Andy Dodson is UK Amateur Poker Champion
Aspers Casino, Newcastle played host this weekend for the APAT UK Amateur Poker Championship, and with over 50 players bought in 2 hours before kick-off, it was set to be a great event and didn’t disappoint with a healthy 148 entries by the end of late registration generating a prize pool of £11,100.
Players sat down with the usual APAT 15,000 chips on a 45 minute clock and it was David ‘Pokerpops’ Amos, the APAT Player of the Year 2012, who made an excellent start to his first live game in a while by leading the field when more than doubling his stack in the first two levels, and by the first break the field had been whittled down to 117.
Behind the scenes, Des Duffy and Leigh Witlshire were using their technology prowess and providing the people at home with a live stream of players’ actions, including audio commentary of a ‘feature table’ including flop camera and it was, overall, a success and something expected to be built on and to continue to be provided for future APAT events.
By the dinner break there were 65 players, with David Amos remaining as chip leader. Several more quickly departed, including APAT regular Kev O’Hanlon and, with only 50 players remaining at Level 10, the decision was made to play to Level 12 on Day 1 which ended with 27 players:
214,500 Anthony Ashman
193,000 Alan Kirtlan
182,900 Andrew Simm
150,600 Kevin Simpson
136,500 Mark Robinson
106,700 Andrew Hayton
102,800 Gary Copeland
99,300 Ryan Kilbey
93,000 Craig Hindson
92,800 Dave Stoves
80,800 Andy Hall
79,900 Johnny Nixon
71,200 Steven Fung
70,100 Ian Dawson
59,100 Graham Foster
58,400 David Amos
55,200 Norman Hall
54,200 Nick Madsen
52,300 Malcolm Hedley
51,800 Gareth Stanford
39,000 Andrew Dodson
37,500 Jon Camsell
36,300 Ian Hayton
35,500 Scot Turner
35,500 Gary Langley
21,600 Chris Thorp
18,200 Gladys Jarvis
Day 2 saw a flurry of action including several ‘all-in’ moves, most of which were called and led to a series of stacks doubling, players exiting and chip stacks being cut down. Dave Stones had a rollercoaster of a ride from the beginning of Day 2 and the chip stacks around the room indicated the same for many of the remaining players and, with numerous ‘short stacks’ doubling up, by the first break there were still 21 players remaining, with top 16 ‘making the cash’.
Gareth Stanford was first out after the break following a major dent to his stack right before the break. Johnny Nixon followed shortly after, and Ian Dawson’s departure took the tournament to two tables. Andrew Hayton’s exit took it to the Bubble when his Kings were outdone by the Ace Queen of Craig Hindson and it was now hand-for-hand. The Bubble was a long and drawn out affair, but full of action. Dave Stones’ rollercoaster ride continued, and it was Gary Copeland who finally burst the Bubble, his Ace of hearts, Ten of spades being called by Kevin Simpson holding Ace of spades, King of hearts and the board didn’t improve Copeland’s hand and he departed in 17th place meaning that all 16 remaining players were guaranteed £145.
The bursting of the Bubble encouraged lots more play and as it got down to ten players, with a final table set for nine, there was major action. Dave Stones, Ryan Kilbey and Chris Thorp get it all in pre-Flop with Ryan having the dominating stack. Dave showed Aces, Ryan Queens and Chris Ace Ten. The Flop does the damage and throws out a queen and with no improvement from the Turn and River, Ryan takes out Chris in 10th place for £200 and Dave in 9th for £270 and the new seat draw is done for the remaining eight Final Table players:
Seat 1 – Nicholas Madsen – 299k
Seat 2 – Mark Robinson – 284k
Seat 3 – Malcolm Hedley – 554k
Seat 4 – Andrew Dodson – 205k
Seat 5 – David Amos – 239k
Seat 6 – Andy Hall – 81k
Seat 7 – Anthony Ashman – 152k
Seat 8 – Ryan Kilbey – 429k
The second hand of the Final Table saw the first exit; following a raise from Ryan Kilbey to 132k, David Amos finds pocket Queens in the Big Blind and pushes all in. Ryan calls and shows Ace Queen. The seemingly inevitably Ace arrives and we lose David ‘Pokerpops’ Amos in 8th place for £350.
The Final Table plays down and, before long, it is at the ‘APAT UK Championship Medal’ Bubble with four players remaining:
Ryan Kilbey
Mark Robinson
Malcolm ‘Mac’ Hedley
Andy Dodson
Ryan Kilbey, after losing a huge hand to Mac Hedley when his Aces were cracked by a flush on the Turn, is the medal Bubble and goes out in 4th place receiving a very comforting £1,050.
Very soon after, we see Mark, holding pocket Nines, pushing all in only to have Andy look down and discover pocket Kings and, with no help from the board, Mark went in 3rd place for a tasty £1,370 and APAT National Championship Bronze medal.
The Heads Up was short, and saw an unusual end when the two players, Andy and Mac, end up all in on the Turn, with Andy having two pair against Mac’s top pair and the River doing nothing to change this and Andy wins the pot. The chip stacks were incredibly similar and, after several clarifying counts, the result is that Andy began the hand with 1k less than Mac. Andy sits now with over 2 million chips and Mac is all in for his 1k.
The hand plays itself and, although Mac gets the better hand of Kd Qh, it is not to be the comeback of the year and Andy’s 2d 10h serves him well on a 6, 10, 2 flop and it is all over:
Malcolm Hedley is runner up and receives an APAT National Championship Silver Medal and £2,000 winnings.
Meaning Andy Dodson is crowned the UK Amateur Poker Champion and receives his Gold Medal, a seat into the Main Event at 2016 World Championship of Amateur Poker and a payday of £3,050.
1st – £3,050 + UK Amateur Poker Champion + Gold Medal + ‘World Championship of Amateur Poker’ Main Event Seat Andy Dodson
2nd – £2000 + Silver Medal Malcolm Hedley
3rd – £1370 + Bronze Medal Mark Robinson
4th – £1050 Ryan Kilbey
5th – £750 Andy Hall
6th – £585 Anthony Ashman
7th – £440 Nick Madsen
8th – £350 David Amos
9th – £270 Dave Stones
10th – £200 Christopher Thorp
11th – £200 Kev Simpson
12th – £200 Alan Kirton
13th – £200 Craig Hindson
14th – £145 Gary Langley
15th – £145 Andrew Simm
16th – £145 Ian Hayton
