South African Wins GPS Sheffield, All Eyes on the Irish Open 2014

Parker Tops GPS Sheffield

A new Genting Poker Series champion has been crowned this weekend in the form of James ParkerJames Parker. The Sheffield leg of the GPS tour eventually welcomed a bumper field of 400 players late last week but by the time just one player remained it was South African grinder Parker who took the honours after defeating Richard Kellett heads-up.

Of the 400 entrants who anted up on Day 1, just 21 returned to do battle for the £35,000 top prize on Sunday. As that number decreased and the likes of Gabriel Tuna and Steve Devine hit the rail a trio of grinders in the form of Parker, Kellett and Ali MalluAli Mallu were left just a few steps from the title.

After looking at their stacks and assessing the money on offer the three players decided to cut a deal which eventually secured Mallu £31,425. Having secured the lion’s share of the prizepool, Mallu eventually fell by the wayside to leave Kellett and Parker to fight for the champion’s trophy.

With a deal done and Mallu watching from the rail a flurry of blind all-ins helped bring the tournament to a conclusion and give Parker his first GPS trophy.

Genting Poker Series Sheffield Final Result:

1st – £22,120 – James Parker*

2nd – £24,855 – Richard Kellett*

3rd – £31,425 – Ali Mallu*

4th – £13,335 – Ashley Locker

5th – £10,490 – Steve Warburton

6th – £7,950 – Dean Clay

7th – £6,205 – Charles Akadiri

8th – £4,720 – Steve Devine

9th – £3,205 – Gabriel Tuna

*Denotes a deal

IPO on the Horizon

This year’s Irish Poker Open might still be a few weeks away but with it being St. Patrick’s Day today we couldn’t miss a chance to talk about the event.

Known as Europe’s oldest and most popular festival, the Irish Poker Open 2014 looks set to be one of the biggest ever with an estimated prizepool of €1 million on the line this time around.

Last year England’s Ian Simpson topped the €2,250 Main Event’s 505 players to take home €265,000 after beating Michael Farrelly heads-up.

However, by far the most entertaining part of the 2013 finale was Simpson’s proposal to his girlfriend soon after taking down his first Irish Open title.

This year’s action kicks off on April 18th and will run through until the 21st when one player will take home a top prize worth more than €200,000.