Local lad Gary Miller has won the £1m Guaranteed 888Poker sponsored WPT500 in Aspers, Stratford, and the WPT Player Council returns to Amsterdam.
‘Shotgun’ can mean two things.
On the one hand, it can mean taking the passenger seat. “I want to ride shotgun.” It’s a saying that dates back to the early 1900s and was used to describe the man who sat next to the stagecoach driver.
It’s also an impressive weapon, and the man who sat next to the stagecoach driver c
arried one so he could blow the head off hostile natives.
Gary Miller has ridden shotgun on far too many final tables.
The Brit has cashed in 37 live tournaments and has made the final table 25 times (67%), finished in the top three places 12 times (18%), and ended up riding shotgun seven times.
He has never won.
Until now.
It seems someone finally showed him how to pull the trigger.
The first alliance between 888Poker and the World Poker Tour (WPT) was a WPT500 held at Aspers Casino in Stratford, UK. It was a resounding success (as all WPT500 events are) with 1,810 entrants competing in the £1m Guaranteed event.
The final table housed a few impressive specimens, but Miller blasted them all away en route to a £114,000 first prize. It’s Miller’s most significant win to date surpassing the £15,230 he received for finishing runner-up to Sam Acheampong in the 888Live Local in Aspers, London.
Charles Akadiri came into the final table on heat after beating 1,075 entrants to win the £22,580 first prize in a side event at the partypoker LIVE UK Poker Championships in February. Sunil Mistri once beat 3,200 entrants to win a partypoker LIVE Grand Prix Poker Tour event in Stamford Bridge, Chelsea for £35,000. And the American Kevin O’Donnell came into the final with a string of impressive performances on his CV including a final table appearance in the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Little One for One Drop, a 21st place finish in the WSOP Main Event, and back-to-back final table finishes at the WPT Legends of Poker.
But it was the relatively unknown Getnet Hailu that would cause Miller the most problems. The pair traded the final table chip lead like it was a hot potato until they made it to the heads-up phase with Miller taking a 15.4m v 11.8m lead.
Hailu never managed to retake the chip lead during heads-up and lost after moving all-in with KT and being called by pocket sevens. Hailu flopped a ten to take the lead, but Miller turned a seven to ensure victory for the first time in his career.
Final Table Results
1. Gary Miller – £114,000
2. Getnet Hailu – £79,830
3. Dwayne Bradley – £51,470
4. Charles Akadiri – £38,075
5. Sang Leung – £29,000
6. Richard Hoadley – £23,035
7. Kevin O’Donnell – £19,075
8. Adrian Petrus – £15,175
9. Sunil Mistri – £11,390
The WPT Player Council to Return to Amsterdam
The next time the WPT will host an event in Europe will be WPT Amsterdam. The festival begins on April 13 with a €1,500 buy-in WPTDeepStacks event, and the €3,300 WPT Amsterdam Main Event occurs April 16.
If you are interested in helping the WPT to become an even better company than it already is, then Executive Tournament Director, Matt Savage, invites you to a special WPT Player Council taking place at the Holland Casino April 17 between 12-14 (CET).
All questions, answered.
All suggestions, considered.
