Barham gets a pass as Moneymaker deals dream ending

After a hugely enjoyable weekend of grass roots poker, Chris Moneymaker dealt the final hand as Andrew Barham became the Road to PSPC winner for London as he won £7,501 and the all-important Platinum Pass that will see Barham take on the best in Barcelona.

Taking place at London’s Hippodrome Casino, the London leg of Chris Moneymaker’s ‘Road to PSPC’ tour saw 468 entries, and on the final day, it was a fast-paced round of eliminations, at least until a dramatic deal.

First to bust was Stephen Baker, who couldn’t turn his original £5.50 satellite entry into a PSPC ticket, losing with ace-right against the dominating ace-king of Justin Bateson. Bateson wasn’t happy with one elimination and quickly took out Simon Green too, before the eventual winner Barham busted Zayn Mushtaq in sixth place.

With five players left, play slowed down a little, but Jay Yerby managed to river a flush to send Alan Lambert down to small change. Lambert would be next to depart, and he wasn’t out of the door for a matter of minutes before Ken Wong was following him out of it, and three players remained.

It was time to talk about a deal, and after much discussion, the numbers came up that made sense to all three remaining players. With just Andrew Barham, Justin Bateson and Jay Yerby remaining, a deal was agreed, with only the Platinum Pass staying on the line. Andrew Barham took the largest payout, with Justin Bateson and Jay Yerby accepting lower amounts that still totaled over £3,000 more than the 4th place payout.

It would be Yerby who missed out on the heads-up battle for the pass, and Barham and Bateson faced off one last time for the ultimate aspirational poker prize. With Chris Moneymaker still around, he agreed to deal the first hand of the heads-up battle… and his deal would be the last. Barham’s overpair of kings triumphed against Bateson, who had flopped top pair and couldn’t overtake his opponent on turn or river.

Barham’s victory saw him win that PSPC Platinum Pass ticket and he will compete against some of the world’s best players next August in the traveler’s paradise that is Barcelona, land of many EPT champions’ fondest memories.

Moneymaker moves on, to Newcastle, Dublin and many other stops as he continues to press the PokerStars flesh around the world.

Moneymaker’s Road to PSPC London Main Event final table results:

* After a three-way deal