Stephen Barnes Off to a Good Start in Pursuit of Another Title on Day 1b of the 888poker Live Glasgow Main Event
Stephen Barnes finds himself in familiar territory after Day 1b of the 888poker Live Glasgow Main Event.
Last August, Barnes was the last man standing in the 888poker Live Manchester Main Event, taking home the title and ￡58,000 top prize. He made the trip 300 kilometers north to be in the field today and picked up right where he left off, taking the chip lead over the 22 players who managed to survive the day.
Barnes made his big jump up the leaderboard when he doubled up in a set-over-set cooler against David Hudson. He then flopped two pair in the big blind to bust Paul McTaggart on his way to bagging up 365,000.
Day 1b Top 10 Chip Counts
| Rank | Player | Country | Chip Count | Big Blinds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Barnes | United Kingdom | 365,000 | 122 |
| 2 | Dean Lyall | United Kingdom | 289,500 | 97 |
| 3 | Bryan Taylor | United Kingdom | 268,000 | 89 |
| 4 | John Aitken | United Kingdom | 236,500 | 79 |
| 5 | Igors Ljadovs | United Kingdom | 185,000 | 62 |
| 6 | Iason Filippidis | Greece | 176,000 | 59 |
| 7 | Jack Moore | United Kingdom | 175,500 | 59 |
| 8 | Vivian Saliba | Austria | 169,500 | 57 |
| 9 | Jamie Whyte | United Kingdom | 161,500 | 54 |
| 10 | Stefan Lazar | United Kingdom | 157,500 | 53 |
Dean Lyall is Barnes’ closest challenger after doubling up in arguably the hand of the day, hitting running quads against David Jackson’s full house. Lyall finished in second place with 289,500. Among the most accomplished pros in the field today, he has $1.6 million in live earnings, including third place in the $25,000 High Roller at the 2024 WSOP for a career-best $760,000.
The 888poker team was out in full force today, but only Vivian Saliba and Josh Manley managed to make it through. Saliba doubled up with jacks against Thomas Clack’s fours late in the night and finished with 169,500, while Manley bagged up 105,000. Ian Simpson, Lucia Navarro, Nick Eastwood, and Ricardo Mateus will have to try again on another flight if they hope to take a shot at the title.
Other players through to Day 2 include Michael Kane (84,000), Clack (58,000), and 2024 888poker Live Madrid champion Manuel Ledesma (56,500). Those not so fortunate were Robbie Bull, Jack Hardcastle, and UK poker’s power couple Matthew and Sinead Davenport.
The 22 remaining players will join Dmitri Dudakov, the only man to make it through yesterday’s opening flight, on Day 2 on March 22. The 112 entries today brought the field up to 120 with still several more opportunities to jump in. The turbo Day 1c flight is ongoing, while there are two more flights tomorrow including Day 1d at noon. The final Day 1f flight is at 11 a.m. on March 22, with late registration open until the start of Day 2 at 5 p.m.
PokerNews will be back tomorrow providing all the action from another day of action inside the Grosvenor Casino Merchant City.