Jordon Leads, Benger And Kassouf Meet Again at Day 1b of Unibet Open London
The second and final starting day of the Unibet Open London 2017 Main Event is done. With 265 players on Day 1b, the total field consists of 419 entries. After ten hours of play, the 41 survivors of Day 1a were joined by 81 players from Day 1b. End-of-the-day chipleader is Terry Jordon (356,000), who surpassed Day 1a chipleader Giulio Mascolo to claim the overall chiplead.
122 hopefuls will return tomorrow at noon to battle it out for a share of the total prize pool of ��377,100. 62 of them will be going home with at least ��1,700, but all eyes will be on the first place price of ��71,950 awarded to the winner on Sunday night.
The top five after two starting days is as followed:
# | Player | Country | Chip Count |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Terry Jordon | United Kingdom | 356,000 |
2 | Giulio Mascolo | United Kingdom | 327,600 |
3 | [Removed:158] | Belgium | 305,800 |
4 | Jerome Brion | France | 296,500 |
5 | Robert Haigh | Germany | 274,000 |
The day started off with several stars jumping in the tournament. Most eyes were on darts legend Michael van Gerwen, who likes to play poker from time to time to relax. The cards didn't favor Van Gerwen today and the Dutch juggernaut eventually lost a coin flip with ace-queen to pocket sixes to bust.
Unibet Ambassadors Ian Simpson, Dana O'Kearney and David Lappin also failed to advance to Day 2, as did eSports player Thijs "Thijs" Molendijk. Charlotte Van Brabander, who advanced on Day 1a, will be representing the Unibet brand by herself for the remainder of the tournament.
A lot of eyes up front were on Will Kassouf and Griffin Benger. It was the first time for the two to play together since their infamous verbal clash at the WSOP, but both players quickly busted before they got near each others table. However, in true glamour fashion, PokerNews captured the exact moment the two met each other for the first time since last Summer, which was all in good fun.
With a lot of notables busting out in the early stages, it was time for new faces to rise to the occasion. Robert Haigh, who has already amassed over $1,000,000 in lifetime winnings, quickly climbed to the top of the leaderboard and never surrendered it during the day. The German ended his strong showing on Day 1b in second place with 274,000 in chips.
Only one man topped Haigh: Terry Jordon. The Englishman made an incredible hero call that soared him towards the top. Jordon never looked back after the amazing call and ended the day with 356,000 in chips. When asked about the hand, Jordan said his opponent's line didn't make sense.
"We both checked on the flop. On the turn I thought ace-high was good. Then he ships the river. It just didn't make sense to me. It took me four minutes, but eventually I called. It was the turning point of my tournament", the Brit told PokerNews.
The field will combine at noon tomorrow local time and 122 remaining players will play down until the final table is set. PokerNews will be on the floor throughout the weekend to provide all the updates from this exciting first Unibet Open stop of the tenth season!