The post Siddharth Sudunagunta, Tai Hoang, Robert Douras, Ben Sweetman Star at PartyPoker UK Tour Birmingham appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.
Sid fights one battle after another
Flicking in the £60 ($81) Turbo on Friday night, Siddharth Sudunagunta assumed he was playing a fun side event which was unlikely to make or break his poker year. As the drinks flowed, the mixed game enthusiast battled away in the short stack No-Limit Hold’em affair, playing well and winning some flips. He ultimately made it all the way to heads-up when he did a bit of business to secure an £830 ($1,114) cash while Grzegorz Staniszewski took £850 ($1,141) and the trophy.
bludgeoned his way through the assembled field
Better still, Sudunagunta was the primary beneficiary of Partypoker’s £2,000 ($2,685) added promotion, winning a ticket to Sunday’s £1,000 ($1,342) High Roller during a prize draw at the break. A matinee screening of One Battle After Another turned out to be the perfect preparation as he bludgeoned his way through the assembled field, taking all the skinny edges available, cognizant of how the pacy structure demanded a fearless and proactive bish-bosh-bash approach.
WPT Global ambassador Dara O’Kearney made the final table of this one too, bowing out in 5th place, paving the way for Sudunagunta. Another bit of business, this time three-ways, locked up a five-figure payday, the first of his career, and then, in the blink of an eye, it was all over as he sent his two opponents to the rail with a one-two punch that made it an £11,530 ($15,478) score. It was an astonishing parlay from his original £60 buy-in, and it was just one of several fantastic stories from a tremendous week of poker at the Partypoker UK Tour Birmingham.
Hoang and Douras go back-to-back
The biggest result of the week was that of Tai Hoang, who got heads-up against eventual winner Robert Douras in the £150 ($201) Mini Main Event. A £9,080 ($12,189) second-place finish would normally be the highlight of a festival, but not so for the rampant Hoang who immediately followed it up by winning the Main Event for £27,420 ($36,808).
Douras was crowned champion on Thursday evening after the superbly structured three-day event reached its denouement in front of a packed rail and livestream audience. The £50,000 ($67,119) guarantee was obliterated as 660 entries generated a prize pool of £82,500 ($110,746), a new tour record. Douras claimed a very tidy £14,370 ($19,290) and the trophy.
Three days later, both men were back at the final table of the Main Event which attracted 343 entries, generating another guarantee-busting £152,650 ($204,914). The first player to go was Tony Pearce (9th), followed by Timothy Slater (8th), Nicholas Gott (7th), Michael Casson (6th) and Joshua Curry (5th), in that order. Douras was next to fall, ending the dream of a mind-blowing Mini-Main and Main back-to back. James Fowler busted in 3rd, leaving Jiten Chauhan as the only person between Hoang and glory. This time, he would not be denied.
Sweetman is a PLO master
Elsewhere at the festival, PartyPoker ambassador Matt Staples won the Mystery Bounty and Henrik Horwing won the Faded Spade Event, but it was the PLO Masters, organized by poker player, commentator, and all-round hype-man JJ Hazan, that had quite a few tournaments sprinkled into the schedule. It’s great to see PartyPoker making room for non-Hold’em games and this partnership makes sure that different variants of Omaha get plenty of love alongside the ROSET and Tennessee Hold’em.
On Saturday, Rebecca Hardisty took down the PLO Bounty event, but come Sunday, all eyes were on the PLO Main Event, which had an aggressive £20,000 ($26,848) guarantee but managed to hit it, generating a prize pool of £22,575 ($30,304). Twenty-seven players returned for Day 2 on Sunday and when the dust settled, it was popular pro Ben Sweetman in the winner’s enclosure, after he outlasted Rizwan Pirmohamed (2nd) and Brandon Sheils (3rd).
loved the structure, and that’s key to ongoing success”
Hazan was extremely happy with the turnout and the quality of the event, saying: “Players have commented that they’ve loved the structure, and that’s key to ongoing success.”
Aside from the structures, variety and friendly atmosphere, it is worth noting that the UK Tour also prioritizes transparency with no hidden fees, something which has become a scourge on most poker circuits. London has just been announced as the final destination of the year, and I would not be surprised to see another record-breaker for what is quickly becoming the UK’s premiere grassroots tour.
The post Siddharth Sudunagunta, Tai Hoang, Robert Douras, Ben Sweetman Star at PartyPoker UK Tour Birmingham appeared first on Vegas Slots Online News.
