Speech! Speech! Not Really. Bring on the Big Cheque!

Little interviews are conducted in front of the snapping paparazzi. It turns out Luke Trotman only just snuck in as an alternate with 5 mins to go and has turned that into an impressive 2nd place finish.

Congratulations too to Martin Silke, who says, "I love heads up and this is the hardest heads up I've ever played...Feels very good now, to be honest, not just the money but the trophy!" I am sure he will be gracing the tour later on - and definitely for the Grand Final to which he's won a seat by outlasting this monster field.




Silke Cuts Through Field - Over And Out From the Black Belt Poker GUKPT Update.

MARTIN SILKE LONDON GUKPT CHAMP!

About 8 small skirmishes later, there's been almost no change to the chip stacks; they're very even. Until THIS happens:

Martin Silke raises 170k preflop, called by Luke Trotman. Trotman checks the As-7h-9d flop - Silke bets 180k. Call. The turn is the Jc. Again, Trotman checks; again Silke bets - 450k. Pause as the action goes back to Trotman, who moves in...

... Silke makes the call and is ahead with A-K vs. Trotman's A-4. The river bricks the Ts and after a long agonising countdown...


... it is determined that Martin Silke has him covered and is therefore the 2009 GUKPT Vic Champion winning - officially - £172,850) and Luke Trotman is Runner Up winning - officially - £103,000. It's definitely a shedload of money apiece, however.

Presentation Ceremony awaits...

They Think It's All Over; It's Not.

Straight after losing that pot, Silke limps in for 100k and Trotman checks.

The flop is 8h 7h 5d and Trotman checks while still stacking that huge amount of chips he's just won. Silke bets 190k and Trotman continues to stack...and still stacking...and still stacking...and he calls. The turn is the 8d and again Trotman checks with Silke instantly firing out 370k, Trotman asks Silke how much he has behind and it's roughly 900k more.

Trotman announces, "I raise all-in."

Silke looks perplexed and slightly upset but then begins to laugh, which is bizarre but then looks at Trotman and says, "Ok, I call."

Trotman shows Qd-6d for the straight and flush draw plus overcard, and Silke shows Kh-7c muttering, "I knew he had a draw...I knew it." Trotman's railers are shouting, "Monster number of outs...Come on!!!"

The river is the 7d completing Trotman's flush and he screams in delight, hugging the equally ecstatic Josh Tyler and John Tabatabai. Martin Silke looks pale as a sheet, but then suddenly sees the real truth, "Full house!" he shouts as the dealer pushes the two sevens and two eights on the board up. Trotman transforms before our eyes and hands on head slumps back into his chair. The Irish in the crowd suddenly pipe up once more and the chip stacks are dead even again.


The question is now whether Trotman can recover from having his victory snatched away at the point of ecstasy or if Silke can manage to maintain his momentum. Either way, pray the limpathon ends.

See-Saw Suddenly Slides in Favour of Trotman

After literally half an hour of mainly flopless small pots, a couple of interesting hands come along at once, like buses. The first saw them get to the turn (7s-6d-5c-7h) as Luke Trotman called a Martin Silke bet on the flop, but he gave up when Martin bet 470k on the turn.

Next, Trotman raised to 190k pre, called by Silke. They both checked the 3d-3s-5h flop. Silke checked the Qc turn, but instantly called when Trotman bet 300k. On the Jh river, Silke now led for 420k. Into the tank for Trotman. Eventually he made the call - and Silke didn't really want to turn his hand over. Made to by the dealer, his A-4 was well behind Trotman's Ad-Jd, but I wonder what would have happened without the Jack on the river.

Just 1.5 mil for Silke now, double that for Trotman.

Too-Hot-To-Trot

After the initial frenetic pace of raises, reraises, 3-bets and the act of "jamming in one's eye", it's all got very slow again. The two are about even and the pots have mostly become limped, the only one of note being when Trotman raised Silke's 160k bet on a 6c-3d-8h to a suspicious 320k which was called before betting 500k on the 5d after Silke checked to him. The Irishman looked particularly uncomfortable at this point, and decided to let it go. Trotman enigmatically showed the Ac and Silke smiled and nodded his head. An odd hand since many of Trotman's friends were whispering he had the straight.

