UK live poker is hotter than ever before, and the September Edition of the Beer Poker Tour is proof of this. This is the fourth Beer Poker Tour event ever, and it’s the third one in the mighty halls of Genting Casino Stratford (up until very recently known as Aspers).
While the £185 Main Event with a £100,000 guarantee was the brightest star on the schedule, the £150 poker.pro PLO4/5 would prove to be a very appreciated feature by many players. The tournament concluded on Thursday, September 4, in extraordinary fashion that saw two players closing a deal that’s rather unconventional by today’s standards.
Shake on it
The whole poker.pro team was very humbled to be asked to be the unit responsible for the media coverage during the Beer Poker Tour September Edition. The Beer Poker Tour is as unique as a live poker event can be; the tournaments are only a small part of the event that also treats players to free food and drinks, giving away stylish merchandise, engaging all visitors in games such as beer pong, and much more.
Being the media partner on-site, poker.pro got the opportunity to conduct a self-branded tournament. The team took the chance, and as such, the £150 poker.pro PLO4/5 was put on the schedule. This was the fifth-ever poker.pro-branded PLO tournament, and considering the events have been appreciated in the past, the expectations were high.
- Read more: The Beer Poker Tour Returns to Genting Casino Stratford in September
- Read more: Everything You Need to Know About PartyPoker Tour Birmingham
The tournament was a two-day affair that offered four starting-day flights, the last one being a turbo. The top 13 % of every flight would secure advancement to Day 2 (the final day) and secure a min-cash. Day 1a kicked it all off on September 2, and the final flight ended around 17:30 on the fourth, just minutes before Day 2 started. At that stage, late registration was obviously closed, and the final numbers read 100 entries, which converted into a £12,610 prize pool.
The 14 players took their respective seats; they had all already locked up £190, but their eyes were naturally on the £3,720 prize up top. While some familiar names like JJ Hazan, Sam Acheampong, and Glenn Brown hadn’t managed to make it through to the second day, it became evident very quickly that some of the contestants knew how to navigate both four and five cards.
It didn’t take too long before six players hit the rail, meaning the eight remaining warriors all had made it to the final table. When entering the final stage of the tournament, Ellis Clark and Jason Penman was the two shortest stacks with fewer than 10 Big Blinds. They would also be the first two to go; Clark went out in eighth for £390, while Penman got £465 for his seventh-place finish.
The next victim would be Michael Ritter. Ritter had displayed some impressive PLO skills throughout the event, but his tournament life came to an end when he fell short against Vadims Veksins’s nut flush. Ritter received £605 for finishing in sixth place. When five players remained, the tournament entered a somewhat duller stage. There was not too much going on than some small pots here and there. This would eventually prove to be the calm before the storm.
The ever-so-friendly Jacques Arama found himself all in against Nicu Oleinic on the turn. The aforementioned Oleinic had entered the final table as the chip leader, and now, he was on the hunt for more chips. Arama and Oleinic played the same hand, but they were both freerolling. It was Oleinic who improved on the turn, and doing so, sending Arama to the rail in fifth place for £795.
The two biggest stacks at this point belonged to Oleinic and John Simcox. In fact, they both played 1,800,000 each out of the total 5,000,000 in play when they clashed all in on the flop. After the board ran out, Simcox couldn’t believe he didn’t get there, and as he bid farewell in fourth place for £1,090, Oleinic took down the massive pot. His chip advantage against his two remaining opponents now was huge after what felt like the most crucial pot of the tournament.
Oleinic, Veksins, and Bob van Hellenburg were the three players remaining. It had been an impressive run by van Hellenburg who’d entered the final table as the third smallest stack, but managed to hang on for quite some time. All good things must come to an end, though, and he soon busted against – you guess it – Oleinic, who would begin the heads-up against Veksins with roughly 80 % of the chips in play.
There wouldn’t be an epic showdown, though, as the two remaining players called the floor over. It turned out the two of them were good friends, and they decided to split the remaining prize pool fifty-fifty. While this resulted in them both getting £3,087, Oleinic was deemed the winner thanks to his stack; he was additionally awarded with the unique Beer Poker Tour trophy, and a poker.pro-branded water bottle.
£150 poker.pro PLO4/5 – Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Nicu Oleinic | Moldova | £3,087* |
| 2 |  Vadims Veksins | England | £3,087* |
| 3 | Bob van Hellenburg | England | £1,595 |
| 4 | John Simcox | England | £1,090 |
| 5 | Jacques Arama | England | £795 |
| 6 | Michael Ritter | England | £605 |
| 7 | Jason Penman | England | £465 |
| 8 | Ellis Clark | England | £390 |
While that’s a wrap for the sole poker.pro event during this edition of the Beer Poker Tour, there’s still a lot of intriguing poker yet to be played. The poker.pro live coverage team is on-site in London, and now that there’s no more PLO to cover, focus will switch to the £185 Main Event that holds a £100,000 guarantee. All the action can be followed live on poker.pro.
In terms of upcoming poker.pro event, there’ll be no fewer than three of them during the 2025 PartyPoker Tour Birmingham. PL H.O.R.S.E., Sviten Special, and the brand new game R.O.S.E.T. are the three disciplines that are on the schedule; it’s due time to see how well the UK residents know their Mixed Games.
