The opening day of the ￡888 Main Event at Coventry Building Society Arena produced plenty of big action, as players battled for a bag and a spot in Day 2 on Saturday, October 20.
The first of six opening Main Event flights at 888poker LIVE Coventry started slowly before some big stacks emerged late in the day. Brandon Harris bagged the biggest total, carrying 599,000 chips into the weekend. Harris found ace-king early and built from there, ultimately finishing with for 100 big blinds for Day 2.
Players took full advantage of unlimited reentries throughout Day 1a, looking to claim a piece of the ￡500,000 guaranteed prize pool. The day saw a total of 53 entries, with just eight claiming a stack at the end of 14 levels of play.
Sitting in a distant second position is James Bott with 192,000, while Lin Chen rounds out the top three, holding 171,000 chips in his bag. Chen registered late in the day after finishing third in the ￡440 Mystery Bounty event for ￡3,660, plus a bounty worth ￡888.
End of Day 1a Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Harris | United Kingdom | 599,000 | 100 |
| 2 | James Bott | United Kingdom | 192,000 | 32 |
| 3 | Lin Chen | United Kingdom | 171,000 | 29 |
| 4 | Mitchell Johnson | United Kingdom | 170,000 | 28 |
| 5 | Trevor Reardon | United Kingdom | 147,000 | 25 |
| 6 | Keith Johnson | United Kingdom | 121,000 | 20 |
| 7 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | 110,000 | 18 |
| 8 | Brendan Evans | United Kingdom | 82,000 | 14 |
The story late in the day was David Docherty, who saw his bluff called by Bott in a big spot while leaving just a single small blind (2,500) behind. From there, though, Docherty did not lose an all in, at risk several times before spiking the river on the final hand of the day to take from Harris and improbably bag 110,000.
"Always leave one small blind behind," Docherty told the table after winning his final all in.
Trevor Reardon was the first to climb above 200,000 before busting and needing another bullet late in the day. Reardon used the second chance wisely, finishing in fifth place with 147,000 chips.
Several 888poker Ambassadors are expected to join the field on Day 1b, one of five other opening flights still to be played this week. Thursday features a pair of chances to find a bag, with Day 1b starting at 1:00 p.m. while the Day 1c turbo flight is set to begin at 9:00 p.m. local time.
The same blind structure remains in place, as players will need to complete 14 levels to find a bag for Saturday. Day 1b will see 40-minute blinds, while the turbo flights feature 20-minute levels.
In addition to unlimited reentries throughout the opening days, late registration remains open until the start of Day 2.
The action will only pick up from here, so don’t miss a minute as the PokerNews live reporting team follows the next four days of the Main Event from Coventry.
