The fifth leg of Season 3 and the last leg of 2012 saw the UKIPT touch down in a city it hadn't visited before. And 235 players clearly liked the fact that the Gala Harbourside in Bristol was hosting a leg of the UKIPT as they turned out in their droves on Day 1A. No one was more happy than Jonathon Prested, after eight levels of play the Englishman bagged up 121,300 chips to claim the Day 1A chip lead.
He wasn't the only player who had a good day at the felt. Kevin Killeen (67,800) and Michael Danko (69,600) both turned their 15,000 starting stack into significantly more by the end of play. They'll all be back for Day 2 on Saturday at noon.
Whilst no Team Pros or Team Online members were in attendance today (Liv Boeree, Vicky Coren, Christophe De Meulder and Mickey Petersen play tomorrow) there were plenty of big names packed in amongst the tables today. Some like Dan Carter (61,900) and Sam Grafton (56,800) prospered, whilst others with big reputations tumbled. Sam Holden, Jon Spinks and Roberto Romanello were just three of the players who failed to advance to Day 2.
For some it was their second day of UKIPT tournament poker in a row here in Bristol. Chris Moorman, David Lenz, Ben Jenkins and Daniel Smyth all took part in the UKIPT Online final table yesterday. Of the four only Smyth failed to advance and then only because he was eliminated on the last hand of the day when his [As][10d] couldn't get there against Thomas Ward's pocket sevens. Both Moorman (9,600) and Lenz (16,200) have work to do whilst Jenkins takes an above average 36,400 into Day 2.
Of the 235 players who sat down,109 made it through to Day 2, but for now they've been released out into the bars and restaurants of Bristol. There are plenty of those surrounding this casino down on the harbourside to keep the players entertained.
We'll be back from noon tomorrow when a fresh batch of players will take to the tables and try and take their first steps to winning UKIPT Bristol, we're expecting a sell out.
To catch up with all today's action click on the links below, but for now it's good night from Bristol.
All photos are copyright of Mickey May, she's got some pretty slick knife skills so don't mess.