Dmitrijs Golovanovs Leads After MPNPT’s Fifth Birthday Attracts Record Day 1a Field in London
Day 1a of the MPN Poker Tour London £480 Main Event witnessed entries soar to the highest seen for a first flight so far on the tour at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford City. A total of 188 entrants came to compete in the fifth-anniversary leg of the MPNPT, which hosted its very first event at Aspers Casino back in 2014.
That inaugural Main Event saw Bulgarian Antoan Katsarov top a field of 84 to win £9,645. While the international and friendly nature of the tournament has remained unchanged, the numbers in 2019 are very different. The £200,000 guarantee is on track to be smashed by the time registration closes at the start of Day 2.
A total of 52 players survived the Day 1a field to progress to Saturday’s Day 2 led by Dmitrijs Golovanovs with 274,000 in chips. Hot on his heels are Mohammed Sohel (254,000), Nicholas Tratton (243,000), and Nikolas Ponomarev (230,500). Click here for full survivors’ counts and the MPN Poker Tour Blog’s recap.
As Day 1a relentlessly swelled, the evening’s Main Event Mega Satellite – guaranteeing 10 seats – did the same, eventually awarding 22 tickets into either today’s Day 1b starting at 1 p.m. GMT or the Turbo Day 1c starting at 7 p.m. GMT. Those not playing last night were treated to a colorful Players’ Party hosted in the Sky Bar at Aspers Casino, featuring a cake to celebrate the tour turning five, a piñata, balloon magic, a party like MPNPT players have come to expect.
With such a turnout for the first flight, the stage is set for one of the largest overall Main Event fields in the history of the tour. Joining the fray today, and fighting their own last-longer battles, are two groups of players looking to bag more than a share of the prize pool’s riches.
Four players won a last-longer to get to the MPNPT London in the first place and the All Roads Lead to London winners are now in contention for two €1,500 packages to the MPNPT @ Battle of Malta on Oct. 17-22, 2019. Another package will go to one of five Birthday Boys, who entertained their way into MPNPT London with prizewinning short videos. One will take down back-to-back packages after outlasting their four opponents in the Main Event.
Last night also featured the conclusion of the €1,100 MPNPT London High Roller. Richard Kellett finished on top of a field of 69 entrants to win the £21,300 top prize just in time to head to the Players’ Party. Full High Roller results can be found here.
Live coverage resumes on the MPN Poker Tour Blog from 1 p.m. GMT and live streaming begins on Day 2 on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. PDT with the ultimate commentary duo of Jesse May and Padraig Parkinson in the booth.
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