It’s all over! After a huge all-in move on the turn, Gabriel Tuna has held with Ace-high to win this #WPTNUK title and the trophy in London’s Aspers Casino here in Stratford.
The flop came 
where around 1.6m went into the middle, before the 
got all the money in. Gabriel held 
, but Svetlin had the better flush draw with 
. The river of 
gave Gabriel the title with Ace-high and he celebrated wildly on his rail. Svetlin wins £15,165 and is really pleased with his result.
Congratulations to all the players and we hope you’ve enjoyed what was a mammoth tournament with some fantastic characters!
Double For Invincible Ivanov
This man cannot lose. He could play all night (he is) and never be beaten. From 1.5m a few minutes ago, Ivanov somehow, somehow, has the chip lead. Gabriel Tuna looks like he has been living in a cave for fifteen years and just saw sunlight.
Ivanov was all-in with 
against Gabriel’s 
and held with ease to get back to a 1:3 position. In the next hand, he got it all-in on the flop with an open-ender. Result? Immediate turn-payment of a fulfilled straight – the man makes more drawers than Chesterfield. He’s given Gabriel Tuna the biggest scare of the tournament and he looks like he can never lose an all-in.
Name On The Trophy?
A big premium vs. premium hand was always likely to be the way the heads-up would change from a tense, tight affair to a more open shootout, and with both players desperate to get it all-in pre-flop, once the cards were on their backs, it was easy to see why. Svetlin Ivanov held 
[Qc ], while Gabriel Tuna had 
. The flop was a Tuna-tastic 
, and the 
ended Svetlin’s chances of winning the hand. The meangingless 
river concluded the hand and when the chip-count was settled up, Gabriel had 9.5m, and Svetlin 1.55m.
Could that be the break Gabriel needed to sew this game up?
Charlton The Big Winner!
He may have busted earlier on in the final table madness, but James charlton is certainly one of the biggest winners here this weekend. Not only did he take home the Monster Headphones for being the longest-lasting player who qualified, but he also got here for free, winning a partypoker ‘Beat the Pro’ tournament to freeroll the whole package!
What a boss!
Start of Heads-Up Chip-counts:
After that second club-flush double-up, Svetlin Ivanov actually moved ahead, and holds the chip lead heading into heads-up play, the first time Gabriel Tuna hasn’t had the lead for so long he almost looks fazed. Almost.
Chip-counts:
Svetlin Ivanov – 5.9 million
Gabriel Tuna – 5.11m
Anooj Sareen OUT in 3rd (£9,760)
Well, Anooj’s tournament is over. He was left with practically nothing after Svetlin Ivanov decimated his stack without so much as a ‘good game, bro’.
Anooj shoved blind with [Ts ] and incredibly that hand failed to catch up with Gabriel Tuna’s 
. Anooj has really stuck around in this tournament and he’s sad that he couldn’t make the heads-up.
And what a duel it will surely be!
Svetlin Ivanov Is Unstoppable
Some guys have all the luck, as the song goes. And Svetlin Ivanov has doubled up twice in two hands with basically the same shot each time. It’s Groundhog Deal or something.
Down to a million, Ivanov shoved with 
on a flop of 
, snap-called by Gabriel Tuna with the . Not even a sweat, immediate payment for the flush draw for Svetlin with the on the turn, 
on the river just to make sure.
In the very next hand, Ivanov was all-in on the flop again, holding against Anooj Sareen’s [Qh 
looking at the community cards of 
. Club on the turn straight away again, the giving Svetlin the flush. 
on the river just for the rubdown factor, and Anooj is on fresh air.
And he’s all-in…
Level 30: Blinds 60000/120000/20000 ante – 3 Players Remaining – Average Stack 3.67 million
Updated Chip-counts:
Gabriel Tuna – 5.5 million
Anooj Sareen – 3 million
Svetlin Ivanov – 2.5 million
All three guys desperately want to win this WPT title and £22k top prize!
