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Simon Brandstrom Wins World Poker Tour United Kingdom Main Event

Swedish Player Tops Field of 690 Entries To Capture His Third Title of 2019

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Simon Brandstrom has won the 2019 World Poker Tour United Kingdom $3,300 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. The 37-year-old player from Goteborg, Sweden outlasted a field of 690 total entries to secure his third title of the year, earning $330,000 for his latest victory.

Earlier this year, Brandstrom took down the WPT DeepStacks Barcelona event for $305,529, becoming the first player to ever win both WPT DeepStacks and WPT main tour event titles. Brandstrom followed that up by winning the European Poker Tour Barcelona main event, overcoming a record-setting field of 1,232 total entries to win more than $1.4 million.

Brandstrom was awarded 960 Card Player Player of the Year points for his most recent win. The score was enough to see him climb into eighth place in the overall 2019 POY race standings, which are sponsored by Global Poker.

The final day began with Brandstrom holding the chip lead with nine players remaining. Joining Brandstrom at the final table was 2018 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure main event winner Maria Lampropulos and high-stakes tournament regular Manig Loeser.

Brandstrom ended Loeser’s run in seventh place, making two pair with KDiamond Suit9Diamond Suit to best the AClub SuitQHeart Suit of the German pro. Loeser earned $58,500 for his deep run in this event.

Lampropulos got her last chips in with AHeart Suit2Spade Suit, only to run into the 8Diamond Suit8Club Suit of James Rann. Neither player improved on a KDiamond SuitQSpade Suit7Diamond Suit5Diamond Suit6Spade Suit runout and Lampropulos was knocked out as the fifth-place finisher ($98,500).

Ryan Mandara eliminated Matthew Eardley in fourth place ($128,500) to take the chip lead heading into three-handed play. He then picked up pocket sevens and called the all-in of Rann, who held ADiamond Suit2Heart Suit. The board brought kings and fives, but Mandara’s superior two pair played to earn him the pot. Rann took home $168,500 as the third-place finisher.

Mandara began heads-up play with the lead, buy Brandstrom was able to quickly fight his way back to the top of the counts. The final hand saw Mandara pick up JSpade Suit10Club Suit on the button and raise to 650,000. Brandstrom defended his big blind with 9Heart Suit7Spade Suit. The flop came down 9Club Suit7Club Suit3Diamond Suit and Brandstrom checked. Mandara bet 550,000 and Brandstrom called with his two pair. The 4Club Suit hit the turn and Brandstrom check-called again, this time to the tune of 1,600,000. The KHeart Suit on the river prompted another check from Brandstrom. Mandara thought things over before moving all-in as a bluff for 7,700,000. Brandstrom made the call with his nines and sevens to secure the pot and the title. Mandara earned $221,650 as the runner-up finisher.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Place Player Payout POY Points
1 Simon Brandstrom $330,000 1260
2 Ryan Mandara $221,650 1050
3 James Rann $168,500 840
4 Matthew Eardley $128,500 630
5 Maria Lampropulos $98,500 525
6 Paul Siddle $76,000 420
7 Manig Loeser $58,500 315
8 Leo Worthington-Leese $46,000 210
9 Paul Jackson $36,000 105

Photo credit: WPT / Tomas Stacha.