Paul Dando Leads the Final 59 in the 2015 WPT UK Main Event
Day 2 of the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour UK Main Event played out on Thursday, Nov. 5. It was Bonfire Night in the United Kingdom, and the date was quite fitting because there were plenty of fireworks during the five 90-minute levels played; from the 171 returning players to Day 2, just 59 of them remained at the end.
Topping the chip counts at the close of play was Paul Dando with 775,000 in chips. Dando may not be well known in the live poker arena, but he has more than $1.4 million from his online poker exploits. He spoke to PokerNews during one of the breaks in play and informed us that he’s had a great year on the virtual felt. That's something he puts down to being part of a strong stable of backed players who are regularly coached. It's that coaching that looks to be paying off so far.
Second in chips going into Friday’s Day 3 was Philip Hepburn on 643,500, while Julien Rouxel ended on 621,000.
As you would expect from a tournament of this magnitude, there are a number of established professional players still in the mix. William Chattaway (465,000), Michael "The Grinder" Mizrachi (425,000), Simon Deadman (406,000), Mitch Johnson (272,000), Iaron Lightbourne (256,500), Nick Hicks (209,500), Richarrd Kellett (205,000), Craig McCorkell (134,000), Ben Vinson (118,500), and Pieter de Korver (64,000) were among them.
As with any tournament, though, not everyone could make it through. During Day 2, the field lost the likes of Alex Goulder, Craig Varnell, Tamer Kamel, Sergio Aido, Paul Jackson, Simon Trumper, Richard Trigg, and Roberto Romanello.
Day 3 will commence at 12 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 6, and play should be quite cagey at first because only five of the 59 returning players will leave Dusk Till Dawn empty-handed. The top 54 players will reach the money, with a min-cash being worth £5,400. Whoever wins the Main Event will walk away with £200,000.
Tune into PokerNews from midday UK time on Friday to follow all of the action from the 2015 partypoker WPT UK Main Event.