WSOPE, Event 3 - £10,000 NLHE, Day 1b: Patrik Antonius Leads Pack
Day 1b of the inaugural World Series of Poker Europe £10,000 Main Event kicked off today in London with even more big names taking to the felt, including Daniel Negreanu, Doyle Brunson, Johnny Chan and Jamie Gold. Including the Day 1a starters, 362 players total bought into the Main Event, creating a £1,000,000 first prize with £56,000 in added money by Betfair.com, the sponsor of the WSOP Europe.
As with Day 1a, three casinos played host to Day 1b action – the Empire Casino, the Sportsman and the Fifty. Tournament director Jack Effel made the announcement today that Day 2 would be broken up into Day 2a and Day 2b to allow for all the remaining players to be housed in the Empire Casino.
Some of poker's biggest names were featured prominently on the leader board as play drew to a close on Day 1b, with Patrik Antonius, Daniel Negreanu, Jamie Gold and Johnny Chan all amassing big stacks over the course of the day. Some equally big names headed to the rail on Day 1b, including Scotty Nguyen, Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo, Phil Gordon and Kirk Morrison.
At the end of the day, it was Antonius leading the pack, with several major names chasing him, including Shaun Deeb, fresh from his performance for the winning US team in the PokerStars World Cup of Poker, Kenny Tran, Jesse Jones, internet superstar Jon 'PearlJammer' Turner and Negreanu. The top ten chip counts as play concluded were as follows:
Patrik Antonius – 76,150
Shaun Deeb – 71,825
Tino Lechich – 71,725
Adam Junglen – 69,275
Kenny Tran – 67,025
Gerry Kance – 66,675
David Lionel – 65,825
Jesse Jones – 64,950
Jon 'PearlJammer' Turner – 60,975
Daniel Negreanu – 60,900
No name in poker is bigger than Doyle Brunson, and no elimination was more notable than Texas Dolly's bustout in the early rounds of Day 1b. Brunson got all his chips in the middle on the turn when the board read 10♠5♦4♣A♠, and Justin 'ZeeJustin' Bonomo was more than happy to call. Brunson tabled 4♦4♥ for a flopped set, and Bonomo revealed 3♠2♠ for the turned straight. The 7♦ on the river didn't pair the board and the 10-time WSOP bracelet winner was one of the first eliminations on Day 1b.
Other early knockouts included Brandon Schaefer, Vanessa Rousso, Joe Sebok and Phil Gordon, but Mike Macdonald has what may be the most unique bustout story of the day. After flopping all rags with his pocket jacks, Macdonald happily called Gold's all-in move. Gold revealed his pocket threes and was well behind, but he caught one of his two outs on the turn to make a set and send Macdonald to the rail. This experience marked Macdonald's first foray into live tournament poker, on this, his 18th birthday.
As players returned from dinner, the pace of eliminations picked up and a new flurry of players headed to the rail. Andy Black and Bertrand 'ElkY' Grospellier exited shortly after the dinner break, followed soon after by two-time WSOP bracelet winner Jeff Madsen. The short-stacked Madsen hit a flop of 4♣7♥8♥ while holding K♣8♠ and pushed all in. He was quickly called by Shaun Deeb, who had flopped a straight with 5♦6♦. No help came on the turn or river for Madsen and he was eliminated.
Kirk Morrison was one of the day's late eliminations. On a flop of 8♥6♣4♠, Morrison moved all in against Aleksander Vathne, Martin Johnson and Roland de Wolfe. While Vathne thought things through, Johnson folded out of turn behind him. Vathne eventually went all in over the top of Morrison, and de Wolfe got out of the way. "I'm in deep trouble," said Morrison. "I'll show you one card." Morrison, though, revealed both cards, 2♥5♠, for a gutshot straight draw. Vathne's J♦8♦ held up as the turn brought a J♠ and the river the 2♦, and Morrison was eliminated.
The individual leaders from each of three sites were as follows:
From The Empire:
Adam Junglen — 69,275
Kenny Tran — 67,025
Jon Turner — 60,975
Daniel Negreanu — 60,900
Julain Bertazzon — 60,700
Jamie Gold — 53,400
Aleksander Vathne — 51,175
Daniel Zink — 47,625
Nikolag Losev — 47,550
Johnny Lodden — 46,125
From The Fifty:
Patrik Antonius — 76,150
Tino Lechich — 71,725
David Lionel — 65,825
Jesse Jones — 64,950
Bob Willis — 58,975
Andreas Berggren — 58,975
Theo Jorgensen — 50,825
Johnny Chan — 47,250
Lee Nelson — 46,450
Tony G — 44,750
From The Sportsman:
Shaun Deeb — 71,825
Gerry Kane — 66,675
Matthew McCullough — 57,500
Stephen McNamara — 55,425
Roland Israelashvici — 53,450
Patrick Jouven — 50,975
Matt Larsh — 46,750
Owen Lock — 43,325
Bruce Stubbs — 40,875
Marigliano Marcello — 40,250
Join PokerNews at 2PM local time for all the interviews, hand histories and live updates as the survivors from Day 1a return to the Empire Casino for Day 2a of their quest for WSOP Europe gold.
