PokerStars EPT London Day 5: Great Scot! David Vamplew Wins it For Britain
Monday was the final day of the 2010 PokerStars.com EPT London, the third stop of the Season 7 circuit. An astounding 848 players began this event a week ago, and the eight finalists returned today to put this event to rest. At the end of a long day and a tug of war heads-up battle, it was Scotland's David Vamplew who emerged with all the chips, finally dispatching John Juanda to take the title.
Play kicked off at exactly noon-or-so London time, and the short-stacks wasted no time pushing their chips into the pot during the first couple orbits. American Tom Marchese was the first player to find a call and put himself at risk for his tournament life. His A♥ 10♠ was a small favorite against Per Ummer's K♠ Q♦, both men sharing a similar-sized stack. The board ran out 10♦ 9♦ 6♠ 6♦ 6♥, and that early double crippled Ummer down around five big blinds. A short time later, he open-shoved his remainder from the small blind with 5♦ 3♣, and Artur Wasek snap-called with A♥ Q♠ from the big. A board of Q♥ 7♠ 8♦ 10♠ 2♦ was all she wrote for Ummer, exiting in eighth place and taking home £66,800.
The double-up chips wouldn't stay in Marchese's stack for long, though. He doubled up Artur Wasek with J♣ J♠ against Q♣ Q♠ to lose a big chunk, then lost the rest just a few hands later. It was Vamplew who got him, open-shoving from the button with 10♦ 5♦. Marchese snap-called with A♦ 8♦ for the rest of his stack, but the J♥ 5♣ 2♣ 4♣ 6♦ board was unfriendly to the American. He was out in seventh place, and the £100,000 pounds he collected push his 2010 earnings close to $1.8 million total.
Fernando Brito (6th place, £145,000) let himself blind down to about eight big blinds before he pushed with A♥ K♦. Kyle Bowker had plenty of chips to look him up with 10♦ J♦, and the board ran 4♥ Q♥ 6♣ 10♠ K♥ to earn him the knockout. Kayvan Payman was next to exit in fifth place (£190,000) when his A♥ 4♥ could not find help against Vamplew's Q♣ Q♠. Bowker had initially called Payman's open-shove, but Vamplew reshoved to shake Bowker off his pocket eights, and the end-of-Day-2 chip leader took over second place after eliminating the fourth player of the day.
Wasek was the one with a big chip deficit by that point, and he three-bet shoved his 5♥ 5♦ against Juanda's A♠ J♣. The first four board cards were friendly to the small pair, but the J♠ river was all she wrote for the Pole, out in fourth place (£240,000).
The real poker match began when the table shrunk to three-handed, everyone playing with a deep stack and a good read on their two foes. About an hour into the three-way duel, it was Bowker and Juanda who tangled in the biggest pot of the tournament. Bowker opened the button to 350,000 and Juanda raised it right back to 1 million straight. Bowker considered for a bit before four-betting, and Juanda five-bet shoved right back. There was no decision for Bowker; he quickly called all-in with his J♠ J♥ looking like a huge favorite over 10♣ 10♥. Things changed quickly, however as the flop 5♣ Q♣ 2♣ to give Juanda nine more outs to work with. He didn't even have to take one card off as the 3♣ right on the turn sealed Bowker's demise, eliminated on an outdraw in third place (£300,000).
With the stacks deep, it looked like heads-up play could linger a while, and everyone was surprised to see an all-in and a call within just a few hands. Juanda raised and Vamplew defended to see a J♠ J♦ 7♠ flop. Vamplew allowed Juanda to bet 525,000 before check-raising to 1.33 million, and Juanda popped it right back to 2.5 million straight. Vamplew shoved with J♥ 10♠, and Juanda had no choice but to call with his J♣ 2♥, coolered into sending a big double-up over to his opponent when the turn and river blanked off.
That gave the Scot a short-lived chip lead, but Juanda continued to grind him back down, eventually working back to 3:1 chip advantage just after the dinner break. Vamplew was down in the danger zone, and he got several shoves through before Juanda finally found an ace to call with. His A♥ 5♠ had Vamplew's tournament life and his 9♣ 10♣ in serious danger, but a board of 5♥ 2♣ 6♣ 10♠ Q♦ board doubled him back into contention. A few hands later, fireworks erupted again as the two men got it in on fourth street as the board showed Q♣ 4♥ K♥ J♣. It was Vamplew shoving with A♣ 6♣ right into Juanda's A♠ 10♥, the nuts! Juanda was one card from the title. A timely 3♣ river gave Vamplew the tournament-saving double for the second time in the span of just a few minutes, though, and that one gave him the heads-up chip lead once more.
With the blinds getting detrimentally big, the two men traded big punches back and forth, exchanging the chip lead a few more times before Vamplew finally managed to ope up a gap. Juanda had just about 3.4 million chips left (of the 25.44 million in play) when he moved in with K♦ 2♦. Vamplew called of the 11 big blinds with A♣ 3♥ and promptly flopped two pair to all but end it right there. The board of 3♠ A♦ Q♠ 9♠ 6♠ will be etched into the winner's photos and Vamplew's memory for eternity, the last five cards of the day and the death knell for Juanda (second place, £545,000).
With that, the record-smashing EPT London has drawn to a close. For the 23-year-old Vamplew, his week has culminated in his first major title and a pocket-padding payday of £900,000. That alone makes him the top-earning Scottish player of all time, and he's made sure that his shiny piece of EPT hardware is staying in the United Kingdom.
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