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Table Mallu

P. Dorrington    13,100
Ash Hussain      55,000
Alan McLean      38,400
D. Taylor            46,000
Rumit Somaiya    22,900
Luke Patten       87,100
Dave Clark          23,800
Ali Mallu             99,400

Table Neville     

E. MacLeod         17,200
S. Renoldi           2,300
Iwan Jones         12,000
K. Quinlan           5,100
Barry Neville        66,400
Lloyd Greensite    32,400
Ryan Fronda        28,100

Table Khajuria     

Paul Alterman      33,200
Steve Walmsley   14,600
Dave Courtney     49,700
Stasia Xanthos     21,000
Dave Bozzard       15,100
Mike Magee         12,100
Lalit Khajuria        50,300
Bambos Xanthos   18,200

Table Dean

Paul King           22,200
Carlo Citrone      21,600
T. Townley       13,500
B. Bravery         14,400
Sid Harris           32,700
Mark Harris         19,200
Tracey Dell         20,800
Paul Jackson        8,700
A. Dean             41,100

Iwan Jones doubles up in super quick time.

Battle of the blinds - A-Q vs A-6

Oh the action!  Don't know where to look - three eliminations in the first three minutes!

T. Townley, K. Quinlan and Mrs. Bambos are OUT, the latter falling to Lalit Khajuria's Kc Ks with her Td Th, all-in preflop.

Also, Adios Mike Magee... crikey, and all before breakfast!

And the hot early action continues...

Arshad Hussain raises to 3.7k from Trap 2, D Taylor smoothcalls a couple more seats along, only for Alli Mallu to make a deep reach from the Big Blind.

He reraised, well... a big column.

But it didn't matter, both opponents folded up like cheap suitcases.

I was sure Mallu was messing around, but he smugly reveals Pocket Kings.

"He's a card rack," comments Taylor. "Always has Queens, Kings or Aces."

Er... not sure that's true. Remember the 8-3 from yesterday?...

Young Simon Renoldi, supershortstack, just climbed to the dizzy heights of 6,000 after his Aspades 4d beat Iwan Jones Qc Kh.  Two fours arrived, incidentally.

Iwan, meanwhile, is up to 16,000 which in his own words sets him up to be "a contender."

Kev forced Jen and I to eat a full English breakfast.

Meanwhile, Alan McLean and Xanthos Bambos have bitten the dust.

Preflop action result in D Taylor and Lalit K seeing an expensive flop.

Both check the 7c Tc 6c board.

Taylor then 4k bets the Qd Turn and Lalit calls after a momentary dwell.

River = 7s

Taylor checks the table hard, Lalit bets 10k and Taylor calls.

Lalit shows Ahrt Qs and Taylor chucks his cards in disgust.

Barry Neville is OUT.

All-in preflop vs Alli Mallu

A-Q v A-K

Queen on the flop, but Alli Mallu makes a flush on the River.

Both men celebrate, Barry unaware that Mallu had rivered the flush.

Mallu now the big chip leader.

As I was returning from breakfast, Paul Jackson was walking the other way.  "Bye," he said.  Infer from that what you will.

Double up for Womble (pretty spectacular, too):

Dave Clark made it 4k in mid position, while Paul Alterman re-raised on the button (a lot - committing himself for his whole 25k).  Short stack Womble on the small blind looked at one card and took the plunge.  Dave folded, and Womble said, "I have one overcard to your Tens..." showing the Ad.
Paul showed Qh Qc
Womble squeezed the other card, sliding out the perfectly-timed Ks!

Flop:  Aspades 3d Ac  "Keep it coming," murmured Womble.
Turn:  Ahrt
River:  5h

And Womble now has around 15k.

Alli Mallu is the chip-leader with 189,000

As the blinds rise to 800/1,600, the full counts of the remaining players:

Table Huge Chip Leader

Edward Macleod    6,000
Iwan Jones         17,400  ("Ali has the best part of 200k.  And I hate him.")
Ali Mallu             195,000
Carlo Citrone       20,000
Luke Patten       81,500
Lloyd Greensite   34,000
Ryan Fronda       28,000

Table Quads

Paul Alterman      35,600
Womble             10,000
Dave Courtney    75,000
Rumit Somaiya     30,000
Dave Taylor         52,000
Lalit Khajuria       84,000
Dave Clark          38,800

Table Shorter

Paul King           36,500
Ash Hussain       47,000
Sid Harris           17,000
Mark Harris         27,200
Dingdell             27,000
Dave Bozzard      12,500
Alan Dean          72,000

Table shortstacker, Edward MacLeod, has doubled up to 13,500 courtesy of Luke Patten.

Patten made the initial raise with A-7, MacLeod moved all-in with A-T, and Patten made the obligatory call.

No 7 arrives and the Scot doubles up.

