End of Day 2 Chip-counts:
Gabriel Tuna leads the way, but plenty of runners are chasing him down…
Gabriel Tuna 1,190,000
Agron Gjergji 1,164,000
Anooj Sareen 1,090,000
Svetlin Ivanov 900,000
Tristan Chaplin 601,000
Gursel Gulfer 539,000
Yung Cheung 489,000
Nayden Tonov 484,000
James Greenwood 446,000
Cristian Ciuperca 445,000
Quoc Nong 407,000
Mohammad Shanehzan 355,000
Philip Gould 338,000
Benjamin Howell 336,000
Victor Ilyukhin 336,000
Karan Kayastha 320,000
Justin Moutousamy 313,000
Kevin Howrad 278,000
James Charlton 272,000
David Simpson 260,000
Kevin Neal 243,000
Mantas Zeringis 218,000
Steven Graham 216,000
Kyle Wilson 151,000
Vladimir Marchevici 141,000
Leo Lim 83,000
News In Brief
There’s not long to go here in the last level, so ahead of some fast counting by dealers, we’re going to leave you for now on the live coverage with a flurry of late action as players battle for their lives, with just 28 players left. We’ll bring you the full overnight chip-counts later on, but there have been some movers and shakers…and we’re not talking about the Players Party!
Vladimir Marchevici got involved all-in pre-flop with and was re-raised all-in by Viktor Ilyukhin, who covered him by a mere 16k in a 550k pot with pocket nines. The board ran out [Td[ to near-bust Vlad and catapult Viktor to well above the 380k average.
Anne Loughlin had doubled to 180k, but lost over half of that in a pot with “my nemesis”, her unable to hold against a rivered flush by . She has just 75k and a dream now.
And Bobby Brummett busted when he shoved when short with and was called by and eliminated after getting no help!
Gabriel Tuna Is Massive Chip Leader!
We were going to report how Gabriel Tuna leaped back to the top of the chip-counts like some sort of fish (yes, a salmon. Glad we edited that one.) Imagine your own piscine pun and file it, though, because his latest pot is deadly serious (like an electric eel).
With 800k and the chip lead already, the action had actually be fairly tame (like a goldfish) on a board of . But the river was extremely busy…as Tom Carpenter checked, Gabriel bet 90k to try and steal the pot, or so it looked. Tom Carpenter was sick of being bullied and sensationally shoved…only to be caught like a carp in the net!
Tom Carpenter
Gabriel Tuna
Crushing exit for Tom Carpenter, who joins his brother Ben in the Sky Bar for the Players Party. Gabriel Tuna has 1.3 million is chips and is red hot favourite to make the final table!
Bubble Boy Tim Tim With Monster Headphones!
The picture says it all – every loser wins. No, that’s Eastenders. Well, it is Stratford.
Tim Tim may have been the last player to leave with nothing but happy memories, but he takes home a pair of exclusive Monster Headphones!
Loughlin Is Laughing
Anne Loughlin has gone from five big blinds to ten, and now has fifteen as she hauls herself back into this WPT National Event. We’re not sure she realises just how tough her table actually is, with Gabriel Tuna (now chipleader on 800k) , Tom Carpenter and Dennis Benevictius all sharing the felt with her.
After Benevictius raised pre-flop UTG +1 to 22k, Anne re-raised all-in for 73k total, and Dennis made the call with . Anne had woken up with however, and she held through the board to rocket up to over 150k including blinds and antes. Back in the game!
Elsewhere, Kristian Schobowski (above, shortly before his poker demise) finally bids farewell to his table-mates, grinding the shortest of stacks into the money to sadly bust, getting his last in with but being called by James Greenwood’s , which obviously held.
Level 18: Blinds 5000/10000/1000 ante – 42 Players Remaining – 263,809 Average Stack
Shorties On The Attack
With the bubble burst and applause still ringing in the air, all the short-stacks have got itchy fingers and inched their tiny stacks over the line.
Anne Loughlin got five big blinds in with and was up against James Charlton’s . She hit a 4-5-6 rainbow flop and the turn and river bricked out to double her up.
“I’m still short, but at least I now have a chance.” she confirmed.
