The Mega Series £1,100 Main Event rolled on with Day 1b on Saturday afternoon at the PokerStars at the Hippodrome with 71 entries getting into the mix to grow the field up to 126 entries when taking into account the 55 entries attracted on Day 1a.

Just 23 of the Day 1b players survived after a dozen blind levels of 40 minutes each, meaning already 36 players have bagged chips into tomorrow's Day 2 with 13 players also finding a bag on Day 1a.

Sunil Mistri (pictured above) was the star of the show on Day 1b after parlaying his initial 30,000 chip stack into a massive pile of 255,000 to end the day as the chip leader. Mistri had one big hand near the end of the day against the previous chip leader Gary Miller where he three-bet with ten-seven suited only to flop trips. Miller flopped top pair with ace-queen and doubled his opponent after not hitting a two outer to push past his opponent's trip sevens.

Despite losing this massive hand, Miller still managed to break the top five at the end of the day with 139,500. Also in the top five chip counts were Fazeel Khan (194,000), Kully Sidhu (178,000), and Tamer Ovutmen (134,500).

Other notable players to find bags on Day 1b included Andy Wilson (79,500), French poker legend Sylvain Loosli (65,000), and Mega Series Mystery Bounty champion Jonathan Schuman (65,000).

All of these players are behind Day 1a chip leader George Demetriou, who will advance with a mouth-watering 296,000 in chips.

Day 1c will end around 1 a.m. at which point we will post the chip counts and the Day 2 seat draw. Other than that, MainEventTravel.com will be back on the floor for tomorrow's Day 2 when cards are in the air at 1 p.m. with the popular £175 Ladies Event also taking place tomorrow starting at 3 p.m.

A total of 23 players out of the 71-entry Day 1b field found a bag into tomorrow's Day 2. Sunil Mistri bagged the biggest stack of 255,000 but this won't make him tomorrow's chip leader as George Demetriou advanced through yesterday's Day 1a with 296,000.

Here is a look at all of the Day 1b survivors:

Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 23/71

The floor just announced that Day 1b will end after three more hands. They also announced that a chip race will take place before players will bag chips.

Stay tuned for the final chip counts of Day 1b and later in the evening for Day 1c as well. We will also post the Day 2 seat draw once it is available.

Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 23/71

Ben Teague checked before Andy Wilson bet 6,500 into a pot north of 30,000 with the on the board after the turn. Teague called and the river completed the board.

Teague checked again. Wilson tanked for about two minutes before he jammed for 16,400. Teague snap-called.

Wilson turned over the for Broadway and Teague attempted to muck his cards. As it was an all-in and a call, the dealer turned over Teague's .

"Nice river," Teague said to Wilson implying that his rivered two pair is why he called.

Level 12: 1,000/1,500 (1,500)
Entries: 25/71

Sunil Mistri (pictured below) opened for 3,000 from the cutoff. Gary Miller three-bet to 9,500 from the button before Mistri four-bet to 21,000.

"How much you playing?" Miller asked Mistri.

Mistri showed his stack of around 75,000 before Miller called.

Mistri fired out for 14,000 on the flop. Miller called and the followed on the turn.

Mistri jammed for 62,400 and Miller asked for a count before he called.

Sunil Mistri:
Gary Miller:

"Oh wow," said several players at the table not expecting Mistri to show up with a seven.

Mistri needed to fade just two outs. The river did improve Miller to top two pair but he doubled Mistri anyway after this wasn't good enough to beat Mistri's trips.

The final blind level of Day 1b just kicked off. Players will play most of this blind level. However, the clock will be stopped with anywhere between 5-15 minutes remaining on the blind level at which point the clock will be stopped. 

Each table will play a randomly determined three to seven hands at this point in time. The surviving players will then bag chips into Day 2, which will kick off at 1 p.m. tomorrow.

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 25/71

Sweden's Daniel Sahlin (pictured below) will be leaving London early tomorrow. He won a satellite last night but shared with us that he was not disappointed to lose his stack despite an amazing early start since he already had a flight booked.

