantas Zeringis<\/span><\/td>\n63,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Samantha Griffiths<\/span><\/td>\n58,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Konstantinos Toulis<\/span><\/td>\n57,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luke Slisz<\/span><\/td>\n57,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mohammed Suhail<\/span><\/td>\n55,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Romain<\/span><\/td>\n55,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Florian Duta<\/span><\/td>\n54,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gregory Moore<\/span><\/td>\n54,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rahim Tadj-Saadat<\/span><\/td>\n53,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
John Ashton<\/span><\/td>\n53,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mats Ros\u00e9n<\/span><\/td>\n49,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Demetris Theophanous<\/span><\/td>\n49,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hasan Ifran<\/span><\/td>\n49,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Xavier Rouayroux<\/span><\/td>\n49,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christopher Gordon<\/span><\/td>\n49,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
David Phethean<\/span><\/td>\n49,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Zydrunas Lukosiunas<\/span><\/td>\n48,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Edwin Biber<\/span><\/td>\n48,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ricky Benger<\/span><\/td>\n48,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Daniel Fulgescu<\/span><\/td>\n46,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
EAMONN GAVIN<\/span><\/td>\n44,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sally Smith<\/span><\/td>\n44,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Chevin Beckles<\/span><\/td>\n42,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Emil Georgiev<\/span><\/td>\n41,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gabor Antal<\/span><\/td>\n41,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kevin Neal<\/span><\/td>\n40,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christopher Love<\/span><\/td>\n40,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Laurence Houghton<\/span><\/td>\n39,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Margarita Stoycheva<\/span><\/td>\n39,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Van To Le<\/span><\/td>\n39,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
George Apostol<\/span><\/td>\n38,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Karl Alexander Restucci<\/span><\/td>\n38,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lauris Krievs<\/span><\/td>\n38,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jen Chiang<\/span><\/td>\n38,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lyndon Basha<\/span><\/td>\n37,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jack Glass<\/span><\/td>\n37,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Peteris Berzins<\/span><\/td>\n37,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andrey Dimitrov<\/span><\/td>\n35,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
NICHOLAS VAN DE WEYER<\/span><\/td>\n34,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
VINCENT ANDERSON<\/span><\/td>\n34,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Morgan Florin<\/span><\/td>\n34,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Daniel Grant<\/span><\/td>\n33,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Iulius Buzetoiu<\/span><\/td>\n33,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Kara Scott<\/span><\/td>\n33,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Nicolae Ponea<\/span><\/td>\n32,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Daniel Creser<\/span><\/td>\n31,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Sean Lydon<\/span><\/td>\n30,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stephen Smith<\/span><\/td>\n29,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ali Sakallioglu<\/span><\/td>\n28,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andrew Badecker<\/span><\/td>\n28,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ramadan Krasnici<\/span><\/td>\n28,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Charles Chattha<\/span><\/td>\n27,400<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Soyinka Sotimehin<\/span><\/td>\n27,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Thomas Zhang<\/span><\/td>\n26,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Arrash Zafari<\/span><\/td>\n26,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Jose Fernandez<\/span><\/td>\n25,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Ashraf Mohamed<\/span><\/td>\n25,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Vadim Seriozeckin<\/span><\/td>\n25,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marios Andreas<\/span><\/td>\n25,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Matthew Osborne<\/span><\/td>\n24,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Luke Mcintyre<\/span><\/td>\n24,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Realfi Petro<\/span><\/td>\n24,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Andrew Brisland<\/span><\/td>\n23,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Mauro Suriano<\/span><\/td>\n23,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Pawan Thaper<\/span><\/td>\n23,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Terence Mcgilly<\/span><\/td>\n22,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Robert Kucma<\/span><\/td>\n21,800<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Uri Dinay<\/span><\/td>\n20,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Leon Campbell<\/span><\/td>\n18,100<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Trevor Bulless<\/span><\/td>\n18,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Marinos Mina<\/span><\/td>\n17,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Lucas Bezzina<\/span><\/td>\n16,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Paul Russell<\/span><\/td>\n13,200<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Georgy Fournadjiev<\/span><\/td>\n12,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Stephen Brown<\/span><\/td>\n11,900<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Tony Doggett<\/span><\/td>\n11,500<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Christian Middelboe<\/span><\/td>\n10,600<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Adam Jastrzebski<\/span><\/td>\n10,300<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Hristo Georgiev<\/span><\/td>\n7,000<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
DAVID SHALLOW<\/span><\/td>\n5,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Rajinder Shina<\/span><\/td>\n5,700<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