Ian Fung (right) ground his stack of three big blinds towards a very sweaty bubble, but upon Tim Tim’s exit, handed out high fives like free drinks will be handed out later at the partypoker / WPT Players Party! He was out a couple of hands later, but looked delighted with his very first Hendon Mob flag – I think we all remember that feeling, it’s pretty sweet!
Polish grinder Kristian Schobowski is going nowhere, yet, however. The shortest player in terms of chip-stack, he was spared an exit that forty-four pairs of eyes were willing on, surviving the hand-for-hand tension a pound lighter in sweat! He’s since doubled when his hit an eight on the flop against Phil Goul’d . Gould has run pretty bad the last few hours, and while he is around the average, he went into Day 2 as chip leader and is far from that now. It can be a real test of a player’s mental strength, so we’re looking forward to seeing how he deals with this quite unique poker position.
Tim Tim Bubble Boy at WPT National UK – London!
Someone had to land on the unlucky square, and sadly for many of the rail here at Aspers Casino, it was the ebullient Tim Tim Timotheu who lost out on the bubble to be the last player to leave without winning a bean here in the East End.
With two very short-stacks in the room, it was actually a decent sized pot that Tim Tim was fighting for at his table, but then, we’d expect nothing less. Tim Tim wants to pressure the bubble and put himself in a position to win this thing, and his risk/reward play was good, he just ran pretty cold. On a flop of , he got around 150k (16 bigs or so) into the middle with but was called by and the turn of and river of didn’t save him.
Tim Tim has been given a pair of Monster Headphones and hearty commiserations, but for him, we know just being away from the table will be hurting the most. The guy loves the game.
Level 17: Blinds 4000/8000/1000 ante – 47 Players Remaining – Average Stack 230,000
Almost Bubble Time!
There are now 47 players left…we’re very nearly on the money bubble. Look who’s happy about that…
No sooner had we posted a picture of new poker and old in 20-year-old Ian Fung and live tournament legend Surinder Sunar, have we lost the latter. Surinder had just 85k to his name and was very short, but his opponent in the hand, Justin Moutousamy, warned him that it wouldn’t end well.
“Walk away, Surinder, there’ll be better spots, I promise you.”
Twelve bigs and with , Surinder didn’t agree, and we don’t blame him. Justin turned over and with a jack on the flop, ending up winning the flip company. Surinder took the plaudits from the table and made a polite exit. One of the most humble men in the game had impressed them all, including his 20-year-old neighbour Fung.
As Sunar made his way from the cardroom, Justin was telling Ian to look up Surinder vs Tony G on YouTube! Great fun.
Back For The Bubble
The remaining players have come back from dinner still hungry…for success!
With the Players Party being set up in the exclusive Sky Bar here at Aspers Casino in London, DJ Spoony may be warming up for his set, but the poker players in the WPT National need to hit a few themselves so arm themselves with a stack for the bubble. Just 45 players are paid, with all these names looking food for a payday:
Anooj Sareen 515,000
Karan Karaystha 500,000
Tom Carpenter 480,000
Phil Gould 420,000
Agron Gjergji 387,000
Yung Cheung 385,000
Gabriel Tuna 360,000
James Charlton 290,000
George Alexander 280,000
Tim Tim Timotheu 230,000
Level 15: Blinds 2500/5000/500 ante – 64 Players Remaining – 173,000 Average Stack
Party People
There’s no doubting the element of fun that has been ever-present this weekend at the WPT-National. From qualifiers (above) to battle-hardened live pros, everyone taking part has had the spirit of camaraderie that makes a good poker tournament great.
That may not be personified more than by Tristan Chaplin, who we lurked behind for a moment as he found aces. Flipping his and seeing his opponent, who was all-in and at risk holding was a cause for some celebration. but in No Limit Hold’Em, when you’re all-in pre-flop there are five cards to come, and a lot can happen in that time. the flop of gave Tristan’s opponent top pair and a gut-shot draw, but he survived through the turn and river to bust another and bounce up to 320k. Having won the World Championship (APAT) here earlier in the year, are we about to witness another title for Trsitan? There wouldn’t be many more popular winners…!
