2022 PokerStars EPT London

The 2022 PokerStars European Poker Tour London continued today and the two starting flights of the £2,200 UKIPT High Roller played out on the felt at Hilton Park Lane.

There were 507 entries on Day 1a and players played down to 15% of the field. The number they played down to was 76 players, and they will all be in the money when they return for Day 2 and combine with the 29 survivors from Day 1b.

The two flights created a total prize pool of £1,345,920 from 701 total entries and the payouts will be announced before Day 2 for the 105 total players in the money.

£2,200 UKIPT High Roller Day 1a Top Ten Counts

United Kingdom’s Martin Hellmuth bagged the top stack of Day 1a and will take 763,000 into the second day. Christian Dressler (734,000), Gary Miller (655,000), Leon Sturm (644,000), and Tamer Kamel (487,000) round out the top five stacks from the flight.

Others to bag a stack in Day 1a include Jamie O'Connor (449,000), Jinho Hong (273,000), Preben Stokkan (239,000), Antoine Saout (216,000), PokerStars Ambassador Parker Talbot (179,000), Roland Rokita (179,000), Dimitar Danchev (97,000), and Stefan Schillhabel (21,000).

Arie Kliper was eliminated on the money bubble when his flopped flush draw failed to improve against aces. Espen Jorstad squeaked into the money with a single T-5,000 chip, while Michael Schmitz made it with a single T-1,000 chip. Day 1a ended with 10:05 remaining in Level 17 with blinds at 3,000/6,000/6,000.

Day 2 will restart at 12:00 p.m. local time on Saturday, October 22. Stay tuned as the PokerNews live reporting team continues to provide updates until a champion is crowned, along with coverage of other events from EPT London.

On a board reading the Tournament Director announced "All in and a call"

Arie Kliper was the player at risk, called by Atanas Pavlov.

Arie Kliper:
Atanas Pavlov:

Kliper was in need of a diamond to keep his tournament alive but the board ran out and he exits in 77th place, meaning that Day 1a has finished and all remaining players will be back tomorrow, in the money.

This exit means that Espen Jorstad has squeaked into the money with a single 5,000 chip left and even more impressive is that Michael Schmitz has also made Day 2 with a stack of 1,000.

Roland Rokita had gotten his 85,000 chips in from the hijack and was at risk against Pedro Neves in the big blind.

Roland Rokita:
Pedro Neves:

The flop left Rokita needing help, and the turn instantly put him back in front with Broadway. Rokita needed to avoid the board pairing to survive, and the river bricked out to secure his double.

With 77 players remaining, players are on the bubble and one elimination away from being in the money.

With roughly 80,000 in the pot on a board, Martin Stausholm checked the big blind, Parker Talbot checked the cutoff, and Thor Morstol bet 50,000 on the button. Talbot folded and Stausholm moved all in for 99,000. Morstol got a count and called.

Martin Stausholm:
Thor Morstol:

Stauholm had the nuts but still had to fade an ace or a queen, and the completed the board to confirm the result.

Daniel Marques Aziz raised over an open and Tuan Le decided to make a stand, reraising all in for his final 161,000, from the big blind.
Aziz made the call and it was a classic race, close to the money bubble.

Tuan Le:
Daniel Marques Aziz:

The window card was , followed by , putting Aziz in the lead. Le sat motionless as the fell on the turn, leaving him two outs in the deck to save him from elimination.

The on the river was the miracle card and Le now has an above-average stack after being one card away from being eliminated.

Dimitar Danchev had gotten his 55,000 chips in from the big blind and was at risk against Philip Joyce in early position.

Dimitar Danchev:
Philip Joyce:

The flop gave Danchev top pair but he still needed to improve. The turn gave Danchev additional outs with a flush draw, and the spiked the river to complete that draw and keep his tournament life alive near the bubble.