Baguley wins UKIPT Nottingham

UKIPT Nottingham promised a lot – the largest ever UKIPT starting field, a £1m guaranteed prizepool and the chance for one lucky player to write their name in the history books. After four long days, Robert Baguley is that player, walking off with a staggering £210,400 thanks to beating 1,625 runners in the greatest UKIPT of all time!

Baguley beat Iqbal Ahmed heads-up to nab the biggest prize ever awarded at a UKIPT Main Event. No small feat for the 60-year-old retired landlord, not least considering the stellar names who made the journey to Nottingham’s Dusk Till Dawn last week.

From Jake Cody to Liv Boeree, the best in poker were out in force. But Baguley – who grabbed his seat in a £100 live satellite – took down the lion’s share of the £1,137,500 prizepool, turning a final table short stack into a life-changing sum.

The Leicestershire local, a regular at Dusk Till Dawn’s £15 freezeouts, started the final table second to last in chips.  Ahmed on the otherhand looked a cert to win the event, cradling a monster stack at the start of play. And after eliminating four of the final eight players, he carried a 2:1 chip lead into heads-up against the inexperienced Baguley.

Unfortunately for Ahmed, Baguley won every key pot thereafter until finally eliminating the online pro an hour into heads-up action. In the final hand, Baguley opened for 450,000 before Ahmed shoved all-in with Jh-7d. Baguley made the call with Ah-10d and the board ran out 10h-4s-6d-6s-Kc to crown him the newest UKIPT champion.

‘They were all brilliant lads, especially Iqbal,’ Baguley said afterwards. ‘The final table was played in a wonderful atmosphere. No one had a wrong word to say all day.’

This year’s UKIPT Nottingham exceeded all expectations, and even Ahmed’s £125,000 runner-up prize surpasses Gareth Walker’s first place in 2011. Here’s hoping for more of the same next year!

The UKIPT Nottingham final table finished as follows:

1. Robert Baguley  £210,400
2. Iqbal Ahmed  £125,000
3. Grant Pirie  £96,700
4. Barry McMahon  £79,600
5. Hasmukh Khodiyara  £62,500
6. Nick Woodward  £45,500
7. James Cummings  £34,000
8. Ian Senior  £22,750