Ben Tollerene Beats Out Cary Katz for £100,000 British Poker Open Title
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The 10th and final event of the inaugural British Poker Open is a wrap and that means it's almost time for the £250,000 Super High Roller Bowl London set to kick off on Sept. 13.
BPO's Event #10 was a £100,000 No Limit Hold'em that drew 12 runners to create a prize pool of £1.2 million to be divided among the top two finishers. The title came down to Cary Katz and Ben Tollerene and while Katz came into the final four with chip lead, it was Tollerene with the shortest stack who was able to navigate his way to the win worth £840,000 (~$1,037,159).
"If this was PLO I would’ve felt much more comfortable but whenever I do play hold’em I put in time to study and be well prepared.”
“I came in short today,” Tollerene told tournament reporters following the victory. “I got a good hand and three-bet over an open, then I got kings the next hand, so I think in the first orbit I was back to average.”
For a dangerous player like Tollerene, an average stack is more than enough to work with and some well-timed aggression mixed with a little luck carried him into the winner's circle for the eighth time of his live poker career.
British Poker Open £100,000 No Limit Hold'em Official Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize (GBP) | Prize (USD) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ben Tollerene | United States | £840,000 | $1,037,159 |
| 2 | Cary Katz | United States | £360,000 | $444,439 |
Two of the final four returning for the final day went home empty-handed, starting with German phenom Christoph Vogelsang, whose ace-king couldn't hold against the jack-ten of Tollerene, according to Poker Central's live reporting. Tollerene would later call the pot a crucial one when talking with tournament reporters after the victory.
On the bubble, it was the Belarussian crusher Mikita Badziakouski coming off of a win in Event #9 who bowed out when he got the chips in on the turn with a gutshot straight draw and a flush draw. He was in poor shape though versus Tollerene's top pair and higher flush draw and could not catch up.
Heads Up
Tollerene began the heads up with an overwhelming 10-to-1 chip lead, but Katz wouldn't go down without a fight. He got down to around ten big blinds before finding a couple doubles to jockey into a 2-to-1 chip advantage.
Tollerene would wrestle the lead back with the help of hitting a king to win a flip with king-nine suited versus Katz' pocket threes. In the final hand, Katz was at risk with ace-six but Tollerene flopped open-ended with jack-ten suited and made a straight on the river to close it out.
“Everything kind of worked out," Tollerene said of the win. "I got a lot of bluffs through. The heads up was going great and then, you know, it’s so swingy when it’s that shallow. It shifted back and then I was able to win two flips in a row and I won.”
“Everything kind of worked out. I got a lot of bluffs through."
A veteran online crusher who plays as "Ben86", Tollerene specializes in pot-limit Omaha and doesn't turn up to many of the no-limit hold'em tournament stops anymore. When he does, he doesn't take his edges for granted.
"This event, and this series, was very tough and I don’t have all the confidence in the world against these guys," Tollerene said. "If this was PLO I would’ve felt much more comfortable but whenever I do play hold’em I put in time to study and be well prepared.”
His preparation paid off in this one. Katz, who has now cashed in three of the BPO events, adds another £360,000 (~$444,439) to his total for the runner-up finish. That should prove a nice boost heading into the Super High Roller Bowl, where he will try to keep his momentum going.
The action continues at Aspers Casino with the Super High Roller Bowl. You can follow the live updates at Poker Central starting Friday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. local time, with live streaming on PokerGO beginning at 12 p.m. ET.
Lead image courtesy of Poker Central.
