Welsh Poker Series 2014: Leg One, Day Two Blog

04:36 Deal done, massive chip leader Malcolm Linton takes the trophy, £4715 and a seat in the GUKPT Cardiff main event, with Darryl Johns pocketing £4000 for second place. Congratulations to all who cashed and the staff at the Grosvenor in Cardiff for their toil through a long hard day.



Winner Malcolm Linton



Second place Darryl Johns

04:32 Malcolm Linton makes it three KO's in a row. Dean Griffiths out in third, his blind shove with 6-9 called by Malcolm with A-Q. 3-Q-5 flop puts Malcolm almost there, queen on the turn confirms Dean's demise.

04:22 Short-stack Mark Bennett is taken out by Malcolm Linton leaving just three players in for the top prize of £5715.

04:19 Bashir Ahmed and Malcolm Linton all-in pre-flop. Bashir with pocket sixes, Malcolm with queens. AC-7C-10S, 4S, 8C sends Bashir to the rail in fifth.



A pre-flop all-in brings the players to their feet

04:13 A huge pot and AS-3H-6S on the flop, 2C on the turn. Mark Bennett raises 280k, Darryl Johns goes all-in for 200k more. Mark calls with A-Q, Darryl has A-4 and hit his four on the river to take the lead on 1.8 million and send Mark down to 250k.

04:04 Players on a break. On return blinds are 25k/50k with 6k ante. Mark Bennett leads on 1.2 million, closely followed by Bashir Ahmed on 1.1 million. Darryl Johns has 900k, Malcolm Linton 800k and Dean Griffiths bringing up the rear with 680k.

03:45 The boys must be looking for a fair-play award. With very little between the remaining players averaging stacks of 793k, a deal is done with the five left each taking home £3000 and £2715 on top for first place.

03:40 The short-stacks are provoking some fast and furious play now. Gareth Acreman out in sixth, the first to take home a four-digit prize with £1130, taken down by Mark Bennett.

03:38 Sparks are flying with a three way all-in. Gareth Jones shoves with 9S-10S pre-flop and hits a straight, Malcolm Linton calls with AC-10C, Darryl Johns re-raises all-in with A-K. Linton calls and rivers a flush to triple up and stay in the game. Gareth Jones exits in seventh.

03:25 Gareth Jones, Malcolm Linton and Gareth Acreman all getting short and looking like they're itching for spots to shove.

03:14 Blinds are up again: 40k/20k, 5k ante. That's 85k a hand before the betting starts, and with the average stack at 680k, players can't be biding their time. We'll be watching out for some strong play and hopefully some fireworks.

02:58 Mark Bennett shoves all-in for 320k in the cut-off with pocket eights. Dean Griffiths snap calls with queens in the big blind. Flop brings 7S-JH-6S, turn 5D, river 4H, giving Bennett the straight and catapults him above 700k.

02:50 Terrence Davies heads out in 8th, taking home £655. His pocket twos were no match for Malcolm Linton's aces.



Terrence Davies watches from the sidelines

02:43 Darryl Johns up to a tidy 1.5 million after calling Gareth Jones' 553k all-in with Q-9 on a 3H-KH-8C board. King on the turn gave Johns trips and the chip-lead.



Darryl Johns enjoying a well-deserved lead

02:34 Big double up for Gareth Jones. Q-Q in his pocket found a queen on the flop which was more than enough to beat Gareth Acreman's pocket eights.

02:21 Short-stack Terrence Davies doubles up from 64k to 128k through Bashir Ahmed and lives to see at least a few more hands.

02:05 Carl Thomas shoves all in from the cut-off over Dean Griffiths' raise. Dean calls the extra 250k. Carl shows A-K against Dean's J-J. 2S-7S-AD on the flop, and 2D on the turn has Griffiths clutching at straws, but the JC on the river saves his bacon and sends Thomas home £475 richer. Then there were eight...

Dean Griffiths after seeing off Carl Thomas



01:52 A lot of cagey play at the moment, raises finding nothing but folds, but blinds have gone up to 25k/12.5k with 3k ante, and some stacks are ebbing away. Can't be much longer until the action hots up again.

01:32 Not too much of note in the last hour, but with 200k already in the pot on an AH-7H-JC board, Dean Griffiths raises to 75.5k. His namesake Paul raises to 175k, Dean shoves all-in with A-J, Paul snap calls with A-K, and a jack on the turn gives Dean the double up.
On the very next hand, Paul shoves with A-8, called by K-J. King on the river sends the Cardiff satellite qualifier to the rail. Happy days for Malcolm Linton, who picks up a GUKPT Cardiff seat as the longest-lasting satellite qualifier.

