UKIPT Galway Comes to a Close whilst WPT Cyprus Gets Underway

Gold for Alan in Galway

Despite falling short of its €1 million guarantee, UKIPT Galway’s Main Event was no less exciting than many had predicted.

Thanks to the presence of such luminaries as Jake Cody, Liv Boeree, Gus Hansen and Max Silver, the tournament carried enough star power to make up for the financial hit PokerStars and Full Tilt were forced to bear.

While the poker world’s famous faces helped spark some interest in the early stages of the tournament, it was the dominance of Alan Gold in the latter stages which piqued the interest of the watching rail.

Indeed, as the final table kicked off on Monday the Scottish pro held the chip lead and from the outset there looked like few who could challenge him. After watching early all-ins from the likes of Jonathan Slater, Christy Morgan and Benjamin Spragg, Gold was able to bide his time while his opponent’s gradually eliminated themselves.

With the field down to five a once dormant Gold sprung into action and after delivering a double blow to Damian Porebski and Daragh Davey, only Paul Febers stood in his way.

Despite holding a healthy chip lead, Gold was keen to leverage his advantage by cutting a deal before the start of heads-up play. After pitching number back-and-forth both Gold and Febers were happy with their deal and just a few hands later the match was brought to a close with the board showing: [Qd] [6h] [5s] [Qc]. After hitting trips Gold was able to move all-in and after Febers called with pocket nines he was able to scoop the final pot when the [Kd] failed to save his opponent.

With that the winner’s trophy and €187,494 was pushed towards Gold while Febers slipped into the shadows to collect his €149,906 consolation prize.

1st          Alan Gold – €187,494*

2nd        Paul Febers – €149,906*

3rd         Daragh Davey – €80,400

4th         Dimitri Pembroke – €62,000

5th         Damian Porebski – €45,300

6th         Benjamin Spragg – €30,210

7th         Christy Morgan – €22,310

8th         Jonathan Slater – €16,500

*Denotes a deal

WPT Cyprus Heats Up

With Galway in the process off recovering from a mammoth UKIPT festival, Cyprus is now gearing up for an influx of poker talent as the WPT prepares to set up camp in the Mediterranean country.

Kicking off on Friday, the bwin WPT Merit Cyprus Classic will offer players a $1 million guaranteed Main Event with a $4,400 buy-in and two starting days.

A number of international pros, including Sam Trickett, Daniel Cates and Michael Mizrachi, are all expected to join a slew of local grinders for the six day tournament.

In addition to the tournaments on offer, PartyPoker will be hosting one of its regular Big Games with many notable cash game players scheduled to take part.

The $50/$100 cash game will take place tomorrow and presiding over the action will be Jesse May and Kara Scott. A live stream will be on offer throughout the 12 hour game and can be view via PartyPoker’s Facebook page.