The remaining 126 players returned for Day 2 today, ripped open their bags and went about their business of trying to (first) make the money and (second) make the final table, if the ten one-hour allotted levels would allow. By the end of those levels, 11 players remained, just three short of the official final table of eight.
It was looking like 12 players were heading for the final day but Shola Akindele Deadman busted on the very last hand of the night to leave 11 men standing and ready for battle tomorrow. She got her chips in with pocket fours on a five high flop but Joseph Lalor had flopped trip deuces and took the lot to climb to second in the counts.
Top of the pile sits Chi Zhang. He came in to today fifth in the counts and impressively pushed opponents around and picked up big hands at the right time and managed to make them pay for him. One such hand happened to be on the bubble (see below). He leads a final 11 that looks like:
| Name | Country | Status | Chips |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chi Zhang | United Kingdom | PokerStars Qualifier | 1804000 |
| Pierrick Tallon | Belgium | PokerStars Qualifier | 1420000 |
| Joseph Lalor | Ireland | PokerStars Qualifier | 1376000 |
| Christopher Brice | United Kingdom | PokerStars Qualifier | 1219000 |
| Benjamin Winsor | United Kingdom | 1036000 | |
| Hak-Mann Lee | Sweden | 1010000 | |
| Leslie Packer | United Kingdom | 850000 | |
| Brett Angell | United Kingdom | 752000 | |
| Otto Richard | France | 674000 | |
| Andrew Fleming | United Kingdom | 547000 | |
| Lee Mulligan | United Kingdom | 404000 |
Hand for hand play on the bubble only lasted three hands and it was a cooler that cost David Milby his first ever UKIPT cash. He opened with pocket kings and then called all in for 16 big blinds after Zhang set him in. The latter opened pocket aces and 62 people in the room were happy to see the board run queen high.
The eliminations, as expected, came thick and fast after all the players had secured a minimum £1,350 payday. Start of day chip leader Neil Van Der Merwe, Robertas Vaitkevicius, Joe Grech, Lucas Blanco, David Clarkson, Nik Persaud, James Atkin, Dan Stacey, Kelly Saxby, Mike Panteli, Deborah Worley-Roberts and Jake Cody were all familiar faces who busted in the money today.
Cody was in the middle of creating another great poker story before his day was cut short by a cooler. The Team PokerStars Pro entered the day second bottom in the counts but, being the positive soul that he is, refused to give up on his tournament. He doubled early on and then ground his way through the bubble and amassed a stack 1.5 times the average before his exit hand. He five-bet jammed with pocket queen but ran into the aces of Lee Mulligan and failed to catch up.
Some players who returned today but failed to cash included: Robbie Bull, Gareth Chantler, Gerald Ringe, Lawrence Bayley, Chris Day, Daragh Davey, Dan Carter, Remigiusz Wyrzykiewicz, Richard Kellett, Paul Vas Nunes, Neil Raine, David Lappin and Angelo Milioto.
Play will resume at midday BST on Sunday and will continue until the second ever UKIPT Bristol champion is crowned and handed a cheque (do they still exist?) for £58,500. The day promises to be an exciting one, just as today was. To relive all the key moments, why not click on one of the links below. There's also a link to the prize pool and payout page if you want to see who finished where in the money.
Levels 13-16
Levels 17-22
Prize pool and payouts
All photos are copyright of Mickey May. She knocked a tray of carrots out of a waitress' hand earlier (we were too scared to ask why), so stealing her photos in on you.