Luke Soars at UKIPT London; Trickett Joins Premier League

Luke Proves he’s not a UKIPT Railbird

The card room manager inside the London’s Victoria Casino was sweating yesterday as his venue was stretched to breaking point by the 414 entrants of UKIPT’s Main Event.

With space for 430 on Day 1B, there was little elbow room for those looking to raise their way through the field. However, as the day progressed and space became less of a premium, a host of famous faces began to leave the tournament area.

Indeed, after 11 levels, the likes of John Duthie (who lasted just one hand), Leo Margets, Steve O’Dwyer, Richard Ashby and Luke Schwartz were all swapping hard luck stories at the bar.

One player who was singing a different tune, however, was Luke Bird. Having found his way to the tournament via a £22 satellite on PokerStars, Luke had flown to the top of the chip counts by the close of play.

Thanks to a purple patch midway through the session, Luke bagged 196,800 chips to finish ahead of more experienced players such as Tom Hall (181,600), Andrew Teng (119,200) and Kevin MacPhee (25,500).

Yesterday’s bumper field may have been impressive but so far today that number has already been topped.

At the time of writing an eclectic mix of 460 players, including such stars as Olivier Busquet and Johnny Lodden, had taken to the felt.

Trickett Achieves Premier Status

Party Poker loaded added another sparkling star to its glittering Premier League roster, today, in the form of Sam Trickett.

The British pro, who just happens to be Europe’s most successful tournament player, will join an all-star cast for the $125,000 TV shootout which kicks off next week.

Having sampled the delights of the event’s format before, Sam is looking forward to testing himself once again, stating: “It’s an incredibly challenging format that is completely unique and different to all other tournaments but I’m going to have a blast”.

Sam will join Scott Seiver, Daniel Negreanu, Antonio Esfandiari, Phil Hellmuth, Phil Laak, Tony G, Daniel Cates, Luke Schwartz, Jonathan Duhamel, Marvin Rettenmaier, Dan Shak and Jennifer Tilly.

The are just three spots now left to fill before the tournament begins in earnest on March 15 inside London’s Aspers Casino.