While US eyes are on the Poker Masters in Vegas and the WCOOP dominates the online calendar, British and Irish players were drawn to London as the PokerStars UKIPT came to town.
The flagship £1,100 Main Event pulled in a healthy 374 runners, creating a prize pool of £359,040, with everyone who survived a day 1 flight making the money.
The 56 who cashed were whittled down to just eight by the end of day two, with Daniel Bedson holding the chip lead. However, he found out quickly on Sunday that the final table wasn't going to be smooth sailing.
He got his chips in the middle with A-9 on a 7-9-Q-7 board, and was already well behind Dylan Bradley's 6-7. The final seven dropped on the river and served as both an exclamation point on the hand and a sign of things to come.
Bradley and Bedson shared executioner duties for a while. Bradley took out Doyhun Kim and Oscar Kirby-Hogarty, while Bedson kept up the pace by eliminating Eliot Granjon and Mantas Urbonas.
However, the two then tangled in a huge pot, which Bradley won, giving him a massive chip lead, more than the other three players combined.
Deal or no deal?
Play was paused at this point to discuss a possible deal, but the players (chip stacks below) couldn’t agree terms.
- Dylan Bradley – 6.45 million
- Stephen Cherry – 1.73 million
- Daniel Bedson – 1.68 million
- Bojidar Boiadjiev – 1.28 million
It was the right call for Bradley, and he took out overnight chip leader Bedson and then Bojidar Boiadjiev before making short work of Stephen Cherry heads-up.
Cherry hit top pair on a 6-7-8 flop and urged his opponent to call. Bradley had 7-9, made the call and hit his five on the turn. When poker's going your way, it's a lot of fun. Cherry made a useless two pair on the river.
It meant UKIPT glory for 22-year-old Bradley, who recently graduated from university with a degree in Accounting and Finance Management.
“It’s great; it’s nice to win,” he said after lifting the trophy, adding, “I just ran well on the final table, to be honest. It hasn’t really sunk in yet. It’s nice to get the trophy.”
UKIPT London £1,100 main event results
| Place | Player | Prize |
| 1 | Dylan Bradley (UK) | £71,650 |
| 2 | Stephen Cherry (UK) | £44,700 |
| 3 | Bojidar Boiadjiev (Bulgaria) | £31,930 |
| 4 | Daniel Bedson (UK) | £24,550 |
| 5 | Mantas Urbonas (Lithuania) | £18,870 |
| 6 | Eliot Granjon (UK) | £14,510 |
| 7 | Oscar Kirby-Hogarty (UK) | £11,160 |
| 8 | Dohyun Kim (South Korea) | £9,200 |
Feature image courtesy of Danny Maxwell / PokerStars
