Aleksandrs Golubevs Leads Final 23 Players After Day 2 in London
The 2019 888poker LIVE Festival London £1,100 Main Event is one step closer to crowning a new champion of the popular mid-stakes circuit at the Aspers Casino at Westfield Stratford City, as 23 hopefuls remain in contention for the top prize of £100,000. Another 12 entries before the start of Day 2 boosted the field to 518 total entries and generated a prize pool of £512,820, which was split among the top 63 finishers.
All remaining finalists have £3,990 locked up for their efforts but the eyes are firmly set on the trophy, six-figure score and the package worth $12,500 for the 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event in Las Vegas courtesy of event sponsor 888poker. Best-positioned after nine levels of one hour each on Day 2 is Aleksandrs Golubevs with 1,300,000 as he jumped into the top spot in the final hands of the night.
Another five players have more than one million in chips at their disposal and remain tightly bunched together at the top of the leaderboard in George Demetriou (1,183,000), Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos (1,162,000), Nikolay Ponomarev (1,137,000), Scott Berko (1,100,000), and Bhavin Khatri (1,038,000). Daniel Habib (993,000) and Adrian Constantin (958,000) narrowly missed out on the million so far and may change that in the first hand of Day 3.
Other notables still in contention include 2018 888 WPT500 London champion Gary Miller (558,000), Mark Yi (534,000), Ramlal Basdeo (467,000), Ion Albu (429,000), and Leon Louis (330,000).
Purti Last Woman Standing; Saliba Busts at the End of the Night
Spanish online qualifier Teresa Purti is the last woman standing and started Day 2 with 12 and a half big blinds. She will be in the exact same spot for the final day after bagging up 217,000.
Only one 888poker ambassador made it to the money and Vivian Saliba made it all the way to 26th place. In the final stages of the night, Saliba doubled once and then saw her hopes of an even deeper run vanish when she got it in with pocket queens only to face the pocket kings of Bhavin Khatri. A blank board sent the Brazilian to the payout desk to collect £3,530 for her efforts.
Her fellow 888poker ambassadors Daria Feshchenko, Chris Moorman, Martin Jacobson, and Sofia Lovgren all bowed out well before the money. Moorman ended up all-in with deuces against the pocket jacks of Francisco Jesus Campos and the ace-high board provided no help.
Among the notables to miss out on the money spots were Oliver Price, Nicholas Lee, Terry Jordon, Kullyy Sidhu, Vamshi Vandanapu, Tamer Kamel, Katie Lindsay, Chris Da-Silva, and Steve Watts. Kfir Ivgi, who had started the day as the overwhelming chip leader, also came up short after he was left short in a big clash with Gary Miller when his ten-trey for bottom two pair were no good. Miller had flopped top two pair ace-ten and scored a big double not far off the bubble.
The last player to leave empty-handed was Italy's Giulio Mascolo. Down to just over two big blinds, he shoved with king-queen and stood no chance against the aces of Jacek Skiscim. Once the min-cash was secured, the all-in showdowns kept pouring in at a rapid pace and the field was quickly whittled down further.
No Repeat Victory for Williams; Kassouf and Lampropulos Bust in the Money
Defending champion James Williams made it to the money after nursing a short stack for nearly the entire day and he ultimately lost all but a few chips when ace-ten versus ace-nine to be forced all-in after. Ramlal Basdeo flopped two pair and turned a flush draw with jack-eight suited while Williams couldn't there anymore with jack-nine.
Other big names that cashed but failed to reach the final day were Fraser MacIntyre, William Kassouf, Richard Kellett, Maria Lampropulos, and Iaron Lightbourne.
Kassouf, very talkative and entertaining for the opponents at the tables and as usual, wished for a "sick hand in the big blind" and got the wish granted when he looked down at pocket kings. However, Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos was one better with pocket aces and Kassouf had to settle for 43rd place and £2,660.
Lampropulos received £3,070 for her 35th place finish as her jack-six suited for top pair could not overcome the kicker disadvantage when facing the king-jack of Ion Albu. For Lightbourne, the end came in the final level of the night as he missed out on the last three tables. It was a classic flip for the Brit with ace-king suited versus pocket tens and eventual chip leader Aleksandrs Golubevs hit a set.
The frantic late action reduced the field to just 23 hopefuls and they will return to their seats at 2 p.m. local time to play down to a champion. The blinds will recommence at 8,000-16,000 and a big blind ante of 16,000, and the PokerNews team will be there from start-to-finish to provide all the action.
Seat Assignments for the Final Day
| Table | Seat | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Bhavin Khatri | United Kingdom | 1,038,000 | 65 |
| 1 | 2 | Francois Pirault | France | 332,000 | 21 |
| 1 | 3 | Nikolay Ponomarev | Russia | 1,137,000 | 71 |
| 1 | 4 | Andrew Connell | New Zealand | 167,000 | 10 |
| 1 | 5 | Matthew Anderson | United Kingdom | 326,000 | 20 |
| 1 | 6 | Scott Berko | United Kingdom | 1,100,000 | 69 |
| 1 | 7 | Teresa Purti | Spain | 217,000 | 14 |
| 1 | 8 | Leon Louis | United Kingdom | 330,000 | 21 |
| 2 | 1 | George Demetriou | United Kingdom | 1,183,000 | 74 |
| 2 | 2 | Ion Albu | Romania | 429,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 3 | Manuel Bueno | Germany | 212,000 | 13 |
| 2 | 4 | Gary Bertram | United Kingdom | 714,000 | 45 |
| 2 | 5 | Egidijus Alsauskas | Lithuania | 851,000 | 53 |
| 2 | 6 | Man Luk | United Kingdom | 439,000 | 27 |
| 2 | 7 | Gary Miller | United Kingdom | 558,000 | 35 |
| 2 | 8 | Alexander Zeligman | United Kingdom | 471,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 1 | Aleksandrs Golubevs | United Kingdom | 1,300,000 | 81 |
| 3 | 2 | Mark Yi | Singapore | 534,000 | 33 |
| 3 | 3 | Jose Echevarne Gomez | Spain | 656,000 | 41 |
| 3 | 4 | Daniel Habib | United Kingdom | 993,000 | 62 |
| 3 | 5 | Ramlal Basdeo | Trinidad and Tobago | 467,000 | 29 |
| 3 | 6 | Adrian Constantin | Romania | 958,000 | 60 |
| 3 | 7 | Valdir Cordeiro dos Santos | Brazil | 1,162,000 | 73 |