 <\/p>\n

Last Four Hands<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re waiting for the last hands to finish here at Aspers as the first flight of the \u00a3100,000 WPT UK National Event here in London reaches the end of the day. \u00a0 \u00a0Some recent bust-outs (in the final hand) include Paul Zimbler. \u00a0He tried to push off a player with an open straight draw, but his opponent shrugged and declared \u201cI can play tomorrow!\u201d before calling with middle-pair. \u00a0He held to send Zimbler to the rail.<\/p>\n

Definitely through are around half the 217-strong field, we are told there will be an extended wait while the counts are tallied up, so we\u2019ll confirm full Flight 1 chip-counts in the early hours, but we can tell you that Kara Scott (33,300), Chaz Chattha (27,300), Errol Ward (74k) and Nick van der Weyer all made it through. \u00a0We\u2019ll have the full list up for you as soon as we have it!<\/p>\n

Tomorrow we look forward to welcoming the Hendon Mob to Aspers, as well as Michael Greco, Kara Scott, Chaz Chattha, Sunny Chattha, and plenty more big names. \u00a0Who will make Day 2 with the biggest stack? \u00a0We\u2019ll find out in 24 hours\u2026<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2150\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Down To The Weyer<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re getting close to the end of play here at Aspers on Flight 1 as the WPT UK National event kicks into \u2018no guts, no glory\u2019 stage. \u00a0One man who doesn\u2019t need to go crazy is Aspers regular and D\u2019artagnan look-a-like Nick van der Weyer (pictured). \u00a0He\u2019s looking very comfortable on his table, cruising clear of the 38,000 average. \u00a0Also healthy are Chris Gordon (55k), Paul Romain (50k) and Errol Ward, whose stack has taken a giant leap from earlier on. \u00a0He now sits behind nearly 70, around double average.<\/p>\n

Sadly, we\u2019ve lost Kevin Williams, who was hit by a sucker-punch river in a horrid hand for the popular Theatre Director\/Poker Player. \u00a0Every great story has a sting in the tail, and he was on the wrong end of it, calling a raise in the small blind with 5-5. \u00a0The flop came 9-3-4 and he was the only caller to the original raiser\u2019s continuation bet. \u00a0the turn came an innocuous jack, and both players checked. \u00a0 On the river, Kevin hit his set, and bet 5k, raised all-in for an extra 8k. \u00a0He called\u2026only to see that his opponent had floated with A-2 and hit \u2018the Wheel\u2019 (A-2-3-4-5) on the river. \u00a0Kevin lost the rest in a standard shoving spot with A-J crushed by Paul Zimbler\u2019s J-J, all the chips heading to The Marbella Kid.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2138\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Ward Wins A Good One<\/strong><\/p>\n

Errol Ward is taking his shot by playing here at the WPT UK National London, and having run out of luck earlier in the tournament, he\u2019s bouncing back. \u00a0Blinds are now 400\/800, and he started the hand with under ten big blinds. \u00a0Calling a min-raise in mid-position with Q-T, he was all-in on the turn of Ts-3d-Ac-9c against one opponent, after a whopping six of them saw that min-raise. \u00a0That added serious value to the hand for Errol, and he was up against the straight draw of 8-7. \u00a0He faded the river to treble up to around thirty big blinds\u2026back in the game!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2155\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Level 7 \u2013 Blinds\u00a0400\/800\/100<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Zinhi Out, Zhang Doubling\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re losing players quickly now, with just 45 minutes of play left to get those chip-stacks up towards the kind of level that will make this accumulator format even more value tomorrow. \u00a0Ali Zinhi busted when his suited A-K was no match for Tommy Zhang, whose micro-stack is now up above the average of 33,700.<\/p>\n

We have around 130 players still left, and expect at least three dozen of those to exit before the Flight is over. \u00a0The next level could be carnage!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2147\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Sunny & Chaz Chattha Interview\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With the players heading for ten minutes break ahead of the last two levels, we caught up with two Londoners who consider Aspers their home turf \u2013 Team Duffy & Hit Squad members Sunny & Chaz Chattha! \u00a0With the two brothers faring slightly differently, this almost turned into a tale of the tape!<\/p>\n

