Erik Seidel leads WPT London Classic
Tuesday, 31 August 2010
The London Poker Festival kicked off in fine style yesterday with a host of big names in attendance for the opening flight of the World Poker Tour London Classic. At the close of play it was Erik Seidel who boasted the biggest stack followed by Talal Shakerchi and Bruce Atkinson.
Seidel, who has racked up a century of WPT appearances, ended the day with a stack of 226,200 chips, almost 40,000 ahead of his nearest rival Shakerchi. The biggest challenge could come from the man who ended the day fourth in the chip counts, none other than Phil Ivey. The great man found time away from the massive online PLO games to build up a stack of 146,200 and is very handily placed.
Luke Schwartz had the dubious pleasure of being sat on Ivey's table and was on the receiving end of the eight-time WSOP bracelet winner's aggressive play on a number of occasions. The mouthy Brit, who has just become a father, showed plenty of spirit though and ended the opening day in the middle of the field on 82,400.
Other big names among the 36 survivors who have made it through to Day 2 include Praz Bansi (108,300), Huck Seed (93,400) and Hendon Mobster Joe Beevers (62,700).
Spare a thought for James Akenhead though who busted out in a very cruel fashion. He must have thought that his pocket threes were good on a Q-3-2-2-8 board. Unfortunately Asim Mumtaz flipped over pocket twos for quads and the Hit Squadee was heading to the rail. Others amongst the 72 starters to hit the rail early were Roland de Wolfe, Karl Mahrenholz and PartyPoker pro Ian Frazer.
The leading chip counts at the end of Day1A were as follows:
Erik Seidel 226,200
Talal Shakerchi 188,600
Bruce Atkinson 149,800
Phil Ivey 146,200
Igor Kurgandu 124,300
Asim Mumtaz 120,300
Nichlas Mattsson Saarisilta 112,000
Kevin O'Leary 110,700
Praz Bansi 108,300
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