Mantas Zeringis OUT in 4th (£7,230)
He was getting low on chips, and for ten or so big blinds, Mantas simply had to do something to either change his position in the four or go down fighting. It turned out to be the latter as he moved with 
and was called by Gabriel’s . Gabriel hit a king on the flop and Mantas couldn’t spike an ace, busting with a great amount of cash and top memories, celebrated long into the night with his buddies, some of them from Lithuania such as the excellent player Dennis Benevictius, who is a future star.
Finding Their Range
Gabriel Tuna may not have been involved in this hand, but he’s using everything at his disposal to retain control over his opponents, and that includes a little light goading.
Anooj Sareen in Seat 2 raised to 200k, and Mantas in Seat 7 (pictured above) shoved all-in for around 1.2 million. Anooj gave it the fake dwell-up (we’d seen his cards) while Mantas tried to talk his opponent into calling him off light when the last time he played a hand was while England were still in the World Cup. The 1962 one.
“I just can’t pass any more.” tried Mantas, before Anooj mucked his terrible cards.
“Can’t pass aces?” said Gabriel, laughing his head off to no-one in particular.
James Charlton OUT in 5th (£5,410)
James Charlton was our last partypoker qualifier to depart, and he goes in a very unlucky manner. Four-betting all-in pre-flop, ‘Hamez’ as he never likes to be called held 
and was called by Svetlin Ivanov, who ruefully tossed over . He stood up, expecting to be left with a ‘bowl of rice’, but sat back down on the 
flop and offered up thanks to a higher power after the turn and 
river completed his bad beat victory.
Charlton took it like the man’s man he is, accepting the pats on the back with a noble humility, and draining his glass of red wine in one gulp.
Updated Chip-counts:
Gabriel Tuna – 4.4 million
Anooj Sareen – 3.0 million
Mantas Zeringis – 1.8 million
Svetlin Ivano – 1.8 million
Chipcounts at 1am
We have our final five, with one qualifier, one pair of shades, and a whole heap of talent. Gabriel Tuna is way out in front at the moment and in the position (and mindset) to punish his opponents. Can he find this title win?
Chip-counts:
Gabriel Tuna – 4.58 million
Anooj Sareen – 2.71m
Mantas Zeringis – 1.575m
James Charlton (party qualifier) 1.135m
Svetlin Ivanov – 1.11m
Greenwood Gone – James OUT in 6th for £4,360
James Greenwood (above) ran a stack all the way back up from being one card from an exit in the mid teens to 6th place here at the WPT National Event in London, and he can be mighty proud of doing so, but he’ll be sick at having left before the biggest pay jumps, playing some great stuff in general today.
Most of it went in a small blind-vs-big blind shove from him with when James Charlton “didn’t want to let him get away with it again” and called it off with and held, improving to trips on a board of . The rest went when short with 
, called by Charlton again, this time with .
Only one James walked away from those clashes, and he’s our last partypoker qualifier. Time for some chip-counts…
Quoc Nong OUT in 7th (£3,600)
No sooner has Mo bitten the dust have we lost another. Quoc Nong has certainly laddered his way to glory this weekend, as he was telling us in the queue for his cash at the Registration Desk here at Aspers. He’s played really well all WPT-National and there’s no doubt that with the cards he saw, he’s made the very most he could have done with skill.
Quoc shoved when down to just three big blinds with and was called very quickly by the . A king and seven both arrived on the flop, and a flush draw even came to him on the turn, but the river bricked to see Nong knocked out. A very commendable 7th place for the young man.
Mo Shanehzan OUT in 8th (£2,900)
Mo (left) had lasted with a short stack for some time, but eventually, with the blinds becoming more and more costly, he had to make a move. His exit hand was a very standard spot, as his pocket eights were dominated when called pre-flop by chip leader Gabriel Tuna and never caught up. Mo has enjoyed a terrific time this weekend and was more than happy with how things went in general.
Level 26: Blinds 40000/80000/10000 ante – 8 Players Remaining – Average Stack 1.385 million
Tuna Out In Front
With eight players lasting an incredibly long time in this tournament, blinds now make this rather shallow, for everyone that is, except Gabriel Tuna. The legendary shades and stripes wearer is a clear chip leader as we enter what will surely be the most crucial and dare we say it climactic session of the tournament.
