This weekend, Blue Belt Jamie Burland became the Brighton UKIPT champion, marking his biggest win to date. Having only recently returned from the World Series of Poker in Vegas, Jamie overcame a 259-thick field to take home the £65,400 first prize, as well as the customary silverware.Hosted by the Rendezvous Casino, the Brighton leg was the fifth outing for the Tour, and the debut for the £1,000 buy-in after a fee of €1,000 was tried and tested in Killarney. Among the field was an array of talent, including Black Belt Poker co-founder Neil Channing who finished in 31st place for £1,700. He was joined by the likes of Julian Thew, Liam Flood, James Dempsey, Jake Cody, Vicky Coren and 2010 Irish Open James Mitchell.
For much of the tournament, Jamie was a silent assassin, never threatening the chip lead but quietly and surely scaling the ranks to ensure he was one of 13 to return for the third and final day. With two tables remaining, Jamie experienced a crucial double through, squeezing with aces preflop and leading a king high flop. His opponent moved all in with tens and Jamie immediately called before holding up on a blank turn and river.
After Anthony Lee was eliminated on the bubble by a fatigued Jon Spinks (4s-4d versus 6s-3s on an ensuing 2c-Ah-5h-7h-Ad board), Jamie found himself sitting in third with American tourist Bill Seber topping the charts after Andy Youens had boasted the chip lead at the start of the day:
Seat 1: Tomas Cibak - 549,000
Seat 2: Bill Seber - 850,000
Seat 3: Jamie Burland - 490,000
Seat 4: Waseem Ahmed - 241,000
Seat 5: William Beauchamp - 370,000
Seat 6: David Gant - 341,000
Seat 7: Andy Youens - 322,000
Seat 8: Jon Spinks - 430,000
Seat 9: Jonathan Campbell - 360,000
On the final table, Jamie was heavily supported by the Black Belt Poker faithful as fellow Blue Belts Simon Mairs, Owen Robinson and Kevin Williams all offered words of encouragement from the rail as well as ensuring that Jamie was greeted to a costly bar tab upon departure.
After Gant, Campbell and Youens exited in ninth to seventh respectively, Jamie took the scalp of sixth placed finisher Waseem Ahmed. With Seber raising to 75,000 from the button, Jamie moved all in from the small blind, only for Ahmed to call all-in from the big for 360,000. Seber folded and hands were revealed, Jamie in need of assistance with Ac-9s versus 5s-5c. However, on this occasion, Jamie's coin was buttered the right side as the board came Ah-Kd-7d-Kh-8s to award him both the pot, and the scalp.
Spinks and Beauchamp fell in fifth and fourth to leave us three-handed, at which point the Black Belt Poker pro triumphed in another crucial coin flip, Jamie once again out-gunning a pocket pair with his A-T defeating the 9-9 of Seber. A 63-year old Texan, Seber boasts over $500,000 in tournament winnings, although here he was forced to settle for third and a payday of £24,600.
Heads-up was an intriguing affair, the suited and booted hometown hero against the uber-aggressive foreigner, Tom Cibak of the Czech Republic proving a fearsome competitor throughout with his unrelenting penchant for three- and four-betting opponents into submission. Jamie, however, was a fierce competitor himself, and as the clock passed eleven, Jamie captured gold with Qh-4h standing up against Ts-8s all in on a Qs-7d-4s flop. The Td turn created more outs, but to no avail as the river bricked out to keep the title on home soil.
Overjoyed at victory, Jamie leapt from his chair with both hands clenched as the final card was dealt, before celebrating with his friends on the rail. To everyone watching, it was obvious how much this win meant to Jamie. After a few near misses, Jamie had finally captured that title he'd been looking for and you could see the emotion pouring from his face.
A Blue Belt on Black Belt Poker, Jamie was a product of the 2010 Grading process in which five players were promoted to Blue Belt with three enjoying Irish Open packages in which they were bought into the €3,500 Main Event. As a Blue Belt, Jamie is also open to Neil Channing's "occasional moments of madness", and so gratefully accepted when Neil offered to stake any Blue Belt on Black Belt Poker into the WSOP Main Event. Jamie performed admirably throughout, but ultimately came up short when he was eliminated at the tail end of Day 3.
Black Belt Poker will be looking to get an interview with the UKIPT's latest champion in the coming days, as well as hear his thoughts on some of those key hands. In the meantime, be sure to sign up to Black Belt Poker and see how you can scale the ranks to join Jamie as one of our Blue Belt sponsored pros. To open an account is easy: just download the cardroom software and follow the simple step-by-step process provided.
1st Jamie Burland -- £65,400
2nd Tomas Cibak -- £40,100
3rd Billy Sever -- £24,600
4th William Beauchamp -- £18,100
5th Jon Spinks -- £15,000
6th Wasseem Ahmed -- £12,400
7th Andrew Youens -- £9,850
8th Jonathan Campbell -- £7,750
9th David Gant -- £5,550
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