WCOAP: Scotland rule the world…

9 Countries of 4 players each were represented at the International Team Championship during WCOAP 2016 – with one heck of a lot of noise! This year’s team event was an enthusiastic and passionate affair, with Scots arriving draped in the Scottish flag and sporting kilts, and with the Irish with their hair bows and caps, it was set to be a great event with a positive atmosphere and it did not disappoint.

The 2-Day event included a plethora of tournaments where individual members competed to win points for their team in Heads Up and NLHE, PLO and PLO8 (High/Low) Sit and Go’s before concluding with an MTT.

With the first day over with, there were lots of ups and downs and shouts and cheers, lots of teams scoring well and captains frantically trying to keep track. But when all was added up, the overnight leaders coming back for the final day events in top spot were Germany, with only 20 points between Germany and Scotland in 4th with England and Ireland in between – all too close to call it.

Going into the MTT it was all up for grabs, with points scored for the Top 18 players there were only 29 points between those at the top and bottom of the leaderboard, with only 14 points separating 1st and 6th and the top 2 teams, Germany and Ireland, on the same points, with Scotland, Italy and England close behind.

As teams’ hopes dropped away, the title was decided when England fell aside to leave Scotland with too many players remaining and victory secured as no team could possibly score more than them, and after a tense few hours play, the departure of the final Holland team member gave the Bronze Medal to Germany.

Whilst Scotland were being crowned Champions, the RAZZ Championship was also taking place where 49 players competed and played it out to a final table of 8:

Simon Brooke 85k
Alex Polnarev 75k
Darren Kirk 46k
Salim Khan 22k
Frank Sammit 17k
Jezsef Erdos 16k
Edward Jacks 15k
Adam Gough 12k

Third place went to Joszef Erdos for £367 and a Bronze Medal, leaving Simon Brooke and Darren Kirk Heads Up and after a very one-way battle, Simon took the Silver Medal and £563 and Darren Kirk took Gold, a WCOAP Bracelet and £762.