Chip-counts:
Gabriel Tuna – 3.1 million
Anooj Saren – 1.78m
Mantas Zeringis – 1.6m
Svetlin Ivanov – 1.26m
James Greenwood – 1.2m
Quoc Nong – 870,000
Mo Shanehzan 690,000
James Charlton – 600,000
Tristan Chaplin OUT in 9th (£2,160)
We have lost Team BlueBlood’s Tristan Chaplin in 9th place, with the APAT World Champion happy with his result. He lost a big flip, holding against the pocket nines of Mo Shanehzan. Shanehzan himself would lose an all-in himself just a couple of hands later, with on a 
flop. His opponent who called? Gabriel Tuna, holding the 
for flopped trips!
That has led to the new chip-counts on the latest break…
Charlton Chipping Up
So far, the action at the final table has been sparse, and if anything, the players are using this time to feel each other out. James Charlton is making the most of this, and has shoved a couple of times to jump from around 600k after the first deal to 900k+ after the first couple of quiet orbits.
Level 27: Blinds 25000/50000/5000 ante – 9 Players Remaining – Average Stack 1.23 million
Final-Table Chip-counts
We’re down to the final nine, and with a great mix of qualifiers and pros, novices and recreational players, there’s a bit of everything. Cheer on your winner from here…as they scrap for the £22,000 top prize!
Seat 1 – Gabriel Tuna – 1.95 million
Seat 2 – Anooj Sareen – 2.14 million (chip leader)
Seat 3 – James Greenwood – 1.14 million
Seat 4 – James Charlton (partypoker qualifier) – 605,000
Seat 5 – Mo Shanehzan – 870,000
Seat 6 Quoc Nong – 415,000
Seat 7 – Mantas Zeringis – 1.92m
Seat 8 – Tristan Chaplin – 1.01m
Seat 9 – Svetlin Ivanov – 1.01m
Party People!
Last night’s partypoker Players Party was amazing. Featuring an exclusive set by the legendary DJ Spoony, who rocked the Sky Bar from 10pm until the small hours, the place was absolutely jumping. We saw the best movers on the dancefloor given some partypoker prizes in the form of exclusive Monster Headphones, and everyone seemed to have an awesome night. From qualifiers to tour regulars, pros to newbies, everyone was throwing some shapes – including Spoony himself (above)!
Check out our exclusive shots by Mantas Ruzveltas here!
The Final Table Bubble Rail
Ben Howell Is Final Table Bubble Boy!
Look at what this tournament means to the players! (above)
Super-short-stacked, Ben Howell had to make a move at some point and in the end, he called it off with King-high. Choosing a spot against Mantas, Ben made the call with 
and was behind Mantas’ 
. He never caught up and leaves us in 10th for £1,585.
Players are now on a half-hour dinner break. We’ll have the full chip-counts for the final nine players in this superb WPT-National Event for you very soon!
Greenwood Bounces Off The Ropes
James Greenwood has stopped texting his backer/landlord/mum/girlfriend long enough to get his chips in very quickly after losing that all-in call against Kevin Neal.
James shoved with 
and was in bad shape against Quoc Nong’s . Staring down the barrel of the (metaphorical) gun, the flop came , the rail surged forward, the turn came and after a pause that seemed to send the whole room into ‘Matrix-time’, the on the river led to James punching the air!
He doubles from 345k to 790k including blinds and antes…and is right back into this WPT-National!
Kevin Neal Double Back (Again)
Excuse the ZZ Top pun, but Kevin Neal has come back from the dead more than the cast of From Dusk Til Dawn in this tournament, and the man deserves massive kudos for doing so. It’s not necessarily each hand, as he’s won flips, sucked out, won with the best hand, it’s been a rollercoaster. But what he’s done very, very well at Aspers is to stay cool and never let the banter he’s been a big part of at every table affect his game. Kevin is better when he’s talking, laughing, interacting and it’s a crucial part of his game that no-one at any table has really managed to stop.
