It had been over a year since the top UK player had a won a major event, but in the small hours of Monday, April 23, Dave 'El Blondie' Colclough finally again tasted sweet victory. Dave pocketed £88,000 for the first prize win, while Blue Square Poker online qualifier Barry Neville netted £47,000 for his second place finish.
The impressive heads-up battle between Dave and Barry lasted over two and half hours, despite the fact that Dave had a 2:1 chip advantage before entering the heads-up stage. The death blow was finally dealt when Colclough, holding T
9
, made a flush on the river against Neville's J-9. After the epic battle, Colclough paid Neville a big compliment, saying the heads-up match was one of the toughest he had ever played.
Dr. Tom Sambrook, a poker commentator, finished in third place after suffering a bad beat at the hands of Neville. Sambrook, who acted as poker consultant on the recent James Bond film
Casino Royale, was one of four online qualifiers to make the final. In addition to Neville, the other two were Chris Bruce, a Scotsman who now lives in Nottingham, and Greek Jack Dionysiou from Grantham. They finished in seventh and eighth places, respectively. Fourth place went to Nick Slade, fifth to Portsmouth's Ryan Fronda, and Watford's Richard Ashby took sixth. Mancunian Victor Kaye, who finished ninth, completed the final table lineup.
Next stop on the
Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (
GUKPT) tour is leg 5 at the Grosvenor Casino in Brighton, May 17-20. For more information, visit
www.grosvenorukpokertour.com.
