Fraser Bellamy has captured the £200,000 first prize in the £1,100 Sky Poker UK Poker Championships Main Event, after defeating Chris Vernon in heads-up action at Dusk till Dawn.
Rob Yong has done it again.
It was a bold play to slap a £1 million guarantee on the side of the £1,100 Sky UK Poker Championships. It was a sweat. No doubt about that. But 813 entrants made sure everyone went home happy, especially Fraser Bellamy.
Bellamy is no stranger to the Dusk till Dawn (DTD) card room. He’s a regular face. In 2010, he beat the talented Jack Ellwood, in heads-up action, to take the £78,488 first prize in the £1,090 Monte Carlo. I guess he’s no stranger to the big money either.
He had over $300,000 in live tournament earnings before this win. He can double that after his £200,000 first prize performance. It’s the second time in succession that this title has found it’s way back to Sheffield after Alex Spencer won the event in 2014.
It will seem an age ago for Bellamy, but 31 players returned for the final day of action. Quite remarkably, the man leading the way was the World Poker Tour (WPT) Champions Club member, Matas Cimbolas, who days earlier had won the High Roller event for £60,000. The UK-based Lithuanian couldn’t find a repeat performance, but will be happy with the £55,000 he picked up for his fourth place finish.
When the action did reduce to the final table of nine it was the experienced Tom Hall who held the chip lead. Hall wasn’t the only player who knew how to take big money away from a tournament like this. The former World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event final tablist, Jon Kalmar, was also in the fray. Hall would exit in fifth, Skallie’s day finished a lot earlier in eighth.
Bellamy took a 3:1 chip lead into his heads-up battle with Chris Vernon after four-flushing David Lloyd in third. An ace and a four was good enough for Vernon. Bellamy looked down to see the ladies. A few heartbeats later and it was all over. The aces stayed in the deck. Bellamy was declared the winner.
Final Table Results
1 Fraser Bellamy £200,000
2 Chris Vernon £120,000
3 David Lloyd £80,000
4 Matas Cimbolas £55,000
5 Tom Hall £40,000
6 Farhaan Khan £30,000
7 Jamie Clossick £25,000
8 Jonathan Kalmar £20,000
9 Dewi James £15,050