His latest double came though James Greenwood, who himself is not exactly stacked right now. Kevin was all-in for just 130k (3 big blinds) with 
against James’ 
. The board ran out to leave Kevin (and his fans) celebrating. The partypoker qualifier has enjoyed a superb weekend and it’s not over yet, he’ll want his guaranteed four-figure win to turn into a five-figure one. From 130,000 he now has 340,000. Greenwood has the same…and he’s all-in again…
Level 24: Blinds 20000/40000/5000 ante – 11 Players Remaining – Average Stack 1,007,000
Just before those chip-counts (below), James Charlton won an all-in with A-A against Tristan Chaplin’s 6-6, with all the money going in pre-flop. James finished just outside the final table up in Newcastle and traveled down from the North-East for this tournament. He’s one of at least two qualifiers still involved along with Kevin Neal.
Chip-counts At The 2nd Break
Just eleven players remain in the race for the WPT-National London Main Event, so let’s see the current standings. Who’s YOUR pick to win the £22,000 top prize from here?
Anooj Sareen 1.65m
Mantas Zeringis 1.6m
Mo Shanehzan 1.5m
Gabriel Tuna 1.28m
Tristan Chaplin 900,000
Quoc Nong 890,000
James Charlton 860,000
Svetlin Ivanov 800,000
James Greenwood (pictured) 600,000
Ben Howell 600,000
Kevin Neal 300,000
Justin Moutousamy Busts, As Does Agron Gjergji
We’ve lost two players in quick succession to leave us with just eleven players here in London as Aspers cardroom swells to the growing crowd at the players’ backs. On the final table, there will be a restricted rail, but for now, we’re scrumming through the three-deep crowd to get to the action for you!
Agron was busted in an interesting pot with Anooj Sareen, who now has around 1.6m, putting him nearer and nearer the chip-lead. Agron raised to 60k pre-flop, but was re-raised by Anooj to 120k, a flat-call from Agron. The flop came and both players checked to the turn of . Again, two checks. the river of 
led to all the chips going into the middle, and when the cards were on their backs, Agron was distraught.
Agron:
Anooj:
Justin Moutousamy was all-in pre-flop against Mo Shanehzan, and in terrible shape, with his 
far behind Mo’s . The board ran dry to stop Justin busting, and leave him on the wrong side of an elimination finally, after he himself destroyed so many dreams.
Poker catches all but one player in the end…
I Know What You Have
Justin Moutousamy may like a bit of table-chat, but he’s met his match in Gabriel Tuna. The last table moved put the two men right next to each other, and the ‘banter’ has been excellent. In the latest clash, Gabe raised to 60k pre-flop, Justin made it 200k to go and Gabriel shoved for well over 1.4 million, covering Justin’s stack.
Good Game, Gus Gulfer
Our man of towering stacks has left us before the final table and is gutted to only have £1,110 in winnings and no chance of the title. He lost two big pots, being his knockout hand when it was beaten by but before that lost the maximum with 2-2 failing to catch a miracle to lose to 9-9.
Level 23: Blinds 15000/30000/5000 ante – 13 Players Remaining – Average Stack 852,307
Gjergji Drops A Few…Then Bounces Back!
Agron Gjergji (pictured) had come into play today right at the upper levels of the leaderboard, and indeed was sitting pretty on 1.2m not long ago. He’s now dropped back a little as just two tables remain.
The first hand Agron lost was a flip, as he held and called off 345,000 to try and skittle Anooj Sareen, holding the . the board did not like him.
Finally, he held and shoved over-the-top of Mantas’ raise pe-flop with . Mantas called and held to leave Gjergji stunned. Sixteen are left, but as we write this, Agron has strengthened again – he sure has some resistance, and is back up to a million in chips!
