Beresford Takes Massive Lead into Final Day
Day 3 of the £1,100 UKIPT Main Event began with one overwhelming chip leader and finished with another, as Conor Beresford leads the final six players with more than half of the chips in play at the PokerStars European Poker Tour London at the Hilton Park Lane hotel.
Beresford entered the day sixth in chips but ended in a similar fashion as Day 2 chip leader Julien Sitbon. The Frenchman began play with 170 big blinds and more than double the chips of his closest competitor, however, he would eventually bow out in 11th place. Beresford will enter the final day with 171 big blinds, leaving a massive gap to Jon Kyte in second with 44 big blinds.
Final Table Chip Counts
| Position | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Conor Beresford | England | 25,700,000 | 171 |
| 2 | Jon Kyte | Norway | 6,550,000 | 44 |
| 3 | Martin Jacobson | England | 4,175,000 | 28 |
| 4 | Martin Caride | Spain | 2,775,000 | 19 |
| 5 | Vincenzo Schiavottiello | Italy | 2,700,000 | 18 |
| 6 | Olivier Arnault | France | 1,850,000 | 12 |
Beresford’s ascent up the leaderboard began with a knockout of Fabrice Bigot to take the field down to the final three tables. From there, Beresford continued to collect chips and opened a sizeable lead after the first four levels. In all, Beresford scored eight knockouts of the 22 eliminations on the day for a commanding lead over the rest of the final table.
The Englishman will be looking to build on his results from EPT Prague, where he earned a third-place finish in the €10,000 EPT High Roller and fifth place in the €2,000 NLH Hyper Turbo Knockout events. Beresford and Kyte will be joined on the final day by Martin Jacobson, Martin Caride, Vincenzo Schiavottiello and Olivier Arnault.
Day 3 Action
The action was fast-paced for much of the day, as a third of the original field of 28 was eliminated before the first break. It did not take long to reach the unofficial final table, as Beresford knocked out Day 1b chip leader Vladas Tamasauskas.
Igor D'Ursel ran into kings to finish ninth, followed by Danny Pyke in seventh and Guy Leathley closing out the day with his sixth-place finish.
The biggest move came from Jacobson, who began play last in chips out of the remaining 28 competitors but will start Day 4 in third position. Jacobson also played one of the more memorable hands of the day, when he doubled up despite accidentally revealing pocket aces.
The final table action resumes Saturday at 12 p.m. local time, where the newest UKIPT Main Event champion will be crowned and take home the top prize of £232,300.
Stay tuned to PokerNews for all the action from every event at EPT London.