UKIPT London Bursts into Life with PokerStars Ambassador Meet-Up Game
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The PokerStars United Kingdom & Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) jaunt to London may have begun on August 4, but the festival in England's capital turned up a notch on Tuesday with the PokerStars Ambassador Meet-Up Game (MUG).
Hundreds descended on The Hippodrome Casino to battle against the faces of the Spadie brand, where plenty of prizes were up for grabs. A plethora of Power Path Passes were dished out in the poker fiesta, with smiles, excitement and camaraderie filling the room as UKIPT London shifted into fifth gear.
Ponomarev Bests the Team Pros and Wins Main Event Seat
The MUG played out as a Hyper Turbo Bounty Freezeout and had a buy-in of £220. Each of the 265 players had a £100 bounty on their head, and the PokerStars ambassadors also had their own special bounty prizes in the form of Bronze ($109 value) and Silver ($2,500) Power Path Passes.
Nick Walsh, Ben "Spraggy" Spragg, Adam McKola, Rory Jennings, Barny Boatman, Felix Schneiders, Lex Veldhuis, Georgina "GJReggie" James, Marle Spragg, James Hartigan, Sam Grafton, Joe Stapleton, Lasse Jagd Lauritsen (Wistern), Alex Romero and, Elliot Hackney were the players patched up and they had to navigate a minefield to get a slice of the £58,300 prize pool.
Spraggy and Hartigan suffered early exits after being stacked by Stewart Downes and Huw Rhys Jones, which started the onslaught of streamers, pros, influencers, and commentators. Only Schneiders (19th—£290) and Walsh (5th—£1,320) were the representatives to finish in the paid places.
Poker grinder Nikolay Ponomarev, who has more than $1 million in live tournament earnings, was the last player standing. He defeated Jack McDermott in heads-up to claim the £5,010 winner's prize, along with £700 in bounties plus a UKIPT £1,100 Main Event seat—not a bad day at the office!
The two Silver Passes went to Gurminder Jandu and James Conteh, and they could be handy with Day 1b of the Main Event kicking off on Thursday, August 8.
UKIPT London MUG Full Results
Check Out the 2024 UKIPT London Schedule
2024 UKIPT London Winners So Far
Before Ponomarev's triumphs, several players had already bagged their own Spadie trophy.
France's Matthieu Rodriguez reigned supreme in the £330 Warm Up Mystery Bounty, collecting a £11,210 payout topped by £2,750 in bounties. Two £5,000 Mystery Bounty prizes were also on the table, with runner-up David McConachie and Hon Chun Choi receiving the jackpot bounties.
Benedict Van Der Schalk was next on the winner's podium. He took down Sunday's £220 NLH Single Re-entry for £5,256. Spraggy also made the final table, bowing out in sixth-place for £1,200.
Renato Lordao's trip from Brazil was made worthwhile following his champion's performance in the £330 Pot Limit Omaha, which helped him to a £7,456 payday. EPT Paris Main Event winner Boatman also put in a deep run, falling in fifth place for £2,110.
Unibet Poker ambassador and popular podcaster David Lappin had to settle for the silver medal in Monday's £220 NLH Single Re-entry. He was pipped to the winner's photo by Ersan Khan.
| Event | Entries | Prize Pool | Winner | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| £330 Warm Up Mystery Bounty | 300 | £86,400 | Matthieu Rodriguez | £13,960* |
| £220 NLH Single Re-entry | 103 | £19,776 | Benedict Van Der Schalk (pictured) | £5,256 |
| £330 Pot Limit Omaha | 97 | £27,936 | Renato Lordao | £7,456 |
| £220 NLH Single Re-entry | 135 | £25,920 | Ersan Khan | £6,620 |
| £220 Ambassador Meet-Up Bounty | 265 | £58,300 | Nikolay Ponomarev | £5,710 + UKIPT Main Event Seat* |
*Includes Bounty Prizes
Click here to see full UKIPT London Results
The Eight Past PokerStars UKIPT London Main Event Champions
What's Next on the Schedule?
Wednesday, August 7 sees the start of the £2,200 NLHE UKIPT High Roller Day 1, which begins at 4 p.m. local time. Those looking to get in on the cheap can hop into the £250 Qualifier that gets underway two hours earlier.
The following day sees Day 1b of the Main Event commence and the High Roller finish. Day 1c and 1d of the Main Event play out on Friday with the field merging for Day 2 on Saturday. The finale then plays out on Sunday, where a champion will be determined.
There are still plenty of qualifiers for the Main Event, and should anyone's Main Event run come to an early finish, there are several side events to flick a few bullets into.
Cai Bags Best in Day 1a of UKIPT London Main Event
The first flight of the £1,100 UKIPT London Main Event was a rollercoaster, with Haoran Cai grabbing nearly a quarter of the chips in play. He transformed his starting stack of 30,000 into a whopping 453,000 as the field shrank from 59 players to just nine. On any other day, Lin Chen's impressive stack of 319,500 would have topped the charts, but it claimed second place instead. The next big stack belonged to James Starkey, boasting 193,000.
Each Main Event flight played down to the final 15% of its field, meaning everyone who made it to Day 2 (Saturday, August 10) was guaranteed a prize.
UKIPT London Main Event Day 1a Chip Counts
| Name | Country | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| Haoran Cai | China | 453,000 |
| Lin Chen | United Kingdom | 319,500 |
| James Starkey | United Kingdom | 193,500 |
| Gocer Alper | England | 180,500 |
| Renato Lordao | Brazil | 172,000 |
| Vygintas Zemonis | Lithuania | 160,000 |
| Michael Foster | United Kingdom | 141,500 |
| Liam Rawlings | New Zealand | 108,000 |
| Cassandra Yong | United Kingdom | 42,000 |
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