End of Day 1a Chip-counts
All the remaining 67 players have bagged up their chips, so here they are, with Paul Damian’s late charge seeing him top the leaderboard overnight.
Paul Sorin Damian 113500
Conor Burns 104000
Alexis Savvides 101700
Vitalie Grecul 100100
Nicolae Cristea 97900
Steve Basri 95300
Danny Williams 94000
Sonny Tant 89800
Ali Amar 89400
Paul Gomez 89200
Oscar Cummins 82700
Warren Tolentino 80700
Cengiz Ali 75800
VINCENT ANDERSON 73400
Ivan Rudak 73100
Haresh Thaker 71800
Samuel Hurlock 70600
Jozsef Boka 68400
Sayil Zulhayir 66900
Sam Macdonald 65000
Karl Roth 64700
Vincent Mcaulay 64000
Pierre Morin 60900
Brett Kennedy 58100
Neil Mcculloch 56800
Lior Markov 53600
Anne Loughlin 50700
Stephen Goodings 50300
Philip Butt 47400
Chinthaka Fernando 47200
Han Luo 46600
Thomas Edwards 45800
Yaron Kuznik 45000
Lee Champion 44400
Zanas Lubys 43700
Tony Doggett 42200
Hanan Barzel 42100
Krzysztof Pregowski 41100
Christopher Gordon 41000
Adam Prickett 40500
Gang Wang 39700
Mark Salmons 39400
Al Houssaini 36800
Ashish Gupta 36600
Nigel Berg 35000
Cristinel Costin 34100
Cecil Sampson 31100
Peter Gratz 28500
Dale Grant 28300
Mohammed Hussain 27100
Mohammad Ali 26400
Paul Wade 26200
Hassan Abdillah 25900
Graham Carson 25500
Roberto Cazzador 24900
Artur Chrebor 24300
Gareth Smirthwaite 21300
Andrey Dimitrov 21200
Panagiotis Kouloukakos 15700
Angelo Milioto 15000
Graziano Pirovano 14800
Ali Enver 14500
Christopher Doherty 13600
Tracey Campbell 12600
Eric Ramkeesoon 11500
Mudassar Khan 11500
David Petrovcin 2900
Hussai Hustling?
Mohammed Hussai has just shown that sometimes poker is a game played by guts as much as it is calculation, especially when in the last level of a Day 1.
Over the top of a 3600 short-stack shove at his table, Hussai shoved all-in for over 50,000 chips, called by Pierre Morin. The other two folded and Hussai was in dreadful shape, his pocket twos well behind Morin’s queens. The board came down 
and Morin doubled, but in the next hand, with only 25,000 left to his name, Hussai open-shoved again, this time over the raises of Sam Macdonald and Tant to his left. they both folded, so Hussai chips up a little, but he looks determined to end the day with either a six-figure stack or none at all!
We’ve just been informed by WPT Tournament Director Christian Scalzi that we’ll have three more hands at the end of the day. The dealers will currently have 70+ players’ chips to count up, so we may n0ot have an overnight chip-count for you for some time, but rest assured, as soon as we have it so will you. Don’t forget, tomorrow’s Day 1b and 1c take place tomorrow at 2pm and 8pm respectively.
Biggest Stacks in the Room
With just ten minutes of play remaining, these are the biggest stacks in the room as players head to the last few hands.
Paul Damian 110,000
Alexis Savvides 102,000
Conor Burns 92,000
Sam Macdonald 90,000
Nicolae Cristea 82,000
Ivan Rudak 74,000
Alexis On Top
Alexis Savvides was involved in a huge hand earlier, and he’s just been involved in another that sees him take a clear lead over the field.
We joined the action on the river, as Margarita Stoycheva shoved all-in over the top of Alexis’ raise on a board of 
. He quickly called, showing 
for quad fours! Margarita mucked in an ever-darkening mood as she stalked her way from the table to the door. Savvides is the first player to crack a six-figure stack, piling up just over 100,000 chips.
When the first four cards you see in a poker hand match, you would think it’s your night, wouldn’t you?
Akenhead Run Out
It could be argued that James Akenhead has been one of the unluckiest players here on Day 1a, as he has left just before the final level (at blinds of 500/1,000/1000) has started.
First he called a short-stack’s shove over his raise to be all-in with 
against 
[4[h], with queen-high seeing him lose a little from his stack. Next he shoved all-in after a raising war with another player who held . Akenhead was on good shape, holding 
, but the board of 
gave his enemy a turned straight. Then he managed to get his last few chips into the middle with 
, only to be called by pocket kings, which obviously held.
News in Brief
James Akenhead has been running a little low on chips, but just got a shove through to snappily stack up 15,000 from 11,00 before the deal. He looks in no mood to mess around as we enter the last 45 minutes of play.
Elsewhere, Vinnie Anderson, who finished 7th for £4,200 last time round, is already up to 50k this time, with the average t 32,000.
