| Darren Woods suffered the ignominy of heading out first on the televised table when he tangled with Peter Gould called Woods pre flop all in of 5K with ace five (ad 5h). Woods held King Queen of suit (Kc Qh) and when the flop came with an ace (6h 9d ac), Woods was drawing very slim. No help on the turn or river (8c 3c), and we had our first elimination. Darren headed home collecting 8th place and £1,000.
Lee Watts, who'd started the final table in second place on the chip count, span out of the tournament less than two hours in. Holding Ace King (kc ad), he confidently raised 5K pre-flop from middle position. Jason Ho who was sitting on seven five (5d 7s) and the big blind of 1600 and decided to peel off a flop. When the flop came down 6d 8h 2s, Ho flopped an up and down straight draw.
Needed a four or a nine for his straight he checked, and Watts fired out a continuation bet of 5K. Ho peeled off a turn card and it was gin for him when the four of diamonds hit (4d). On the turn Jason decided to not slow play it and fired out a bet of 5K and was met with an all-in from Watts. Ho called with the nuts and Watts was drawing dead. Watts scuttled out of the door in seventh place for a mere £1,500.
At this stage Ho had build a huge chip stack and after this elimination he was holding
134K in chips with his closest opponent holding a mere 57K.
The next four players to bite the dust did so inside of an hour.
The demise of Dieter Dijkstra came when he put his king jack (kd jh) up against the ace queen suited (ac qc) of Patrik Selin. Selin raised 6,000 before the flop, while Dijkstra came over the top all-in for another 18K. Patrik called and when the flop came (3d 6h th) it left Dijkstra praying for a king a jack or two more hearts on the turn and the river, but his prayers went unanswered when the turn dropped down a six (6c), and the river sealed his fate when the ace of diamonds was delivered. Dijkstra exited in sixth place with £3,400 for his night's work.
Jason Ho, who had lead at the dinner break with a massive 124,800 chips, nearly double his nearest rival, crashed and burned just four hands after Dijkstra, when Selin claimed another scalp. Ho had just lost his chip lead after a few bad beats and was playing a different style, no longer raising every hand pre flop and on hand 57, it cost him dearly. With seven three (7d 3h) in the hole and the big blind, Selin hit a jackpot flopping trip threes (js 3c 3s) after no one raised him off of his hand pre flop. Patrik opened with an 8,000 bet, which was called by Ho whose jack nine off suit (jc 9d) had given him two pair. When the turn came down 8h, Selin fired in another 15,000 into the middle; Ho hit back with a 30K re-raise, and Selin went all in for 73,700, which was called by Ho. Only another jack on the river could save Ho's skin, but when it dropped a king (kh), it was a surprise early exit for Ho who went to the rail for fifth place and £5,100.
Two of the four players left around the table were father and son duo Peter and Josh Gould, who found themselves in a head to head confrontation twenty minutes later. Peter proved he could still teach his kid a thing or two about poker when he delivered a knockout punch with his pocket nines (9s 9d). Josh had raised 8,000 on the back of his ace six (ah 6d), only to see Peter to come over the top with 21,000; Josh responded with an all-in, called by his dad who hit a set on the flop (4c 3c 9c).
Josh's slim chances of taking the pot all but vanished on the turn (2h), leaving him sweating on a five for the straight. The river brought a ten (th) and swept Josh away for fourth place with £8,500 to console him.
With five down and three to go it was Peter Gould (116,300) and Patrick Selin (152,900) with the chip muscle, and Jeff Buffenbarger looking weaker on 69,400.
Three handed play lasted one hand when Gould kicked Buffenbarger to the kerb. Buffenbarger (kc6c) called Goulds (ah 7h) 7,700 pre-flop button raise from the big blind. The flop dropped down kh, 4d and 5h, giving Jeff top pair but leaving Gould needing only one more heart to make his flush. Jeff checked the flop and Peter bet out 10K, which Buffenbarger called. Sure enough the turn dropped down a heart (jh), and Buffenbarger's decided to bet out 20K. Holding the nut flush, Peter smooth called and on the river his smart play was rewarded very nicely.
The river fell a ten (td) and Jeff made a last ditch stand at the pot and moved all in for his last 37K and Peter insta-called. Buffenbarger was out for the count for a creditable third place and a cool £12,750.
The blitz continued when heads up play between Gould (186,900) and Selin (153,100) lasted just six minutes and four hands. This ultra-fast face-off came to a head when Selin put in a pre-flop raise of 7,000 with ten five suited (th5h); Gould (ad qs) came over the top with 20K more, to be met with a huge all in from Selin which Gould called. The flop brought 8s 7d ks, the turn 2d and the river 8d, giving Gould the tournament win with just ace high.
Selin picked up a healthy £20,250 for his second place, while Gould scooped the £32,500 top prize, the beautiful trophy and the glory of winning the main event at the NPL UK open.
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