Nick Slade, a 45 year old English professional poker player from Preston, England, has marked a remarkable personal comeback by making winning the PartyPoker European Open IV, and taking home $200,000 for first prize.
This is a remarkable achievement considering that Slade almost quit altogether due to his wife falling seriously ill and he himself also encountered a debilitating water skiiing accident, which shattered his neck.
The event was played in London and was a $7,000 buy-in, which comprised of some of Europe’s biggest names including Finland’s Juha Helppi and WSOPE main event winner, Annette Obrestad. The event consisted of 72 runners, with bookmakers making him a 100/1 outsider to win the tournament.
Slade began the final table shorted stacked, which included Ian Frazer, Juha Helppi, Annette Obrestad and Josh Tyler. Ultimately, he found himself heads-up with fellow Englishman, Craig Burgess, where eventually Slade found himself calling an all-in with K-3 against Burgess’s Q-Q only for a King to appear on the turn and send Burgess packing!
This was Slade’s biggest cash of his whole career, and it now seems certain that he will once again become a regular in the European Poker Circuit.