Dave Taylor, after a valiant series of blind-taking all-ins, finally got called by Dave Clark's Th Td.  And the quads fairy smiled upon him, too - knocking Taylor out in the process.

Sid Harris has doubled up!

All-in preflop for 23,300 with Aspades Jc

Unfortunately for Sid, Mark 'Monkey' Harris is seated next door with Pocket Queens (Qc Qh) and makes the call.

The 5s Jc 8s flop gives Sidney a few more outs.

No jack on the 6s Turn...

but the 4s River gives the underdog a flush.

Sid wins the battle of the Harris's (or Harri) with a gut-wrenching River, leaving Monkey Harris to hold his head in his hands, absolutely devastated.

Sid rises to 46,000, whilst Mark drops right down to the paltry sum of 1,500.

And with that, the final two tables are being redrawn...

Bear in mind they're only paying 9 places, as follows:

1  £50,400
2  £28,800
3  £19,400
4  £13,700
5  £10,100
6   £6,500
7   £5,800
8   £5,000
9   £4,300

And yet another one is left to queue up for there 'I've been Mallued' stamp.

Mallu's latest victim is Lloyd Greensite, who exited in quite spectacular circumstances.

Greensite raises preflop from Trap 2 with Aspades Js, Mallu reraises, Greensite moves all-in and Mallu calls.

Mallu turns over the somewhat speculative hand of 2h 2c and punches the air in delight as a Deuce hits the flop.

Just to rub salt in wounds, the Jack arrives on the River.

Another bites the Mallu dust.

So we are still able to see likkle Mallu, the yellow 5k chips have been brought into play, making a lot easier for us to count Alli's incredible 258k stack.

I think he may be the current chip-leader...

Womble doubles through and is now up to 40k.

K-K v Sid Harris's J-J

3-3-K-8-J board

Both players made full houses

17 now that Sid Harris has bitten the dust - he raised, and Lalit Khajuria put him all in (with AK).  Sid called with pocket Tens, but an Ace and King were the turn and river, putting an end to his run in the UK Open.

And their chips and seat counts are as follows:

Table Glad I'm not on it

Dave Bozzard     13,500
Dave Clark         93,000
Ash Hussain       63,000
Paul King           33,500
Ali Mallu           253,500
Carlo Citrone      10,500
Rumit Somaiya    27,500
Paul Alterman     25,000
Dave Courtney   66,000

Table Glad not to have Mallu

Iwan Jones         13,500
Lalit Khajuria       131,000
Ryan Fronda        28,500
Alan Dean           66,000
Luke Patten        63,000
Tracey Dell          24,000
Womble             38,500
Edward Macleod  14,000

Iwan Jones is OUT

Patten raised under the gun with Pocket Nines, Iwan moved in from the button with Pocket Eights

2-6-J-J-4 board was of no help

Battle of the blinds

Luke Patten raises from the small, Ding Dell moves all-in and Luke calls.

Luke = Kd Td

Tracey = Ks Qc

Board = 7h Qh 2d 6h Jh

Tracey is now up on 45k

Sorry to inform you that Paul just exited in 16th place...

He took a perfectly reasonable double up shot with Aspades Kc, and Dave Courtney was his adversary with the traditional Qc Qh.
Flop:  Ks 4s Ahrt
Turn:  Jd
River:  Td   and that straightened him out.  As it were.

Womble finishes in 15th place:

He raised to 7k preflop, and button Paul King moved in quickly.  Womble called even faster with his Kc Ks - and Paul looked relieved that he wasn't covered as he held Ad Kd.

Flop:  7d Aspades 2h
Turn:  Ahrt
River:  6d

And a quick farewell from Steve whose patient short stack play was not to be rewarded this time.

Alli Mallu raises 4.5k from the cut-off with Ac 2c, Carlo moves all-in from the button with Pocket Aces, Mallu calls the extra 4k.

Flop = Tc 9c Ts

Turn = 2d

River = 3s

Dave Bozzard finishes in 14th spot:



Micro-stacked Bozzard finally found A10 when Rumit found AQ - no help and the final tables are shorthanded...

Mallu has just gone a bit loco and doubled David Courtney up to 207k.

Courtney raised preflop, Mallu stuck in a chunky reraise from the small blind and Courtney moved all-in.

Courtney turns over Bullets, whilst Mallu reveals the eye-opening hand of Qc 8d

Board = 7d 4h 4d Kd 9c

Courtney can't quite believe his luck, adrenalin still visible in his shakey hands as he stacks his newly obtained mountain of chips.

Mallu, meanwhile, is rueing his error in judgment as he looks down at his now dwindled stack of 156k.

Tracy DingDell has gone on the offensive (quite right too at this juncture) - raising raisers without calls - except that one against Patten where she doubled through.  Just now Alan Dean raised under the gun to 7,000, and she raised him a suspicious 10k more.  He wasn't biting, and passed; she showed him Aspades Ahrt...

