Better late than never......European Open

[tikay]

Rifling through my e-Mails, & things to do list, I found this today - only a month late. Strangely, I never had a further Update from either Mr Lush at Party Poker, or Anthony Leaver at Matchroom, so I can't tell you any more, officially, but I believe it was announced on blonde that Nick "quantify" Slade actually got the job finished. If so, well done him.

February 5, 2008: Ian Frazer won a dramatic Turbo Heat in London last night (February 4) to claim the last spot in the first semi-final of the PartyPoker.com European Open IV.

 

The Razor joins heat winners Craig Burgess, GUKPT Grand Final winner Mike Ellis, UK Open Champ Andrew Feldman, Jeff Buffenbarger and Nick Slade in the first semi-final on Thursday night, after beating Ghassan El-Hoss heads-up in the Turbo, which lasted less than an hour.

 

The Turbo Heat is a new addition to the tournament, fought out by the six runners-up from the first set of heats. The players have 20 seconds to make their move or their hand is dead and the blinds go up every seven hands.

 

It was sure to be a fiery affair with some big names sitting round the table. David Johnson was first to leave and Dave Hancher soon followed after surrendering his stack to be left with just 1,000 in chips with the blinds up to 10/20 as quick as a flash.

 

The 15/30 level proved too much for Hendon Mobster Barny Boatman who didn’t stand a chance all-in with 10 4 against Frazer’s K J, and the 2005  European and UK Open champion soon came out on top in an on-running battle with Anthony Nicholls. The Nottingham-man had left Frazer with just a touch over 50,000 earlier in the piece, but Frazer battled back to take Nicholls out.

 

Frazer was a massive chip leader going into the heads-up with El-Hoss, and it didn’t take long for him to clean-up. His K 8 was always going to be too strong for the plucky El-Hoss and the full-house with the 8 10 K Q 8 board is a warning to the rest that Ian’s got both his game and the cards on his side.

 

The heats for the second semi get underway today with another strong line up with Ian Woodley and Luke Patten in the mix. WSOP Europe winner Annette Obrestad and runner-up John Tabatabai  take on Andy Black and World Open winner Anthony Hardy later today with Premier League Poker winner Juha Helppi, Roy “The Boy” Brindley, Roland De Wolfe, and, of course, 11-time WSOP bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth still to play their heats.

 

RESULTS SO FAR

 

Celebrity qualifying heat:

 

1) Michael Le Vell (Coronation Street actor) – through to Heat 1, 2) Spoony (), 3) Jack Marsden (Heatbeat actor), 4) Austin Healey (Rugby Union), 5) Wayne Mardle (Darts), 6) Brandon Block ()

 

Heat 1

 

1) Craig Burgess – through to semi-final, 2) Dave Hancher – through to Turbo Heat, 3) Dave Gregory, 4) Achilleas Kallackis, 5) Simon Craig, 6) Michael Le Vell

 

Heat 2

 

1) Mike Ellis, 2) Ian Frazer, 3) John Exley, 4) Rob Cooper, 5) Graham Smith, 6) Nathan Lee

 

Heat 3

 

1) Andrew Feldman, 2) Ghassan El-Hoss, 3) Leon Loukaides, 4) David Smith, 5) Scott Fenton, 6) Andy Greeksfish

 

Heat 4

 

1) Jeff Buffenbarger, 2) Barny Boatman, 3) Dave Garbacz, 4) Albert Sapiano, 5)Piers Shepperson, 6) Ryan Fronda

 

Heat 5

 

1) Nick Slade, 2) David Johnson, 3) Jonny Hewston 4) Andy Arnott, 5) Theo Dalton, 6) Christoph Haller

 

Heat 6

 

1) Dave Broadhurst, 2) Anthony Nicholl, 3) Jan Peter Jachtmann, 4) Simon Zach, 5) Darren Hickman, 6) Dale Hoy.

