January 10th: 236 players entered the first tournament of the Amateur Poker Association & Tour's third season, the United Kingdom Online Championship, which was held at Blue Square.
Competitors, including a number of current and past APAT National Champions, enjoyed 10,000 starting chips and a generous structure. However, with a national title and added GUKPT main event seat up for grabs, play was competitive throughout and the first casualty; 'HookorbyCrook1', exited to 'belovedltd' within the first 15 minutes.
There were spectacular hands aplenty and 'Morlspin' received maximum reward early when he Flopped Quad Jacks. Opponent '1TR1' pushed in on spiking a King on the River, only to learn the bad news.
A final table was reached after four and a half hours of play and the final ten players lined up as follows:-
Seat 1 - The Geeny87 - 478k
Seat 2 - clubrepscottyp - 263k
Seat 3 - Honeybadg - 465k
Seat 4 - Misha001 - 102k
Seat 5 - vandey90 - 203k
Seat 6 - badcawl1 - 156k
Seat 7 - The Biggins73 - 105k
Seat 8 - Panchowin - 159k
Seat 9 - gucciness - 98k
Seat 10 - I8MOONS - 258k
The blinds were at 10k / 20k when the final started and the action was very fast paced throughout.
The first to exit was 'gucciness' in 10th, when her Ace / Jack suited was no match for 'clubrepscottyp's' pocket Kings.
'TheBiggins73' went in 9th when his Ace / Eight of Clubs fell behind to the Flopped two pair of 'clubrepscottyp'.
'vandey90' went in 8th when making a badly timed move on 'badcawl1' with an offsuit Three / Four.
A pivotal hand followed, when the pocket Aces of 'TheGeeny87' lost a huge pot to 'badcawl1's' offsuit King / Ten - 'badcawl1 hitting a Ten on the Flop and spiking a pot winning Ten on the River.
Under pressure for the first time in the tournament, 'TheGeeny87' switched gears and chased the action for the remainder of the tournament, ultimately leading to his victory. He doubled up to 232k shortly afterwards calling 'I8MOONS' pocket Fours, commiting all in with pocket Sixes.
Two controversial hands were to follow. In the first, 'TheGeeny87' pushed all of his chips into the middle holding Queen / Five suited on an Ace / Six / Six board, with two Spades. 'clubrepscottyp' called holding Queen / Ten of Spades, to find himself in better shape than he could have anticipated. The cards were cruel though and the ensuing Turn and River both produced Fives and from nowhere, 'TheGeeny87' had become a significant chip leader, leaving 'clubrepscottyp' crippled.
These two were to clash again shortly afterwards, when a short 'clubrepscottyp' pushed with Ace / Jack, and found himself called by his nemesis, who now had both chips and momentum. 'TheGeeny87' was well behind with an Ace / Ten of Hearts, but he hit a flush with triple runner Hearts, to knock 'clubrepscottyp' out in 7th.
'TheGeeny87' was unstoppable at this stage and with a gigantic stack he was dominating every pot and running incredibly well. His King / Jack of Clubs hit double runner Clubs to defeat the pocket Aces of 'Honeybadg', knocking him out in 6th.
With 'TheGeeny87' holding over 1.4 million in chips, the remaining players at the final table appeared resigned to battling for the podium places, as opposed to the title.
Next to go was 'badcawl1' in 5th, when his Ten / Seven offsuit failed to connect against 'Misha001'.
'Panchowin' went shortly in 4th, leaving the three remaining players in the Medals.
'I8MOONS' took the Bronze Medal, when his desperate push with Three / Four of Clubs failed to improve against 'TheGeeny87's' paired Ace.
Heads up was short lived and finished in similar fashion to earlier hands. A short stacked 'Misha001', prefaced an all in push with Ace / Jack offsuit with a plea to "be gentle with me".
'TheGeeny87' obliged with a loose call, holding Eight / Nine offsuit, however a Nine on the Flop and an Eight on the River ended the contest; awarding 'Misha001' the Silver medal and 'TheGeeny87' the APAT UK Online Championship Title, Gold Medal and an entry to a GUKPT main event.
While 'TheGeeny87' undoubtedly hit his share of hands late in the tournament, he played a very accomplished game and was a dominant force throughout the event, culminating in a very well deserved victory.
The final payouts were:-
1st - The Geeny87 - $3,186
2nd - Misha001 - $1,829
3rd - I8MOONS - $1,180
4th - Panchowin - $944
5th - badcawl1 - $708
6th - Honeybadg - $590
7th - clubrepscottyp - $472
8th - vandey90 - $365
9th - The Biggins73 - $271
10th - gucciness - $188
The top 18 players received Online Championship ranking points and in total, 30 players cashed.
The top three players were Matthew Roberts (‘TheGeeny87’), Cheltenham,
Bob Ballou (‘Misha001’), Bexhill-On-Sea and Brian Martin (‘I8MOONS’), Middlewich. They will be presented with their Medals at the UK Amateur Poker Championship, which takes place in Walsall on February 7th & 8th.
The APAT Welsh Online Championship will take place at Blue Square on February 21st at 8pm.
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