Chips For Dinner
With the remaining 67 players heading to a dinner beak (45 get paid), here are a few of their stacks, with one player out in front…
Selected Chip-counts:
Vladimir Marchevici (above, left) 655,500
Karan Karaystha 510,000
Gabriel Tuna 380,00
Tom Carpenter 260,000
Tim Tim Timotheu 210,000
Gus Golfer 200,000
Tristan Chaplin 191,500
Denis Benevictius 190,000
Muhammed ali 185,000
John Gilbert 162,000
Dave Simpson 94,000
Surinder Sunar 80,000
Ian Fung 40,000
Justin Time
It’s rare for players to call the clock on their opponents, even though it’s a perfectly legal thing to do and frequently, such a structure almost begs for people to use it to speed up the other players’ decisions. It was called just now, with Justin Moutousamy (above, right) all-in and at-risk pre-flop against Muhammed Ali (above, left), who used around ten seconds of his timed minute after maybe five beforehand to call and show . He was in a coin-flip situation against Justin, who reverse-cursed his way to glory with .
“I’m good at losing these.” he said, just as the dealer fanned .
“OK, maybe I’m not so good at that.” he smiled politely, before the turn and river of gave him the pot, and he seemingly flipped in the other direction, turning loud and almost disconcertingly triumphant as he doubled through a rueful but silent Ali.
“Keep those chips warm for me, they’re all coming here!” he said, pointing to his stack. “All coming here, don’t you worry!”
Almost no reaction for the table, and one can;t help wonder if he just undid some of whatever work he did to get to that point, because the outburst seemed to be received as if it was completely out of character.
Level 14: Blinds 2000/4000/500 ante – 75 ~Players Remaining – Average Stack 150,000
Smile…You’re Up In Lights!
Just a brief pause from the relentless card action to tip our reporting hats to our photographer this weekend, Mantas Ruzveltas. Mantas has brought the tournament to life in pictures such as the one below, there’s so much going on and its captured in an instant for you. There’s a brilliant atmosphere in the cardroom and Mantas has slotted in and become the players’ friend – a great accomplishment.
Tuna Makes another Catch
Gabriel Tuna knows what he is doing post-flop. The slick star here in the WPT National Event has made more in-roads into the chip leaders, hovering in second at present, with just 90 players left in the hunt for the £22,000 top prize here at Aspers in London.
On a board of , he raised Geoff Richards all-in after Richards had bet 16,000 into a pot of 55k. Richards tank-called, turned over for a rivered two-pair (maybe assuming Tuna held A-K?) but Gabriel showed for the rivered straight. Tuna must have close to 400k by now, and is absolutely cruising along.
Khoshaway Krushing It
We’ve seen Khadir Khoshaway play a few tournaments of this level, and it must be said, he’s rather good at them, generally running deep and putting himself in the position to win big. Maybe we’ll see him at tomorrow’s final table. He’s got a good shot at an appearance there if he continues his high-pressure game. Natalie Sadri called the 3k blind pre-flop in late position, one of four players who included Khoshaway, but he wasn’t happy to chuck in 1500 in the small blind, popping it to an aggressive 21,500 pre-flop. Two callers including Sadri saw a flop of and Khoshaway led in first position to 66,000. Too rich for Sadri and her tablemate and that kind of pressure is going to be hard to live with if he continues.
Level 13: Blinds 1500/3000/500 ante – 95 Players Remaining – Average Stack 116,500
Big In The Room
There are big stacks on plenty of tables now, with the average stack now the six-figures that seemed such an unreachable target just four or so hours of tournament play ago on the Day 1 flights.
Here are just a few names who have a massive chance of winning the £22,000 top prize here at Aspers Cardroom in the heart of East End London.
Nayden Tonov 380,000
Gabriel Tuna 300,000
Karan Kayastha 280,000
Pat Boudreau 266,000
Philip Gould 225,000
Alan Dean 180,000
Errol Williams 135,000
Tweet us a picture/amount of your stack via the Twitter hashtag #WPTNUK and tag it @partypoker on the end and you could win a pair of Monster Headphones!
Phethean’s Awake
David Phethean pulled the old ‘Put Your Coat On And Call A Card In’ trick, as he held on a flop of . He was in a bad way, up against James Mitchell’s , but he caught runner-runner flush as first the came in on the turn and the jumped onto the river. He looks a little dazed, to be honest, and Mitchell, decimated to just 10,000 was out a coouple of hands later. We’re sad for him!