 

Heat 7

 

1) Phil Curtis, 2) Dixie Dean – through to Turbo Heat 2, 3) Ben Grundy, 4) Surinder Sunar, 5) Michael McCool, 6) Neil Channing

 

Turbo Heat 1

 

1) Ian Frazer, 2) Ghassan El-Hoss, 3) Anthony Nicholls, 4) Barny Boatman, 5) Dave Hancher, 6) David Johnson

 

To be played:

 

Heat 8 – Tuesday, February 5

 

Luke Patten, Ian Woodley, Steve Holden, Gary Paterson, Tim Flanders, Ashley Hayles.

 

Heat 9 – Tuesday, February 5

 

Dave Matte, Annette Obrestad, Andy Black, Anthony Hardy, John Tabatabai, Roberto Romanello

 

Heat 10 – Wednesday, February 6

 

Liam Flood, Barry Carter, Bronwyn Campbell, Marty Smyth, Lascelle Barrow, Mohammed Shafiq

 

Heat 11 – Wednesday, February 6

 

Ian Cox, Richard Ashby, Marc Goodwin, Roland De Wolfe, Damon Ioannou, Derek Rosenberg

 

Heat 12 – Thursday, February 7

 

Phil Hellmuth, John Magill, Juha Helppi, Paul Jackson, Roy Brindley, Darren Brown

 

Turbo Heat 2 – Thursday, February 7

Semi-final 1 – Thursday, February 7

 

Craig Burgess, Mike Ellis, Andrew Feldman, Jeff Buffenbarger, Nick Slade, Ian Frazer

 

Semi-final 2 – Friday, February 8

Final – Friday, February 8

[quantify]

that althsymers (cant remember how you spell it) is a rough thing to deal with, you posted this a month a go ........... even the local paper got the final press release,

[tikay]

that althsymers (cant remember how you spell it) is a rough thing to deal with, you posted this a month a go ........... even the local paper got the final press release,

Nah, the first sign of Alzheimers Disease is when you can't spell "Alzheimers"......

Next case.

[quantify]

said i cant remember how to spell it............



you notts lads dont do humour...............bit worried you studied it that much you know howwww to spell it sir

good effort on oroginal post me thought though;)

[tikay]

said i cant remember how to spell it............



you notts lads dont do humour...............bit worried you studied it that much you know howwww to spell it sir

good effort on oroginal post me thought though;)

Yup, the memory goes next......

Trust me, Notts Humour is OK, it whooshes Northeners every time. Shame I don't live in Notts though.

Away with you now, I'm busy. Now, what I was doing?

[celtic]

you posted this ages ago TK. cant find the thread though.

[tikay]

you posted this ages ago TK. cant find the thread though.

I was actually looking for the Matchroom e-Mail with the Final Result, but I failed to find it, so Posted this again in error.

[SuffolkPunch]

you posted this ages ago TK. cant find the thread though.

I was actually looking for the Matchroom e-Mail with the Final Result, but I failed to find it, so Posted this again in error.

I just happen to have this sitting around    .....


NICK SLAYED A WORLD CLASS FIELD TO WIN THE PARTYPOKER.COM EUROPEAN OPEN IV

FINALLY THE ODDS FAVOUR THE PRESTON PRO

 

London – 11th February 2008 – The odds have seemed stacked against 45 year-old Nick Slade in recent years but the professional from Preston, Lancashire in the UK took down the biggest title of his career when he scooped $200,000 and the PartyPoker.com European Open IV title last week.

 

In 2006, Slade was regarded as one of the rising stars on the European circuit but serious illness to his wife Jane, 43 and a water skiing accident that shattered his neck in May last year meant he quit the game and almost gave up hope of clawing back the prestigious status he once had. He had never played a televised short-handed event before and was regarded as a 100/1 outsider by PartyBets.com in a top quality 72 runner field.

 

“This is my biggest cash by quite some way, it’s an amazing feeling,” said Slade. “The money will come in very handy and I intend to take my three kids to Florida on a holiday and get back on the circuit. My wife is over the worst, I just hope this is the start of a new chapter in our lives.”