Simpson Slain
We’ve seen a whopping 80 partypoker qualifiers turn up to play the WPT-NUK this weekend, and one of them, Dave Simpson, has survived from being a short stack numerous times, doubling back into the game and then dropping down to a shoving stack once more. Sadly for Simpson, his time has run out. After doubling up to 262k in a hand where he held A-J and managed to hold against a who got it in on the flop with a flush draw.
The next hand, however, he had against Yung Cheung’s and flopped well, it coming . The 
on the turn was no danger, but the river decimated his stack, doubling Cheung to around 550k and sending Simpson out a couple of hands later with next to nothing going into the middle. He wins a terrific £1,110 for his efforts this weekend, fine value on a $2 qualifier ticket.
On the Rail
What a great final day so far, with the rail bustling and lots of interest from friends and family. The Wimbledon final is on in the background and right here in Aspers we’re metaphorically ‘into the fifth’… who’d want to miss these WPT National events?
Fantastic.
Level 22: Blinds 12000/24000/4000 – 18 Players Remaining – Average Stack 615,555
Chip-counts At The 1st Break
Here are how the final 18 players are shaping up as they head for their first break of the day. Eight players busted, now just three tables of six players remain (play is officially 8-handed).
Gabriel Tuna 1.3m
Agron Gjergji 1.2m
Mantas Zeringis 1.15m
Ben Howell 1.0m
Svetlin Ivanov 980,000
Tristan Chaplin 910,000
Nayden Tonov 753,000
Justin Moutousamy 703,000
Anooj Sareen 571,000
James Greenwood 440,000
Gus Gulfer 422,000
Quoc Nong 402,000
Steven Graham 324,000
Mo Shenahzen 287,000
Yung Cheung 245,000
James Charlton 210,000
Dave Simpson 107,000
Kevin Neal 165,000
Howell On Holiday?
Our latest all-in and a call features one player (Kevin Neal) who has hardly been outside the casino all weekend, and another (Ben Howell, pictured above) who was 30 minutes late to the fianl today because he was working a shift in his day job of being a travel agent!
“Yeah, that cost me 70k!” said Ben, who was all-in over-the-top of a Kevin Neal raise to 66k for a total shove of 268,000 chips. Kevin Neal was all too pleased to get his chips into the middle, with . Howell, however, held and he rode out the board to double up to around 540,000. He’s right back in the hunt for the title, but Kevin Neal has 38k and not so much a dream as the biggest piece of positive thinking in the casino. A chip, a chair… but always a smile.
Kurtains For Kayan
Kayan Kayastha (above, centre) has departed the WPT National UK London Main Event inn 20th place after losing a million-chip pot against Svetlin Ivanov, who has become someone to fear on this final day. Kayan was the aggressor pre-flop, but both players wanted it in the middle. The ‘shove’ was actually nothing of the sort, as it was declared as an amount from Ivanov, and Kayan only called, meaning 20k was left behind in Ivanov’s stack. It was obviously going straight into the middle immediately following the flop, however, and so it did, when the player’s cards were on their back it was obvious why.
Kayan Kayastha
Svetlin Ivanov
The board played out to leave Kayan crippled, and he lost his remaining shrapnel in the next hand to bust.
Gus Is Golden
Gus Golfer may tower his chips in an almost uncountable skyscraper style, but he is the politest of gentlemen to his fellow players…before taking their money.
On a flop of , Gus saw his opponent, Kyle Wilson, shove all-in and Gus was not a believer, calling with . Wilson was ahead, having the perfectly legitimate , but although the turn of a was innocent enough, a on the river spelled the end for Wilson and gave Gus yet more chips to pile up to the ceiling.
Busting in 21st was Viktor Ilyukhin, who got extremely short and shoved with , but was called by . A six joined a king on the flop, but that was all the drama and Viktor banks just under a grand to add to his roll.
We’ve told you about Viktor, Kyle and Phil but want to know who cashed before them? Here you go.
