The UKIPT is a popular and fantastically-supported tour, and aimed for an ambitious target of 500 players for the Edinburgh leg. In the end it fell short, attracting 427 entries – still impressive for a January in Scotland, but with a decent overlay for the players to battle for. The field was fairly stellar too, with Team PokerStars ably represented by Jake Cody, Victoria Coren, Micky Peterson and Liv Boeree, and other stars like Steve O’Dwyer, Rupert Elder, Andy Black, Julian Thew, David Vamplew and Sam Grafton in attendance.
The 427 combatants were reduced to 202 by the end of the two Day 1s, with PokerPlayer veteran Dave Woods just about limping through. He only lasted half an hour on Day 2 though, losing his first all-in as he flipped his Threes unsuccessfully against A-K. By the end of Day 2 36 players were left, all in the money, and with an eye on the £93,000 first prize. John Lundy headed the field with 771,000. Sam Grafton (163k), Micky Peterson (99k) and Liv Boeree (150k) all made it through as well, but with plenty of work to do in Day 3.
Both Grafton and Peterson fell on Day 3, but Boeree hit a heater just at the right time, starting the final levels of the day as the shortest stack and ending one spot off the top. The biggest hand was a cruel one for Ciaran Heaney who saw his Queens cracked by Boeree’s K-Q with a King on the river.
She’ll be back
Liv Boeree started the final table second in chips, behind Jason Beazley, but started off in relentless fashion. She knocked out three players in the first half an hour to take a commanding lead with just under half the chips in play. Ciaran Heaney was first to depart (A-T to – ironically – Boeree’s Queens), followed by Michael Kane (J♠-Q♠ against A♠-Q♣) and Jacobus Visser (9♠-6♠ against A♥-7♠).
Liv then took a back seat as local lad Dean Hutchison knocked out Tomasz Raniszewski in fifth, but resumed her Terminator status when she took the game three-handed as her Eights held up against Eldon Orr’s A-K, and then heads-up as she eliminated Jason Beazley with A-K against pocket Tens.
That just left Hutchison between Boeree and her second major title. The stacks yo-yoed, with both players bluffing and showing before Boeree nearly won it. All-in preflop with Kings and one card away from victory, Hutchison clawed his way back into the tournament with a straight when a Three on the river connected with his A-4. Gradually the momentum shifted. Liv lost a big pot with a lesser two pair, and then her tournament life when she flopped a pair and an open-ended straight, but lost to Hutchison’s flopped two pair.
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