partypoker UK Team Challenge Winner
A unique tournament took place at Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) this weekend, one that we're sure will be repeated many times over if the feedback from the players is anything to go by.
The UK Team Challenge started in August with 173 teams playing online at partypoker in an attempt to accumulate chips for the live final held over the weekend of Oct. 10. Players earned chips for their team by cashing in two specific partypoker tournaments, and those chips were split evenly between team members at the live final.
A total of 349 players progressed to the final, each competing for a trio of titles. Players earned points for their team and for themselves depending on their overall finishing position, which led to an interesting dynamic as they tried to ladder their way up the leaderboard and give themselves a chance of winning the team event, the individual prizes, and the coveted "Star Player" award.
Day 1 ended with 79 players bagging up chips, but with only the final table of nine receiving prize money in the individual competition there was a long way to go before any of them saw any cash for their efforts.
Sunday was the second and final day's play, and it was played at a furious pace as players attempted to build their stacks in order to have a shot at the three leader boards. With 80 percent of the £35,000 prize pool reserved for the team element, players adopted a variety of strategies in order to accumulate crucial team leaderboard points.
As the sky grew dark in Nottingham, the final table was set. The team at the top of the leaderboard had all bust, meaning the fate of The Ninja Turtles and Ironman 3 + 1 was in their own hands as they still had members in contention.
Tom Simm went into the final table needing to finish in seventh place or better to see his team climb to the top of the leaderboard. However, he sat down with only a handful of big blinds and was in push-or-fold territory. Simm pushed with the A♠K♥ and was looked up by Hasmukh Khodiayara's Q♣J♣. A final board reading 8♥6♦Q♦J♠6♥ sent Simm to the rail in ninth place and meant The Ninja Turtles team couldn't finish higher than second place.
Adrian Ko's 9♣8♣ ran into Khodiyara's K♦Q♦ with the board running out Q♣8♥3♦3♥9♠ to leave seven players at the final table, then Nicola Caunce's 7♠7♥ couldn't get there versus Adam Bone's 10♥10♦ to leave only six players in the hunt for individual honors.
Next to bust was Matt Hays who ran the 4♣4♥ into Khodiyara's Q♠9♠ with the latter spiking a nine on the 10♥6♠9♦J♥2♦ board. This result locked up the first cash in the team element for his team.
The last of the Laughing Giraffes, Cezary Binczyk, fell in fifth place before Khodiyara committed the last of his chips with the Q♦Q♥ on a 8♠J♠2♦ board only to discover that Bone held the 8♥8♦ for middle set. No two-outer came for Khodiyara and he busted in fourth place.
The players were then aware that Richard King could completely alter the team standings on his own. The team Randoms couldn't finish any higher than fourth place, but wherever King finished in the individual standings, his team would follow suit.
King and his Ironman 3 + 1 team secured at least second place when Sylvia Hewitt's A♦3♣ failed to get there versus the dominating A♥10♦ of King, sending the tournament into the heads-up stages.
Bone and King exchanged the chip lead on several occasions during their intense one-on-one battle. The difference between second and first for Bone was £900, but for King it was a more substantial £4,800 as a victory for him in the individual element would also win the £12,000 top prize in the team element.
Eventually, at 2:30 am and with blinds of 1,000,000/2,000,000, Bone min-raised to 4,000,000 and was called. Bone fired a continuation bet of 2,000,000 on the 10♥5♣A♣ flop and King called. The turn was the 7♥, Bone bet 4,000,000, and King called once more. The 4♣ river was greeted with an all-in bet from Bone and King called, showing the 10♣6♥ for a pair of tens, a hand crushed by the 7♦5♥ of Bone.
With that, Bone was crowned the champion of the tournament and collected £2,250 while King's runner-up finish netted him £1,350 and £7,200 for his teammates, leaving Nits&Natter to claim the overall UK Team Challenge title and the £12,000 top prize.
Individual Results
| Place | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Adam Bone | £2,250 |
| 2 | Richard King | £1,350 |
| 3 | Sylvia Hewitt | £900 |
| 4 | Hasmukh Khodiyara | £700 |
| 5 | Cezary Binczyk | £600 |
| 6 | Matt Hays | £500 |
| 7 | Nicola Caunce | £400 |
| 8 | Adrian Ko | £300 |
| 9 | Tom Simm | Grand Prix Seat |
Team Results
| Place | Team | Points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Nits&Natter | 835,000 | £12,000 |
| 2 | Ironman 3 + 1 | 832,500 | £7,200 |
| 3 | The Ninja Turtles | 818,750 | £4,800 |
| 4 | Randoms | 767,500 | £3,000 |
| 5 | Cravens Shaven Havens | 682,500 | £1,800 |
Star Player Results
| Place | Player | Star Player Points | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | nitsandnatter | 1,932,000 | £2,200 WPT UK seat |
| 2 | mrdoovde | 1,898,400 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 3 | DoobieFish | 1,727,600 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 4 | richking | 1,697,400 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 5 | pokerskillz1983 | 1,368,800 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 6 | pred888 | 1,231,400 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 7 | hittheshowers | 1,229,350 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 8 | EBBERDON47 | 1,226,600 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 9 | paulscot1 | 1,213,600 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
| 10 | silvieblueblood | 1,212,600 | £70 Grand Prix seat |
1,000 Seats to the Grand Prix Poker Tour Guaranteed This Week
Next up for Dusk Till Dawn is the opening leg of the £250,000 guaranteed Grand Prix Poker Tour. The tournament requires 4,166 players to pony up the £70 buy-in in order for the ambitious guarantee to be hit, and to help get somewhere near that total, DTD is running some value-packed super satellites at partypoker this week that will award at least 200 seats each and every day.
You can sign up for a partypoker account via PokerNews then enjoy a 100-percent match up to $500 first deposit bonus when you make your first deposit using the bonus code PNCOM.
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