24th – Leo Lim £870.00
25th – Vladimir Marchevici £765.00
26th – Kevin Howrad £765.00
27th – Zanas Lubys £765.00
28th – Khadir Khoshawy £675.00
29th – Anne Loughlin £675.00
30th – Bobbie Brummitt £675.00
31st – The Dang £675.00
32nd – Van Vu £675.00
33rd – Gabor Zamosi £675.00
34th – Tom Carpenter £675.00
35th – Alin Torjoc £675.00
36th – Denas Benevicius £675.00
37th – Patrick Boudreau £600.00
38th – Mohammed Ali £600.00
39th – John Gilbert £600.00
40th – Krystian Schodowski £600.00
41st -Katie Swift £600.00
42nd – George Alexander £600.00
43rd – Tony Sullivan £600.00
44th – Ian Fung £600.00
45th – Herve Decker £600.00
Philip Gould Is Flushed Away
Our Day 1 Chip Leader Phil Gould has left the tournament. Having been one of the biggest stacks in the tournament for much of the first two days (including two of the opening Day 1 flights), Phil started today halfway through the field but below average in chips. He’s never been able to improve that today, and crashes out in 23rd for £870.
On a two-spade flop, he led out and was called by Nayden Tonov, who did the same for half of Phil’s stack on the low spade on the turn. Another spade came on the river in the form of , Gould shoved his remaining 80k stack, and was called by Tonov’s to depart.
Feeling The Focus
Last night’s Players Party saw plenty of the players enjoying a free drink or five, as well as battling it out on the dance floor, throwing some shapes to win themselves a pair of Monster Headphones, which we’ve been giving away all weekend – nice one, partypoker!
Back at the tables, everyone is tuned in purely to information from the other players. With 23 players left, everyone wants to make that final table, with three tables in front of the Aspers Cardroom all practically silent.
Karan Karasytha is the only player here this weekend from Nepal, and indeed, Karan wonders if he’s the first Nepalese player to cash on the World Poker Tour. We can neither confirm or deny that for now, but its certain that the young man has brought some flair to the action this weekend. He raised to 42k pre-flop, but folded to a 240k shove from Steven Graham, confident enough that he was behind to show his folded hand, .
“I think you had kings.” he said of Graham, who clammed up.
Two Crash Out As Final Fireworks Begin!
Last night’s Players Party featured DJ Spoony on the decks, as shown above. He was a bit of a legend actually, staying an hour past his booked time to give all the players a night they’ll either never forget or struggle to remember!
Today, the cards are spinnning faster than Spoony’s records! We’ve already lost two players from the final day here at Aspers as the World Poker Tour National Event has kicked off in fine style.
Kevin Howard was the first man to bust, but he was followed out of the door very soon after by Vladimir Marchevici, who shoved pre-flop for 125,000. He was called in two spots, by chip leader Gabriel Tuna and one other. the flop came and Tuna led out 300k, enough to send his other opponent out of the running. He turned over , which was way ahead of Marchevici’s , which couldn’t improve on the or river.
James Charlton has moved in for 228,000 but got no callers, and rakes in a valuable 80k or so pot. Any shove at this stage that gets through is extremely valuable, and its making the action hotter than the Wimbledon Centre Court baseline!
Level 20: Blinds 8000/16000/2000 ante – 26 Players Remaining – 420,000 Average Stack
The Final Is Here!
26 players begin play here at the WPT National Event in London, and Aspers Stratford
Gabriel Tuna (pictured) 1,190,000
Agron Gjergji 1,164,000
Anooj Sareen 1,090,000
Svetlin Ivanov 900,000
Tristan Chaplin 601,000
Gursel Gulfer 539,000
Yung Cheung 489,000
Nayden Tonov 484,000
James Greenwood 446,000
Cristian Ciuperca 445,000
Quoc Nong 407,000
Mohammad Shanehzan 355,000
Philip Gould 338,000
Benjamin Howell 336,000
Victor Ilyukhin 336,000
Karan Kayastha 320,000
Justin Moutousamy 313,000
Kevin Howard 278,000
James Charlton 272,000
David Simpson 260,000
Kevin Neal 243,000
Mantas Zeringis 218,000
Steven Graham 216,000
Kyle Wilson 151,000
Vladimir Marchevici 141,000
Leo Lim 83,000