Sahlin shared that he lost a chunk when his kings didn't hold against ace-queen. He then said he was fairly card dead before eventually hitting the rail.

We will see Sahlin soon as he plans to attend the Malta Poker Festival alongside last night's Mystery Bounty winner Jonathan Schuman. Schuman won a package as one of the mystery bounties along with the top £7,500 mystery bounties. He collected even more bounties en route to victory for another £7K and change. 

Joining this duo in Malta will be Hippodrome Director of Poker Kerryjane Craigie. She shared with us that she plans to play the €300,000 guaranteed MPF €550 Main Event and The Hendon Mob Championship as well.

We will be sure to keep a close eye on this trio of fun players when we are reporting this event in a little more than a week with the Malta Poker Festival taking place from April 24 to May 1 at Portomaso Casino.

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 29/71

Andy Wilson (pictured below) bet 10,000 into a pot of around 30,000 with the on the board after the turn. Min Ji called and the completed the board on the river. Wilson bet 27,000. Ji jammed for more than the 55,000 Wilson still had behind. Wilson folded.

A player at the table asked Ji to show his cards. He quickly obliged and turned over the for two pair.

Meanwhile, Kully Sidhu has a massive pile of chips at the same table and is sitting on around 210,000.

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 29/71

Jack Buhlmann jammed for about a starting stack from late position. Matthew Donlan called off for slightly less from one seat over.

Matthew Donlan:
Jack Buhlmann:

Although Donlan was technically at risk, Buhlmann would have been left with a blind or two if he lost the hand.

Buhlmann improved to two pair on the flop and bricks came on the turn and river for Buhlmann to effectively double his stack while sending Donlan to the rail.

"It was ace-six suited," Buhlmann said to us with a mischievous grin as we were watching the end of the hand. "It would have been awful if it was offsuit.

Meanwhile, at the same time, Marius Varanavicius was the first player to hit the rail on the other side of the tournament arena to become the first casualty of Day 1c.

Level 11: 600/1,200 (1,200)
Entries: 31/71

Robert Buky checked with the on the board. Jonathan Schuman tossed out a bet of 10,000 into a pot of 22,000 and Buky quickly called.

Buky checked again after the river completed the board. Schuman asked how much and Buky showed his stack of 21,500. Shortly after, Schuman jammed. Buky snap-called and Schuman attempted to muck his cards.

Schuman showed his bluff with and was up against a monster with Buky doubling his stack with a full house after showing the .

"Well, I tried," Schuman said with a shrug about his ill-timed bluff attempt.

Level 10: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 31/71

Christopher Yong check-called a bet of 5,500 by Tom Winstone (pictured below) with about double that in the pot with the 8s] on the board after the turn. 

Yong checked again after the river double-paired the board. Winstone paused for about 20 seconds before he bet 13,500. Yong called moments later and mucked his hand after Winstone turned over to take down the pot.

Level 10: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 31/71

Tamer Ovutmen with and Jonathan Schuman with got stacks in the middle preflop. This should be no surprise with both players holding the best hand in poker.

Most of the time this would end with a chopped pot but Schuman said there was a sweat to be had after sharing he recently lost a hand with ace-king offsuit against ace-king offsuit.

This time there was little drama as both players said "chop" at around the same time after the rainbow flop. The inconsequential turn and river completed the board and players chopped up the pot.

Level 10: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 33/71

Matthew Donlan opened for a min-raise from under the gun before Tommy Eriksson defended his big blind.

Both players checked the flop. Eriksson checked the turn as well before he called a bet of 2,000 by Donlan. The completed the board on the river. Eriksson check-called a bet of 5,000 by Donlan only to muck his hand after Eriksson turned over the for the top pair.

Level 10: 500/1,000 (1,000)
Entries: 34/71

Kanan Farzaliyev jammed from early position for 8,400. Min Ji (pictured below) quickly called from late position and the rest of the table folded.

"It is Daniel Negreanu vs. Phil Ivey," Farzaliyev said with a big smile. "Do you have aces?"

