The 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour UK Main Event crowned its champion on the night of Sunday 8 November when Iaron Lightbourne bested a talented six-handed final table. His reward was the winner’s trophy, £200,000 in cash, a seat in the $15,400 WPT Tournament of Champions and booked his place in the exclusive Champions Club.
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Iaron Lightbourne | £200,000 |
| 2 | Craig McCorkell | £140,000 |
| 3 | Fraser Bellamy | £90,000 |
| 4 | Andrew Seden | £65,000 |
| 5 | Russell Betts | £50,000 |
| 6 | Chi Zhang | £40,000 |
Each of the returning players was guaranteed at least £40,000 after reaching the final table, but Chi Zhang couldn’t progress any deeper than sixth place to secure a larger payout.
Zhang moved all-in for 10 big blinds from under the gun with 
and Fraser Bellamy called from the small blind with [8d8h]. An eight-friendly 
board sent Zhang home in sixth place to a round of applause from those on the rail at Dusk Till Dawn.
Simon Betts fell in fifth place two hours after Zhang’s elimination. A min-raise to 160,000 from Betts was called by Bellamy in the small blind and Craig McCorkell in the big blind. The 
flop wouldn’t have looked out of place on the front of a Valentine’s Day card, but it wasn’t showing Betts any love despite all of the hearts on show.
All three players checked on the flop, with Bellamy leading for 275,000 upon the arrival of the 
turn. Both McCorkell and Betts called, prompting the dealer to place the 
on the river. Bellamy reverted to checking while McCorkell took up the role of aggressor and bet 760,000. This set Betts all-in, but he believed his 
was strong enough to call the bet, but it wasn’t because when Bellamy folded, McCorkell revealed the 
for a flopped flush and Betts headed to the cashier’s desk to collect £50,000.
The next payout was £65,000, and this is the sum deposited into Andrew Seden’s account. Seden opened the preflop betting to 220,000 chips, Bellamy responded with a three-bet to 525,000 and then called when Seden moved all-in. Bellamy turned over and all Seden could muster was the inferior 
. By the time the river was dealt, Bellamy had improved to a set of queens and as none of the 
community cards had assisted Seden the tournament was down to three players.
Those three became two with the elimination of Bellamy, a finish worth £90,000. Lightbourne raise to 250,000 from the button and quickly called when Bellamy re-raised all-in for 2,000,000. It was 
for Bellamy versus the 
of Lightbourne and despite catching a seven on the flop of the 
board, Bellamy bust.
With two extremely solid players contesting heads-up, the spectators around the final table were preparing themselves for a long one-on-one battle. However, the contest was over after only four hands. All the chips went into the middle prelfop, McCorkell holding and Lightbourne 
. The 
flop kept Lightbourne’s hand ahead, with the failing to alter anything. The landed on the turn to eliminate McCorkell in second place (£140,000) and left Lightbourne to join a long list of WPT champions and add £200,000 to his lifetime live tournament winnings.
What’s next for the World Poker Tour?
The WPT now heads to the Playground Poker Club in Montreal for a CAD$3,500+$350 buy-in main event before setting sail for the capital of the Czech Republic, Prague, on December 1 for the €3,000+€300 buy-in main event. You can qualify for the Prague main event at partypoker where satellite tournaments start as low as $1. Check out the Live Events>World Poker Tour>Europe tabs in the partypoker client for the full satellite schedule.
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