Mathew Frankland is the latest Brit to get close to winning a bracelet, but not quite close enough. He went into the final day of Event #26 $25,000 High Roller 7th in chips and quickly rose up the leaderboard, taking the chip lead into the final table. However he fell short of winning his first bracelet, exiting in 4th place for $626,823, the biggest cash of his career to date.
Fourteen players from the UK had been in action on the second day of the event, but it was not a great session for most of them. Only three managed to get a return for their investment, Mitchell Hynam busting in 20th ($73,639) and Paul Newey in 38th ($53,178). Frankland was the only player from the British Isles out of the 18 who made it to the third day, bagging up just over 3.8m chips.
Frankland began to climb the chipcount ladder early in the day, bumping up to over 5m when his kings bested Wai Kiat Lee’s queens, sending the American to the rail in 16th place. He then grew his stack further, to over 7m when he won a sizable pot from former WSOP Main Event champion Joe McKeehan.
After dispatching Punnat Punsri in 11th with A♥K♥ versus the Thai’s A♣4♦, Frankland’s tower of chips had grown to almost 11m and by the time the final table of nine had begun, he had assumed the lead, with 13.5m chips.
He soon accounted for the exit of short stacked Byron Kavran in 8th place, but soon afterward disaster struck, as it tends to have a habit of doing in poker tournaments. Frankland’s stack was mercilessly cut in half when Elijah Berg hit a seven on the river to retain his tournament life. Frankland had been in the lead with pocket tens versus Berg’s sevens.
Although he did manage to recover some of his lost chips on the subsequent orbits, but he was reduced to fumes when attempting a river bluff against Andrew Ostapchenko. His tournament soon ended and with it British hopes of another bracelet faded, for now.
- Read More: Chang Lee Wins $25k High Roller
Anish Vithlani 21st in Colossus
Anish Vithlani was the top finishing Brit in Event #19, the $500 Colossus. He exited in 21st place for $23,440.
Just three of the 57* Brits (let’s call them the Heinzers) who began the second day of the ahem, colossal tournament, had chips by the end of the day. Anish Vithlani (11.425m) bagged the largest of the three Brits stacks and was in 16th place out of the 103 who made it to Day 3. Brandon Sheils (5.95m) and James Morris (5.2m) were the other two who made it this far, busting in 76th and 86th places.
Most of the 54 Heinzers who failed to progress to Day 3 were stripped of their tournament lives in the early stages of the second day. WPT Championship runner-up Rob Sherwood was one of the first to go, in 2,224th place. Gary Blackwood, who posted the largest Brit stack on Day 1c made it further, busting in 675th, just before Welshman Roberto Romanello departed, in 660th. James Dempsey was ousted in 239th and only five British players made it to the last 200.
*After a recount it seems only 55 British players cashed, but the Heinzers had a nice ring to it, so we’ll just leave that there.
| Place | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 21 | Anish Vithlani | $23,440 |
| 76 | James Morris | $7,360 |
| 86 | Brandon Sheils | $6,210 |
| 177 | Mathew Truepenny | $3,900 |
| 187 | Gary Armstrong | $3,900 |
| 239 | James Dempsey | $3,380 |
| 277 | Elliott Hayes | $3,380 |
| 290 | Paul Hizer | $2,960 |
| 338 | Jordan Lewis | $2,960 |
| 382 | Anton Johnson | $2,610 |
| 409 | Dominic Feldman | $2,610 |
| 498 | Ryan Mandara | $2,070 |
| 537 | Martin Nielsen | $2,070 |
| 550 | Simon Fowler | $1,860 |
| 613 | Samad Razavi | $1,690 |
| 658 | Ginold Rendel | $1,690 |
| 660 | Roberto Romanello | $1,690 |
| 675 | Gary Blackwood | $1,540 |
| 696 | Jack Sinclair | $1,540 |
| 744 | Jason Green | $1,540 |
| 751 | Garry Bush | $1,540 |
| 782 | Lord Bhasin | $1,420 |
| 786 | Adam Snook | $1,420 |
| 835 | Nicholas Marchington | $1,420 |
| 837 | James Hill | $1,420 |
| 878 | Samuel Welbourne | $1,320 |
| 884 | Alan Bryant | $1,320 |
| 905 | Peter Kirby | $1,320 |
| 922 | Sebastian Crane | $1,320 |
| 1041 | Ian Bosley | $1,230 |
| 1069 | Mark Baxter | $1,230 |
| 1070 | Richard Stavert | $1,230 |
| 1166 | Alexander Burton | $1,160 |
| 1272 | James Walker | $1,160 |
| 1274 | Gareth Devereux | $1,160 |
| 1281 | Phillip Mathias | $1,160 |
| 1332 | Andrew Leigh | $1,160 |
| 1544 | Derek Miller | $1,090 |
| 1566 | Jiaze Li | $1,090 |
| 1610 | Leo Worthington-Leese | $1,090 |
| 1611 | Ben Miller | $1,090 |
| 1621 | Jun Li | $1,090 |
| 1642 | Antonio German | $1,010 |
| 1698 | Daniel Moran | $1,010 |
| 1722 | Richard Robinson | $1,010 |
| 1762 | Grant Gardner | $1,010 |
| 1806 | Ashley Scott | $1,010 |
| 1834 | Andrew Teng | $1,010 |
| 1845 | Michael Allen | $1,010 |
| 1868 | Jayne Moon | $1,010 |
| 1927 | Kevin Allen | $1,010 |
| 2001 | Vincent Sanchez | $1,010 |
| 2210 | James Khoury | $1,010 |
| 2224 | Robert Sherwood | $1,010 |
| 2253 | Saigokul Kannan | $1,010 |
Kendall Cashes Again
Six Brits cashed in Event #27, the $1,500 Big O.
