Christopher Gordon Keeps the 2015 WPT National London Accumulator Title on Home Turf
The third and final day of the 2015 partypoker World Poker Tour National London £200 No-Limit Hold'em Accumulator began with 24 players out of a 594-entry field returning to the Aspers Casino in Stratford.
After a full day of play, the UK's Christopher Gordon emerged victorious by defeating Spain's Jesus Gracia in heads-up play to claim the trophy, Monster headphones, title as WPT National champion, and the first-place payout of £22,500. It was the biggest tournament payday for Gordon to date, although he has been a regular on the British circuit with plenty of smaller cashes.
Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Christopher Gordon | UK | £22,500 |
| 2 | Jesus Gracia | Spain | £15,750 |
| 3 | Laurence Essa | UK | £10,100 |
| 4 | Darren Mapley | UK | £7,480 |
| 5 | Kenny King | UK | £5,620 |
| 6 | Petrit Papushi | UK | £4,490 |
| 7 | Lucio Pacifico | Italy | £3,740 |
| 8 | Rahim Tadj-Saadat | UK | £2,980 |
| 9 | Michel Melkert | UK | £2,250 |
The action was fast from the start as 13 of the participants were sent to the rail in the first two 60-minute levels. Among them were Kevin Allen and 2014 WPT Nottingham champion Matas Cimbolas, both of whom lost big pots prior to their final hand. Allen then hit the rail in 19th place after three-bet shoving with the A♣2♦ and ended up drawing dead on the turn against Darren Mapley's A♠8♣. Cimbolas' run came to an end in 14th place after losing a flip with the 3♣3♥ against the A♥Q♠ of Lucio Pacifico.
Jeraint "JJ" Hazan scored a huge double up only to run out of chips within two hands, walking into the flopped straight of Pacifico and bowing out in 10th place to set the official final table. Michel Melkert and Rahim Tadj-Saadat were the first two to leave, and then Day 1a chip leader Pacifico followed in seventh place.
At this point, start-of-day chip leader Laurence Essa had dominated the table and knocked out Petrit Papushi in sixth place after turning a full house and cracking the K♥K♠ of his opponent with the A♥Q♣. Kenny King would fall in fifth place after calling a shove from Gordon in a battle of the blinds.
Mapley started the final table as second big stack, but ultimately had to settle for fourth place, losing all but one big blind with the A♥6♦ against Gordon's K♣Q♣ before bowing out the next hand.
Down to the last three players, Essa was still the dominating chip leader, but he went from hero to zero in two big pots versus Gordon. First, his pocket queens were worthless against a turned set of deuces. Soon after, he shoved with the Q♦2♦ but Gordon's A♠9♠ held up to bust Essa in third place.
Gordon started the heads-up match with an almost four-to-one lead over Gracia, and the two would fight for just over an hour. The Spaniard doubled up once but was never able to close the gap at all. In the final hand, Gracia was at risk for his last 14 big blinds with the 10♥10♠ and Gordon's K♣9♦ completed a straight on the river.
The WPT National Series will take a break for a few days as the tour heads to Brussels next week for the €750 buy-in WPT National Brussels event from February 19-22, 2015. Of course the PokerNews Live Reporting team will be there to bring you live action from the tournament as well as recaps after each day of play.
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