UK PokerNews Round-Up: Vas Nunes Wins, Betfair Slip Up and More
There was lots to talk about in the United Kingdom last week, with major tournaments concluding, even larger events starting, players winning big online, and companies making massive mistakes. Keep reading the UK PokerNews Round-Up to find out what has been going on.
Paul Vas Nunes Crowned 2014 GUKPT Reading Champion
Paul "pvas2" Vas Nunes is an established player in the online poker world, one who has more than $1.7 million in winnings including a massive cash of $403,617. Vas Nunes has a number of impressive results from his exploits in the live arena and added to his list of accomplishments by taking down the 2014 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) Reading Main Event last Sunday.
Vas Nunes banked £29,200 ($49,000) for his victory after a four-way chop involving British legends Willie Tann and Albert Sapiano.
Find out how the GUKPT Reading final table went down.
Betfair Reveals £80m of Illegal Payouts Made By Mistake
British bookmaking giant Betfair landed itself in hot water by admitting it had paid out over £80 million ($134.2 million) to shareholders and by buying back its own shares over a three year period.
Under British law, companies must have "distributable funds" with which to make dividends to investors and to purchase shares, but Betfair made the transactions despite this not being the case.
Read more about the Betfair mishap here.
Sky Poker 6-Max UK Poker Championships Begin
Earlier in the year, Sky Poker and the Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) poker cub came together to run the inaugural Sky Poker UK Poker Championships. It was a massive success and well-received by everyone involved in the series. Fast forward to the present and the same duo have partnered up again to run a six-max version of their previous efforts.
The highlights of the 11-day festival include a £3,000 ($5,000) buy-in High Roller with a £150,000 ($251,600) guaranteed prize pool and the £1,000 ($1,675) buy-in Main Event that features a £500,000 ($838,800) guarantee.
Read more about the upcoming six-max festival.
Countdown to the 2014 GUKPT Goliath is On!
If you like your tournaments to have field sizes similar to the World Series of Poker (WSOP) then head to Coventry on Aug. 10 for the latest instalment of the GUKPT Goliath.
When the tournament ran in 2013, the busy casino staff took 2,568 buy-ins making it the largest tournament ever run in the UK.
This year, the organizers have slapped a £250,000 ($419,400) guarantee on the £100+£20 buy-in ($167+$33) event.
Check out the 2014 GUKPT Goliath schedule.
Patrick “pads1161” Leonard Climbs to Number Two in the World Rankings
Each week we take a look at the PocketFives rankings for the United Kingdom and celebrate our players' successes. One of the most successful players of late is Patrick Leonard who has been on the heater of a lifetime for the past six months.
Leonard has long been the UKs number one, but the worldwide top spot has so far eluded him. He is now in second place in the worldwide standings, trailing the leader by less than 30 points and find himself at the top of the tree when the rankings are updated next Wednesday.
Discover who the top 20 ranked UK players are.
British Researcher Darren "Dr_Darren" Moore Joins The Triple Crown Club
If the poker community still looks with astonishment at Chris "Moorman1" Moorman’s 21st Triple Crown, the UK has already another reason to celebrate. Darren “Dr_Darren" Moore managed to join the club and bring home the renowned title awarded by PocketFives.com for the very first time.
The 32-year old British researcher and poker player secured his first Triple Crown at the end of a journey started on July 24, when Moore won the Event #26 of the PokerStars.fr Micro Series, a €10 no-limit hold'em reversed mixed max event that allowed him to bring home a $2,519 first prize at the end of a battle that involved 863 players.
"Although I was feeling realistic that a triple crown was a longs hot and not worth getting preoccupied with, I made sure I added a few extra MTTs that would qualify just in case another bink occurred," Moore said in an interview to UK and Ireland PokerNews Editor Matthew Pitt.
Check out the full interview with Moore at UK.PokerNews.com.
Rhys Jones Flies Up the GPI Rankings; Barny Boatman Enters UK Top 20
Both Rhys Jones and Barny Boatman had some excellent results at the 2014 WSOP and have seen their Global Poker Index rank improved massively.
Jones was one of the biggest climbers this week, moving up 58 places to 190th in the world and is now 11th in the UK.
Boatman reentered the top 20 in the UK rankings and could climb even higher if he decides to continue playing a bust live tournament schedule.
Check out the UK's top 20 ranked players according to the GPI.
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