Niall Farrell Leads After Day 1 of the 2017 partypoker LIVE Nottingham High Roller
German pro Dominik Nitsche seemed poised to take a late lead as the £1 million guaranteed partypoker LIVE £10,300 High Roller reached its overnight hiatus in dramatic circumstances here at Dusk Till Dawn Casino in Nottingham. But ultimately Niall Farrell claimed the top spot overnight with 433,700 in chips after playing the last few levels on the feature table.
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Niall Farrell | United Kingdom | 433,700 |
| 2 | Dominik Nitsche | Germany | 391,450 |
| 3 | Ben Heath | United Kingdom | 334,450 |
| 4 | Jason Wheeler | United States | 307,025 |
| 5 | Laszlo Bujtas | Hungary | 283,350 |
With 100 players needed to reach the guarantee, there were 92 entries (including eight reentries) across the six hours of gameplay, with late registration still open for two more 45-minute levels and the first break tomorrow on the second and final day. The blinds will roll back to Level 7 when play resumes at 1 p.m. local time here in the land of Robin Hood and the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Nitsche plundered — in a final hand which was worth 300,000 chips alone — most of his final total of 391,400 that surpassed all but one other this evening. Richard Kellett was the unfortunate casualty, five-bet shoving with A♥Q♥ only to be 'Dom'inated by Nitsche's A♠K♣. A queen on the turn was the cruelest of cards, coming before a king on the river to oust Kellett and give Nitsche the huge stack.
Elsewhere, partypoker ambassadors Joao Simao (224,400), Sam Trickett (200,000) and Roberto Romanello (119,700) all did the home team proud, finishing strongly, and if not above the 160,000 closing chip average, then near it in the case of the Welsh Wizard.
"Visualizations are important these days."
Others didn't fare so well. Stephen Chidwick, Tom Hall, Adrian Mateos, [Removed:17], David Peters, Kristen Bicknell, Steven Warburton and Dzmitry Urbanovich bust late on.
Others such as Conor Beresford, Kenny Hallaert, Rainer Kempe,Enzo Del Piero and Callum McCuaig never really got anything going and will have to reenter on Day 2 or concentrate on the £6 million guaranteed Main Event which is back in live action tomorrow in the same award-winning card room.
There are plenty of players in the chasing pack for the lead, with American Jason Wheeler (307,025), Brit Ben Heath (334,450) and Hungarian Laszlo Bujtas (283,350) all within a three-bet and a call from moving into the lead. Heath, in particular, needed help to get there, but the charismatic crusher called both turn and river cards to find a straight when a 300,000 pot was at risk.
"Visualizations are important these days," he smirked at the close of play. Heath's best friend in poker, Charlie Carrel, also claimed more than the average with a respectable 208,550.
All other hopefuls who join in the first level tomorrow will receive 50 big blinds, as the action recommences with blinds of 1,000-2,000 and a running ante of 200. We'll be back at it in the £10,300 #partypokerLIVE High Roller when the players return at 1 p.m. tomorrow afternoon with a delayed live stream.
