More British Success in Vegas

The World Series of Poker has now moved into its second week and over 10% of the 100 bracelets have now been distributed to their rightful owners. So far, just one of them has found its way into British hands, that of Benny Glaser, who scooped the sixth of his career in the Dealer’s Choice.

• Read More: Glaser Wins 6th Bracelet

Since then several more UK players have made deep runs to final tables and many more have made the short walk to the payout window. There has also been further British success in some of the other events taking place in Sin City in what is shaping up to be a great year for the UK’s poker community.

Gary Blackwood Takes Fourth in $600 Deepstack

Youtuber Gary Blackwood finished 4th in Event #10, the $600 NLH Deepstack. He was one of four British players amongst the 301 who made it into the second day from a total field of 6,090. Gary started the day with 395,000 but soon started making northward moves. His stack moved above the 3m mark for the first time when he eliminated  Taha Benhmama, who had started Day 2 as the chip leader. 

By the dinner break, with 28 players remaining, the Scotsman was amongst the chip leaders with 12.5m. His stack increased further, peaking at just over 21m, falling back to 15m by the time the ten-player final table began. It was a lightning quick final table, over in less than two hours, with Gary picking up $118,468 for a 4th place finish. He was ousted by eventual winner Kenneth Kim.

• Read More: Kim Wins $600 Deepstack

Four other Brits cashed in the event including former bracelet winner Paul Hizer, whose previous success was in the 2022 Colossus.

Patrick Kennedy Fifth in $10k Mystery Bounty

Patrick Kennedy took 5th place in Event #11, the $10,000 Mystery Bounty for $170,036 on his first live WSOP final table. Patrick, an online pro from London is no stranger to the latter stages of tournaments, with an impressive record in online bracelet and ring events. Successfully transitioning from being an exclusively online player, he’s only incorporated live play into his schedule since 2023. Yosef Fox went on to win the event.

• Read More: Yosef Fox Wins $10,000 Mystery Bounty

Patrick’s best live result to date was in the €10,200 PLO at EPT Barcelona, where he finished 2nd for €173,000. However the best result recorded on his HendonMob profile page was $245,448 for winning an online WSOP Event on GG Poker during Covid times. Three other Brits cashed in the event.

Rob Cowen Through to Day 3 of $25K High Roller PLO/NLH Mixed

Rob Cowen is the last Brit standing in Event #14, the $25,000 High Roller PLO/NLH Mixed. He was one of three to make it to the second day, which compatriot Stephen Chidwick had held the chip lead going into. Chidwick succumbed in 21st place for $53,371, while Philip Sternheimer min-cashed in 35th for $50,829.

Rob, who is chasing his third career bracelet, sits in 8th place overnight on 1.865m and is assured a prize of at least $60,520, but will be sorely disappointed if that is his eventual payday, with over $1.3m up top.

Brandon Sheils Wins Venetian DeepStack Event

A delighted Brandon Sheils has won Event #26, the $600 MonsterStack at the Venetian DeepStack Championship for $28,873. Posting on facebook, Brandon revealed that this is his first win in an event in Las Vegas, which was long overdue, as he has had at least 400 previous attempts. He entered it as a back-up plan after being eliminated from Event #10 at the WSOP, also a $600 NLH deepstack tournament.

Wilko Wins Big at the Wynn

Northern Irish Adam ‘Wilko’ Wilkinson has delighted the back-at-home crowd by almost winning the $1,600 Seniors NLH at the Wynn Summer Classic. He ended up in a 4-way chop in a field of 961 old codgers, securing $148k. 

Wilko has a good record in non-WSOP events in Las Vegas. This time last year, he scored his biggest win to-date, finishing runner-up in the BetMGM Poker Championship at the Aria Poker Classic festival for $159,715. 

Wilko, as he is known to many, has been a stalwart on the UK poker circuit for almost 20 years. He made a final table on the very first season of the GUKPT back in 2007, with the first three live cashes of his life being Main Events of that tour. His happy-go-lucky approach to life is one of his most endearing traits, contributing to him being one of the most likeable players on the UK circuit.

Adam posted this message on facebook, thanking all for the support he received online, putting his success down to a unique solving method taught to him by mentor Yucel ‘Mad Turk’ Eminoglu, based on his chosen flavour of the bottled juice, J20 Apple & Raspberry. Sign me up, where’s the app?

Kendall’s First Cash of the Series in $1,500 Mixed PLO

Tony ‘Tikay’ Kendall has made up for the disappointment of bubbling the Nugget Big O by cashing in the first WSOP event he entered this year. With just 61,500 he was the shortest stacked of eight British players to have made the second day of Event #15, the $1,500 Mixed PLO Hi-Lo 8 or Better. 

He planned his path to the money well, knowing he had three orbits to find a hand and when he did it was all going in. An hour or so after the restart, Tony had won two pots and increased his stack to over 100,000. This was good enough to coast into the money, but he was eventually eliminated in 94th place for $3,381.

Tony was not the only short-stacked member of the Blondepoker forum who made Day 2. David Barraclough was in a similar position to Tikay at the start of play, returning with 87,000, but also managed to find an early double-up to navigate his way into the money, exiting in 179th for $3,029.

Six of the eight Brits who made it into Day 2 ended up with appointments at the payout window, including Richard Ashby, who secured his first cash of this year’s series and Jon Shoreman, cashing for the second day in a row, following his 53rd place in the $10,000 Mystery Bounty.

The other two Brits are still in, amongst the 25 players who bagged chips at the end of Day 2, all vying for a shot at the $258,193 first prize and a much-coveted piece of WSOP wrist-wear. The two who are left in are already owners of said jewellery, with Benny Glaser lying in second place with 2.5m going for his second of the Series. Patrick Leonard is 9th, with just over half of Benny’s stack, on 1.275m.

Other British Cashers

Three players from the UK cashed in Event #12, the $1,500 No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw, in which a field of 532 fought it out for a first prize of $138,080. However, none of these three British Lions managed to make a significant bracelet challenge in this one, eventually won by Brad Ruben, collecting the 5th WSOP title of his career.

• Read more: Brad Ruben Wins Fifth Bracelet in $1,500 No-Limit 2-7 Lowball

Fifteen British players cashed in Event #13, the $1,500 6-Handed No Limit Hold’em. This event concludes on Wednesday, but there are no players from the UK amongst the remaining 11 who will fight it out for the bracelet. Nick Marchington went the furthest, exiting in 30th place for $13,402, with Samir Tageldin and Jareth East being the next highest finishers (37th and 40th for $10,969 each) of the Britpack. Also cashing for the first time this series were Thomas Middleton and James Dempsey.

Five Brits have cashed in Event #16, the $600 PLO Deepstack, while a further four are amongst the 108 remaining players from a field of 3,110 entrants. Martin Neilsen bagged the 20th biggest stack of the day with 1,220,000 chips, while Howard Smith finished on just under 1m. Adam Dickson on 465,000 and short-stacked Jiazi Li on 46,500 are the other two who progressed.

Through to Day 2

Adam Owen is the sole remaining player from the UK at the end of the first day of Event #18, the $10,000 Dealer’s Choice 6-Handed Championship. Both Stuart Rutter and Robert Wells entered this one, but failed to progress, while Adam sits in mid-division, 32nd in chips of the 62 who survived the day.

Twelve British players have progressed to the second day of Event #17, a $2,000 NLH, which had a total of 1,692 entrants. Just ten of the 264 players who made it through will miss out on the prize money when play resumes later today. Here are their chip counts: