2015 UKIPT Marbella Main Event Day 1b: Sochanek Spoils Spanish Party
It's official, the 2015 edition of the PokerStars UKIPT Marbella Main Event is the largest in its three-year history thanks to 492 players piling through the doors of the Casino Marbella on Thursday to take the combined attendance over the two starting flights to a most impressive 841.
These 841 entrants have created a prize pool of €807,360 that is to be shared among the top 127 finishers, a min-cash being worth €1,695 and the eventual champion returning home with €150,800 to show for their effort.
Sweden's Daniel Sochanek should be quietly confident of reaching those money places thanks to bagging up 167,200 chips at the end of Day 1b. Sochanek's impressive total may have been the biggest on Day 1b, but three Day 1a players surpassed his total, and that's why he will start Friday's Day 2 fourth in chips.
Spanish players made up five of the Day 1b top 10 with Jose Maria Jaen Carillo finishing the night with 155,700 chips.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel Sochanek | Sweden | 167,200 |
| 2 | Jose Maria Jaen Carillo | Spain | 155,700 |
| 3 | Daniel Fernandez Alcantara | Spain | 142,300 |
| 4 | Niko Kettunen | Finland | 139,000 |
| 5 | Daniel William Price | UK | 125,800 |
| 6 | Alexander Ferguson | UK | 124,200 |
| 7 | Alberto Salinas Pastor | Spain | 122,800 |
| 8 | Daniel Sisa Cura | Spain | 122,400 |
| 9 | Manuel Saavedra Nunez | Spain | 122,300 |
| 10 | Inocente Gomez Bordonado | Spain | 122,000 |
Established players such as Scotland’s Paul McTaggart (98,400), Vicente Delgado (97,000), Tobias Peters (87,500), former Irish Open winner James Mitchell (60,200), Sam Grafton (39,100), James Noonan (35,500), Marcin Barwinsky (31,300), and James Atkin (24,100) all progressed to Day 2, while such luminaries as James Akenhead, Mick Graydon, Daniel Carter, Daragh Davey, Gaelle Garcia Diaz, and Conor Beresford all bust at various points of the day.
Day 2 commences at noon CET and sees 341 players return to their seats, each sharing the common goal of making it through the day's action unscathed. Return to PokerNews.com on Saturday to discover if the money bubble burst and which player is on course for a €150,800 payday.
Lead image courtesy of Mickey May.
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