Level 6 \u2013 Blinds\u00a0300\/600\/75<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Heroes Everywhere<\/strong><\/p>\n

It\u2019s not an exaggeration to say that the field here at the WPT National UK event is packed with class. \u00a0Not only do we have huge personalities such as Kara Scott, Scott Shelley and Kevin Williams lined up together on the unofficial \u2018feature\u2019 table, there are top, top players all around the room. \u00a0Of all the tables in Aspers to be moved to, Sunny Chattha (6,100) has been moved to sitting opposite his own brother in Chaz Chattha (pictured below), who has a much healthier stack of 19,325. \u00a0The average in chips is approaching 30,000, so players need to make moves to be in the running for a big stack to take through to the next day of TWO flights.<\/p>\n

Making a hero call in poker is never easy, but when you have ace-high and your opponent has barrelled every street it gets harder and harder. \u00a0Van Le was the man able to make the call with A-Q \u00a0on the river of a low board, his opponent holding A-J for absolutely nothing. \u00a0A 20,000 pot is slid towards the gutsy Le.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2027\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Rahim Tadj-Saadat \u2013 Mr Hollywood<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019ve seen Rahim play a lot of London tournaments, and he has real staying power \u2013 like an old Hollywood actor, he knows how to turn on the charm when he needs to. \u00a0Having gone into the break low on chips, he\u2019s transformed his fortunes by, in the words of his tablemate, \u201cbeating up the same guy five times\u201d.<\/p>\n

Rahim has already given that standard poker player reaction to his turn of luck \u2013 asking which is the biggest stack in the room!<\/p>\n

158 players remain from the 217 entries so far today on Flight 1. \u00a0As you can see below, everyone is enjoying this fantastic cardroom\u2026<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2115\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Level 5 \u2013 Blinds 200\/400\/ante 75<\/strong><\/p>\n

Three And Easy<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re into Level 5 now, with the three biggest stacks in the room streets ahead of most.<\/p>\n

Philip Gould sits behind 68,000, and Onise Daneliya has 78,500, but they\u2019re both way behind runaway chip leader Tom Dunning (pictured, below) with an incredible 94,300. \u00a0Tom got a lot of his chips in a pot where another player shoved all-in with J-T on a ten-high flop, Tom calling it off with J-J and winning around half his now monster chip-stack.<\/p>\n

Playing in today\u2019s tournament? \u00a0Let us know how you\u2019re getting on via Twitter by using the hashtag #WPTNUK .<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re thinking of taking part tomorrow on Flights 2 and 3 , which kick off at 2pm and 8pm respectively, then you might be interested to know that the prize-pool currently sits at \u00a339,060\u2026meaning the overlay is currently an incredible \u00a360,940!!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2063\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Kara Scott Interview<\/strong><\/p>\n

As the players filed out for a well-earned break, we caught up with partypoker\u2019s Kara Scott on her love of London, how she has done so far on Flight 1 and whether she actually, maybe or possibly injured Ryan Giggs in Manchester.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_1983\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Stacking Them High\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

With Level 4 the last before the players take a short break (they will play eight levels tonight), we thought we\u2019d get you come chip-counts. \u00a0We\u2019ve had the first few of our eliminations, with Dave McConachie chief amongst the casualties, as he shoved over the top of a big bet on the flop. \u00a0He was called and in horrible shape, his over-pair to the flop of K-K crushed by Chevin Beckles\u2019 A-A. \u00a0that was the of McConachie, but he\u2019s one of the majority of players who\u2019ll be playing all three flights it would seem.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s have a look at how some other notables are shaping up as the decisions become more vital in every hand\u2026<\/p>\n

