London Poker Festival – Final Day Wrap
The final day of any festival is always a spectacle to behold. In the melting pot that is London, where people from all over the world gather, this has created a unique and exciting experience on the Genting Casino floor. The partnership with those working at the casino and the IPT has culminated in an excellent experience for all involved. That said there was still the matter of some poker to play and a champion crowned.
The London Main Event Day 1H Hyper got things underway which saw a further 62 entries joining the mix. From this flight 19 players bagged up a stack to bring forward to the final. In this flight the highest stacks were brought forward by Getnet Kassa who had 213,000, Thomas Winston had 258,000 and the biggest bag was with Mohammed Ramadan 320,000.
Next up was the London Main Event Day 1I Hyper which saw a further 30 entries utilising the last opportunity to qualify. From this flight a further 9 players made it through with the highest stacks being brought forward by Terence Simpson who had 168,000, next was Paul Carr who had 173,000, the highest stack went to Nigel Chukwu who had 234,000.
It was time for the big one to begin, 572 entries in total tried their luck which was whittled down to 94 competitors making up the roster for the London Main Event Final. Walking to the felt with the highest stacks to begin with were James Parker who had 572,000, Gang Wang brought forward 640,000, with Will Kassouf bringing forward the biggest stack with 1,400,000. As is always the case on the final day, players were tentative, hoping to make it through to the money. In the end it got down to bubble time. Eyes were darting across the room to see who would be the unlucky one this festival. They say misery loves company if that’s the case then hopefully it didn’t sting that much for Jon Jakonsen and Ben Long who went all in and were thwarted by Akshat Bansal, both were eliminated and the rest of the field was in the money.
The London 250 got underway with a total of 51 entries joining for a chance to taste glory. The prize pool for this event went up to £11,265. With familiar faces like Una Kelly and Anne Bonner the play got underway. After a while we got down to the final table with players not giving up an inch. In the end it was Zoe Orriss who finished in 3rd talking home £1745. In 2nd place was Giuseppe Cerri who banked £2475, and the winner was Nicu Toderascu who took home the trophy and £3665.
The last tournament to kick-off was the Omaha 7 Max 4/5/6 Cards Level of Each which saw 38 entries joining in. This brought the prize pool to £6,450, and if an Omaha game is being played you can bet your bottom dollar Mr Keary will be pulling up a pew. Stratford local and very good friend of the IPT, Sam Acheampong made it through to the final table to the delight of everyone involved. Sam is someone you can’t help but smile around. Unfortunately, Sam once again bubbled out losing a hand to non-other than Shane Keary. In the end was Vahid Amir Zahiri who came in 3rd taking home £1160. In the heads up an adjustment was made to the payouts and play continued for the higher amount and trophy. In 2nd place was Stephen Okeeffe who banked £1800. The winner was Shiu Man who took home the trophy and £2005.
The Main Event ticked away and eventually we were left with a final table that included locals Vadims Veksins and Matthew Grieg. Play progressed with an eager rail watching on from the sideline as the pack thinned down. After a lot of poker, ups and downs, highs and lows, we were left with 5 players. After a long slog to get this far, 5 out of the 5 players were happy to do a deal but 1 wanted to play on.
They were eliminated and the 4 left settled the tournament with a 4-way ICM deal with the chip leader at the time taking home the trophy. This resulted in 4th place going to Jack Moore who banked £20,000. In 3rd place it was Siyu Sha who took home £22,00. In 2nd was Stavros Tsourou who banked £28,200. The winner of the London Main Event was Norway’s Terje Villiam Bengtsen who took home the trophy and £31,120.
Well, that’s it folks, another successful, fun and memorable event in a wonderful city with great people. Once again, we would like to thank those at the Genting Casino for all their help with the event.
As always make sure to stay tuned to livepokerupdates for the action from the next festival…