Farcas Holds the Lead as WSOPC Nottingham Heats Up

Marian-Ionut Farcas has held onto the lead at WSOP Circuit Nottingham, but Thursday gave him more company that he might have lked at the top.

The Romanian remains first overall with 744,000 after the opening three flights of the £1,500 Main Event, while Day 1C sent another 20 players through and pushed a cluster of challengers above 600,000. 

Thursday’s flight started with 133 entries and finished when exactly 20 remained. Ali Abdulzahra made sure he left with the biggest stack.

On the stone bubble, Maximillian Sanders moved all-in with pocket eights after Abdulzahra had three-bet from the small blind. Abdulzahra called with pocket queens, watched the board run clean and sent Sanders out one place short of a Day 2 bag. The pot took Abdulzahra to 676,000, enough to top the flight.

Christopher Wood finished second on 659,000, Richard Trigg reached 618,000 and both Joshua Boulton and Matthew Frankland moved beyond 440,000.

Farcas’ advantage now looks far less comfortable than it did after Day 1B.

He took the overall lead on Wednesday after turning 66 entries into a 744,000 stack, passing Gary Nordigian’s earlier 701,000 benchmark. Andrew Bradshaw finished that same flight with 715,000, leaving three different starting flights represented near the top of the standings.

The first three flights have produced 261 entries in total. Day 1D runs on Friday, November 13, before Saturday morning’s Last Chance flight gives players one final route into Day 2.

If the Main Event is still waiting for its defining story, the Paradise Mystery Bounty already has one.

Ashley Timms topped 602 entries to win the £560 event for £26,497 from the regular prize pool, while also collecting £7,500 in mystery bounties and a $5,000 WSOP Paradise package. It was the biggest live tournament victory of his career.

The tournament generated £158,025 for the standard prize pool and another £142,975 in mystery bounties, creating some sizeable scores well away from the final table.

Luis Biasillo was the most obvious example. He finished 28th for only £854 in conventional prize money, yet two Gold Chests added £20,000 plus a WSOP Paradise package to his haul

The Main Event now returns for Day 1D on Friday at noon.

Players who miss that flight still have the Last Chance on Saturday morning before Day 2 begins later the same day. The closing weekend also brings the Colossus and the £2,200 High Roller, followed by the Main Event final on Sunday.