Chevin Beckles 55,150<\/p>\n

Dr. Ash 41,500<\/p>\n

Paul Zimbler 39,800<\/p>\n

Chris Gordon 30,400<\/p>\n

\u2018H\u2019 Nicholas 28,500<\/p>\n

Kara Scott 27,600<\/p>\n

Greg Moore 26,000<\/p>\n

Kevin Williams 22,800<\/p>\n

Ali Zinhi 20,900<\/p>\n

Chaz Chattha 20,525<\/p>\n

Mats Rosen 17,800<\/p>\n

Jerome Bradpiece 16,200<\/p>\n

Ergun Macit 16,100<\/p>\n

Scott Shelley 16,000<\/p>\n

Yves \u2018flintsword\u2019 Farges 13,425<\/p>\n

Tommy Zhang 13,000<\/p>\n

Rahim Tadj-Saadat 11,700<\/p>\n

Tim Timotheu 9,600<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2010\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Level 4 \u2013 Blinds 150\/300\/ante 50<\/strong><\/p>\n

Kara vs. Kevin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Two of our favourite players to watch playing poker happen to be sitting right next to each other. \u00a0Kara Scott (below, right) clearly loves being back in London, and she\u2019s dashed in to play this event specially. \u00a0Next to her is former Black Belt Pro Kevin Williams (left), who has an awesome live poker record. \u00a0His processing of hands is fearsome, and belying his slight frame, his aggression and power at the table is legendary. \u00a0 The two have clashed twice in big pots, with Kevin getting the slight edge, winning a couple of nice early pots to chip up. \u00a0The last one was for around 3,700 chips at\u00a0100\/200\/25<\/a>, where he bet Kara away on the turn, popping 2800 into the pot after the first four cards fell J-2-Q-2.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to have the aces this time, right?\u201d Kara quipped. Kevin sheepishly sliding his cards face down after Kara did the same. \u00a0Just a couple of orbits later, however, Kara won those chips back after she bet half the pot to the tune of 1900 on a two-heart board of 6d-7s-Qh-7h. \u00a0Her opponent looked displeased to let the pot go, but it was great pressure on 4th Street from Scott.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_1991\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Have Sword, Will Travel\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not many of our online qualifiers have travelled as far as one of our players tonight. \u00a0Yves Farges (below) is known as \u2018flintsword\u2019 on partypoker, and he qualified for this WPT UK National event in London as he did for the Milton Keynes leg \u2013 by playing a $1.65 satellite event. \u00a0We\u2019re just bringing in a new, larger abacus to try and work out if this could be the biggest win for the smallest buy-in in partypoker history \u2013 but as we discovered, Yves could do with a little luck.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was going great until I ran my kings into that guy\u2019s aces\u2026\u201d he gestured, remaining cheerful. \u00a0In a battle of the air miles, we think Yves is first class, and might even put our own Kara Scott in economy!<\/p>\n

Yves has 13,075 from his 20,000 starting stack, so it could be worse, and he\u2019s confident he can get right back in the mix.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2005\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Level 3 \u2013 Blinds 100\/200\/ante 25<\/strong><\/p>\n

Beginners Luck?<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re welcoming plenty of players this weekend who\u2019ve either never played live (with 157 having qualified from partypoker\u2019s fantastic online satellites) or having entered from winning a ticket in a live satellite, with over 320 qualifiers coming from either the live felt here at the casino or partypoker. One such player who\u2019s never called a bet here at Aspers is Mr. Nicholas, known simply as \u2018H\u2019. \u00a0He won a big hand early on to give himself a lot of confidence. \u00a0 One of four callers to 400 pre-flop, he was the only caller after a flop of Kh-6c-2c, when his opponent (young, confident, nodding to heavy beats) bet 700 from the hijack. \u00a0\u2019H\u2019 called quickly in the small blind, content to continue without position, and two players in mid-position folded.<\/p>\n

On a turn of the seven of clubs, our hero checked to his headphone-toting aggressor, who apologised for betting again, popping 1125 across the line. \u00a0Again, a quick but deliberate call. \u00a0Both players checked the river and while our young enemy grimaced with 9c-Tc, our first timer turned over K-J to take the pot.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe turn gives me a lot of outs\u2026\u201d remarked the youngster, but Mr Nicholas, (below, right) a little more mature, graciously nodded.<\/p>\n

