Five Brits to Watch at the 2017 World Series of Poker
The 2017 World Series of Poker is almost upon us and hundreds of budding poker players from the United Kingdom are set to jet off to Las Vegas in the hopes that they can show the world what they are made of and return home with a suitcase crammed full of dollars.
We are blessed with a wealth of talented poker players here in the U.K. so it is difficult to single out a handful of those grinders for a list on who UK & Ireland PokerNews think could excel during the 2017 WSOP. Difficult as it may be, we have compiled a list of five British pros who we think could light up Las Vegas and be reveling in glory on the streets of Sin City.
Max Silver
Max Silver, owner of the SnapShove app, is one of our favorite players to watch thanks to his aggressive, fearless style of play. Silver also has enjoyed an impressive record at the WSOP over the past three years, cashing a total of 18 times for combined scores of $742,120.
Silver reached the money places 10 times at the 2016 WSOP, including a 33rd place finish in the $10,000 Main Event that netted him $216,211.
Don’t expect Silver to tear up trees in the early stages of the WSOP because he has informed UK & Ireland PokerNews that he doesn’t arrive in Las Vegas until June 8, but will then be playing a busy schedule until the series concludes.
Simon Deadman
Simon Deadman is another player who has a solid record at the WSOP. Since 2015, Deadman has cashed in 12 WSOP events and won $531,984, with $391,466 of that total stemming from his runner-up finish in the $5,000 No-Limit Hold’em Six-Handed event at the 2015 WSOP.
Anyone checking out Deadman’s Hendon Mob profile will see the star has only cashed twice so far in 2017, but that only tells half of the story. Deadman and his wife, Shola, recently relocated to Las Vegas so he has a home team advantage on his side; don’t underestimate the positives of being able to sleep in your own bed after a day grinding poker tournaments.
Deadman told UK & Ireland PokerNews that he plans to “play pretty much everything this summer” and when a player of Deadman’s quality logs volume, the results tend to be positive.
Tom Hall
Tom Hall may have a reputation for being a satellite tournament specialist but that hides the fact that he is a terrific multi-tournament player too. Hall is currently ranked sixth in the U.K. and 52nd in the world by the Global Poker Index and he could well be the dark horse on our list and the one who flies home with a bracelet adorning his wrist.
Six cashes worth $35,269 were what Hall had to show for his 2016 WSOP efforts. The faster structures of the WSOP events should suit Hall. The fact he flies under the radar somewhat will be another advantage in his corner.
Hall recently finished third in a tough £10,300 High Roller event at the partypoker MILLIONS for £142,000 and finished fifth in a €5,200 no-limit hold’em Hyper Turbo Eight-Max in Monaco for €14,740.
Patrick Leonard
Patrick Leonard, the partypoker ambassador, seemed like he wasn’t 100 percent sure if he was heading to Las Vegas, saying he thinks he is playing and if he does head to the WSOP, he’ll play everything. We think the lure of the WSOP will be too strong for Leonard and he’ll head there and make a nuisance at the felt.
Leonard cashed three times at the 2015 and 2016 WSOP for combined scores of $111,876, and while he’s yet to cash in a live event so far in 2017, he has been crushing tournaments online and therefore will be used to, like Tom Hall, the faster blind structures of the WSOP events.
Niall Farrell
Niall Farrell, ranked second in the U.K. and 17th in the world by the Global Poker Index, has enjoyed a plethora of success at the WSOP in recent years. Six cashes in 2016, six in 2015 and three in 2014 bagged the Scot $877,992.
Last year, Farrell came agonizingly close to winning a bracelet when he finished second in a $1,500 No-Limit Hold’em Shootout for $163,158 and then he followed that up with an eighth-place finish in the $111,111 High Roller for $486,383.
More recently, Farrell won the partypoker WPT Caribbean Main Event for $335,000 and finished sixth in the partypoker Million North America event for CA$160,000.
You may be wondering why Charlie Carrel hasn’t been mentioned in this list of five players.
UK & Ireland PokerNews reached out to Carrel and asked if he was heading to the WSOP this year and he didn’t reply, possibly because he was too busy bossing the SCOOP and winning millions of dollars.
Carrel skipped the 2016 WSOP for personal reasons, but if he heads there for the 2017 series, he is sure to hit the headlines at some point. Combining his talent with the run-good he’s currently experiencing is a recipe for success.
