PokerStars Ambassadors Shine as UKIPT Main Event Day 1b Wraps Up
Day 1b of the UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) ￡1,100 Main Event concluded with just 23 survivors from the 150 entries that showed up at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham.
With two flights completed, the cumulative number of entries stands at 201, with 31 players already having punched their ticket into Day 2 on Sunday, November 18.
At the top of the counts sits Charles Combes with a whopping 516,000 chips, who is well clear of Danish Gandhi in second, who bagged 398,000. Raefe Tucker rounds out the top three with a stack of 357,000 to do battle with come Day 2.
Top Ten Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Charles Combes | United Kingdom | 516,000 |
| 2 | Danish Gandhi | United Kingdom | 398,000 |
| 3 | Rаefe Tucker | United Kingdom | 357,000 |
| 4 | Lasse Jagd Lauritsen | Denmark | 328,000 |
| 5 | Barny Boatman | United Kingdom | 306,000 |
| 6 | Jason Barton | United Kingdom | 232,000 |
| 7 | Danielle Noja | Australia | 230,000 |
| 8 | Martyn Frey | United Kingdom | 217,000 |
| 9 | Thomas Clack | United Kingdom | 217,000 |
| 10 | Alex Romero | Spain | 204,000 |
It was a stellar day for Pokerstars Ambassador Lasse Jagd Lauritsen, who closed out the day nicely to end with 328,000 chips, good for fourth on the leaderboard. The bulk of the Dane's chips came after he coolered Spain's Artus Gimenez in an aces-against-Big-Slick-showdown, that saw Gimenez soft bubble the flight.
Another member of Team PokerStars, Barny Boatman, also found a healthy bag with 306,000 chips, which leaves him fifth in the counts. Boatman sent Alan Carr to the rail with three-deuce during Level 9 and continued to build momentum all the way until the final bell to bag one of the top five stacks.
Rounding out the top ten is PokerStars Ambassador Alex Romero with 204,000 chips, who had spent a lot of the opening levels near the summit of the leaderboard after rivering Broadway against Raefe Tucker early on.
The bubble was tense, prompting the floor to initiate hand-for-hand play early due to the excessive tanking that was slowing up the game. Shortly after, Paul Tait's short stack was collected by Christopher Johnson, which left the field one away from a guaranteed payday.
Unfortunately for Vikrum Mehta, he was the last player to leave empty-handed as he shoved the flop with king-high and got looked up by Sergey Dunyushin, who had a better kicker. Mehta failed to improve on the turn or river, which meant the remaining 23 players had made it into the money and ended the day's play.
Several other big names turned up to have a crack at making Day 2, but those that fell short include Yucel Eminolgu, Georgina James, Adam McKola, Benjamin Spragg, and Ryan Mandara.
Day 1c will kick off at 12 p.m. on Friday, November 15, and is the third of five opening flights in the Main Event. Two more flights will be played on Saturday, November 16, before Day 2 gets underway on Sunday, November 17.
Remaining Schedule
| Date | Event | Time |
|---|---|---|
| 15 November | Day 1c | 12:00 p.m. |
| 16 November | Day 1d | 12:00 p.m. |
| 16 November | Day 1e | 7:00 p.m. |
| 17 November | Day 2 | 12:00 p.m. |
| 18 November | Day 3 | 12:00 p.m. |
Make sure to check out PokerNews throughout the rest of the series as updates from the floor will continue to be brought to you in the UKIPT Main Event.