\u201cI only came here because my brother was playing. \u00a0I\u2019ve seen the casino was here, but this is my first time actually playing.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re hopeful that if he keeps winning pots like that, our beginner might see a chunk of that incredible prize-pool!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_2019\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Noisy Neighbours<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are some very interesting match-ups in the room here at the partypoker \u00a3100k Guaranteed WPT National London in Stratford\u2019s beautiful Aspers Casino. \u00a0One table in particular holds four very familiar players. \u00a0All of them know the other\u2019s game, which may lead to some fireworks here in the first flight of the tournament. \u00a0Chaz Chattha comes into this tournament on the back of a 6th-place finish last weekend for \u00a325,000. \u00a0 He shares the felt with Ali Zinhi, Tim Timotheu and Ergun Macit, with both Tim and Ergun posting title-winning performances in the last year. \u00a0No soft spots there.<\/p>\n

As you can see from our exclusive shots of the action, plenty of players had fun in the Kara Scott Sit n Go, with the champagne reception giving the whole room a bubbly atmosphere!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_1825\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Level 2 \u2013 Blinds 100\/200<\/strong><\/p>\n

Zimbler Floats A Boat<\/strong><\/p>\n

Paul Zimbler may be our early leader in this first level. \u00a0With blinds just 50\/100, the man known as \u2018The Marbella Kid\u2019 told us how he made a \u2018cheeky min-raise in late position\u2019 with pocket deuces. \u00a0With several callers, the flop came a mouth-watering 2-7-Q. \u00a0This time, he led the action to 375 and got just one caller. The turn dropped another seven, giving Paul the full house. \u00a0His bet of 525 was immediately raised to 1300 by his opponent.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t have the seven, do you?\u201d Paul asked, calling to the river.<\/p>\n

That came a blank nine, or so Paul thought. \u00a0His enemy led out this time, and Paul raised him quickly to 3750. \u00a0That got a call, and Paul turned over his full house. \u00a0His enemy had turned a pair and rivered two pair with queen-nine, but it wasn\u2019t good enough\u2026 and Zimbler has 29k from his 20,000 starting stack.<\/p>\n

\"WPT_1851\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

Starters Orders\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Level 1 \u2013 Blinds 50\/100<\/p>\n

Play is under way here at the Aspers tables, with plenty of well-known players drifting into the cardroom to take their seats. \u00a0Why wouldn\u2019t they? \u00a0With a \u00a3100,000 guaranteed prize-pool, it\u2019s well worth playing all three flights to build as big a stack as you can.<\/p>\n

Other luminaries we have in their seats or in the queue are: Chris Gordon, Chaz Chattha, Marios Andreas, Tim Timotheu, Rahim Tadj-Saadat, Ergun Macit, Kevin Williams, Briony Stone and Nick van der Weyer, both of whom won tickets to tonight\u2019s event. \u00a0In fact, the satellite numbers into this event have been immense, and we have over 200 players involved already!<\/p>\n

\"WPT_1933\"<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

In The House\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Players of all walks of life have made it to Aspers Casino in Stratford, London tonight as the WPT National Event London Flight 1 kicks off!<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an Accumulator format for the action over the next two days, with players having a chance to enter tonight, tomorrow afternoon\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>tomorrow evening to accumulate the biggest stack.<\/p>\n

We have already noticed London regulars Will Kassouf, Kirit Patel, Dave McConachie and Mats Rosen limbering up for the start of play at 8pm, while partypoker poster girl Kara Scott is very excited about playing here tonight\u2026<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You can join in too on Twitter, just use the hashtag #WPTNUK !<\/p>\n

Take On Pokerfest!<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now take all of above and go crush it at\u00a0Pokerfest<\/a>!<\/strong>\u00a0Yes that\u2019s right it\u2019s back, bigger and better than ever before! \u00a0Running from the\u00a02nd-16th March, 2014<\/strong>\u00a0Pokerfest is\u00a0a 15-day online poker series packed with 67 events!<\/strong>\u00a0\u00a0And with more than\u00a0$1 million in guaranteed prize pools<\/strong>\u00a0this could be your one time!<\/p>\n

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16<\/a><\/div>\n
0<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Vv<\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

  Reza Fazeli took a monster stack through to Day 2 as the WPT UK National event in the fabulous cardroom at Aspers Casino in Stratford got off to a great start, with 217 entries. \u00a0He’ll have a chance to add to that on Flights 2 and 3, meaning potential for a mountain should Fazeli<\/p>\n

Read More<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":79796,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[2182,300],"tags":[],"yst_prominent_words":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35057"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35057"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35057\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35130,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35057\/revisions\/35130"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35057"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.partypoker.com\/blog\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=35057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}