UK legend narrowly misses out in Event #43
Ask anyone in poker who they want to win a WSOP bracelet, and Neil Channing’s name will be high up that list. The motor-mouthed Black Belt Poker star is one of the most loved players on the UK circuit, but after cruelly missing out on his first bracelet in Event #43, Channing will be left thinking about what might have been… again.
With 27 WSOP career cashes, Channing is due a shiny gold bracelet. And with one runner-up finish already under his belt following a near-miss in 2010’s $5k NLHE, the UK poker scene was rooting for one of the good guys when Channing went deep in this week’s 2,770-runner $1,500 NLHE.
Going into the final day’s play third in chips, Channing suffered a few early blips before a flopped set propelled him back up the leaderboard and into the final table in second place. Like a man possessed, he then bust six of the remaining nine, including fellow Brits James Mackey and Tom Alner, before squaring-off against Henry Lu heads-up with a seemingly insurmountable 4.5:1 chip lead.
Sadly for Channing, the Bad Beat nickname of old came back to haunt him as he went on a remarkable poor run, losing several key pots before a final coin-flip with A-J against fours fell in the American’s favour on a 2h-3s-Qs-Kd-3c board.
In the run up to the final day, Twitter was awash with praise for Channing, as fellow UK stars Vicky Coren, Sam Trickett, Barny Boatman and many others voiced their support. After the final cards were dealt, Channing thanked everyone for getting behind him, but was clearly in a sombre mood.
‘It was 1997 when I first came to the WSOP in Las Vegas,’ he said afterwards.
‘I played my first bracelet event in 2001 and in the last few years I have played around 25 a year. At this rate I could be 90-years old before I finally win one of the damn things. I’d like to thank everyone for their support today and I hope you’ll be around to cheer me on on the day it finally happens.’
Here’s hoping that day isn’t too far away…
Event #43 finished as follows:
1. Henry Lu $654,380
2. Neil Channing $406,409
3. James Mackey $286,633
4. Tom Alner $207,019
5. John Nelson $151,338
6. Hovan Nguyen $111,961
7. Balazs Botond $83,802
8. Francois Dur $63,459
9. Jared Rosenbaum $48,614
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