A round-up of the action from the 888Live London Festival in Aspers Westfield, Stratford, including news from the High Roller and Main Event.

888Live London has come to a close. The 12-day festival, held at Aspers Casino Westfield Stratford, London attracted stamp collectors, people with jars containing used paintbrushes, and some of the world’s greatest poker players, and it was a resounding success.

The 888Live brand doesn’t pack the punch of a PokerStars Championship or a partypoker LIVE MILLIONS, but they carve out their small grotto of light, leading luminaries like Martin Jacobson, Jack Salter, and Ludovic Geilich to their home.

And that’s how it feels at an 888Live event.

Slippers, a roaring fire, and the smell of pipe smoke.

There is something amiable about the whole thing, and that sort of intimacy is only available when you run a very compact and bijou ship. The more you grow, the more likely you are to feel like you have just waded into an empty sea.

The tournament began brilliantly with the £220 buy-in 888Live Opening Event attracting 521 entrants and 250 rebuys busting the £120,000 guarantee by £42,753. The final three players struck a deal before Christopher Kyriacou finished the event off with the win.

Final Table Results

1. Christopher Kyriacou – £20,000*
2. Ka Li – £17,900*
3. Terry Simpson – £17,675*
4. Tom Hughes – £8,430
5. Vincent Anderson – £6,210
6. Gabriel Gusetoliu – £4,950
7. Stlianos Papatollas – £4,050
8. Francisco Paz – £3,150
9. Phi Vo – £2,293

There was also a lot of interest in the £55 buy-in Ladies Event with 51 entrants and 75 rebuys ending with Vivian Saliba winning a £13,000 package for the World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) Main Event in Rozvadov. Saliba is having an outstanding year finishing 11th in the $10,000 Pot-Limit Omaha 8-Handed Championship at the World Series of Poker (WSOP), and a 421st finish in the Main Event.

High Roller and Main Event News 

The spotlight shone on the High Roller and Main Event as it was the first time that any prominent live tour had begun a significant event with an Action Clock in play. By all accounts, the players loved it.

Jamie Lunt took down the £2,200 buy-in High Roller. 69 entrants more than doubled the £50,000 guarantee with £136,626 distributed among the final eight players.

Final Table Results

1. Jamie Lunt – £42,000*
2. Jonathan Bowers – £29,100*
3. Ludovic Geilich – £20,000
4. Iaron Lightbourne – £15,100
5. Oliver Price – £11,000
6. Aymon Hata – £8,200
7. Fabio Sperling – £6,220
8. Giovanni Rizzo – £5,000

The main attraction of the festival was the £1,100 No-Limit Hold’em 888Live London Festival Main Event. 427 entrants created a prize pool of £427,730 surpassing the £400,000 guarantee.

Tom Hall took down the £78,888 first prize. In the Summer, Hall defeated 231 entrants to win the DTD200 event at Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) for £20,000, so he is in fine form.

Final Table Results

1. Tom Hall – £78,888
2. Ning Lu – £72,142
3. Pol Hernandez – £39,945
4. Paul Scipioni – £29,590
5. Daniel Stanway – £22,190
6. Charles Akadiri – £17,750
7. Paul Nugent – £14,795
8. Shao Zhen – £11,835
9. Pascal Pflock – £8,875

Other notables that delved deeper than a copper miner were Parker “tonkaaaa” Talbot (15th), Tamer Kamel (30th), and the Opening Event winner Christopher Kyriacou (34th).

Source: calvinayre