Seat 1. Daniel Harwood, Uk - 1,302,000

27 year-old Daniel Harwood comes from Cheltenham and was playing poker for 6 or seven years. He's currently making the transition to poker pro.

Although he likes playing both online and live, recent times have seen him focus more at the live game. It's paying dividends as he secured his UKIPT London seat in a live satellite here on the Hippodrome Casino.

His biggest win came for £22,500 at DTD last year in a £300 deepstack and says playing chess has really helped his game.

Harwood was good at chess as an adolescent and after playing (and beating friends, poker gave the look of an excellent fit.

"The game came naturally to me - it just clicked!" he said.

Seat 2. David Gassian, France - 2,234,000

45-year-old David Gassian has lived in London for the last ten years, though he originates from Bordeaux. He works as a head teacher at a main school and although he loves poker, he loves his job much more. "I'm a rarity," he joked.

Gassian mainly plays live, both cash games and tournaments, and he has notched up several big scores, winning the 2014 Hippodrome Winter Classic for £12,500 in addition to €30,000 at a Partouche tournament in 2012.

"Poker is a brilliant opportunity to satisfy up with old friends," he told us, explaining his love of the game.

Seat 3. Jack Salter, United Kingdom, PokerStars Player - 886,000

29 year-old professional poker player Jack Salter needs no introduction, having had a scintillating poker run during the last few years, notching up over $3 million in tournament winnings. Most notably he was runner-up on the 2014 EPT Grand Final for over a milion dollars. Salter prefers live poker because it doesn't feel as similar to a role and he feels that his success is built on taking everything under consideration on the table, not only poker theory.

Asked about his chances today, Salter was upbeat. "I've only got a half average stack but I'm pretty good at allins!"

Seat 4. Warren Russell, Canada - 3,961,000

Warren Russell is a 30 year old Canadian hailing from Vancouver. He works as a Sales Consultant, having transferred to the London offices 5 weeks ago. He's been playing poker for 12 years, having previously been an avid online gamer - playing Starcraft and War craft 3. It proved a successful transition, Russell occurring to win $121,513 on the British Columbia Poker Championships in 2008 - his biggest result to date.

Seat 5. Usman Siddique, Uk - 4,132,000

Usman Siddique is a 23 year-old student, currently on a break. Siddique resides in London and have been playing poker for around 4 years. Siddique's biggest win was a $69,000 score online - where he has most of his playing experience. Siddique puts his success partially right down to his knowledge of mixed games. "In mixed games you need to comply with each individual game. This helps in MTTs where the dynamics are constantly changing."

Siddique is confident going into the general. "I'm chip leader so I'm happy!"

Seat 6. Joe Hindry, Uk - 1,327,000

Joe Hindry is a 21 year old professional poker player from Portsmouth. He's played the sport for plenty of years, turning pro on the age of 18. To start with he played mainly online but nowadays plays much more cash games - primarily on the Hippodrome Casino.

Wherever Hindry finishes here on the final table, this will likely be his largest ever cash. He revealed he's attracted to poker through a "natural pure love for the sport" and he's really waiting for the overall table.

Seat 7. David Docherty, United Kingdom, PokerStars Qualifier - 1,531,000

David Docherty is a 29 year-old professional poker player from Glasgow. It has been a large week for him having celebrated his birthday during Day 1B of the tournament. Docherty plays mainly online, although his biggest result came live on the 2009 WSOPE where he collected $35k after a deep run.

Docherty feels his calm approach might give him an edge on the felt. "I see other players getting more worked up about bad beats and things. I BELIEVE like I WILL BE ABLE TO take the difficult times on the tables more in my stride."

Docherty is confident about his chances at the final. "Yeah I BELIEVE good. We'll see if my temperament holds up today!"

Seat 8. Morten Halvorsen, Norway, PokerStars Player - 732,000

Morten Halvorsen is a 50 year-old Norwegian who lives 20km from Oslo. He works as a financial controller for an organization that sells construction equipment. Halvorsen likes playing both live and online and he came all the way down to the UKIPT with a twelve-strong group of alternative local players, who've been supporting one another with gusto. His biggest result came at a live tournament for around $30,000 but he has had quite a few success online, winning plenty of packages for events on PokerStars.

"I have a funny feeling concerning the final. If I come 8th I DO NOT mind but I BELIEVE pretty good about today!" he explained.

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Read More... [Source: PokerStarsBlog.com :: UKIPT]