Biggest ever UKIPT Nottingham Main Event awards £201K top prize

The Dusk Till Dawn poker club in Nottingham once again hosted the PokerStars UK & Ireland Poker Tour this week, with a £1,100 Main Event that drew a record 1,282 entries to create a £1,230,720 prize pool (approx. $1.5M) - far outstripping the £1M guarantee.

The event was the biggest of its type ever held, beating the 1,227-player field of last year, and the player left holding every last chip after the final hand was dealt was Arian Kashani of Iran. Kashani defeated the UK’s Philip Joyce on Monday night to take home the £201,900 first prize, with Joyce collecting £126,000 for his runner-up finish.

Kashani and Joyce clean house

This wasn’t the first time Kashani and Joyce had run deep in the same tournament, as the pair finished in 11th and 12th place, respectively, in the EPT Cyprus Main Event just last month. Both qualified for this event online at PokerStars, and would have to negotiate some talented opposition en route to the heads-up finale.

At a final table that featured the likes of Christopher Brammer ($2.6M tournament earnings to date), Daniel Rudd ($697K), Justin Tsui ($604K) and Nathan Slater ($251K), they would have their work cut out for them, but it was work they would set about with ruthless efficiency.

Kashani held a big chip lead for most of the final table.

Kashani hit the final table with a solid chip lead, and would never dip below second throughout the last day of play. Kashani and Joyce, between them, eliminated every other player at the final table to set up an intriguing heads-up battle, with Kashani holding a 3:1 chip lead. That lead would be wiped out in quick fashion, however, after Joyce called for his stack holding top pair versus Kashani’s semi-bluff flush draw with one card to come, and held to level the contest.

A deal was discussed, but ultimately the two players chose to play for all the marbles.

Four-flush seals the deal

Joyce built a lead of his own but, as in Cyprus, it would be Kashani who once again finished one spot ahead of the Brit. Having regained the lead, Kashani min-raised from the button holding , and Joyce came over the top with an all-in shove for his last 22 bbs and in his hand.

Kashani made the call, only to see the flop put Joyce in the driving seat as the 73% favorite to take a commanding lead, dropping to 68% when the dropped on the turn to give Kashani outs to a flush. Chasing a king, queen or club, Kashani made his hand when the filled his flush and delivered the win.

Joyce came close, but couldn't fade the river.

The £201,900 (approx. $260,900) first prize marks a new career-best for Kashani, whose previous biggest cash of £71,820 came at the same venue in a WSOP-C event earlier this year. Joyce also scored a career-high with his £126,000 (approx. $162,000) payday, topping his previous score of $60,900, won for his deep run at EPT Cyprus last month.

“If you persevere and do the right things, eventually good things will come,” Kashani told PokerStars, as the dust settled. “They say if you hang around the barber shop long enough, you’ll eventually get a haircut.”

UKIPT Nottingham £1,100 Main Event final table results

^{Images courtesy of Rational Intellectual Holdings, Ltd/Danny Maxwell Photography}