00:45 Short-stack Hamad Mohammed Aqil misses out on the final table, out in 11th, an all-in A-10 against Bashir Ahmed's A-Q keeping him from greater glory.
10 men left and we are down to the final table: 1 Gareth Jones 550k, 2 Dean Griffiths 511k, 3 Paul Griffiths 528.5k, 4 Carl Thomas 499.5k, 5 Bashir Ahmed 730k, 6 Terrence Davies 287.5k, 7 Malcolm Linton 394.5k, 8 Gareth Acreman 705k, 9 Mark Bennett 289k, 10 Darryl Johns 267.5k.
It's still a Cardiff v Swansea race as Paul Griffiths and Malcolm Linton are still duking it out for the last-longest GUKPT seat.

00:32 Blinds are now at 20k/10k running ante 2.5k. Bashir Ahmed running smoothly on 800k, as Terrence Davies doubles up through Hamad Mohammed Aqil.

00:22 Patrick Thomas raises all-in after Paul Griffiths' 32k raise. Thomas shows AC-10C, Griffiths' AD-KS. 6D-9D-9H leaves Thomas with an outside chance, but both draw blanks on the turn and river and the king plays. Andrew Holdroyd follows him to the rail soon after, out in 12th.

00:08 Mark Bennett doubles up through Dean Griffiths. Flop came 3C-2S-5D, turn QH, river 7S. Bennett found trip-threes against Griffiths' AJ suited spades.

23:50 Back after the break, Gareth Acreman is our chip leader on around 750k. Approximate chip counts are as follows:

Table 2: 1 Gareth Jones 500k; 2 Malcolm Linton 420k; 3 Paul Griffiths 340k; 4 Patrick Thomas 240k; 5 Mark Bennett 230k; 7 Dean Griffiths 450k; 9 Andrew Holdroyd 250k

Table 3: 5 Carl Thomas 510k; 6 Bashir Ahmed 470k; 7 Darryl Johns 230k; 8 Hamad Mohammed Aqil 230k; 9 Terrence Davies 420k; 10 Gareth Acreman 750k

23:34 Break time. 13 left to battle for the top prize of £6740. Blinds have hit 16k/8k with a 2k ante. Prizes are jumping up now with next two out receiving £355, and £420 for tenth.

23:23 Only two left in the last man standing GUKPT race; Swansea qualifier Malcolm Linton, and Cardiff qualifier Paul Griffiths after Leon Boyes is the latest casualty, out in 14th but £300 better off.

23:00 Carl Thomas doubles up, AD-7D against Darryl Johns' AH-JH. The underdog hit the straight.

22:40 Michael Webb out in 15th, as Carl Thomas crippled on the other table after calling Terrence Davies 330k all-in. Thomas' Q-Q against 10-10 for Davies. Flop comes 6D-AD-7H, 5D on the turn gives Davies outs with his 10D, a 9D on the river makes the flush.

22:40 Matthew Bulley hot on Tucker's heels, pocket sixes vs Gareth Acreman's queens, Acreman made quads on the flop.



22:37 Leslie Tucker out in 17th, £300 the richer.



22:32 Deal done for 18 and 19 to get paid; Mohammed Hussain and Natalie Carruego get their buy-ins back. Well done to both on their cashes.

22:30 Down to two tables. Out in 22nd is Phil Evans, closely followed by John Hier, Dichin Doddangadi Suresh, Mohammed Hussain, Natalie Carruego.


Table 2: 1 Gareth Jones; 2 Malcolm Linton; 3 Paul Griffiths; 4 Patrick Thomas; 5 Mark Bennett; 7 Dean Griffiths; 8 Gareth Acreman; 9 Andrew Holdroyd; 10 Michael Webb

Table 3: 1 Matthew Bulley; 2 ; 3 Leon Boyes; 4 ; 5 Carl Thomas; 6 Bashir Ahmed; 7 Darryl Johns; 8 Hamad Mohammed Aqil; 9 Terrence Davies; 10 Leslie Tucker

21:49 Two more out, Gary Smolinski in 24th, soon followed by Michael Lock in 23rd. Closing in on the bubble, with 17 getting paid. Minimum cash £300.