 

Slade was heads-up with 45-year-old Worcester internet sports trader Craig Burgess and both were regarded as outsiders on a final table that also included WSOP Europe winner Annette Obrestad, Premier League winner Juha Helppi, former European Open champion Ian Frazer and Josh Tyler. The players carried their chips through from the semi-finals and Slade was fourth at that stage with 124,000. Frazer was the chip leader with 469,000, Tyler had 351,000, Obrestad 235,000, Helppi 114,000 and Burgess 107,000. The balance of power swung dramatically throughout with Tyler, Obrestad and Frazer all appearing to be in the box seat at a point. The defining hand that gave Slade the title saw Burgess go all-in with a pair of queens. Slade held king-three off suit and paired the king on the flop which held up.

“I did a lot of work studying Annette before the tournament because I thought that if I was to get anywhere she would be there or thereabouts. I basically knew that if she got a lot of chips she would continually try and re-raise me with a bag of rubbish and it proved to be right. I knew that Frazer would try and be the table captain, Helppi would be seriously solid and Tyler was a good player after encounters in cash games.”

Slade now has his eye on the PartyPoker European Challenge in Vienna in March and a variety of tournaments. He started his comeback recently and was buoyed by winning a tournament in Luton the week before. His heads-up opponent Burgess was absolutely delighted to finish second. “I was the short stack going into the final so finishing second was the best I could have asked for, especially considering the quality players that made the final table.”

First eliminated in the final was Helppi, whose ace king suited failed to overcome Obrestad’s pocket nines. Next to go was Tyler, whose pocket queens were busted by Slade’s ace eight suited when the eventual champion hit an ace on the turn. Perhaps the major turning point was when Obrestad made a move with jack seven off suit and ran into Slade with ace king. A king on the flop was great for Slade and Obrestad was out.  Frazer went out third after his king queen offsuit was beaten by Slade’s ten nine off suit when a nine came on the flop. Slade had some good fortune but showed strength throughout and went into the heads-up with Burgess with well over 90% of the chips on the table.

The Matchroom Sport organised event will be broadcast on Channel 5 in the UK later this year and distributed internationally. The buy-in was $7,000, creating a $504,000 prize fund. The winner of each of the 12 six seater heats progressed to a semi-final stage, and, for the first time in the event's history, the runners-up battled it out for the remaining two semi-final spots in “last chance” turbo heats. Bookies’ favourite Phil Hellmuth, Juha Helppi, UK Open Champion Andrew Feldman, recent PartyPoker.com Irish Poker Championship runner-up Michael McCool, Roland De Wolfe, Andy Black, Marty Smith, Roy Brindley, Ian Frazer, Ian Cox, Neil Channing, Surinder Sunar, Austin Healey and star of UK soap Coronation Street, Michael Le Vell, were amongst those who took to the felt. Defending champion Liam Flood was eliminated in his heat while Hellmuth was knocked out in the turbo heat after earlier scrapping with his Premier League foe Helppi. The ‘Poker Brat’ joined Jesse May in the commentary box.

A PartyPoker.com spokesman said: “There is little doubt that Nick Slade was amongst the outsiders at the start of the tournament and at the start of the final table. We congratulate him on his win and after all he has been through we hope this is a new dawn for him and his family.”

Eddie Hearn, Director of Online Gaming at Matchroom Sport said: "It's a huge achievement for both Nick and Craig to overcome such a strong field. We saw some of the world's biggest names fall in the race for the title and it was a thrilling final in which Nick thoroughly deserved his victory."

 

PARTYPOKER.COM EUROPEAN OPEN IV – 3 Mills, London 1st-8th February 2008

1st Nick Slade $200,000

2nd Craig Burgess $100,000

3rd Ian Frazer $50,000

4th Annette Obrestad $30,000

5th Josh Tyler $25,000

6th Juha Helppi $20,000

 

CHIP COUNTS AT THE START OF THE FINAL TABLE

Ian Frazer – 469,000

Josh Tyler – 351,000

Annette Obrestad – 235,000

Nick Slade – 124,000

Juha Helppi – 114,000

Craig Burgess – 107,000

For more information or pictures contact Warren Lush warrenl@partygaming.com +447947307899 or Anthony Leaver anthony.leaver@matchroom.com +447813845144

 

 

[George2Loose]

Frazer is a beat at these events. Simply amazing... even more aazing no Ian Cox there with him!