London has been abuzz with poker this past month, but the action-packed weeks have finally come to a close with the conclusion of the EPT London Main Event today. As reported on FlopTurnRiver yesterday, only eight players remained at the close of day four, and battling through them all was David Vamplew. He now stands as champion of London’s largest ever poker tournament.
The European Poker Tour is a series of poker tournaments broadcast on television that fans may enjoy the action as much as the players themselves. There are various stops in beautiful cities all around Europe, hence the name, and like the North American Poker Tour, the Latin American Poker Tour and Asia Pacific Poker Tour, the events are sponsored by internet poker giant PokerStars. This London stop marks the commencement of the tour’s seventh season, the first having taken place back in 2004.
The main event of EPT London has been playing out over the last several days. We reported on the tournament yesterday, but for those of you who missed it, the prize pool on offer was a staggering £4,112,800 ($6.5 Million USD), with first place looking at a handsome £900,000 payday, which is over $1.4 Million. These impressive figures drew 848 hopefuls to the felt, each putting up £5,000 + £250 or qualifying via the satellite tournaments PokerStars runs online.
Yesterday it was famous poker pro John Juanda leading the pack alongside Kyle Bowker, the two having very nearly equal chip stacks. The third place player, with barely half the chips of the leaders at the time, was one David Vamplew, who has today managed to turn the odds around and walk away with the title and the first place prize. With three players remaining, Bowker and Juanda got their chips in the middle, Bowker looking in very good shape with his JJ against Juanda’s TT. Poker can be a cruel game, however, and John Juanda was saved by a club flush which sent Bowker to the rail in third place.
As Heads-Up Play got underway John Juanda had a strong 4:1 chip advantage over opponent David Vamplew. Vamplew was not willing to give up without a fight, however, and the heads-up portion of the tournament lasted several hours as he clawed his way to victory. After many back and forth exchanges and some important double-ups, Vamplew found himself with a large chip advantage as Juanda pushed all-in with King Deuce suited. Vamplew quickly made the call and his Ace Three off-suit looked in solid shape, especially when the flop came A3Q. Neither the 9 Turn nor the 6 river changed anything, leaving Juanda eliminated in second place, and Vamplew alone at the table with the title and £900,000 in prize money.
David Vamplew is fairly unknown, but has had strong showings both in this tournament and earlier in his poker career. The 23 year-old Briton has recently graduated with a degree in maths, and it’s only this year that his attention to poker has truly started yielding results. He placed in the money in a World Series of Poker event this July, but that pales in comparison to both the prestige and cash value of his win here in London today. We’re sure to hear more from the player in the future if results like that of today keep up.
The official final table results are as follows:
1. David Vamplew – £900,000
2. John Juanda – £545,000
3. Kyle Bowker – £300,000
4. Artur Wasek – £240,000
5. Kayvan Payman – £190,000
6. Fernando Brito – £145,000
7. Tom Marchese – £100,000
8. Per Ummer – £66,800
9. John Hall – £45,000