‘I need a big double-up.’ he smiled.
We have 102 players still in seats from the 166 total entries for Day 1a.
A Royal Hammering
Aspers regular Tony Aguis was one of three players to get 1,700 into the middle pre-flop, as a raising war broke out on Table 4, shared by Sam Macdonald amongst others.
On the flop of 
[Jd , Aguis piled his remaining 14,000 chips into the middle very quickly.
‘Im sorry’ said Ashish Gupta, who quickly called, and turned over 
for the flopped royal flush!!!
Tony walks away from the table after his flopped straight was dealt into death.
Gupta has a smile as wide as the Grand Canyon on his face, and 60,000 chips at new blinds of 400/800/100.
Who’s Doing the Hoovering?
Adam Henes got all of his remaining 7,500 chips into the middle pre-flop with 
, and was called by Vincent Macaulay’s 
. It was a nice situation to be in, but the flop came 
, leaving Adam to sweat slightly. The 
on the turn he didn’t love, but the ensured he doubled up on the river, with Henes breathing a sigh of relief.
‘I didn’t love that turn.’ he said, running his hands through his hair.
‘I’d have swapped places with you.’ quipped Macaulay.
Over came Keighly Foley, who it transpires has a last-longer with Adam, her other half. Keighly checks his stack, which is obviously, just over 15,000 chips. Keighly has 17,000. We enquire what the last longer is for.
‘The housework.’ groans Adam, ruefully now he knows he’s still behind.
We reason that there could be worse bets to lose.
‘You haven’t seen the state of the house.’
It’s a Cracker
Graham Carson was one of four players to call a 110 bet pre-flop, with Keighly Foley taking the lead on the flop of 
, betting out 2,500. Only Carson called, and saw a turn card of 
, whereupon he bet out 4,000. Foley called, and saw a river of 
. Again, Carson bet out, this time to 6,000. Foley called, reluctantly, and was shown 
for turned trips.
Foley grimaces, but Carson has made hay with a very nice turn-card making him money.
Moody River
“…more deadly than the vainest knife,” as the Pat Boone song goes, and two players in this WPT Accumulator would definitely agree with that famous lyric.
Vytautus Pozingis shoved for his last 8,000 and was re-raised all-in by Tom Edwards, who scared all the other players off. Pozingis held 
and was flipping, up against Edwards’ . The flop of pleased Edwards, and Pozingis stood up. But the on the turn gave him hope, with an open-ended straight draw meaning his chances were no longer as awful.
The river of ended matters, with Pozingis departing in 124th place, and he’ll have to try again on one of tomorrow’s Day 1 flights at either 2pm or 8pm (or both!)
Elsewhere, an even more ‘heart-breaking’ play-out saw Hassan Goudrarzi up against Gengiz Ali. Goudrahzi had the pre-flop nuts with 
and was looking good against Ali’s . The flop of 
saw Goudrahzi stay well ahead, but the 
on the turn opened up the flush draw for Ali. It didn’t come however…. as the king of spades landed! That gave an ecstatic Ali the pot and a full double up to around 35k, Goudrahzi taking a very bit hit to his stack.
Ouch!
Into the Fray
Late registration has just closed for the first flight of this £100,00 Guaranteed WPT National Event here in London’s Aspers Casino Stratford, with Neil McCulloch one of the players getting into his seat before the gate closed.
James Aken head has been fairly quiet so far, three-betting to raise an opponent off a hand just as we spoke to him about the event.
‘I’ve had a break, but I played a tournament last week, now this one then I’ll be heading to Ireland.’
Akenhead, you may recall, is one of a very select band of British players who have made a WSOP Main Event final table, becoming a so-called ‘November Niner’.
Numbers Game
So far, we’ve had 166 entries here on Day 1, very healthy numbers considering last year saw Friday’s Day 1b and Day 1c flights much more popular with players. We need 556 entries to make the guarantee, however, so even by our rudimentary arithmetic that means potential for some juicy overlay.
If you’ve not yet entered and are thinking of doing so on Friday, you could play two flights and bag up two average stacks and be ahead of the game. It’s very much the value play.
Khan and Tant Clash
We joined the action late, but a huge hand developed in the penultimate deal before the 20-minute break. Sonny Tant made the move, shoving all-in for a total stack of 16,000 with 
on a board of 
, called by Mudasser Khan, who turned over .
The river of saw Sonny celebrate, albeit it very respectfully, as his stack doubled. Khan takes a big hit, then, but remains well in proceedings with over 12,000 left behind.
Players will now refresh, console or inspire themselves in the partypoker lounge, and we’ll be back in twenty minutes.
