PokerStars EPT London Tourney Claims New Record
This was published 06-10-2010The organizers of the 2010 Pokerstars European Poker Tour London competition taking place at the Hilton Metropole on Edgeware Road in London this week succeeded in claiming a new British record after the completion of Days 1a and 1b showed an increase of 16 percent over last year with a record number of 848 entries for the event.
Nearly every big name on the international poker circuit was on the field with 339 players packing the venue on Day 1a and a further 509 on Day 1b. Amongst the big names was JP Kelly, Jeffrey Lisandro, Noah Boeken, Phil Ivey, Liv Boeree, Australian cricket celebrity Shane Warne, Joe Hachem, Annette Obrestad, Jude Ainsworth, Chad Brown, Daniel Negreanu and French rap star Bruno “Kool Shen” Lopes.
A total prize pool of GBP 4,112,800 was generated by the record entry field. One Hundred and Twenty-eight survivors will thus cash a minimum of GBP 7,500 and a whopping GBP 900,000 will go to the first-placed winner to succeed Aaron Gustavson as the EPT London champion. Gustavson and EPT Vilamoura champion Toby Lewis were early casualties this year.
At the end of Day 1b, the one to finish at the top was Italian Claudo Cecchi with 237,500, about 30,000 more than any other player. There were less than 250 players who finished the day with almost 400 players returning for Day 2.
Former Irish international football player and double GUKPT winner Tony Cascarino also managed to finish near the top of the chip leaderboard. Phil Ivey and Daniel Nebreanu also succeeded in getting through the day.
Team PokerStars Pro Liv Boeree, who made her debut at this event, also managed to make it through Day 1b.
Kathy Liebert, Viktor Blom, Praz Bansi, Melanie Weisner, Shane Warne, Johnny Lodden, Nicolas Levi, Toby Lewis and Dennis Phillips were part of the 453-strong casualty list by the end of the Day 1b action.
