Brandon Sheils Wins partypoker LIVE MILLIONS UK £1,100 Open (£180,000)
Less than six hours after he came into the final day as the big chip leader, Brandon Sheils was crowned the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS UK £1,100 Open for £180,000 after a heads-up battle against Artur Gjoka.
Sheils never showed any sign of slowing down at the final table and won hand after hand in what turned out to be a fast and action-packed afternoon. It took just 3.5 hours of play for the final nine to be reduced to three, and when the players returned from their dinner break, it took Sheils just another 30 minutes to get his hands on the trophy and claim victory from the 1,009-player field that created a £1,009,000 prize pool.
Official Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (£) | Prize ($) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Brandon Sheils | United Kingdom | 180,000 | 234,000 |
| 2 | Artur Gjoka | Albania | 112,000 | 145,600 |
| 3 | Rory Liffey | Ireland | 75,000 | 97,500 |
| 4 | Dean Hutchison | United Kingdom | 50,000 | 65,000 |
| 5 | Iaron Lightbourne | United Kingdom | 35,000 | 45,500 |
| 6 | Daniel Rezaei | Austria | 25,000 | 32,500 |
| 7 | Anatoly Filatov | Russia | 18,000 | 23,400 |
| 8 | Anthony Wickert | United Kingdom | 13,000 | 16,900 |
| 9 | Tom Smith | United Kingdom | 10,030 | 13,039 |
Final Day's Action
When the action got underway, it didn't take long until the official final table of eight was set after Tom Smith became an early casualty. In a classic race against chip leader Brandon Sheils, Smith's ace-king could not prevail against pocket jacks, and he had to settle for a £10,030 score in ninth place.
Once the official photos were taken, and the players congratulated each other on making the final eight, there was nearly an immediate elimination when Dean Hutchison ran his queen-ten into Artur Gjoka's ace-queen. But Hutchison hit a straight on the turn to seal a vital double up.
It was then Iaron Lightbourne's turn to double up from behind when his ace-queen defeated Daniel Rezaei's ace-king after the flop came queen-high.
If that bitter defeat for Rezaei wasn't enough, just a few hands later, he played out one of the biggest pots of the day after he called Rory Liffey's four-bet shove with pocket queens, only to see the Irishman table pocket aces. Rezaei got no help from the board and was left with just five big blinds.
Artur Gjoka then scored a double elimination after he woke up with pocket jacks. Anthony Wickert and Anatoly Filatov both moved all in from early position before Gjoka reshoved from the cutoff and saw both Wickert and Filatov table ace-king. The board held for Gjoka and Wickert took eighth place with the smaller stack, and partypoker pro Filatov took seventh place to continue his fine run since his partypoker LIVE MILLIONS Russia Main Event win two months ago.
After finding the ladder up, Rezaei departed in sixth place for £25,000 when his king-eight couldn't get the better of Liffey's ace-deuce, and five-handed play resumed, Lightbourne was able to propel himself up to 170m after his ace-queen held against Liffey's ace-jack. But not long after, Lightbourne was the next player to depart when he came out worse in a blind-on-blind battle with runaway chip leader Sheils.
Lightbourne raised to 10 million from the small blind and Sheils three-bet to 31 million. Lightbourne opted to move all in for around 150 million and Sheils snap-called. Lightbourne needed help with ace-queen suited after Sheils tabled pocket kings. But the flop only fell in Sheils' favor when he hit top set, and Lightbourne was drawing dead on the turn for a £35,000 payday in fifth place.
Final Four
Sheils continued to dominate and reduced Liffey to just 30 million when the Irishman paid off his 60 million chip overbet on the river only to see Sheils reveal a straight. Liffey then secured back-to-back double ups that resulted in Hutchison's elimination in fourth place for £50,000. Liffey's ace-ten hit a boat on the river against Hutchison's ace-queen in the first hand and soon after, he sent Hutchison to the rail when his ace-five hit a wheel, again on the river, against pocket jacks.
It was at this point that the final three went on their dinner break and prepared to do battle with the world watching on from the live stream. When they returned, the pace showed no sign of slowing down despite the stacks being relatively deep.
Liffey's exit in third place for £75,000 came cruelly when Sheils hit a set on the river. Sheils had shoved from the small blind with pocket threes and Liffey called for his last 90 million with king-queen. Liffey took the lead on the flop when he paired his queen and was all set for a double up until the river fell the three of diamonds to gift Sheils the pot with a set.
Heads-Up Action
Sheils held a four-to-one chip lead on Gjoka when heads-up play began, and it was soon eight-to-one when Sheils hit a flush. The final hand saw Gjoka call on the button with queen-eight and Sheils check his option in the big blind with five-four. The six-seven-eight flop gave Gjoka top pair, but Sheils hit the straight. Gjoka bet 25 million into the 8 million pot and after Sheils moved all in, the former called.
Gjoka was drawing very thin, and despite picking up outs to chop on the turn, the river brick card sealed Sheils' victory and his biggest live tournament cash to date.
With the Open now done and dusted, full attention turns to the partypoker LIVE MILLIONS UK Main Event where a massive £1,000,000 first-place prize is up for grabs. Be sure to follow PokerNews as the live reporting team brings updates until a winner is crowned.
