Chris Swinden Leads After Day 1b of the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event
Day 1b of the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event was a busy one as a mix of local heroes, seasoned pros, and excited players from all over the world flocked to the beautiful poker room created in the Villa Marina Arcade Harris Promenade.
The tournament drew a lot more players to the second starting flight compared to Day 1a, with a total of 218 players starting. Twenty of those chose to reenter after they busted within the first four levels, making for 238 entries total. Combined with the 111 entries that played on Day 1a, the total came to 349, creating a prize pool of £135,412.
Amongst the fan favorites were Team PokerStars Pro's Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, Luca Pagano, and sponsored players Sara Chafak (Miss Finland) and Zoe Gillings-Brier (Isle of Man Olympic Snowboard Cross champion). While Chris Moneymaker and Fatima Moreira de Melo set a good example on Day 1a by making it through to Day 2, none of Day 1b's patched-up players would follow that lead.
Boeree was the first to leave of that bunch. She tried to bluff a player with an unimproved ace-jack on the river of a scary board, but her opponent wasn't willing to lay down queens and sent her packing. She did pack her bags but didn't leave the premises, as she went straight to Chess room where she played some matches for practice.
Cody didn't do much better. He first lost tens to ace-jack and dwindled down to a mere 1.5 big blinds. He risked those with pocket sixes and couldn't beat queen-jack.
Pagano, still holder of several records on the EPT, lost his chips getting it in with top two on 
. His opponent was Deborah Worley-Roberts holding the 
for a draw so heavy she had about all the cards in the deck to hit. She spiked the 
on the river to sent the Italian Team Pro packing.
The Team Pros were not alone on the rail. They were joined by the likes of Paul Newey (ace-queen into kings and tens) and Simon Trumper (ace-king lost to eights all in preflop).
Where the sponsored players fell, others thrived. Worley-Roberts was one of them. Her constant talking was hard to ignore, but who wanted to anyway? She joked around the entire day, but didn't forget to accumulate chips either. She won pots left and right and ended the day with 114,300 in chips.
That was not even close enough to end the day as chip leader as Shane Henry gathered 211,500 in chips with constant pressure on all his table mates. For example, the Brit knocked out the patiently-waiting Erik Mertens in the last level of the day, hitting trips with ace-jack against ace-king all in preflop.
Norwegian player Johan Bakketeig also left an impression, ending the day with 177,500. He was the one knocking out Trumper, all the time playing with an unfazed posture that reminiscent of Patrik Antonius.
However, it Chris Swinden who ended the day as chip leader with 245,200 in chips. He gained momentum in the last level of the day and ended up with a whole bunch of chips as a result. He hit a set knocking a player out, and flopped top pair in a five-way pot to get even more.
A total of 65 players survived the day, and they'll join the 32 players that made it through from Day 1a. Saturday the remaining 97 players will all try to at least take the first hurdle; reaching the money. A total of 47 players will make it there with a min-cash worth £770. The eight players that make the final table on Sunday will be guaranteed £3,307. The eventual champion will walk away with £26,400.
For a look at the full Day 2 seat draw, click here.
The levels will be 60 minutes long from now on, and a total of 10 of them are on the schedule for Day 2 unless a final table is reached before that. Check back tomorrow for coverage of Day 2 of the UKIPT Isle of Man. In the mean time check out the interview Sarah Herring did with Luke Staudenmaier, the former online pro who now works for PokerStars on the Isle of Man.