Kevin Allen makes sure the Grosvenor United Kingdom Poker Tour (GUKPT) Grand Final trophy stays on British soil, after an incredibly gritty performance saw him defeat the South African Rudolf Fourie in heads up action in London.
Kevin Allen has taken one of the most coveted prizes on the UK poker tour, and £158,700 in prize money, after defeating a field of 294 players in the £2,000 GUKPT Grand Final Main Event at London’s fabled Vic Casino in London.
It’s a performance that has capped off a truly wonderful year for the popular pro from Kent, who secured his second six figure score of 2013, after taking down the Monte Carlo event at Nottingham’s Dusk Till Dawn (DTD) back in April.
13-players returned for the final day of action and it was a field brimming with top talent. Allen started the final day with the Atlas role as his short stack held up the rest of the field and all eyes were on Sam Grafton to retain the title he won back in Nov 2012.
Former European Poker Tour (EPT) champion Zimnan Ziyard, former World Poker Tour (WPT) champion Thomas Bichon and the talented UK pro Ben Jackson all looking good for a run at the title.
It wouldn’t take long for Allen to take the world off his shoulders when his [Kd] [Jd] doubled through the [Ah] [Qh] of Paul Hardwidge to start a comeback that would see him go all the way. Then the reigning champion Sam Grafton would find a pair of kings that would ultimately lead to his exit from the tournament in a hand against Matt Davenport. The latter getting it in against Grafton holding ace-ten, and an ace on the flop made sure we would be crowning a new champion in 2013.
Ziyard would end his run as the final table bubble boy after pushing his luck with [As] [7s] in a pot against Bichon who was holding pocket kings. The kings held and Ziyard was crushed before being eliminated by Scott Margerson a few hands later.
After that exit Davenport looked to have the title in the bag for large periods of the final table, and when he eliminated Ben Jackson in fourth place he not only had a seemingly unassailable lead, but all of the luck and momentum that usually sees players past the finishing line.
As it transpired there was a player in the field with more luck than Davenport and that was Allen, who managed to duck and dive his way through a series of showdowns to double through Davenport twice before sending him to the rail in third: [Ah] [Kd] v [9d] [7h].
That left Allen facing the un-fancied South African, Rudolf Fourie in heads up action, but it would take a further two hours before Allen got it in with [Kd] [Qs] against the [Js] [8s] of Rudolf Fourie. The Bloemfontein resident, who was in the country following the Springbok rugby team, flopped a flush and straight draw, but Allen continued his feat of evasion by fading the final two cards to seal the most important victory of his career thus far.
Final Table Standings
1st. Kevin Allen – £158,700
2nd. Rudolf Fourie – £105,800
3rd. Matt Davenport – £70,600
4th. Ben Jackson – £41,200
5th. Scott Margerson – £31,700
6th. Richard Kellett – £25,900
7th. Thomas Bichon – £20,000
8th. Will Kassouf – £15,600
9th. Pratik Ghatge – £11,100
Photo courtesy of the GUKPT