Table 2: 1 Phil Evans; 3 Paul Griffiths; 4 Patrick Thomas; 5 Mohammed Hussain; 9 Andrew Holdroyd; 10 Michael Webb

Table 3: 2 Natalie Carruego; 4 Mark Bennett; 5 Carl Thomas; 6 Bashir Ahmed; 7 Darryl Johns; 8 Hamad Mohammed Aqil; 9 Gareth Acreman; 10 Leslie Tucker

Table 4: 2 Malcolm Linton; 4 Gareth Jones; 5 Dean Griffiths; 7 Leon Boyes; 9 Terrence Davies; 10 Matthew Bulley

20:36 Jason Dixon out in 25th. Then there were 24... just two minutes before the next break.

20:36 Jeff Thomas' demise leaves five left in the running for the last-longest GUKPT seat.

20:33 Bashir Ahmed up to 250k after claiming Ross Cleverly-James' last 60k. Ross out in 27th, quickly followed by Jeff Thomas in 26th.. 25 left.

20:26 On Table 4: 2 Malcolm Linton; 3 John Hier; 5 Dean Griffiths; 6 Gary James Smolinski; 7 Leon Boyes; 9 Terrence Davies; 10 Matthew Bulley

20:21 Six players still in with a chance of winning the £500+£50 GUKPT Cardiff seat for being longest lasting qualifier from the Grovesnor Cardiff and Swansea satellites. They are Jeff Thomas, Malcolm Linton, John Hier, Michael Webb, Leon Boyes and Paul Griffiths.

19:45 Into level 17, 31 players left, blinds 5000/2500, ante 500. Ross Cleverly-James running good on 420k.

19:33 Nigel Lee out in 38th, eliminated by his mate Patrick Thomas, now up to around 280k. Tournament down one player, Patrick down one friend?

19:30 Four more casualties, down to 32, average stack 148k.

19:10 Lewis Smith second out after the break, all-in and a call. Smith had A-K against Gareth Acreman's announced all-in with A-8. Smith snap called but Acreman's cards are nowhere to be seen having been accidentally mucked by the dealer. Smith graciously agrees to have the hand reconstructed after the missing cards are traced in the muck. Acreman hits his eight and Smith is eliminated... tough break but he leaves with great admiration for taking it so well.

18:56 First break of the day, down to 38. Blinds, 4000/2000 and 500 ante when players return.

18:31 Five more casualties, Salvatore Ciotola latest out, 39th place.

18:13 Henry Griffiths out, 44th place.

18:10 Two hours into day two and we're already down to five tables, 49 runners remaining.

Starting Tables Day 2
Table 1
1 Gareth Acreman
2 Phillip Evans
3 Jakub Srsen
4 Baden Carter
5 Daniel John Owen
6 Frank Romanello
7 Paul Griffiths
8 Clint Oldridge
9 George Sandford
10 Scott Lloyd

Table 2
1 Salvatore Ciotola
2 Darryl Johns
3 Nigel Lee
4 Patrick Thomas
5 James Lewis
6 Andrew Bayliss
7 Dichin Doddangadi Suresh
8 John Marles
9 Sean O'Sullivan
10 Tomos Knight

Table 3
1 David Hassan
2 Stephen John
3 Martin Cox
4 Mark Bennett
5 Jose Martinez
6 David Williams
7 Roy Lawrence
8 Hamad Mohammed Aqil
9 Paul Haines
10 Henry Griffiths

Table 4
1 Andrew Holdroyd
2 Bashir Ahmed
3 Bruce Jones
4 Carl Thomas
5 Shaun Christopher Hiscox
6 Lewis Jeffrey Smith
7 Vincent Samuel Anderson
8 Michael Webb
9 John Davies
10 Jason Donal Dixon

Table 5
1 Jeff Donald Thompson
2 Malcolm Linton
3 John Gerald Hier
4 Jason Stephens
5 Afon Hedd Morris
6 Henry Lloyd-Davies
7 Derek Gamlin
8 Nic Risdale
9 Terence Davies
10 Gholam Reza Modir

Table 6
1 Gary James
2 Lee Davy
3 Michael Lock
4 Mohammed Hussain
5 Matthew Bulley
6 Twm Jones
7 Leslie John Tucker
8 Christopher Retallick
9 Natalie Carruego

Table 7
1 Sharon Roberts
2 Leon Boyes
3 Martin Short
4 Anton Jordan
5 Ross Cleverly-James
6 Gareth Jones
7 Neville Waters
8 Dean Griffiths
9 Stephen Cossins

68 players returning; 4pm start; blinds 800/1600, ante 200.

Top 10 chip stacks
Andrew Holdroyd 183600
Ross Cleverly-james 182500
John Hier 177900
Twm Jones 153900
Stephen Cossins 150900
Jason Stephens 145100
Lee Davy 141000
Lewis Smith 135400
Jakub Srsen 131200
Bashir Ahmed 127900

Good luck all!