The final eight players of the Tour have now been decided.
Play continues today from midday at the Villa Marina. The first price is ?94,090.
Live streaming can be viewed at http://www.pokerstars.tv.
Player profiles are given below:
Seat 1. Adam Topping, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 676,000
This final table appearance already represents 22 year old Adam Topping’s biggest live tournament cash. The semi-pro has been playing live poker in and around his native Manchester for the past three years, sticking to Hold’em for the most part. He won his seat in the UKIPT Main Event in a satellite on PokerStars, meaning that for a self-described “bankroll nit” it’s been worth venturing out to the Isle of Man. He added that, “with all the pros playing, it was more appealing” than other stops, and despite being in the bottom three chip-wise is looking forward to his first final on the tour.
Seat 2. Chris Jonat, United Kingdom (Rational Group Staff): 952,000
Chris Jonat, who manages Team PokerStars Online, is the last remaining Rational Group staff member left in the UKIPT Isle of Man Main Event. The 43-year-old lives in the Isle of Man but hails originally from Vancouver, Canada where he played bass in a band (The Clumsy Lovers) and played online cash games attaining the VIP level of Supernova Elite before getting the call from PokerStars to help run the VIP Club programme. Jonat’s wife runs a website and has a book coming out in April 2014. He says that win or lose, he’s “really happy that they allowed us to play here.”
Seat 3. Duncan McLellan, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 1,161,000
Full-time bricklayer Duncan McLellan has been laying some solid foundations in this Main Event. The 49-year-old from Corby, Northamptonshire was 12th in chips at the end of Day 1 and a runaway chip leader coming into Day 3. He twice showed enormous bluffs at the final table, including in a monster pot against Jamie O’Connor for his tournament life. McLellan has a lot of heart and could create fireworks tomorrow, adding to his string of cashes (mainly in Nottingham) in the last two years.
Seat 4. Harry Lodge, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 569,000
Harry Lodge is currently studying Economics at Exeter University. He started playing poker – for ?2 - at boarding school with 10 of his mates. He decided that he wanted to streamline his play so he could beat them and so began reading up on poker. As soon as he turned 18, Harry started playing online and although he likes both live and online formats, his preference is for live cash games. This stop is only Harry’s second UKIPT and when asked what he thought about the possibility of winning the UKIPT Isle of Man title, he modestly declined to even think about that possibility. No matter which position he finishes in tomorrow - the UKIPT Isle of Man will see his biggest cash to date.
Seat 5: Daniel Stacey, United Kingdom: 1,087,000
Daniel Stacey is a 23-year-old professional poker player from Stoke-on-Trent who won his seat in the Isle of Man Main Event in a Full Tilt Poker Last Longer at UKIPT London last month. He finished 11th there (winning himself ?8,480 in the process) and is now guaranteed at least ?11,455 tomorrow. He’s had success online, too, finishing fourth in the Sunday Million under the username 'Noobladonx' and favouring Omaha Zoom when not involved in tournaments.
Should he win, buying a house would be the first thing on his mind, but says that, come what may, “It’s been a good tournament.” A fan of the Isle of Man – and his seafront hotel – Stacey is one of three chip millionaires coming to the final tomorrow to battle for the title in what is overall a close race.
Seat 6: Jamie O'Connor, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier): 1,243,000
Jamie O'Connor is a 24 year-old professional poker player from Leeds. He's been playing poker for six years, having picked it up from watching his Dad play. O'Connor or “Boz” as he's known to his friends, mainly grinds online tournaments with his biggest online win being worth $20,000.
O'Connor has had live success as well, having won the GUKPT main event in Luton in October last year for ?45,760. Despite this, O'Connor up until this point had not managed to make a Day 2 in any live tournaments in 2013 and was considering quitting live poker. However with this result, he already plans to play the next UKIPT in Nottingham in a few weeks. O'Connor travelled here with Simon Deadman, Jonathan Salfi and Oliver Cooper, all of whom played this event and will be hoping to rail him to victory tomorrow.
Seat 7: Richard Milne, United Kingdom: 956,000
Richard Milne has caused tournament reporters to scratch their heads at live events (such as UKIPT Marbella where he cashed for €1,760) because his name appears twice in player lists. In fact, he often travels with his father, Richard Milne Sr., to tournaments; both played this Main Event. The 26 year old semi pro’s gone much further, however, and is already guaranteed his biggest cash. Milne normally focuses on Zoom cash games, but has been known to tackle a tournament Sunday or two – and a regular vacation to Las Vegas. Should he take top honours here he says of the UKIPT stops coming up next year, “I’d play them all!” He’s already won his seat in the next UKIPT Main Event (Nottingham) via a last-longer here with Main Event Travel.
Seat 8: Fatima Moreira De Melo, Netherlands (PokerStars SportStar): 524,000
PokerStars SportStar Fatima Moreira De Melo has time booked in the UKIPTLive commentary booth tomorrow but a reschedule may be on the cards if she can put in a performance like that of her Day 2 in the Main Event. De Melo, from Rotterdam, is one of Holland's best known field hockey players, and an Olympic medallist to boot. She played as part of the team that took gold medal at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, having previously won a bronze medal at the Sydney games in 2000, and silver in 2004 in Athens. She’s since turned her hand to the solo sport of poker, winning over $100,000 in tournaments around the globe. She hopes to add a UKIPT title to her array of cashes tomorrow.
Photo - Jamie O'Connor, chip leader
