By Lisa Yiasemides
Lars Kamphues (pictured above) has claimed the chip lead after eight hours of poker action here at Dusk Till Dawn Poker & Casino Nottingham. The spiritual home of British poker attracted 191 players to the WPT UK Main Event. Of those, 25 took advantage of the single re-entry format, which took the total number of entries to 216.
Kamphues could be on his way to a second WPT final table in Season XVIII following his fourth-place finish at WPT Gardens for $128,320.
There were a slew of notable players all vying for the top spot but, in the end, it was Kamphues’s day, taking an impressive 157,700 chips through to Day 2 on Friday. Speaking to Kamphues as play concluded and he told WPT.com that there “no big hands, just a slow grind really.” Well, whatever gets the job done.
Of the notables that took a seat, WPT500 Champion Gary Miller (131,000) finished with more than double the average stack. Justin Uys (124,500) started making headway early on, after calling two streets in a three-handed pot with king-high correctly, much to the amazement of his table mates. Meanwhile, Leo Worthington-Leese (122,200) and Martin Jacobson (pictured above) also finished with at least six figures, taking 119,200.
Tomas Macnamara (96,000), Jimmy Kebe (90,100), partypoker Ambassador Bertrand Grospellier (pictured above with Bruno Fitoussi) netted 88,700, Benny Glaser (88,000), Ivan Deyra (84,800), Niko Koop (81,200), Manig Loeser (78,900), Team partypoker Charlie Godwin (70,800), Adrian Mateos (60,700) and WPTDS Champion Simon Brandstrom (53,800) all finished on average stack or better.
WPT Champions Club members Niall Farrell (47,000), Jake Cody (40,400) and James Romero (28,000) also found a bag, as did partypoker Ambassador Bruno Fitoussi (26,200), though they each have some work to do when they return for Day 2 on Friday.
There were many familiar faces who failed to progress however, with many big names busting before the end. Among them were Dietrich Fast, Kahle Burns, Barny Boatman, Anton Wigg, Steve Warburton, Jeff Kimber, Team partypoker online Monika Zukowicz (pictured above), Paul Newey, Orpen Kisacikoglu, and Basharat Mahmood.
It’s not necessarily over for them though, with Day 1b kicking off tomorrow at noon, local time. The tournament is an exact replica of today’s, featuring a single re-entry. If that isn’t enough, late registration doesn’t close until the end of the fourth level on Day 2 on Friday.
Still, there are plenty more chances for any hopefuls to get involved and WPT.com will cover every moment of the action until the newest WPT Champion is crowned. See you back here tomorrow.