Seat 1: Krzysztof Jacyk, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier - 2,830,000
Krzysztof Jacyk, 28, has been playing poker for about five years, professionally for the last two. He plays mostly online tournaments, specialising in satellites, and it's no surprise that his entry into the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event came with online qualification on PokerStars. He began playing with friends from school in Poland, but has now found travel to live events to offer opportunity for holidays with his girlfriend. This final table represents his first big cash in a major live tournament and he describes this trip as "strictly work."
Seat two: Kuljinder Sidhu, United Kingdom - 5,010,000
Kuljinder Sidhu hails from Birmingham, and has been playing poker for seven years. His playing socially, as he puts it, hasn't stopped him from racking up a good number of cashes around Europe, including an 8th place finish at EPT London in 2013 for £60,640. Sidhu also cashed in this event last year, although he's already far surpassed his 173rd place finish. He takes time from his clothing business to attend poker festivals where his live tournament experience has shown in his steady rise to the chip lead on the final table.
Seat three: Luke Perrott, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier - 2,310,000
Luke Perrot started to play poker online four years ago, and makes it a priority to try to satellite into bigger tournaments and live events. His story of UKIPT Nottingham qualification: "I qualified in a £1 rebuy which took me to the £55 satellite. I didn't even have to re-buy or add-on in that as I had so many chips, so all in all I'm in this event for just £5." Now he's guaranteed at least £17,320. The 23 year old works as a bartender and plays regularly (his biggest score so far is $7,500 online), his experience giving him confidence to play what he describes as "good, solid poker." As far as the final table line-up goes, he appears to be happy to have Kuljinder Sidhu on his right.
Seat 4: Patrick Clarke, Ireland - 2,770,000
Patrick Clarke shot to live poker fame with a victory in the Irish Open in 2014, netting him €200,000 meaning that only the top prize will exceed his prior biggest win. The live cash pro, 27, can be found more often playing Pot Limit Omaha in the Fitz in Dublin. His results on the UKIPT are already solid (he's played five, cashed four), and he's finding recent success online, too, recently winning a major for $28,000. After a first time trip to Vegas last year, Clarke intends to head out again this summer, maybe stopping off at the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo on the way.
Seat 5: Sunil Pancholi, United Kingdom - 2,305,000
Sunil 'Sunny' Pancholi has been a lively presence at the table from Day 1a, where he ended the first flight as chip leader. He's stayed confidently above average through two more days' play in his first ever Main Event, being focused more usually on running his own business. Pancholi won his UKIPT Nottingham seat as a free bonus for finishing in the last six of a £50k tournament here at Dusk Till Dawn, and has already spun up a reward of at least £17,320 for his efforts. Eschewing online poker, Pancholi concentrates his efforts on the live game and hopes to continue his smooth ascent on the final table.
Seat 6: Sam Mitten-Laurence, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier - 3,570,000
Sam Mitten-Laurence, from London, has been a poker professional since the age of 18, but the UKIPT Nottingham Main Event represents only his second ever live competition (the first being UKIPT Edinburgh). The London-based Mitten-Laurence favours No Limit Hold'em tournaments, and has had success in the Big $109 among others. He, too, qualified online on PokerStars and with a hefty first live cash already guaranteed, plans to go on holiday and attend more live events with his winnings.
Seat 7: Trevor Pearson, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifer - 975,000
This is Trevor Pearson's second straight UKIPT Nottingham final table, after he came third here last year for £89,900. The 57 year old commodities trader told us last time that his job, self-employed and in a round-the-clock partnership with his wife, had prepared him for the test of risk and endurance which a 1,026-runner poker tournament represents. First involved in the private cash game side of poker, Pearson now focuses on online tournaments, and qualified on PokerStars for this event.
Seat 8: Richard Jones, United Kingdom - 4,570,000
Our elder statesman at the final table is 62-year-old Birmingham based business owner Richard Jones. He's a keen tournament player online and often plays in private cash games live. Jones has had great success on PokerStars playing under the screenname 'dickler1', finishing third in the Super Tuesday for just under $55,000 and 19th in last year's WCOOP Main Event. When not playing tournaments online you'll often find him playing high stakes sit and gos. He enjoys poker for the banter and should he win today he says he'll use the money "sensibly." Away from the table he enjoys a spot of snooker but says his life revolves around his business (and poker), often playing in Switzerland when travelling for work.