Paul Newey Secures First-Ever Title at British Poker Open
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The Poker Central British Poker Open continued at Aspers Casino, Stratford, London on Sep. 5 and a brand new champion was crowned. Paul Newey locked up his first major live victory in a £10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em event and walked away with £156,400 for his troubles.
£10,500 No Limit Hold’em BPO Event #3 Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (GBP) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Paul Newey | United Kingdom | £156,400 | $172,171 |
| 2 | Sam Soverel | United States | £101,200 | $111,405 |
| 3 | Elio Fox | United States | £69,000 | $75,958 |
| 4 | Nikita Bodyakovskiy | Belarus | £46,000 | $50,638 |
| 5 | Sam Greenwood | Canada | £36,800 | $40,511 |
| 6 | Cary Katz | United States | £27,600 | $30,383 |
| 7 | Stephen Chidwick | United Kingdom | £23,000 | $25,319 |
A field of 46 players bought into Event #3: £10,500 No-Limit Hold’em and created a £460,000 prize pool that was shared among the top seven finishers.
Some major names busted during the first day’s play and missed out the chance to add to their vast live poker tournament winnings. These included Alex Foxen, Ludovic Geilich, David Peters, Mike Watson, recent BPO champion Luc Greenwood, and Koray Aldemir.
Aldemir Bubbles
According to the live updates, Aldemir was the unfortunate soul who to bubble after finishing in eighth place.
Sam Greenwood opened to 40,000 with ace-king from early position and Aldemir called in the big blind with queen-eight, leaving 300,000 chips behind. Aldemir check-called a 25,000 continuation bet on the queen-eight-seven flop and checked again when the king of hearts landed on the turn. Greenwood moved all in with his top pair and Aldemir snapped him off with his two pair. The ace of diamonds appeared on the river to gift Greenwood a better two pair and Aldemir headed to the rail with a bad beat story.
One more elimination took place on Day 1, that of Stephen Chidwick. The British superstar who won his first World Series of Poker bracelet this summer, busted in seventh place for a £23,000 score.
Day 2 Starts With Six Players
Day 2 started with six players in the hunt for the title and the tournament was done and dusted within two-and-a-half hours. Poker Central founder Cary Katz was the first of five players to bust in quick succession. Katz lost all but 25,000 chips when his ace-nine lost to the ace-seven of partypoker pro Nikita Bodyakovskiy and he shoved that micro stack into the middle with ace-four on the next hand. Elio Fox re-shoved for 1,200,000 with ten-nine only to see Newey call all-in for 580,000 with ace-queen. Newey’s hand held and his stack swelled to 1,200,000 while Katz headed to the cashier’s cage.
Newey then sent Greenwood to the rail in fifth place. Greenwood raised with ace-king of hearts and Newey called with jack-nine of diamonds. The flop came down ace-six-seven and was all red, but it was bad news for Greenwood as those red cards were all diamonds. Both men checked the flop. Newey checked again on the black four turn, Greenwood bet 90,000 and Newey check-raised to 225,000. After much deliberation, Greenwood called.
The three of clubs river prompted Newey to move all in. Greenwood called but didn’t look confident and the bad news was confirmed to the Canadian when the hole cards were revealed.
Newey Runs Hot
Newey’s one-man wrecking spree continued as he sent Bodyakovskiy to the rail. The Belarusian open-shoved for 460,000 with ace-jack and Newey called with the dominating ace-queen. A queen on the turn improved Newey’s chances of winning despite a possible chop being on the board. The board paired on the river to send Bodyakovskiy home in fourth place.
Elio Fox crashed out in third place in a hand against Sam Soverel who finished second in the PLO event the day previous. Fox raised to 290,000 with suited queen-nine then called off his remaining 420,000 when Soverel raised all in with what turned out to be pocket kings. Fox paired his queen on the flop but couldn’t find any more outs and had to console himself with the £69,000 third place prize.
Soverel held a narrow 2,480,000 to 2,120,000 chip advantage over Newey at the start of heads-up but his British opponent pulled level early into the battle.
The Hand That Almost Ended It All
The hand that practically ended the event saw Newey raise to 150,000 with pocket nines, Soverel three-bet to 525,000 with a pair of black jacks in the hole, and Newey shove. Soverel called and was a firm favorite to all but win this event. The queen-high flop failed to alter the course of the hand, but the nine of clubs on the turn left Soverel needing to find one of the two remaining jacks of four tens to stay in the tournament. Soverel missed on the river and was left with 50,000 chips, less than one big blind.
Soverel doubled on the next hand with ace-queen versus ten-six, but busted the hand after when his king-deuce lost to Newey’s five-four that improved to a straight.
It was a second runner-up finish in as many days for Soverel while a delighted Newey won his first major live poker tournament the day before his 50th birthday. Businessman turned poker player Newey has become a regular feature in high roller events around the world and now has more than $5.2 million in live winnings, enough to place him 11th in the English all time money listings.
British Poker Open Championship Standings
| Place | Player | Cashes | Points | Winnings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sam Soverel | 2 | 280 | £179,200 |
| 2 | Paul Newey | 1 | 200 | £156,400 |
| 3 | George Wolff | 1 | 200 | £120,000 |
| 4 | Luc Greenwood | 1 | 200 | £119,600 |
| 5 | Steve O’Dwyer | 1 | 140 | £72,800 |
| 6 | Stephen Chidwick | 2 | 140 | £71,000 |
| 7 | Elio Fox | 1 | 100 | £69,000 |
| 8 | Robert Flink | 1 | 100 | £41,600 |
| 9 | Mikita Badziakouski | 1 | 80 | £46,000 |
| 10 | Gavin Cochrane | 1 | 80 | £30,000 |
| 11 | Sam Grafton | 1 | 80 | £26,000 |
| 12 | Sam Greenwood | 1 | 60 | £36,800 |
| 13 | Joni Jouhkimainen | 1 | 60 | £24,000 |
| 14 | Cary Katz | 1 | 40 | £27,600 |
This second runner-up finish catapulted Soverel to the top of the British Poker Open Championship table and he now has 80 points more than Newey in second-place. Only Soverel and Chidwick have managed to cash in more than one event.
Action continues on Sep.6 with the £10,000 Short Deck event where Cary Katz leads the final five players. One of them will win £110,400, .
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