Martins Adeniya Spins Shortest Stack into First Pot Limit Omaha Trophy at UKIPT Series
London, UK - 25th May
Full Tilt Poker Ambassador Martins Adeniya has won the first ever UKIPT Series Pot Limit Omaha event at The Hippodrome Casino, London, taking home £4,800 from a total prizepool of £17,560. He started the day firmly in last place in chips, but turned a tiny stack into a victory, proving the old adage that all you need to win a poker tournament is “a chip and a chair.”
“I was going to come back [for Day 2] with less than half my starting stack,” reminisced Adeniya, “So I watched the Champions League final and played online until 7am.” That was not, however, a pre-final tactic he recommended. “I wasn’t planning on making the final – I just turned up to see what happened. But I wasn’t going to punt it off; I can play short-stacked Omaha.”
The £250 + £25 UKIPT Series PLO event was held May 23rd-25th, continuing the Series’ paralleling of the UKIPT with affordable buy-in, deep-stacked events held at PokerStars LIVE in the heart of London.
Day 2 began with Sidney Oppong, the only player to have amassed more than 100,000 chips during either starting flight, comfortably leading 29 survivors – some, including Adeniya, very short-stacked. Three levels in, however, Pot Limit Omaha had proven its reputation for swings to be well-deserved, as a new chip leader emerged in the form of Stephen Pearce. Pre-bubble, dangerous players like Wesley Oudshoorn, Louis Schwartz and even Oppong himself found themselves on the rail, as the vagaries of tournament PLO took their toll.
The bubble period was cagey, but after the elimination of Full Tilt Poker Ambassador (and Day 1a’s chip leader) Sinem Melin in 13th place, a flurry of action finally saw off an unlucky Marc McFadden in the last cashless spot.
With a payday guaranteed, just one 30 minute level passed before the final table was set:
Clifford Jacobs, United Kingdom, 206,000
Martins Adeniya, United Kingdom (Full Tilt Poker Ambassador) 294,000
Deborah Rogers, United Kingdom, 101,000
Grant Mason, United Kingdom, 68,000
Patrick Hudson, United Kingdom, 393,000
Stephen Pearce, United Kingdom, 162,000
Samuel Welbourne, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) 140,000
Richard Wild, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) 57,000
There was action from the first hand, with Adeniya feeling the sharp end of no fewer than three early double ups. His chips went to Deborah Rogers, Richard Wild and Grant Mason – although the latter went on to bust first from the final (8th for £655) – not bad for a freeroll qualification at The Hippodrome Casino. One-time chip leader Stephen Pearce soon followed him in 7th, when his pre-flop all-in with single-suited eights went the way of caller Samuel Welbourne, whose overcards ended up bringing him a full house.
Half a level later, a slow-starting pot between Richard Wild and Welbourne escalated into an all-in situation on a
-Js-5h flop, Wild’s set of jacks failing to hold, in the end, against Welbourne’s straight wrap. Down to five, with the average stack remaining relatively short (as it had been all final), Clifford Jacobs took the plunge preflop but fell to ever-more-comfortable new chip leader Patrick Hudson.
Deborah Rogers was the next player to run out of room to manoeuvre chip-wise – down to just three big blinds she took her chances against her previous chip donator Adeniya, but this time failed in her double-up goal and had to settle for 4th place and £1,720.
There followed a tussle for the chip lead between Hudson and undisputed comeback champion of the day (if not the whole UKIPT season 4) Adeniya. The crucial hand, from which Hudson never recovered, saw him match up a similar hand with Adeniya (
-Ks-8c-7s vs. As-Kc-8d-2c, all in preflop) but Adeniya’s seven made a second pair for him, giving him the boost he needed to bust Hudson in 3rd (£2,235).
Heads up, 30 year old professional poker player Welbourne cut in to Adeniya’s chip lead, starting their first two-man break with an almost even stack. On their return, fewer than ten minutes passed before the final hand – a wrap for Adeniya vs. Welbourne’s overpair - gave Adeniya his first live Pot Limit Omaha title.
Regularly to be found playing $5/$10 PLO online, Adeniya has up until now not even cashed in a live Omaha event, and will be using this tournament as a warm-up for World Series PLO events. Of the game itself, which certainly demonstrated its capacity for upsets today, Adeniya said, "I like the swinginess - when it's going my way!"
• For full details of the major hands, and other crucial action from the final table, visit the PokerStars Blog.
Full payouts from the £250 + £25 UKIPT Series Pot Limit Omaha event:
1st. Martins Adeniya, United Kingdom (Full Tilt Poker Ambassador) £4,800
2nd. Samuel Welbourne, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) £ 3,415
3rd. Patrick Hudson, United Kingdom, £ 2,235
4th. Deborah Rogers, United Kingdom, £ 1,720
5th. Clifford Jacobs, United Kingdom, £ 1,360
6th. Richard Wild, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) £ 1,065
7th. Stephen Pearce, United Kingdom, £ 840
8th. Grant Mason, United Kingdom, £ 655
9th. Toran Nicholls, United Kingdom, £ 500
10th. Axel Briend, France, £ 435
11th. Adam Owen, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) £435
While the next UKIPT Series event returns to the No Limit Hold’em format (August 8th-10th at The Hippodrome Casino, London), the next stop on the UKIPT is its holiday jaunt to Casino Marbella as part of the PokerStars Marbella Festival. The €1,000 + €100 Main Event (in association with the ESPT) runs from June 11th-15th. Visit ukipt.com for details. Qualify now for as little as €2 on PokerStars.com.
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