Kanan Farzaliyev:
Min Ji:

"I would have preferred you had aces," Farzaliyev said to Ji.

Farzaliyev got out of his chair after the flop left him thin on hope. Ji had his opponent drawing dead on the turn and sent Farzaliyev to the rail after the river paired the board.

We may still see Farzaliyev on Day 2 as it sounds like he plans to hop into the Day 1c field as he asked the staff during the break about the structure of the final opening flight.

Day 1b players are on their final 20-minute break of the day. Blinds will increase to 500/1,000 with a 1,000 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Day 1c kicked off with a tidy field of just six players. PokerStars at the Hippodrome Ambassador Chris Da Silva (pictured below) is among the players in action after unfortunately busting during the final blind level of Day 1a.

Da Silva appears to want to have some fun today and immediately asked the table if he could straddle. He did indeed put out chips to straddle but it was counted as a blind min-raise.

Best of luck to Da Silva, who we will also see at the Malta Poker Festival at Portomaso Casino from April 24 to May 1.

As a reminder, an amazing Hippodrome Las Vegas prize package will be added to the Main Event prize pool with an opportunity to 'Spin to Win' for players that make a deep run. 

The package guarantees an amazing experience including return flights to "Sin City”, seven days at a strip hotel, tournament buy-ins along with dinners, activities, an exciting helicopter ride, and an invite to the Hippodrome Vegas welcome party. All players making the last 36 of the Main Event will randomly choose a number from 1 - 36. A spin of the promotional wheel will determine the lucky winner who will join Team Hippo for a trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas this summer.

Level 9: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 35/71

Tom Winstone (pictured below) checked the river with the on the board before Matthew Donlan fired out for 12,000 into a pot of around 15,000. Winstone tanked for more than a minute before he opted to call.

Winstone turned over and picked off his opponent's bluff with Donlan opting to muck his cards.

Level 9: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 37/71

Gary Miller took the chip lead during the last blind level after winning a big pot against Daniel Sahlin. He is still in cruise control and just sent Alexander Vimalanathan to the rail as follows.

Vimalanthan four-bet jammed for about 20 big blinds and Miller called after another player got out of the way.

Alexander Vimalanthan:
Gary Miller:

Miller's queens were ahead when the chips went in and nothing changed that fact with the running out on the board.

While Vimalanthan is officially eliminated on Day 1b, he can still potentially advance to Day 2 in tonight's Day 1c field.

Level 9: 400/800 (800)
Entries: 39/71

Fazeel Khan jammed for 21,100 into a pot of nearly triple that with the on the board. Jen-Yue Chiang tanked for a couple of minutes before he folded. He showed he had something to think about as he folded a decent hand with .

Khan and Chiang chatted after the hand.

"I am not beating much," said Chiang. "I am behind nine-eight, ace-king, king-queen, etc."

We will likely never know whether it was a good fold or not. But either way, Khan was able to collect some chips.

Level 8: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 42/71

Late registration has now closed for Day 1b. The field attracted 71 entries to bring the total up to 126 entries when factoring in the 55 entries from yesterday's Day 1a.

Meanwhile, Day 1c, which features slightly faster 30-minute blind levels instead of the 40-minute levels featured on Day 1a and Day 1b, will kick off shortly. Late registration will close for the entire Main Event after eight blind levels of play or at around 11 p.m. this evening.

There will be a short delay to start the final opening flight with the starting time for Day 1c pushed back from 6 p.m. until 6:15 p.m.

The reason for this is that the tournament organizers want to wait until late registration is closed on Day 1b until kicking off the final opening flight.

We won't be covering much on Day 1c unless we happen to pass by a monster pot as our focus today will be on the remainder of the Day 1b flight. Any updates we might post will be in the Day 1b tab with the Day 1c tab only opening up later tonight when we have the final chip counts of the flight.

Level 8: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 41/70

Gary Miller (pictured below) has taken the chip lead after taking down a big pot against Daniel Sahlin.

Miller checked with the on the board after the turn with more than 20,000 in the pot. Sahlin fired out for 20,000. Miller tanked for a minute before he called.