Up to 70k now.

Tenacious Outer Hebridean hanger-on Edward Macleod just moved in for his 6k on the button when it folded to him.  As a bonus, he held Ahrt 5d.  Small blind Paul King autocalled with 6s 9c.
The board:  Jd Kh Aspades 8s Kc  and Macleod says, "I've got a yellow chip," part of his 14k stack.

Ryan Fronda is OUT in dramatic circumstances.

Luke Patten raised  to 8k from under the gun with Pocket Queens, Ryan reraised another 13k more with the American Airlines.

Luke hesitated momentarily before pushing all-in and, of course, Ryan made a brisk call.

Flop = 2s Kh 8h

Turn = 2c

River = Qs

Tracy Dell knocks out Alan Dean in 12th place -

After a limp from Lalit, Alan on the button (a bluesquare qualifier, incidentally) pushed in for around 60k.  A pretty solid player, I was surprised to find Tracey on the big blind pushing straight in over the top.  Lalit got right out of the way, and they showed:

Dean:  Qc Qs
Dell:  Kc Kd

No help for an unlucky Mr. Dean who just ran into a monster (the Kings, not the lovely Tracey).  Getting near the final now... chip counts coming.

Here are the counts, as requested:  :)

Table Dell

Lalit Khajuria    72,000
Luke Patten    120,000
Tracey Dell      132,000
Edward Macleod  11,500
Paul King           85,000

Table Vying Leaders

Dave Clark       79,000
Ash Hussain     51,500
Ali Mallu          182,500
Carlo Citrone     11,000
Rumit Somaiya   46,000
Dave Courtney   196,000

And Edward Macleod finishes 11th, making a stand with A 10, but finding Lalit Khajuria with JJ.

Bubble time.

And bubbler today is Carlo Citrone - all-in with Qc Jc, and with Mallu on his right in the pot he must have known a call was coming.  Indeed it was - Td 7d in Ali's hand which spiked two tens to clinch it and get the final nine ready to battle for the money!

Seat 1: Arshad Hussain -- 44,500

Seat 2: Rumit Somaiya -- 36,500

Seat 3: Lalit Khajuria -- 50,000

Seat 4: Luke Patten -- 123,500

Seat 5: Alli Mallu -- 180,500

Final Tablists:

1. Arshad Hussain   44,500
2. Rumit Somaiya   36,500
3. Lalit Khajuria      50,000
4. Luke Patten     123,500
5. Ali Mallu           180,500
6. Dave Clark         76,000
7. Tracey Dell        127,000
8. Paul King           97,000
9. Dave Courtney   205,500

Seat 6: Dave Clark -- 76,000

Seat 7: Tracey Dell -- 127,000

Seat 8: Paul King -- 97,000

Seat 9: Dave Courtney -- 205,500

And they're off!

Lalit has doubled up right from the start.

A-J v Courtney's Q-J

And here they are in all their glory...

Good luck Dingdell!  ;cheerleader; ;bigglesdog;

I've got to say the action, even with Mallu and Courtney with many of the chips, has slowed right down.  Blinds are currently 1,500/3,000 so I'm guessing the pressure is being felt most acutely by Rumit.

One pot which got to showdown involved Lalit Khajuria on the button, and big blind Ali Mallu.  On a board of 10 K 6 6 10 (so either way there was a rivered Ten) I saw Ali picking up a 16k pot, and Lalit shaking his head.  Still smiling, though.

Rumit doubles up from a classic coin flip situation.

Rumit raised an extra 5k from the small blind, Lalit moved all-in and Rumit called.

Rumit = J-J, Lalit = A-K

Board = Q-Q-8-J-4

Rumit is shoots up to around 70k

After about a half hour of raise-y pass-y stuff, Ash has a go, raising to 9k.  Luke Patten flat calls in position and the blinds get out of the way.
Flop:  7d 5d 2c   Ash immediately moves in for his 40-odd thousand, and Luke calls (or, more precisely, plonks in a big old stack of yellows in a confident fashion).
Fair enough, he shows Ad Ahrt, while Ash's 5h 6h isn't without hope...
Turn:  2d  Now less hopeful
River:  Td  And all hope fades as Luke hits the nut flush.

So Ash Hussain is the 9th place finisher, winning £4,300

Chip counts from the cagey final:

Rumit           62,000    "In my usual position..."
Lalit Khajuria  87,000
Luke Patten  123,500
Ali Mallu         185,000
Dave Clark     76,000
DingDell        121,000
Paul King        97,000
Dave Courtney  165,000

Lalit raises in late position, and small blind Ali Mallu comes over the top for 60k.  A pass and open fold of Ad Jc from Lalit; Mallu shows back Ahrt Ks....

