After a disastrous performance from the British contingent in last year's World Series of Poker, little was expected this time around, but as James Akenhead headed into the final day of Event 2's No Limit Hold'Em Freezeout in third place, our hopes were momentarily rejuvenated.
After eliminating Chris 'Jesus' Ferguson in third, James found himself in the enviable position of heads up with only Missouri's Grant Hickle standing in his way. With the Hit Squad in tow, James had the full support of the rail, and was seemingly crushing his opponent, his aggressive, yet calculated playing style proving too much for his opponent to handle.
However, poker is a game in which luck plays a factor, and when finding himself virtually all-in with T-4 versus James' superior A-K, Hinkle was in need of divine intervention to capture gold. The T-T-4 flop was clinical, anther ten on the turn sealing victory and rubbing salt into already open wounds.
This tournament was truly history-making. With 3,929 total entries, it was the largest poker tournament in the 39-year history of the World Series outside the Main Event. The starting field was so large this year that it was split into two starting days, with separate flights. The first day lured 2,048 players into the Rio, whilst the second attracted 1,881.
Although the event was scheduled to conclude within four days, the 5am final table finish meant that the tournament actually spanned over a five day period, the event taking a total of 53 and a half hours to complete.
A former train driver from London, James Akenhead came into this event in good form after finishing third in the recent GUKPT in Newcastle. However, he was unable to follow in the footsteps of fellow Hit Squadder Praz Bansi, who earned himself a bracelet last year, but will ultimately be delighted with his $520,219 in winnings.
A 27-year old marketing director from Kansas, Grant Hinkle takes home $831,462 which will surely be used in some way for his birthday which he celebrates later this week. Like James, Grant was also heavily supported on the rail, his mother, brother and several friends making the overnight flight to Vegas to offer their cheers.
The final results were as follows:
1st Grant Hinkle (Kansas City, Missouri) -- $831,462.00
2nd James Akenhead (London ,United Kingdom) -- $520,219.00
3rd Chris Ferguson (Pacific Palisades, California) -- $388,287.00
4th Theo Tran (Las Vegas, Nevada) -- $327,148.00
5th Mike Ngo (New Orleans, Louisiana) -- $268,154.00
6th Aaron Coulthard (Waterloo, Ontario, Canada) -- $211,841.00
7th Melvin Jones (Chicago, Illinois) -- $158,211.00
8th David Bach (Athens, Georgia) -- $117,987.00
9th Joe Rutledge (Pasadena, Texas) -- $83,127.00
At time of writing, four events have been completed with some big names taking bracelet gold. In the case of Dave Singer and Erick Lindgren, it is a long awaited victory after a series of near misses.
Singer, who final tabled the marathon HORSE event of 2006, went into his final table of Event 3's $1,500 Pot Limit Hold'Em Freezeout as a shortstack, but showed magnificent patience to earn a heads-up spot against Jacobo Fernandez, who had been dominating the table throughout. However, although performing admirably in what was to be a four hour final table, Fernandez lost a coinflip for a monster pot and never managed to recover. Singer, who earned $214,131 for his win, became one of few players to cash twice in one day when he came 353rd in Event 2, before hopping over to Event 3 and making the money in that one several hours later.
Meanwhile, Lindgren was busy triumphing in Event 4's Mixed Limit Freezeout, toppling a tough final table of Howard Lederer, Roland de Wolfe and heads up opponent Justin Bonomo. Lindgren won $374,505 in prize winnings, but will surely treasure the bracelet more after a runner up finish two years ago.
Finally, the opening event of the entire series went to Nemad Medic, who fended off an equally star-studded final table to triumph in the hotly contested $10,000 Pot Limit Hold'Em Freezeout. Medic, a 25-year old professional poker player from Ontario, Canada, later commented: “I have never really done that well at the World Series. But I came in with very high expectations this year. To win a gold bracelet at the World Series is such a great honor. This tournament only comes around once a year, to win an event here is really amazing." For more information on this event, click here.