After two years of successful series in Las Vegas with the U.S. Poker Open, the British Poker Open is making its debut in the Fall of 2019. A total of 10 high stakes events are being held at the Aspers Casino in London from Sept. 2-12, with each event awarding points in a race for the British Poker Open trophy.
The first week of the series was dedicated to eight high roller tournaments, with the first four all being £10,500 buy-in events and the second four all £26,000 to enter. Below is a recap of all how all these exciting tournaments played out.
2019 BPO £10,500 Buy-In Events
The first event of the series was a £10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. A total of 26 entries were made in the event. In the end, Lucas Greenwood overcame a tough final table that included the likes of Sam Grafton (4th – $31,460 USD), Robert Flink (3rd – $50,336) and Steve O’Dwyer (2nd – $88,088 USD). Greenwood secured the top prize of $144,716 USD and 180 Card Player Player of the Year points for the win.
The game switched to pot-limit Omaha for the second £10,500 buy-in event of the series. The tournament drew 30 entries, with the top five finishers making the money. Joni Jouhkimainen finished fifth for $29,040 USD and Gavin Cochrane earned $36,300 USD as the fourth-place finisher. Current Card Player POY race leader Stephen Chidwick added to his lead in the standings with a third-place showing for $58,080 and 160 more POY points. More on him later, though. George Wolff ultimately emerged victorious with the title, defeating Sam Soverel heads-up for the win. Wolff took home $145,200 USD, while Soverel earned $94,380 USD for the first of several scores he would end up recording in this series.
The third event was another £10,500 buy-in no-limit hold’em tournament. The field grew to 46 entries this time around, creating a prize pool equivalent to $556,600 USD. The top seven finishers made the money, with plenty of big names among those who cashed. Stephen Chidwick finished seventh for $27,830 USD and 75 POY points. Cary Katz earned $33,396 USD as the sixth-place finisher. Sam Greenwood took home $44,528 USD for fith place, while Mikita Badziakouski earned $55,660 USD as the fourth-place finisher. two-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Elio Fox was awarded $83,490 USD for third place, leaving Sam Soverel and English businessman Paul Newey to battle it out for the title. Newey came out on top in the end, earning $189,244 USD and his first live tournament title. Soverel had to settle for $122,452 USD for his second runner-up finish of the series.
The final £10,500 buy-in of the series was a short deck no-limit hold’em event. A total of 24 entries were made, with the top four finishers cashing. Cary Katz (4th place) earned $29,040 USD and 90 points for his second score of the series, while Anson Tsang took home $46,464 USD after busting in third. Robert Flink finished as the runner up at this second final table of the series, earning $81,312 USD. Sam Greenwood captured the title for 4133,584 USD and 180 POY points.
This was his second title and 10th final table finish of the year. With more than $7.1 million in POY-qualified cashes, he now sits in a tie for ninth place in the 2019 Card Player POY race, which is sponsored by Global Poker.
2019 BPO £26,000 Buy-In Events
After two second-place showings, Sam Soverel came out on top in the first of four £26,000 buy-in events on the 2019 BPO schedule. The £26,000 no-limit hold’em event saw 28 entries made. Soverel overcame a stacked final table. Stephen Chidwick made his third final table of the series, finishing fourth for $84,700 USD. Ali Imsirovic placed third for $135,520 and 168 points at his 14th final table of the year, joining Sam Greenwood in a tie for ninth place in the POY race standings as a result. That left Rainer Kempe heads-up against Soverel, with the American triumphing in the end. Kempe was awarded $237,160 USD and 210 points for his 14th final-table finish of 2019. He now sits in third place in the POY race. Soverel earned $389,620 USD as the champion, but somehow was not yet done with his win streak in this series.
The second £26,000 no-limit hold’em event on offer saw 22 entries posted. Sergi Reixach was the last player standing, backing up his win in the €100,000 buy-in high roller at the European Poker Tour Barcelona festival with his second title run in as many weeks.
The other players to cash in this event were Michael Zhang (4th – $66,550 USD), Elio Fox (3rd – $106,480 USD) and Tim Adams (2nd – $186,340 USD). This was Adams’ tenth final table finish of the year, with four titles won along the way. With $5,925,395 in year-to-date earnings, the Canadian poker pro now occupies the 12th-place spot on the 2019 Card Player Player of the Year leaderboard.
The lone £26,000 buy-in pot-limit Omaha event on the schedule attracted a total of 15 entries, with only the top three finishers making the money. Sam Soverel kept his incredible streak of cashes going by finishing third for another $72,600 USD. George Wolff came close to winning his second PLO title of the series, but ultimately lost heads-up against Stephen Chidwick and had to settle for $136,125 USD. Chidwick took home $248,655 and 168 POY points for his fourth title and 17th final-table finish of 2019. He has cashed for nearly $6.2 million in POY-qualified events, with another $5.4 million in earnings coming for his fourth-place showing in the seven-figure buy-in Triton Million Charity Invitational. Chidwick was already the POY race leader, but his four final table finishes in the early BPO events have helped solidify his advantage heading into the final third of the year.
The final £26,000 buy-in event of the BPO was another no-limit hold’em tournament. With just 13 total entries, only the top two finishers got paid. Sam Soverel defeated Steve O’Dwyer heads-up to secure his second title of the series, adding another $275,275 USD to his totals for the week. Soverel cashed in five of the first eight events, accumulating $954,327 in earnings and 982 POY points. With five titles and 14 final-table finishes so far in 2019, Soverel has moved into 11th place in the POY race. O’Dwyer earned $117,975 USD as the runner-up finisher.
Here is a look at the standings in the BPO points race:
| RANK | PLAYER (Cashes) | POINTS | Earnings (In £) |
| 1 | Sam Soverel (5) | 780 | £788,700 |
| 2 | Stephen Chidwick (4) | 420 | £343,500 |
| 3 | George Wolff (2) | 340 | £232,500 |
| 4 | Steve O’Dwyer (2) | 280 | £170,300 |
| 5 | Sam Greenwood (2) | 260 | £147,200 |
| 6 | Robert Flink (2) | 240 | £108,800 |
| 7 | Mikita Badziakouski | 200 | £486,000 |
| 8 | Sergi Reixach | 200 | £253,000 |
| 9 | Elio Fox (2) | 200 | £157,000 |
| 10 | Paul Newey | 200 | £156,400 |
The final two events of the series will see the stakes upped even further. The £52,000 buy-in no-limit hold’em event kicks off on Sept. 10, while the £103,000 no-limit hold’em main event will get underway on Sept. 11.
All winner photos provided by Poker Central.
