Daniel McNairney Wins GPPT Old Trafford For £35,000
The partypoker-sponsored Grand Prix Poker Tour (GPPT) was at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, this weekend for the latest stop on its inaugural tour. Almost 4,000 players paid $109 to compete in the £250,000 guaranteed Main Event and they were all outlasted by Daniel McNairney, who is the latest GPPT champion.
McNairney, a Manchester United supporting chef from Oakham, prefers cash games to tournament poker, but you'd never have guessed based on this performance. After winning the £35,000 first-place prize, we'd bet money on seeing McNairney at the tournament tables in the coming weeks and months.
Grand Prix Poker Tour Old Trafford Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Chips |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Daniel McNairney | £35,000 |
| 2 | Brian O’Conner | £21,000 |
| 3 | Philip Toon | £14,630 |
| 4 | Michael Michael | £10,970 |
| 5 | Joseph Donelon | £8,440 |
| 6 | Wesley Hutchinson | £6,320 |
| 7 | Roy Hamilton | £4,790 |
| 8 | Paul Clarke | £3,740 |
| 9 | Lukasz Podyma | £2,940 |
Play at the final table got underway on the evening of Sunday, Jan. 17, with McNairney holding the chip lead and Lukasz Podyma being the shortest stack. Podyma tried to improve his position by moving all in with the 10♦9♥, but was called by two players and ultimately lost to the flopped straight of Wes Hutchinson.
Paul Clarke fell next, his A♦3♥ being no match for the dominating A♥Q♠ of Brian O'Conner, before Roy Hamilton found himself all in with the 10♠10♦ versus the Q♠Q♣ of Hutchinson and the A♦8♠ of O'Conner. A final board reading 6♣3♦9♥A♥A♠ busted Hamilton and left Hutchinson running on fumes.
Hutchinson then pushed all in with the K♥5♥ and O'Conner called with the A♥K♠ to put him at risk of elimination. O'Conner improved to an unnecessary Broadway straight by the river to leave only five players in the hunt for the £35,000 top prize.
Joseph Donelon fell in fifth place, with Michael Michael's tournament ending with a fourth-place finish worth £10,790. Michael was the first player to collect a five-figure score from the event.
The players kept falling by the wayside. Philip Toon thought he’d got out of jail when his A♥9♥ caught a piece of the Q♥6♣A♠ flop when all in against McNairney’s J♥J♣. The 4♣ turn kept Toon in front, but the J♦ river gifted McNairney a set of jacks, and heads-up play was set.
It didn’t take long for the winner to be decided, with that winner being McNairney. The final hand saw a limped pot preflop and a check from McNairney on the 8♥3♠2♦ flop. O’Conner took a stab at the pot with a bet of 2.5 million and then called when McNairney check-raised all in.
McNairney showed the 8♦7♥ for top pair and O’Conner also had a pair thanks to him holding the 10♣3♥, but it was inferior to that of his opponent. The Q♦ turn was a blank, with the 7♠ river improving McNairney further, resigning O’Conner to the £21,000 runner-up prize.
Newcastle is Next for the GPPT
The next leg of the GPPT is right around the corner. Newcastle United’s home of St. James’ Park is the venue for the next leg of the tour, which runs from Feb. 20-21, costs $109 to enter and features a $250,000 guaranteed prize pool.
Satellites to the St. James’ Park leg are being added to the partypoker lobby, and online Day 1s will appear closer to the festival kicking off.
If you don’t have a partypoker account — you need one to buy into any GPPT Main Event — you can download partypoker via PokerNews and when you come to make your first deposit, do so using the bonus code PNCOM and your first deposit is matched 100 percent up to $500. Restrictions may apply.
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