Both players checked the river.

"King," said Miller.

Sahlin signaled for him to turn over his cards and Miller obliged showing the . His hand was good to take the chip lead with Sahlin mucking his cards.

Level 8: 300/600 (600)
Entries: 41/70

Dost Ghrabie checked with around 14,000 in the pot and the on the board. Jonathan Schuman fired out for 6,500 and Gharbie tanked for more than a minute.

Eventually, Gharbie called but he already tossed his chips in the direction of Schuman before knowing the outcome. Schuman turned over and won the pot after Gharbie tossed his cards face down into the muck.

Jen-Yue Chiang held the chip lead to start Level 8. This will be the final level of late registration on Day 1b with players still having a chance to advance to tomorrow's Day 2 through the Day 1c flight beginning in about 30 minutes.

Here is a look at some of the bigger stacks in play to start Level 8.

Level 7: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 46/69

Gary Miller jammed over a raise and a call on the flop and was called by David Lopez for his stack of around 17,000.

David Lopez:
Gary Miller:

Lopez was ahead with his trips but it was more or less a coin-flip situation with Miller holding both a flush draw and a gutshot straight draw.

The turn was safe for Lopez. However, the spiked the river to complete Miller's straight and Lopez was on the rail.

Level 7: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 47/69

Derek Stracey was down to around 6 big blinds when he jammed them in from early position. Kanan Farzaliyev called from late position and Stracey needed some help to survive.

Derek Stracey:
Kanan Farzaliyev:

The runout didn't save the day for Stracey to hit the rail to his opponent's flush.

Level 7: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 50/68

Ravi Sharda opened from the cutoff for 1,500 and was called by Kenneth Brossoit from the small blind and Jen-Yue Chiang (pictured below) from the big blind.

Brossoit and Chiang both checked the flop before things got interesting. Sharda fired out for 1,300. Brossoit raised to 3,600 and Chiang three-bet to 9,400. Sharda four-bet jammed for about 40,000. Brossoit folded and Chiang snap-called.

Ravi Sharda:
Jen-Yue Chiang:

Sharda flopped top set which would normally be a monster but Chiang held the nuts with a flopped straight. Neither the turn nor the river saved Sharda and he hit the rail at least for now to Chiang's eventual flush.

Level 7: 200/500 (500)
Entries: 50/66

Tom Winstone (pictured below) bet 3,500 into a pot of a bit more after the came on the flop. Derek Stracey called before Kanan Farzaliyev jammed over the top for more than both his opponents had behind.

Winstone called off for his stack of 15,800 and Stracey folded.

Tom Winstone:
Kanan Farzaliyev:

"Oh wow!' Farzaliyev said. "One outer, one time!"

The turn and river completed the board.

"Flush!" proclaimed Farzaliyev. "Oh, you have a better flush."

Winstone doubled his stack while Farzaliyev appeared the handle his major cooler quite well.

We popped up from the basement to the third floor on the break to check out the cash game action.

There are already 10 tables in action in the middle of the afternoon with stakes ranging from £1/£2 to £5/£10 no-limit hold'em. This is just the start as there will be pot-limit Omaha tables and likely more no-limit hold'em tables opening soon.

Of course, it being the Hippodrome, the entire casino is buzzing with many others enjoying casino games including slots and table games.

Best of luck to all players regardless of what they choose to play this Saturday afternoon.

Players are on their second break of the day. Blinds will increase to 200/500 with a 500 big blind ante when the action resumes shortly.

Late registration will remain open on Day 1b for two more blind levels. However, players not finding a bag on neither Day 1a nor Day 1b can still hop into the action with Day 1c kicking off at 6 p.m. tonight.

Level 6: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 48/64

Abdoullah Al-Shanti checked with about 3,500 in the pot and the on the board after the flop. Luke Porter bet 1,500. Al-Shanti min-clicked it back to 3,000 and Porter called.

Al-Shanti bet 3,000 on the turn and Porter called again before both players checked the river. Al-Shanti turned over but his paired-up six wasn't good enough with Porter turning over for the top pair to win the pot.