Sure thing!  She's taking her turn picking up the blinds along with the others... kind of surprised that the lineup on this table isn't generating more action.

In fact, it's Rumit who's taken the initiative, raising several times before getting it all in against Ali Mallu's Ac Qc with his Aspades Ahrt.  And doubling up.

Oooh, easy come, easy go!

Tracey raised from the cutoff, and Rumit re-raised from the blind.  Scary prospect though that might be, it didn't put her off making the third raise, all in for 63k on top.  Rumit called, eventually, with Ad Kd.
She showed Ts Td  (fearless!)

A nine-high board cut Rumit right back to 30k and gave Ms. Dell an intimidating stack of nearly 300,000!

But first, breaking Elimination News Now -

Lalit (on the button, again) raises it with Ahrt Jc (again) only to run into Ali Mallu on the big blind (again) with Aspades Kc (again).

This time there was no escape, and Lalit Khajuria finishes in 8th place, winning £5,000

Chip counts as the blinds rise to 3000/6000:

Rumit Somaiya    25,000
Luke Patten       165,000
Ali Mallu             290,000
Dave Clark          70,000
Tracey Dell         198,000
Paul King            57,000
Dave Courtney    148,000

And this is only in the last five minutes - Dave Clark had just 35k when he took on Luke Patten with 6h 6c.  Luke held Aspades 8d, but the race went Dave's way.

So, just now did Rumit's - the ever helpful Jamie tells me "he went from microstack to ministack."

Typical, it's quiet for two hours and then they all go bonkers... and it's mainly Rumit's doing.

Firstly, having built back to 44k he pushed under the gun with Aspades Qc.  Paul King in the cutoff, similarly stacked, called with 9s 9d.  An Ace on the turn knocked Paul down to just 7k.  So you think he might have finished 7th, right?

WRONG

Two of the precious five hands left to Paul went by, and on the second, Dave Clark made it 20k to go (a third of his stack).  Rumit in the small blind said that fateful phrase, "How much are you playing?" before pushing all in.  He covered Dave, and when the call was made these were the hands:
Dave showed:  Aspades Qh
Rumit showed:  Ac Kh.

The board 4s Jh 2c Jc 8d

Which made Dave Clark the 7th place finisher winning £5,800

So Paul King makes a move then?  No - there kicks off a massive battle of the blinds between Luke Patten (small blind) and Ali Mallou.  Raise, re-raise, an "I don't believe you" re-re-raise and they're on their backs.
Ali shows:  Kc Kh
Luke shows:  Ad 4d

A spiked Ace meant Ali Mallou is the 6th place finisher, receiving £6,500

And now, having climbed two spots in five minutes - Paul King exits in 5th, winning £10,100

Approximate Final Four Counts:

Rumit Somaiya   135,000
Luke Patten      330,000
Tracey Dell        267,000
Dave Courtney   240,000

More action!  Rumit is OUT in 4th for £13,700 (in quite eye-watering circumstances):

He flopped the second nut flush holding Kc 5c - the board 9c 4c 2c.  If he was wondering how to get paid, he needn't have worried, as the stacks went all-in (his and Dave Courtney's) on the 9s turn.
Dave showed:  9 T

River:  Ten.  House.  Out.

A great comeback already, though, for fourth spot.

Sorry - no counts yet as there have been Discussions...

Chop - £30k each, with £8,600 and the trophy still to play for...

AAARRRGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

The suspense is killing me. Tell me something, even if it's lies.

The world is flat.

The chip standings see Luke Patten surging ahead - a good chunk came from Tracey when he flopped a set and she called quite a big bet on the end (with top pair?)

Luke Patten     550,000
Tracey Dell       165,000
Dave Courtney  270,000

Luke Patten and Tracey Dell clash again, with the vast majority of the betting occurring when the board read:  5d 2c 6s 3h.
Tracey bet out 40k.  Luke said, "raise," and proceeded to place chips and then go back for more (also known as, all together now, String Betting) which meant that his raise stood at 45k.  Tracey moved all-in - Call!
Tracey showed:  Qs 4c for the straight
Luke showed, of all hands:  4s 7d for the higher one.  No help on the river, and

Tracey Dell finishes 3rd, winning £19,400  (£30k)

And in the blink of an eye (thanks Jamie once again) it's all over!

Aspades Qc for Dave Courtney, and Ahrt 2h for giant-stacked Luke Patten.  Luke hit a flush so that means...

Dave Courtney finishes 2nd, while Luke Patten is the UK Open Champion, 2006!

Winners photos coming if I can...

OK that's it from the UK Open Luton £1,500 Main Event - pics on interactive thread.  It's good to be back.

News item:

http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/3575 (http://www.blondepoker.com/index.php?q=node/3575)