Mikita Badziakouski and Ben Tollerene win big at British Poker Open

The British Poker Open’s first ever edition launched at Aspers Casino in London last week, with ten separate events scheduled, each with a minimum price tag of £10,000 (US$12,455). Field sizes were small for the inaugural series, which was created by Poker Central. But, the quality of play was exceptional, with many recognisable names finding their way onto the winners list. The two biggest events were won by notable pros Mikita Badziakouski and Ben Tollerene, who both banked strong six-figure scores.

Event #10 £100,000 NLH – Winner: Ben Tollerene

The final tournament of this series was a £100,000 (US$124,550) buy in Hold’em event. The tournament only attracted 11 runners, generating a prize pool of £1,200,000 (US$1,494,600), with only two players going on to get paid. None of the 11 participants were unknowns to the poker world, with Tollerene and Cary Katz managing to navigate their way through the strong field to get heads up.

Mikita Badziakouski, who had already enjoyed a profitable series before the final event, came close to adding more to his winnings, but eventually feel just short in 3^rd place. Katz and Tollerene then got involved in a back and forth heads-up match which could have easily gone either way. For US pro Tollerene however, fortune was on his side as he won back to back all ins to see off the challenge of Katz and take the title.

The final payouts are as follows:

1^st – Ben Tollerene – £840,000 (US$1,046,220)
2^nd – Cary Katz – £360,000 (US$448,380)

Event #9 £50,000 NLH – Winner: Mikita Badziakouski

The penultimate tournament of the series saw players stump up £50,000 (US$62,275) to take a seat, with he 18 entries creating a prize pool of £900,000 (US$1,120,950). As with most events on the schedule, the field was made up almost entirely of pros and competition was fierce. Charlie Carrel and Stephen Chidwick fell in 7^th and 9^th place respectively, ending all hopes of a British winner, with Ali Imsirovic and Matthias Eibinger and Sam Greenwood hitting the rail soon after.

David Peters was one of the players making room between WCOOP events to jump into some live action and managed a creditable 3^rd place for £144,000 (US$179,094), leaving Badziakouski and Christoph Vogelsang to contest the title. The duel took a little over half hour to settle, with Vogelsang never really finding much traction. Badziakouski finally finished the job when he shoved with and found himself in good shape against the of his opponent.

The final payouts are as follows:

1^st – Mikita Badziakouski – £486,000 (US$604,441)
2^nd – Christoph Vogelsang – £270,000 (US$335,800)
3^rd – David Peters – £144,000 (US$179,094)

Other results

Event #8 £25,000 NLH

Entries: 13
Prize Pool: £325,000
Winner: Sam Soverel – £227,500 (US$282,982)

Event #7 £25,000 PLO

Entries: 15
Prize Pool: £375,000
Winner: Stephen Chidwick – £202,500 (US$251,885)

Event #6 £25,000 NLH

Entries: 22
Prize Pool: £550,000
Winner: Sergi Reixach – £253,000 (US$314,700)

Event #5 £25,000 NLH

Entries: 28
Prize Pool: £700,000
Winner: Sam Soverel – £322,000 (US$400,528)

Event #4 £10,000 Short Deck

Entries: 24
Prize Pool: £240,000
Winner: Sam Greenwood – £110,400 (US$137,324)

Event #3 £10,000 NLH

Entries: 46
Prize Pool: £460,000
Winner: Paul Newey – £156,400 (US$194,542)

Event #2 £10,000 PLO

Entries: 30
Prize Pool: £300,000
Winner: George Wolff – £120,000 (US$149,265)

Event #1 – £10,000 NLH

Entries: 26
Prize Pool: £260,000
Winner: Luc Greenwood – £119,600 (US$148,767)

These results were enough to see Sam Soverel take the lead in the High Roller of the Year leaderboard, having picked up two titles during this series. Next up is the Super High Roller Bowl London which will also take place at Aspers Casino, with each seat costing a hefty £250,000.

Article by Craig Bradshaw