This level is totally unforgiving, and the pace has really picked up. You’d think the players knew that later there was a Players Party which will have free drinks, DJ Spoony and giveaways galore!
Tristan Chaplin Crushing/Crushed
Tristan Chaplin adds to the party atmosphere more than you might think to look at him at the poker table. Concentrated to a huge degree when at the felt, he is as disarming and humble away from it as he is an absolute beast when in a hand. He just lost a 200k for the outright chip-lead, but was more than happy to tell us about it.
“I had queens on Q-5-3 with two spades. We got it in against the nut-flush draw and he hit a king of spades on the turn. It happens, the hand basically plays itself.”
Tristan has reason to be cheery, still sitting behind 185,000 – around double average chips.
Level 12: Blinds 1200/2400/400 ante = 116 Players Remaining – Average Stack 95,517
Break Time Brings Pain
It’s a familiar sight (above). Players are now in Shoveland, with a dwindling population and shirt life-expectancy. Moves must be made with blinds coming back from the break at a rarefied atmosphere of 1200/2400.
Some survived to the break, while others’ tournament hopes perished. Mr. Bond is no more, his flush draw being outdrawn by two overs when he was at risk. Andy Sharples lasted no longer than the first session, while Daiva Baruskaite busted just before the kettle was boiled backstage.
Others are doing better, however, with Sharples’ friend and reigning champion Darren Mapley still in the hunt for a new water-bound vehicle to buy with his next title winnings (a Pedalo is mooted) as he has 57,000. Ben and Tom Carpenter are grinding away on 48k and 65k respectively, while 20-year-old Ian Fung has traveled all the way from San Diego, California to play the WPT-National London. the sole American and youngest player left in the field has just 30k and a dream. Dave Simpson (97k) and James Mitchell (59,000) both have aspirations of making Day 3 before getting their dancing shoes on for the Players Party later.
Daiva Destroyed, Karan Climbing
With one player exiting and another building a chip mountain, a table has been split up and scattered around the room, the crucial table draw/move again playing a big part (as it always does) in a poker tournament.
Daiva Baruskaite was the unfortunate player to bust, and the blonde bombshell never really got going on Day 2. She was fairly short when she shoved 22,000 over the top of Karan Karaystha’s opening raise of 6,000 and he called it off quickly with . Daiva held and couldn’t find a crown to help her.
Karan put those newly-won chips to good use, getting involved in the next pot with . The flop came and he pushed a player with out of the way with a 20,000 bet. but another player came along for the ride with and when another three landed o the turn, Karan moved all-in and got the call, adding another 60k to his rack. All-change…
Level 11: Blinds 1000/2000/300 ante – 143 Players Remaining – Average Stack 77,482
With over 140 players left and only 45 places paid, everyone is desperate to survive.
While some profit, others flounder. Marios Andreas is on the brink, just 21,500 to his name and ten big blinds from death or glory. Gabriel Tuna still leads with 270,000, but there are loads of other big stacks in his slipstream with Philip Gould (220,000), Peter Mok (150,000) and dare we say it Darren Mapley (96,500) all in with a terrific shot.
Show Us The Money!
Want to know what the players will be winning here at WPT National in London?
Wonder no longer…
1 £22,000.00
2 £15,165.00
3 £9,760.00
4 £7,230.00
5 £5,410.00
6 £4,360.00
7 £3,600.00
8 £2,900.00
9 £2,160.00
10 £1,585.00
11 £1,585.00
12 £1,585.00
13 £1,295.00
14 £1,295.00
15 £1,295.00
16 £1,110.00
17 £1,110.00
18 £1,110.00
19 £975.00
20 £975.00
21 £975.00
22 £870.00
23 £870.00
24 £870.00
25 £765.00
26 £765.00
27 £765.00
28 £675.00
29 £675.00
30 £675.00
31 £675.00
32 £675.00
33 £675.00
34 £675.00
35 £675.00
36 £675.00
37 £600.00
38 £600.00
39 £600.00
40 £600.00
41 £600.00
42 £600.00
43 £600.00
44 £600.00
45 £600.00
Win Monster Headphones!!
