Another 509 players bought into the 2021 Goliath Online on Day 1B on August 26, taking the total number of entries across the opening two flights to 1,046. Only 40 of the Day 1B starters made it through to Day 1B and nobody bagged up more chips than Tom Bacon.
Bacon sliced through the opposition and managed to turn his 25,000 starting stack into 821,345 chips, which were enough not only for the Day 1B chip lead, but enough to earn him the title of overall chip leader. Of course, there are three flights remaining but Bacon’s impressive total is going to take some catching.
The aptly named "Chipeater" also impressed on Day 1B, finishing with 812,870 betting tokens. This would have been enough to secure the chip lead had Bacon now excelled during the same flight.
2021 Goliath Online Day 1B Top 10 Chip Counts
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Bacon | 821,345 |
| 2 | Chipeater | 812,870 |
| 3 | jokerloyal99 | 588,397 |
| 4 | Christopher Whitbread | 571,392 |
| 5 | ImBluffing | 534,576 |
| 6 | Rick Trigg | 517,392 |
| 7 | Daniel Whitbread | 514,422 |
| 8 | cozbatch | 448,353 |
| 9 | Endrit Geci | 428,701 |
| 9 | Hangovercure1 | 423,939 |
Team Grosvenor pro Rick Trigg achieved his goal of bagging up a large stack for Day 2. Trigg recently sat down with PokerNews and discussed his plans for the 2021 Goliath Online, stating he would play every Day 1 if it meant he could build a good stack for the business end of the tournament. Trigg did that on Day 1B, finishing sat behind 517,822 chips.
The Day 2 waters have grown a little more shark-infested thanks to several stellar names progressing from the August 26 flight.
Endrit Geci, the star who won the 2021 MILLIONS Online event for $774,838 in March, is safely through with 428,701 chips. Geci finished third in a Grosvenor 30/30 Series event in Liverpool last week and padded his bankroll with £8,270, so he is certainly in form.
GUKPT regular Lee French is also through to Day 2; he progressed with 406,177 chips. French finished third in the 2012 edition of the Goliath, and more recently won the 30/30 Series at GUKPT Manchester, turning £400 into £33,168.
Others to look out for from Day 1B on Day 2 include Paul Rigg (355,217), Vikesh Shah (284,352), John Bousfield (157,306), Tom Noble (131,733), and Ronnie Ballantyne (119,746).
Day 1C Begins at 8:00 p.m. BST on August 27
The third 2021 Goliath Online flight begins at 8:00 p.m. BST on August 27 and should see hundreds more British grinders take to the Grosvenor Poker virtual felt as they attempt to slay the Goliath.
| Date | Time | Flight | Day ends |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri 27 Aug | 8:00 p.m. | GOLIATH: Day 1C | Level 17 |
| Sat 28 Aug | 8:00 p.m. | GOLIATH: Day 1D | Level 17 |
| Sun 29 Aug | 2:00 p.m. | GOLIATH: Day 1E (Turbo) | Level 17 |
| Sun 29 Aug | 8:00 p.m. | GOLIATH: Day 2 | 1:30 a.m. |
| Mon 30 Aug | 8:00 p.m. | GOLIATH: Day 3 | Play until finishes |
Team Grosvenor pros Andy Hills and Katie Swift fell by the wayside on Day 1B, so expect them to take another shot at the £250,000 guaranteed cherry. Swift will definitely be in action because she managed to secure yet another cut-price seat via a satellite. You can follow in Swift’s footsteps by hitting up the Goliath satellites at Grosvenor Poker, which start at a mere £1!
Others who PokerNews expects to fire at least another bullet include Day 1B casualties Ben Dobson, Alex Whitenstall, and Brett Angell.
Tune into PokerNews on August 28 to discover who made it through to Day 2 of the Goliath Online, and if anyone managed to match Bacon’s impressive chip stack.
