Paul Findlay Winner of UKIPT Series in London

Hundred and something players who returned to play the Day 2 of UKIPT Series in London yesterday were reduced to one. The one is called Paul Findlay, a man who is no stranger to combat and who describes himself on his Twitter as an “ambassador & supporter of Help for Heroes and ABF” and “tattoo addict”. His bounty? £12,396 in prize money after the deal, UKIPT trophy and a CoC ticket.

After the bubble burst during the afternoon hours yesterday, 47 remaining players continued their journey towards the final table and the first place that was close to £17,000, nice cash for the £275 investment.

After some fast and furious action, only eight men were left standing, all of them guaranteed a minimum of £2,100 – maybe not the amount that will leave you staring at your screen with the mouth wide open, but once again, considering the investment, not too bad at all.

At this point, Paul Findlay show has started. His first victim was Jen-Yue Chiang who was anything but a short stack, yet two cooler hands saw him visit the rail the first of eight remaining while Findlay’s stack grew immensely. After Chiang’s departure the game became somewhat calmer for a while but then Findlay eliminated another player and severely crippled another one who was subsequently eliminated when the rest of his chips was claimed by Khashayar Zarghampour.

Fifth place departure of Onur Dag marked a breaking point in the tournament, as the four remaining players decided to make the deal that saw them distribute the remaining prize money, leaving £3,500 aside for the winner.

Thanks to the deal, Damasco Garcia who was coolered to leave in fourth place still received a juicy payout of £9,092, just like the third place Khashayar Zarghambour who walked away with £9,688 leaving Mario Trattou and Paul Findlay to battle it out for the trophy and the additional prize money.

Although Paul started with the chip deficit, he was able to successfully play his man, setting up couple effective traps and first taking over the lead and then the remainder of Trattou’s chips, sending him to the cage to collect his £10,874 consolation prize.

It was a big moment for Paul Findlay who will be turning 30 next year. As he explained to PokerStars blog, a part of the winnings will go towards financing his trip to Vegas next year, while 10% is reserved for the “Help for Heroes”, an organization that helped Findlay after he had lost a leg in Afganistan.

Only went and won it! http://t.co/f79LcJDIKa

— PAUL FINDLAY (@PaulFindlay85) September 14, 2014

No doubt that Findlay caught a few lucky breaks during the tournament, but that’s how it goes in poker and it doesn’t take anything away from his victory in London – a true hero on and off the felt!

Final Standings:

1st Paul Findlay £12,396.00

2nd Mario Trattou £10,874.00

3rd Khashayar Zarghampour £9,688.00

4th Garcia Damaso £9,092.00

5th Onur Dag £5,100.00

6th Darren Murphy £3,900.00

7th Steven Lewzey £2,850.00

8th Jen-Yie Chiang £2,100.00

Pictures by Neil Stoddart from PokerStars Blog