Around 10,000 was already in the middle as Ian Simpson and Michalis Michael went to the river in a blind versus blind battle and the board showing 3?10?4?J?5?.
Simpson then bet 5,500 from the big blind and Michael took a peek at Simpson's remaining stack before calling. Simpson then turned over K?10? for a pair of tens and Michael mucked.
Daniel Maynard, Qing Feng Zheng, and Stefan Paunescu each put in 2,000 before the flop as they went three-handed to see 2?7?4?.
Maynard led out for 5,000 from the small blind and Zheng called under the gun. Paunescu also called in the cutoff and the 8? fell on the turn.
Maynard then moved all in for 21,000, Zheng shoved for his last 25,000, and Paunescu snap-called. Maynard had 9?9? for an overpaid, but he was far behind as Zheng showed 4?4? for a set of fours and Paunescu turned over 7?7? for a set of sevens.
"That's brutal," Zheng said as the 8? fell on the river to send both him and Maynard to the rail.
"I have to take a picture of that," Maynard said before joining Zheng on the walk to the exit.
A new hope and, for some, a chance at redemption presents itself when Day 1c of the ￡888 888poker LIVE Coventry Main Event begins at noon local time.
This is the third of four opening flights into the tournament. The first two saw a combined total of 265 entries gather inside the Coventry Building Society Arena chasing a portion of the ￡500,000 guaranteed prize pool. Just 51 booked their ticket into Day 2, led by Yiannis Liperis with 507,000. Other top stacks include Tan Le (397,000), Paul Ephremsen (352,000), Day 1a chip leader Ali Abdulzahra (318,000), 2022 888poker LIVE London champion Bhavin Khatri (258,000), Daniel Laidlaw (235,000), Dean Hutchison (174,000), Carl Shaw (165,000), and Abdullah Alshanti (152,500).
Combined Top 10 Chip Counts
Rank
Player
Country
Chip Count
Big Blinds
1
Yiannis Liperis
Cyprus
507,000
169
2
Tan Le
United Kingdom
397,000
132
3
Paul Ephremsen
United Kingdom
352,000
117
4
Ali Abdulzahra
United Kingdom
318,000
106
5
Tuan Le
United Kingdom
308,000
103
6
Sheng Zheng
United Kingdom
302,000
101
7
Bhavin Khatri
United Kingdom
258,000
86
8
Teodor Evstratiev
Bulgaria
252,000
84
9
Mark Reed
United Kingdom
236,000
79
10
Daniel Laidlaw
United Kingdom
235,000
78
888poker Ambassador Vivian Saliba (219,000) was the only member of the team to advance in their opening flight. Ian Simpson, Nick Eastwood, Aaron Barone, Lucia Navarro, and Josh Manley all busted yesterday and will likely be back for another shot today. The likes of Niall Farrell, Tom Middleton, and Florian Duta failed to make it past their opening flight and will get another chance today.
Another player likely to enter the tournament today is Ludovic Geilich. The Scottish pro with more than $3.5 million in career earnings won the ￡2,000 High Roller here in Coventry last night, prevailing over a field of 70 players to earn ￡40,870.
Ludovic Geilich
Similar to the first two days, players on Day 1c will play 14 40-minute levels. There is a 15-minute break every three levels and an extended 40-minute dinner break at the end of Level 6. Late registration remains open until the start of Day 2. There is also a turbo Day 1d flight starting at 8 p.m. tonight with 20-minute levels, and with players allowed unlimited reentries, the field is expected to grow considerably by the time everyone combines into one on Day 2 tomorrow at 11 a.m.
PokerNews will once again be following all the action for the third day of play here in the West Midlands.
