For the third week running, I have excellent news from the World Series of Poker (WSOP). Mike Ellis, a good friend of mine from the Vic card room in London, has won the UK's fourth bracelet, in the $1,500 no limit holdem.
The astonishing British results constitute a definite change of temperature for us at the WSOP. Some say no limit holdem has finally matured as our local game, after decades of Pot Limit (which the Americans rarely played). Others thank the big domestic tours – the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour and the UK & Ireland Poker Tour – which have given our best players the chance to practise regularly with relatively slow structures and big fields.
Whatever the explanation, the Brits have cracked it. Neil Channing, who came second in an earlier tournament, finished 11th in this $1,500 event: extremely impressive in a field of 2,400.
The final hand went like this. Ellis (with the chip lead) raised from the button. His opponent, Christopher Gonzales, reraised and Ellis called. Flop: J♦ 7♠ 6♦. Gonzales made a fat, pot-sized bet: 1,255,000. Ellis thought, then called. Turn: 5♦. Gonzales moved all in and Ellis called.
Gonzales flipped over AA, but Ellis had A♦T♦ – the nut flush – and it was all over.
No errors here. At the end of an exhausting tournament, with these two hands, either player could move all in at any time. Ellis could have raised the flop, Gonzales could have checked it, but the cards show us the result would have been the same.
Both men played excellent poker at the heads-up stage, and fate decided. It was a great decision for the Englishman and his supporters. So why not forget this afternoon's football and tune in to the far cheerier PokerNews.com?