If you’d like to give yourself a chance of winning a pair of Monster Headphones, we’re giving a pair away each Day here at the WPT-National UK London Main Event. Simply tweet a picture of your chip-stack, the amount of it and use the hashtag #WPTNUK and end it with @partypoker and you’ll be in the draw to be chosen randomly at the end of the Day.
Current champion Darren Mapley came into the day’s play on just 24,000 but he’s up to 94k within the hour! Darren tweeted us so he’s in the hat…surely you’re not going to let him walk away with it!?
https://twitter.com/DarleyMarley/status/485420205145747456
Gravell In The Grave
William Gravell traveled all the way from Newcastle to play this leg of the WPT National tour after enjoying a deep run to 17th in his home town in the North-East. Sadly, he’s left us early on Day 2 as he ran out of luck at the crucial time – when all-in and at risk.
William suffered a twin-bad-beat with another player, both of whom were all-in with pocket aces but they both were crushed by which made a full house. Next, William actually got back into it when his hit an ace on the flop to double against . But he then found himself and got it in pre-flop against which held.
A fine performance as usual from William, and he’ll have a great weekend in the capital with his friends and family, which is all part of it. He certainly has a few hours to prepare for the Players Party tonight here at the Sky Bar in Aspers. The party will have the best atmosphere guaranteed…as legendary record-spinner DJ Spoony is in the house!
Level 10: Blinds 800/1600 – 167 Players Remaining – Average Stack 66,300
Huge Catch For Tuna
Gabriel Tuna came into the day on 170k and second in chips. He has not hung about in rocketing into a massive lead here on Day 2 at the WPT-National UK in London’s Aspers Casino in Stratford.
Holding , he saw a six land on the flop and the action quickly escalated from check-raising to an all-in and a call. His opponent, who sat behind over 100,000 (at 600/1200 don’t forget) held and couldn’t spike a miracle to survive. A monster stack has turned into a mountain, and on the same table as Tristan Chaplin, Gabriel Tuna has over 275,000 and the clear lead.
185 remain, but the number is dropping by the second, with an all-in and call on every table. Short-stacks are fighting to survive, and the big boys know that there is a Tuna in the water…
Level 9: Blinds 600/1200/200 ante – 192 Players Remaining – Average Stack 57,708
Action is under way! Can Philip Gould use his chip lead to bully his way to Day 3 and the final? Or will a surprise name rise through the field?
We’re about to find out!
Follow The Leader
After three opening day flights, Philip Gould (pictured) leads us into today’s play, which starts at 2pm. Who will make Day 3 or the money? Find out right here right through this afternoon and evening!
Chip-counts:
Philip Gould 200200
Gabriel Tuna 170600
Wlodzimierz Cymbalko 148300
Philip Butt 139600
Anooj Sareen 139500
Gerald Ringe 134500
Tristan Chaplin 129700
Peter Mok 127300
Ross Mannion 126900
Natalie Sadri 125900
Geoffrey Richards 123000
Hans Groenroos 122900
Paul Bahbout 118400
Victor Ilyukhin 115000
Karan Kayastha 113400
Ki Thuong Duong 108300
Mark Thomas 104300
Timotheos Timotheou 99800
Gabor Zamosi 97900
Ahmed Rasull 97900
Svetlin Ivanov 92400
Van Vu 92000
Denas Benevicius 90500
Tamas Gero 89800
Kyle Wilson 89400
Krystian Schodowski 88800
