Ken Isaksen Tops Day 1B of PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham

Norwegian Ken Stean Isaksen topped the Day 1b standings of the PokerStars UK and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) Nottingham main event at the famous Dusk Till Dawn venue in the East Midlands as just 123 players survived the second of three opening-day streams in the £1 million guaranteed tournament.

Day 1a attracted 532 players, with just 100 making it into tomorrow’s Day 2, while Day 1b started out with 558 entries as 120 survived to joined those from the opening day of the £700+£70 buy-in main event.

Incredibly, that makes a total of 1,090 competitors, even before today’s Day 1c starts – and, with the third opening-day stream already fully subscribed, the huge £1 million guarantee has already been reached.

That is, of course, good news for every player still in the tournament after another 11 levels of 60 minutes were completed last night, with PokerStars player Isaksen leading the way on 227,600 chips – just 31,400 ahead of second-placed Englishman Jack McDermott.

Norwegian Sits Second Behind Day 1B Leader

However, the Norwegian definitely won’t begin tomorrow’s Day 2 as chip leader – even ahead of today’s play – following the charge made by English player Marcin Milde on Wednesday that saw him end Day 1a on 278,700 chips.

PokerStars player McDermott is followed in third place by Ben Dobson (170,900), PokerStars qualifier Scott Van Der Vliet (163,100) in fourth and William Martin (153,100) in fifth, while the top 10 is completed by David Rudling-Smith (sixth on 148,800) – yet another PokerStars qualifier – Hai Thow Phen (seventh on 145,000), Icelandic PokerStars player Máni Elmarsson (eighth on 140,100), David Hudson (ninth on 138,700) and Rob Day (10th on 136,100).

Notable eliminations included Danish Team PokerStars Online player Mickey Petersen who picked up $444,595 for winning February’s DKR35,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold’em main event of the European Poker Tour (EPT) Copenhagen stop – as well New York-based Team PokerStars Pro Victor Ramdin, and Sky Poker commentators Jamie Burland and Carlo Citrone.

However, experienced English pro Surinder Sunar did make it through Day 1b, although he ended the day down in 47th place on 73,600 chips.

Top 10 Chip Counts from Day 1b of UKIPT Nottingham

1. Ken Stean Isaksen (Norway) – 227,600

2. Jack McDermott (UK) – 196,200

3. Ben Dobson (UK) – 170,900

4. Scott Van Der Vliet (UK) – 163,100

5. William Martin (UK) – 153,100

6. David Rudling-Smith (UK) – 148,800

7. Hai Thow Phen (UK) – 145,000

8. Máni Elmarsson (Iceland) – 140,100

9. David Hudson (UK) – 138,700

10. Rob Day (UK) – 136,100