Home / Poker News March 2013 / The Poker Grapevine – London Poker Festival Kicks off
The Poker Grapevine – London Poker Festival Kicks off
Posted by: Mark Baldwing - Thu, 2013-03-07 08:04
The UKIPT’s London stop kicked off on Tuesday, and while it normally wouldn’t really be a truly “high-caliber” event, this time around it carried some special significance, because it basically marked the start of the
PokerStars EPT London Poker Festival, which will indeed play host to the
EPT’s Season 9 London Main Event as well.
While the EPT hostilities will only kick off towards the end of the week, the £770 Main Event of the UKIPT London got off to a great start on Tuesday. There were so many registrants that the organizers – who had planned for 2 Day 1 flights – were forced to add a third day 1 in order to accommodate all comers. Although the actual number of registrants isn’t currently known, it is expected that more than 1,000 players will belly up to the tables of the Grosvenor Victoria Casino over the three days.
Day 1A saw 194 players hit the green felt. There was quite a bit of furious action though, which meant that only 43 players had chips bagged at the end of the day. The player to finish with the largest stack was Ben Jackson, who had 197.7k chips bagged. He had built up quite a bit of advantage over second place man Philippe Soukie, whose 159.8k stack paled in comparison.
UKIPT Champion Richard Sinclair also earned a Day 2 seat, albeit on a much more modest stack of 65.4k chips.
Unlike the above said players, several others of the “name” crowd failed in their bid to secure a Day 2 spot. Julian Thew was among those eliminated, together with Ari Engel, Chris Bjorin and Neil Channing.
The Main Event of the EPT will kick off on March 10 and if the UKIPT is any indication, it will draw a record starting field.