Although none made it to the latter stages, Patrick Leonard (65th place, for $4,517) progressed the furthest. Tony Kendall was the second highest finisher of the UK players, in a distant 152nd, for $3,178. He recorded his adventures in the tournament in his diary at Blondepoker (which I’ve sneaked into this report as a screenshot), describing his experience as “the most enjoyable two days of poker in my life.” The queues at the payout desk he refers to were most likely those busting from Day 2 of the Colossus.
| Place | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 65 | Patrick Leonard | $4,517 |
| 152 | Anthony Kendall | $3,178 |
| 161 | Rishi Amin | $3,027 |
| 166 | Jack Moore | $3,027 |
| 176 | Steve Jelinek | $3,027 |
| 191 | Jonathan Bowers | $3,027 |
Jiazi Li 9th in $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack
Jiazi Li made the final of Event #28 $600 Mixed NLH/PLO Deepstack, but was first to depart, exiting in 9th place for $15,779. He was the highest placed of the British players who cashed in the event. He called in the big blond with 10♠10♥ for his last 2m chips against a small blind shove by Noah Bronstein, who tabled A♠J♣.
Li was in the lead on a flop of 9♥Q♦K♥ but the 10♣ on the turn gave Bronstein a broadway straight. The board failed to pair or find the fourth ten on the river, to bring Li’s tournament to an abrupt end.
Brit News in Other Bracelet Events
The last surviving Briton in Event #29 $2,500 NLH is Sebastian Crane, who is in 12th place of the remaining 17 players, with 2.2m in chips, a little below the average but still plenty to work with. He’s guaranteed at least $21,624, but will be far more interested in the top prize of nearly half a million smackeroos.
Eleven other players from the UK cashed in the 1,493-player event, including Matt Davenport, who recorded his first cash of the series.
| Place | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 20 | Ashley Scott | $17,693 |
| 26 | Jacob Stone | $17,693 |
| 36 | Alexander Smith | $12,349 |
| 70 | Joshua Stewart | $8,017 |
| 100 | Dean Hutchison | $5,556 |
| 112 | Jareth East | $5,556 |
| 125 | Chris Moorman | $5,556 |
| 140 | Seun Oluwole | $5,271 |
| 188 | Matthew Davenport | $5,020 |
| 197 | Benjamin Dobson | $5,020 |
| 213 | Daniel Charlton | $5,020 |
Two Brits are still battling away for a bracelet and almost half a million up top in Event #30 $10,000, the No Limit 2-7 Lowball Draw. Stuart Rutter is currently in 6th place with an above-average stack of 975k, while Elliot Sior is further down the leaderboard in 14th with 375k.
Four other British players made the money, including Philip Sternheimer and Adam Owen, who have both cashed multiple times so far at the series.
| Place | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 24 | Robert Wells | $20,528 |
| 25 | Stephen Moreschi | $20,528 |
| 28 | Philip Sternheimer | $20,528 |
| 35 | Adam Owen | $20,528 |
Seven players from the UK will return for Day 2 of Event #31 $800 NLH Deepstack, which has 258 of the 4,481 who started left. Jun Li bagged the largest Brit stack with almost 2m chips to his name and 7th in the overall leaderboard. Brandon Sheila (1.345m), Patrick Leonard and Niall Farrell are also still in this one. Eleven other British players made the money.
| Place | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 283 | Jonathan Shoreman | $2,249 |
| 318 | Michael Brown | $2,038 |
| 378 | Richard Hasnip | $1,867 |
| 420 | Dean Hutchison | $1,729 |
| 441 | Robert Bain | $1,729 |
| 448 | Ryan Plant | $1,729 |
| 489 | Robert Sherwood | $1,647 |
| 521 | Andrew Hanak | $1,647 |
| 585 | Patrick Beuter | $1,647 |
| 612 | Saigokul Kannan | $1,647 |
| 669 | Katie Swift | $1,647 |
So far only five British players have entered Event #32 $50,000 High Roller, with 52 out of 124 entrants still in after the first day of play. This tournament allows late registration on Day 2, so this number is likely to grow further. Only two of the five Brits who entered on Day 1 remain, Roberto Romanello (458k) and Sergey Lebedev (345k).
Best Value Burger in Town?
One of the main goals of a trip to Las Vegas during the World Series is to “find a bag,” in a bracelet event. For those less familiar with live poker lingo, this means making it into Day 2 and still being in with a chance of glory. But there are other goals too and these are equally important parts of trip to Vegas.
I’m talking of course, about the quest for great value food and drink, in a city where prices seem to have gone up a lot in recent years. But these gems are hard to find and the Las Vegas Cheap Eats sheet doesn’t seem to have been updated recently. Thanks to Alexander Burton, news of the best value burger in town has filtered through and it’s a shocker!
It’s a shocker that it’s not In “N” Out Burger, but no, a better deal has been unearthed.
He Came, He Saw, He Min Cashed
Tony Kendall’s Great Retirement Adventure is a fantastic read and what a trip he’s having, chasing all over town, multiple times per day sometimes. Having secured his second WSOP cash of the trip (two out of two entered) in Event #27, Tony’s next target was the $800 PLO 8 at the Venetian DeepStack Series. There were 303 entries with 38 getting paid. With 45 players left, he was short-stacked, but successfully managed to negotiate the bubble. He busted in 30th place for $1,731 and presumably didn’t have such a long queue at the cash desk to collect this time.
Whatever will happen next to Mr Kendall? I hope to be reporting on a much deeper run by the UK legend in the coming weeks. Stay tuned to find out, no flicking!
* Hands and photos courtesy of PokerNews and WSOP
