Day 1A of Great British Poker Tour Grand Final Done, Day 1B Underway

U.K. poker pro Roland de Wolfe is one of the survivors of Day 1A of the Great British Poker Tour Grand Final. (Bodog Beat Image)

The Great British Poker Tour Grand Final at the Gala Casino Harbourside in Bristol began yesterday with Day 1A and continues as we speak in the midst of Day 1B.

The tournament as a whole drew 100 runners, 43 yesterday and 57 today, who put up the £2,550 ($5,318) to buy into the tournament. The payouts have been announced and first place will get £87,500 ($184,109), an astounding half of what organizers had predicted would be the grand prize.

Survivors of Day 1A include U.K. poker pros Joe Beevers, Barney Boatman, Roland de Wolfe and Rob Akery, who was the chip leader when play wrapped up. 2005 WSOP Main Event champion Jamie Gold did not make it out of the day and was actually outlasted by a dead stack, making him possibly not the "best bluffer in the world." WSOP Europe runner-up John Tabatabai also hit the rail earlier than we're sure he would've liked.

Most of the U.S. poker pros came out to play today hoping to put in a good showing, but Robert Williamson III has already given himself a reason to go take in the sights... of Bristol.

Jennifer Tilly has the chip lead at time of publish, but her boyfriend, Phil Laak, did not run so well and just found himself with a little extra time to rail his girl. Friend of the couple Antonio Esfandiari is a little bit further down the leaderboard but with plenty of room to move. The 21 players who were left standing yesterday will join today's survivors for Day 2 play tomorrow.