Trotman Outkicked

Pretty quickly the two remaining players' stacks even out... Luke Trotman limps on the sb, and Martin Silke checks. The flop brings an unassuming looking 8d-Jd-4h, but a flurry of action. Martin check-raises to 300k, and Trotman asks for a count on his opponent. It's 1,020,000. He sets him in, and Silke calls!

They both have top pair - Jc-7d for Silke and Jc-5c for Trotman.


Turn: Qs... River: 3h - Trotman looks understandably disappointed that the river didn't bring a split, but pays the double up. Now a slight edge to the Irishman.

Shark on the Rail

Doesn't it look like the GUKPT branded shark is railing the tournament alongside photographer Q? This looks even funnier in real life, if you can believe it. Sometimes the background of mediocre photos yields something special.

OK enough break-time filler, they're off and running. Two hands of heads-up so far, one walk and one raise from Luke - +440k which takes a preflop pot.

S.O. Far, S.O. Out! Oatley 3rd (£100k)

And suddenly, with the blinds going up to 40k/80k, we have an all-in! Button Luke Trotman raises to 210k, and Sam Oatley just moves all in. It's counted down and turns out to be exactly 1,134,000. A bit of a think, I pause short of bandying about terms like 'nitroll' though, and Trotman calls this large bet, creating the biggest pot of the tournament!

Oatley: Th-Td
Trotman: Jh-Js

A third Jack on the flop - 4c-8d-Jd - brings a shout of delight from his railers, while the Qs-7c turn and river avoid any straightening for the Tens.

We're heads-up now as Oatley shakes hands all round and takes his leave.


Now here's the board at the end of the hand, and see the stack half on the right and half in the middle? OK add that to the BIG stack at the bottom and you have Luke Trotman as at least a 2:1 chip leader.

Quaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaads!

OK I've totally given the game away with the title, but it has to be said, and said loud and gloatingly. Sam Oatley raises to 180k on the button, re-raised another 240k by Martin Silke on the big blind. Oatley makes the call.

The flop of Ad-2c-6s is checked by both players. On the 6s turn, Silke makes a little tiny 150k bet. "Aergh," says Oatley, or similar. He says, "Are pocket Eights good?" before eventually making a reluctant-looking call.

On the river is the As. This is an interesting card. Silke considers for a while, and makes a 402k bet. This too is interesting, as he only has about 250k behind. Full tank for Oatley. He gets up from his seat, takes a pace back, counts his stacks, they have a hushed conversation which was too hushed for me to pick up. Meanwhile everyone in the press area is convinced that Silke has not a lot. "Will you show if I fold?" asks Oatley, getting an affirmative response. So he folds.

Silke shows the Ah-Ac. The crowd goes wild.

OK there is a mild ripple of "oooh," but even this drama isn't enough to really wake up the crowd who haven't seen an all-in situation for two levels.


Oatley in foreground, now on 1,430,000. Nutz TV's stars and producers in background, looking like souls leaving bodies.

Sam Floatley

Raise to 180k from Martin Silke, some Silke skills are what's needed now for us, the action is painfully slow. Call in the big blind from Sam Oatley.

6c Tc Ts

Silke immediately bets 70k, which is odd because A) It's like 1/6th of the pot, B) He bet so fast that it's very unlikely he has anything and C) It's like 1/6th of the pot.

Sam Oatley calls the bet.

Js

Check from Silke immediately. Oatley bets 170k, Silke thinks for a moment. Call.

6s

Silke looks a bit sad, like he's lost his pet puppy. He checks and Oatley bets 210k now, Silke folds. Oatley shows Qs-8s.


Soon after Luke Trotman raises to 140k on the button, call from Oatley. Oatley leads out for 210k on the 9d-7d-2c flop, Trotman folds, Oatley shows the 9s.

25k/50k Level Almost, But Not Completely, Fully Uneventful

It's very hard to translate cagey, measured, thoughtful, showdown-free poker into something entertaining. I could describe the action on one hand like, "Martin and Sam in pre, unraised, check-check, check-check, check-check, King-high wins at showdown," but really what would be the point.