Level 6: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 48/64

Sylvain Loosli is currently in seventh place on The Hendon Mob France All Time Leaderboard with more than $7.8 million in career earnings. He is looking to add to that this weekend at the Mega Series and is off to a decent start.

There was 8,000 in the pot when Loosli check-called a bet of 5,000 by Kanan Karzailyev with the already on the board.

Both players checked the river. Loosli turned over for the top pair and this was good enough with Karzailyev tossing his hand face down into the muck.

Meanwhile, Loosli earned a stretch break after winning the hand.

Level 6: 200/400 (400)
Entries: 49/61

Iosif-Daniel Spulber (pictured below) four-bet jammed for more than a starting stack and was up against two players including Albert Sapiano.

Iosif-Daniel Spulber:
Albert Sapiano:
Third Player:

Queens were ahead the entire way, however, some players at the table were asking for a seven as this would have completed a gutshot straight draw by Sapiano. A brick came on the river and Spulber eliminated two players including Sapiano.

Meanwhile, Sapiano will need to wait until Day 1c if he wishes to bag chips into Day 2 as he has used his maximum of three bullets per flight on Day 1b.

Level 5: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 48/61

There was tons of action before we hit the table with 15,000 in the pot and the on the board after the turn. The action slowed down from there with Hongting Xu and Iosif-Daniel Spulber both checking the action before checking it around again after the river completed the board.

Xu turned over which wasn't nearly enough to get the job done with Spulber showing to win the pot to get back over starting stack.

Level 5: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 48/61

Sweden's Daniel Sahlin  (pictured below) won a satellite last night into today's Day 1b field and thus far has made the most of it as he currently has the chip lead with about 105,000 in chips. Here is a look the top five stacks in play.

Level 5: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 47/55

Fazeel bet 8,000 with just crumbs behind in his stack into a pot of 10,000 with the on the board after the river.

"I have to call," said his opponent Adebayo Adeoshun. "If you have a set, so be it."

Adeoshun called and turned over the and won the hand after his opponent mucked his cards.

Level 5: 200/300 (300)
Entries: 47/55

Derek Stracey committed his stack of 14,000 preflop and was up against Min Ji who more than had Stracey covered.

Derek Stracey:
Min Ji:

Ji did pair up on the river after the ran out on the board. However, he was never ahead in the hand including the river which improved Stracey to a set of cowboys to double his stack.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 46/54

Bets flew back and forth before Charlie Whitehouse had his stack of 15,200 committed before the flop against Ivan Compasso.

Charlie Whitehouse:
Ivan Compasso:

Whitehouse remained ahead the entire way and doubled through Compasso after the ran out on the board.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 45/52

Two players checked the flop before Istvan Pilhofer bet 2,000 into a pot of more than double that. Charlie Combes asked to see Pilhofer's stack before he called and Tommy Eriksson (pictured below) also called to bring three players to see the  turn.

Combes checked before Eriksson bet 4,500. Pilhofer called and Combes folded. Eriksson continued his aggression with a bet of 5,000 after the river completed the board. Pilhofer quickly called and nearly as quickly mucked his hand after Eriksson turned over for a turned straight.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 46/50

Chris Gordon re-entered and was immediately involved in a big pot against Ivan Compasso.

Compasso opened from early position for 1,000 and was called by Chris Gordon on the button and the player in the big blind.

The action checked to Compasso after the landed on the flop. Compasso fired out for 2,200. The player in the big blind folded and Gordon called.

Compasso checked the turn and Gordon became the aggressor with a bet of 3,400. Compasso called and the completed the board on the river.

A big bet of 8,200 came by Gordon after Compasso checked. Compasso snap-called. Gordon showed the for a bricked flush draw and the pot easily went over to Compasso after his held the entire way.

Level 4: 100/300 (300)
Entries: 45/49

The action resumed on Day 1b. A few new entries got into the mix to bring the total Day 1b field up to 49 entries and counting. This brings the total field up to 104 entries already when taking into account the 55 entries generated on yesterday's Day 1a.