Joseph Crampsie 88800
Alan Dean 86800
Mohammad Taghipour Fard 85600
Anne Loughlin 84400
John Verbeeten 83500
David Simpson 83400
Gareth Holt 83400
Matthew Bushell 83200
Gursel Gulfer 80800
James Charlton 80000
Nicholas Weaver 80000
Jan Andersen 79400
Errol Williams 78700
Zanas Lubys 77400
Khadir Khoshawy 77200
The Dang 77000
QUOC NONG 76800
Daniel Bushell 76500
Mithov Andreev 76100
George Alexander 75600
James Mitchell 75000
Vladimir Marchevici 75000
Mihaly Rusu 74800
Mohammad Shanehzan 74600
George Achillea 74400
Daniel Hanchard 74000
Umberan Akhtar 74000
Yung Cheung 73800
Jordan Oconnor 73600
Yilfer Shevket 73300
James Greenwood 71600
Vachand Nankoosing 71300
Mohammed Ali 71200
Elio Saade 70900
Ryan Kelly 70700
Mathieu Bragard 70200
Nuno Miguel Duarte 69800
Gut Steel 69000
Stephen Smith 69000
James Parker 68600
Surinder Sunar 68400
Huseyin Houssein 68400
Russell Brooks 68100
Katie Swift 67400
Steven Graham 67300
Benjamin Howell 65400
Mortaza Sahibzada 65300
Ian Fung 65300
Kevin Neal 64200
Bobbie Brummitt 62900
Alin Torjoc 62200
Tony Sullivan 61700
Hyeo Ahn 61300
Colin Bord 61000
Alexander Jager 60000
Steven Alper 59300
David Orrin 58500
Joe Phillips 58500
Lachezar Lukanov 58100
Iosif Roussos 58100
Nayden Tonov 58000
Casper Holmberg 57800
Herve Decker 57400
Marius Zalpys 57100
Carl Spicer 55600
Franck Speeg 54400
Chan Ha 54300
Neil Barron 53600
Nuno Miguel Campos Antunes 53500
Martynas Valkunas 53200
Graham Hawkes 52100
Philip Green 52100
Cristian Pall 51900
Andrew Brisland 51700
Stephanie Johnston 51400
Jamie Kingston 50300
Per Andersson 50100
Fernando Óscar Penote Garcia Amador 50000
Thomas Carpenter 49900
Agron Gjergji 49500
Ricky Pike 48500
Ricki Valencia 48000
Daniel Gregory 47100
Lisa Tan 47000
Benjamin Carpenter 47000
Darren Hand 46500
Jason Lam 46400
Balint Pusztai 45000
David Phethean 44400
JAIME HOLT 44000
Jamal Gormati 43800
Jaan Fiddian 43700
James Osullivan 43000
Master Miah 42600
Leo Lim 41700
Ionut Rincu 41500
Zak Ly 41500
Chantel Westdale 41500
Ricardo Campanario 40600
Rolf Hansen 40500
Justin Moutousamy 40100
Michael Miles 39800
Cristian Ciuperca 39700
Keith Wright 38900
Attila Kovarczi 38800
Daniel Whittaker 37900
Richard Thomas 37700
Konrad Kucharczyk 37600
Dennise Frost 37200
Cary Atkins 36800
Duncan Gareth Wilkie 36700
Leon Mills 36600
Richard Mcdonald 36200
John Gilbert 34600
Bengt Hallner 34400
James Herraghty 34200
Mantas Zeringis 34000
John Pogue 33900
Luke Slisz 33000
Friedrich Franz 32700
Yusuf Osman 32200
Hasan Gul 32100
Nigel Berg 31800
Paal Haandlykken 30600
Siegfried Hodgson 30500
Ashish Gupta 29800
Kevin Howrad 29600
Andrew Douglas 28800
Dwight Scott 28500
Mohammed Suhail 28200
Patrick Boudreau 27600
Andrew Sharples 27500
Bernard Litman 27000
Jon Aldalur Arrospide 26000
Marios Andreas 26000
Arno Simon 25700
Fabian Donovan 25100
Darren Mapley 24400
Even Spilling 24000
Vadim Seriozeckin 23800
Anthony Taylor 23400
Peter Fodor 23100
Michael Lee 21900
William Whicher 20200
Tomos Lloyd 20100
Sebastian Le Port 20000
Robertas Vaitkevicius 19800
Alexandru Marcu 19100
Paul Russell 18500
Daiva Barauskaite 18200
Aziz Kara 17700
Istvan Klinghammer 16900
DAVID WELLINGS 16500
Zbigniew Brudecki 16000
Eric Ramkeesoon 15200
Constantin Rolea 15000
Charlambos Hadjicharalambous 14700
Thomas Denis 13600
William Gravell 13200
Robert Glen 12800
Michael Cave 12800
Gunnar Odden 12700
Attila Toth 12000
Nicholas Finn 11500
Gareth Smirthwaite 9800
Graham Carson 9600