Only one medium-sized chunk of change has moved stacks recently - after Sam Oatley called a Luke Trotman 60k preflop raise he led 200k on the Kh-Ah-Jd flop. Trotman then raised him a further 260k, and after a bit of a dwell, Oatley let it go.

Martin Shaken, Not Stirred

Three handed now, and although there's no real big stack/short stack it looks like Martin Silke has been the man involved in most hands post break. A couple of note - once button Sam Oatley flat called, Trotman raised to 150k but then passed when big blind Silke made it 450k.

When it came to be Silke's button, he raised to 170k and it was his turn to get re-raised - this time by Sam Oatley in the small blind. He made it 400k - eventually Silke called. The flop came 3s-Ks-Jh and after a little pause and a mini chip riffle, Oatley made the wavey sign signifying "all in." Silke smiled and nodded, and I assumed this meant he had called, but he'd mucked so fast I didn't see the cards leave his hand.

Chip Counts:

Samuel Oatley -- 1,470,000
Luke Trotman -- 1,545,000
Martin Silke -- 1,742,000

Blinds are going to be 25,000/50,000 with a 5,000 ante.

Break Time Conference Ends in Agreement

Oh yes, a deal is afoot. Tightly bunched together on re-entering the tournament area, all three players were nodding enthusiastically and shaking hands, ringed by lots of randoms who all seemed very interested in what was going on. This only ever means one thing - Chop The Monies!

£100,000 each - leaving £44,000 plus the GUKPT Grand Final seat to play for...

Jamie Brown Eliminated In 4th (£45,350)

Jamie Brown pushed his last 400k or so in on the button and Martin Silke made the call from the big blind with Ad-Th dominating Brown's Ac-6s. And with a board of 6s-8c-Td-Qs-9c hitting the table, we are down to three. Brown, who dominated so much of yesterday, might well rue that earlier call with A-6 against Oatley.

Just three players left. Chip counts to come in a second, we're on a short break.

Brown Gets Quacked

Jamie Brown makes it 100k on the button, Luke Trotman calls from the small blind.

Jh-4d-Js

Trotman leads out for 120k. Call

3d

Check check.

Th

Trotman checks a second time, Brown makes it 240k. Trotman tanks and calls, Brown mucks. Trotman shows 2d-2h but it's good enough! Jamie Brown now is the shortest of the four remaining players.

Really Bad Picture, Right Before Oatley Double

LOL at my photography skills. The final four players in the tournament look like extras in One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest.

Moments after this, a huge coup went down with cutoff Jamie Brown raising to 100k, repopped to 340k by button Luke Trotman only to find big blind Sam Oatley moving all in for just under 700k! Brown had totally lost interest by this point, but Trotman called.

It was Oatley's Tc-Th vs. Trotman's As-Kc - tension held as the Tens did...all the way to the river, at which point Oatley's railers had a small celebration and he scooped in a hefty 1,400,000.

Cuong Tran Eliminated In 5th Place (£33,450)

Martin Silke raises to 125k and Cuong Tran again moves all-in, Silke shakes his head and says, "That's the 4th time you've moved in on me..." He shrugs and asked for the count but then calls anyway with Ad-8s, Tran shows Kd-Qs. The 2d-8h-5d-Jc-9c board favoured Silke and Tran leaves us with four remaining.

Oatley Dominates Brown

Yes, after a good 14 minutes of the 20k/40k level, a simple all in preflop hand changes the table dynamic considerably. With just over 400k, Oatley moved in and Jamie Brown decided to take a shot at him with Ad-6c. Unfortunately for him, Oatley had him dominated with Ac-Qh, spiking a Queen on the turn for added emphasis. Oatley up to 900k - no one's running away with this final yet.

Cuongstantly All In

The last minutes of the 15k/30k level were pretty much entirely taken up with Cuong Tran shipping it in preflop. Three times in very quick succession - open shoving, then blind on blind vs. Silke, and then over the top of Luke Trotman, who didn't feel like calling either.

In the only other newsworthy pot, Jamie Brown extracts a 100k value bet from Sam Oatley who check called on a 4d-Qs-8s-As-Qh board but mucked seeing Brown's A-T.