Players are on their first 20-minute break of the day. Blinds will increase to 100/300 with a 300 big blind ante when the action resumes.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 40/44

Ken Chow (pictured below) check-raised his opponent with the on the board with tons of chips in the pot. His opponent called off his stack and turned over the for trips. Chow turned over for a full house to win the hand and his opponent quickly left the tournament area after his cooler.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 40/43

Albert Sapiano already is on his third and final bullet on Day 1b after quickly dispatching his initial stack quickly on two separate occasions. His third bullet is going far better thus far.

Sapiano opened for 500 from the hijack and was called by Dhruv Doshi from the button. Chris Gordon (pictured below) jacked it up to 2,500 from the big blind and was called by Sapiano. Doshi wanted the bet size confirmed before he called as well.

Gordon fired out for 5,000 on the flop.

"Is it necessary to make it so much?" Sapiano questioned out loud.

Moments later, Sapiano called and Doshi folded.

Gordon jammed after the followed on the turn for about 13,000 and Sapiano snap-called.

Chris Gordon:
Albert Sapiano:

Gordon had a premium hand preflop but was down to just two outs for his stack. No love came for Gordon on the river and he was the first on the rail on Day 1b.

"I will probably come back in later," Gordon commented to us while enjoying a coffee on the rail.

Level 3: 100/200 (200)
Entries: 35/35

Robert Buky checked with the on the board after the turn. Fazeel Khan fired out for 5,000 into a pot of around double that. Buky tanked for a minute before he called.

Buky checked again after the river completed the board. Khan paused for about 30 seconds before he bet 7,500. Buky tanked again for about a minute before he jammed for 14,100. Khan snap-called only to get some bad news.

Buky turned over the for the nut-flush. Regardless of what Khan had, Buky was guaranteed the pot. Khan also had a monster with for one flush lower but was down below starting stack after the hand.

"Very well disguised," Albert Sopiano who was also at the table said to Buky. "Very well played."

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 33/33

Chris Gordon checked before Fazeel Khan bet 5,900 into a pot of approximately 10,000 with the on the board. 

Gordon tanked for about a minute before he flicked in some chips to call. Khan turned over the for a set of jacks to win the hand after Gordon mucked his cards.

Fazeel Khan & Chris Gordon

Level 2: 100/100 (100)
Entries: 33/33

Ramazan Akyel bet 3,000 for about half the pot with the on the board after the turn. Xu Hang and Neil McCulloch both called and the river completed the board.

Akyel fired out for 11,000. Hang paused for about 30 seconds before he called. McCulloch fanned his cards while folding. Akyel turned over for a rivered wheel. This got the job done as he won the pot after Hang folded his cards.

The £440 Mystery Bounty proved to once again be a popular event at the Mega Series at PokerStars at the Hippodrome with 163 entries getting into the mix to create a £63,244 prize pool including mystery bounties. A total of 23 players survived into yesterday's Day 2 already in the money for at least a £367 min-cash with the mystery bounty of the portion of the event also kicking in.

Jonathan Schuman was easily the star of the day. He shipped the event for £7,005 after agreeing to a three-way deal with Jowen Orrell and Vitali Semen with £1,650 left to play for.

This already made a great day for Schuman but this was not all he won as he also collected a boatload of mystery bounties including the top £7,500 bounty during the first hour of play on Day 2. He also won a package to the Malta Poker Festival at Portomaso Casino from April 24 to May 1. 

Main Event Travel will see him in Malta, but first, we may be seeing a lot more of him this week as he is also in the Day 1b field of the Main Event.

Here is a look at the full non-bounty payouts of the Mega Series Mystery Bounty.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 27/27

Istvan Pilhofer opened for 400 from under the gun and was called by Daniel Sahlin (pictured below) from the small blind and by Ramazan Akyel from the big blind.

The players in the blinds checked the flop. Pilhofer continued for 800. Sahlin called and Akyel folded.

Sahlin checked again after the landed on the turn. Pilhofer kept his foot on the gas with a bet of 1,300. Sahlin quickly raised it up to 6,000 and Pilhofer wasted no time in folding.

