GUKPT Bolton - Day 2  -  By Poker Boss

Although William Hill's Julian Thew couldn't quite make it through to Day 2, a number of similarly big names did including Marc Goodwin, James Akenhead, Ali Mallu and defending champion Paul Bracken. Perhaps most notable in his presence was fellow EPT winner Andreas Hoivold, the Norwegian pro starting the day with 81,125 and looking to become the first overseas player to take down a GUKPT title.

Although William Hill's Julian Thew couldn't quite make it through to Day 2, a number of similarly big names did including Marc Goodwin, James Akenhead, Ali Mallu and defending champion Paul Bracken. Perhaps most notable in his presence was fellow EPT winner Andreas Hoivold, the Norwegian pro starting the day with 81,125 and looking to become the first overseas player to take down a GUKPT title.

As the TD blew his starting whistle, it didn't take long for the players to fall. Alan Dean was the first casualty, quickly followed by Peter Jidne; then further down the line we lost the likes of Chris Sokrati, Stuart Rutter and Pete Singleton. Martyn Cavanagh was flourishing, however, as was Mohammed Shoahebe, but the biggest stack belonged to overnight chip leader and recent GCBPT Liverpool victor Zachary Ford. Of course, it's near impossible to maintain a lead throughout, and as Ford began to flounder, Hoivold took over, quickly amassing a stack so big that it made the Great Wall of China look diminutive.

With Zahir Aslam, Javed Abrahams and Suzanne Pyefinch falling short, the bubble began to cast a foreboding shadow over the table. Detecting fear in eyes, Irish Open champion Neil Channing strode over and began offering what he referred to as 'Bubble Insurance', a mere snip at £250. Although response was lack-lustre, one man who wished he'd bitten his arm off was Darren Grosvenor as he ultimately became the bubble boy several rounds later, his pocket sixes losing out to Hoivold's A-Q.

The splash of the bubble triggered an increase in tempo as we lost Alan Armitage, Jon Heath and Pippa Flanders just inside the money. Also departing was Thanet finalist Paul McIntyre who had endured a roller coaster of a day before finally dropping at the hands of... yep, you guessed it, Andreas Hoivold who was now beginning to become a real menace in this event. Meanwhile, Alan Vinson was looking equally intimidating, and as Gareth Jones shot down Mohammed Shoahebe on the last hand of the night, it was the Englishman who pipped our foreign friend as the over night chip leader, with Guy Johnson leading the chasing pack in third.

Join us again on blonde poker for all the latest news from Blackpool as we attempt to whittle our final thirteen down to just one lucky ducky.