A Few Chip-counts
With the first break fast approaching, there are a number of players above the current average of 23,546. Some, however, are struggling…
Keighly Foley 35,200
Conor Bunrs 35,000
Mats Rosen 32,000
Albert Sapiano 28,300
Vinnie Anderson 26,300
Gareth Smirthwaite 15,100
Level 4 – Blinds 150/300/50 – 139 Players Remaining (162 Entries)
Fier Almost Falls
A huge pre-flop all-in and call saw Alexis Savvides make a move with and get all his chips into the middle against Mircea-Alexandru Fier’s . The flop brought terrible news for the latter as it fell , flopping Savvides a straight. The turn of and river of failed to give Fier a full house, and he dropped to around 3,500 chips. Savvides has just over double what he started with, and is up to 40,400.
You’ve Been Sapiano’ed
Albert Sapiano standing up in the middle of a hand of poker should be on a t-shirt. The famously grumpy player (we actually think he’s rather happy away from the felt) had just pushed all-in on the turn and was on his feet. He was right to be, too.Holding on a board of 
he had two-pair that were counterfeited by his opponent, Victor Belocosov.
Victor held , but the river of gave Albert a full house and skittled most of Victor’s chips. He lost the rest of them just a few hands later to Conor Burns, who looks to be our newest chip-leader, sat behind over 50,000 chips. We’re 35 minutes from the first break of the tournament.
Foley Busted Jordon First Out the Door
We’ve just found out what happened to Terry Jordon, with his earlier victim Keighly Foley eventually getting the ultimate revenge on him by showing him the exit sign.
‘I had pocket queens and he had pocket sevens’, she told us. ‘I raised him on the flop, but we got it all-in on the turn, after it came a card that meant nothing to either of us.’
Keighly is now up to 29,000 chips, with 149 players from the current 159 entries still in their seats.
Also registered and sitting behind starting stacks of 20,000 are James Akenhead, Chris Gordon, partypoker qualifier Gareth Smirthwaite and Albert Sapiano, who has been very quiet so far. If you are familiar with the legendary ‘Honey Monster’, you’ll know that’s out of his larger-than-life character!
First Out the Door
Terry Jordon has just busted at the start of Level 2, and he’s joined at the same time – we’re not sure who busted first, and neither man is fighting the other for the honour – by Enzo Del Piero. Enzo raised all-in pre-flop with pocket tens and was called by a player with A-K.
‘Get chips early, or go early.’ was how Del Piero put it, and he’ll be happy playing on the thriving cash tables on the other side of the room ahead of possible re-entry tomorrow in Day 1b or Day 1c.
Level 2: Blinds 100/200/25 – 147 Players Remaining (149 Entries)
Feeling Green
We’ve not seen last WPT London champion Irina Nikolaidi here yet tonight, but we have seen the player she beat to the £25,000 title last time out, Simon Green. As we came over to his table, he was involved in a monster pot.
Pre-flop, Simon wasn’t the original aggressor, as we joined the action with Peter Jaksland raising from 800 to 2,000 chips with blinds at 50/100! All three callers who had made it to that point in Green, Paul Damian and Warren Kappel called, so with 8,000 chips in the pot, we saw a flop of 
. Damian checked, but Green led 2,525, called by Kappel and Damian as Jaksland got out of the action completely.
On the turn of , Green continued for 6,375, and was shoved on by Kappel, for a total of 15,075. That was too rich for Damian, who folded, but Green looked to be thinking about an agonising call. After reasoning that he’d be left with 4,350 chips if he lost, he called it off, showing 
for the flopped flush. But it wasn’t good news, as Kappel held and that survived the river where only a would save Green, as it bricked.
Green has 44 big blinds, so it’s not all over on Day 1a for the runner-up, but Kappel is over the moon to stack up 44,000 early on. Players begin with a 20,000 stack.
I Know Your Game
Terry Jordon is not known for his timidity, and the popular UK player is getting involved early. Raising to 225 from the hijack, Keighly Foley in the small blind and Stephen Sapsford in mid-position both come along to the flop of . Sapsford gets out of the way when Jordon makes it 400 to see a turn, but Foley calls.
On the turn of :Th , both Jordon and foley check, before the river of :Ah lands. Foley checks, but Jordon bets 800, and that is enough to make Foley fold.
Jordon turns over 
for two-pair, not a huge hand on a four-heart board.
‘I folded two-pair.’ admits Foley ‘I know your game now.’
So does everyone else at the table.
Welcome to the Action
Welcome to Aspers Casino in Stratford, for this first flight of the £100,000 Guaranteed WPT National Accumulator event here in London.
Last time we welcomed players to this partypoker WPT event, Irina Nikolaidi took down the £25,000 top prize, but this is a marathon not a sprint – Day 1a is one of three opening day flights. Each flight’s stack can be accumulated towards a Day 2 stack, so the more flights anyone plays. the better chances they have in theory to build a big Day 2 stack and shoot for the trophy!
Who’ll be out of the blocks quickest? We’ll bring you every stride as players push for the line!
Play kicks off at 8.00pm, with 30-minute levels throughout.