Instead of mucking his hand, Pilhofer showed that he folded the top pair with the top kicker by exposing his as Sahlin began to collect the pot.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 23/23

There were more than 5,000 in chips in the pot when Jack Buhlmann checked with the on the board after the turn.

The action paused on Kanan Farzaliyev (pictured below) who eventually fired out a pot-sized bet. Buhlmann folded and Farzaliyev collected the pot.

"I was thinking of bluffing the turn," Buhlmann said after the hand.

"I was very strong," replied Farzaliyev without revealing what he had.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 20/20

The Day 1b field has already blossomed to 20 entries and counting. This will continue to grow with late registration open for the first eight blind levels of the day.

Not much big action has happened yet with the first two blind levels featuring players starting with 300 big blinds but players are enjoying the early action.

Jonathan Schuman, who already won big in the Mega Series after shipping the £440 Mystery Bounty yesterday, opened for 300 from the cutoff. Adebayo Adeoshun three-bet to 1,400 in the cutoff and the players in the blinds folded.

"Three-bet already?" Schuman asked. "This was my first raise."

Schuman opted to call before he checked the flop. Adeoshun fired out for 1,100. Schuman paused for about 15 seconds before he folded.

Level 1: 100/100
Entries: 14/14

Hippodrome Director of Poker Kerryjane Craigie announced some facts about today's schedule to the players. Shortly after, cards were in the air with players battling it out.

Ahmed Abdin, Kenneth Brossoit, Ivan Compasso, Christopher Gordon, Albert Sapiano, and Sweden's Daniel Sahlin are among the initial entries.

Welcome to the MainEventTravel.com coverage of the Mega Series at the PokerStars at the Hippodrome located in the center of the booming British capital of London.

The festival boasts a handful of value-added events including the £1,100 Main Event on April 14-16. MainEventTravel.com will be live reporting the Main Event on Day 1b at noon today and Day 2 which will also include some of the highlights from some of the side events including the £440 Mystery Bounty (April 13-14) and the £175 Ladies Event (April 16).

The Main Event provides plenty of action with players kicking off the action with 30,000 in chips during the three opening flights on April 14-15. In past Mega Series Main Events, the action will continue until just 15% of the field remained and at which point would be in the money. This time around is a bit different. The Hippodrome listened to feedback from their players and changed the structure so that each opening flight plays 12 blind levels.

Day 1a and Day 1b feature long 40-minute blind levels with Day 1c kicking along a little faster with 30-minute blind levels. Players can late-enter during the first eight blind levels of the day. Players have plenty of opportunities to build a big stack with two re-entries permitted during the late registration period during all three opening flights.

Players surviving the three opening flights will converge for one final day of play on April 16 with longer 50-minute blind levels until the latest Mega Series Main Event winner is crowned at the Hippodrome.

All eyes were on Thomas Pearn during the last Mega Series in November. This was due to the fact that he was on the final table aiming for back-to-back wins after previously winning the Mega Series Main Event in November 2021 for £51,900. Pearn navigated through the field of 203 entries during the past event to make it to the final two players. He was unable to defeat Yuval Rosenberg and had to settle for the healthy runner-up prize of £28,040 while Rosenberg went on to win the £41,646 top prize. 

Massive value is added to the Main Event thanks to a luxurious Hippodrome Las Vegas prize package added to the Main Event prize pool with an opportunity to 'Spin to Win' for players that run deep. The package boasts an amazing eight-day experience including return flights to “Sin City”,  accommodation at a strip hotel, tournament buy-ins along with dinners, activities, an exciting helicopter ride, and an invite to the Hippodrome Vegas welcome party. All players making the last 36 of the Main Event will randomly choose a number from 1 - 36. A spin of the promotional wheel will determine the lucky winner who will join Team Hippo for a trip of a lifetime to Las Vegas this summer.

MainEventTravel.com will be on the floor on April 15 at 12 p.m. when cards are in the air for Day 1b. Day 1c will then kick off after late registration has closed on Day 1b at 6 p.m.