Joeri Zandvliet Wins Second UKIPT Crown in Dublin

Joeri Zandvliet, winner of the first ever UKIPT Main Event to be held on British soil, achieved a well deserved second victory in Dublin last night.

The Dutch poker player, who qualified for this tournament via a PokerStars UKIPT satellite, has now competed in six UK and Ireland Poker Tour Main Events – winning two (Manchester in 2010 and Dublin in 2011) and sandwiching in a fourth place finish in last year´s UKIPT Edinburgh.

However, although Joeri´s standard of play throughout the four days was exemplary, he needed more than a little good fortune to help him on the way to his title.

The Dutchman gets the Luck of the Irish

Three major hands on the final day contributed significantly to Joeri´s success – the first when the table was four handed and Joeri was marginally ahead of last year´s UKIPT Dublin winner, Max Silver.

Hand 1 – Joeri Zandvliet vs Max Silver

With blinds at 30,000/60,000 and both Silver and Zandvliet having slightly more than 3 million chips each in front of them, Zandvliet raised to 125,000 chips. Silver three-bet to 315,000 and Zandvliet raised again. Silver pushed all-in for 3,015,000 chips and Zandvliet called.

Zandvliet {A♦} {K♦}

Silver {8♥} {4♥}

It was not so much a lucky bet that won Zandvliet this hand – just good fortune that Max Silver chose to shove with eight high, when a call was almost certainly going to end his tournament life. Still, Silver had outs after the flop of {J♦}{7♦}{J♠} and turn of {9♥}. However, the {6♦} on the river gave Zandvliet the diamond flush and sent Max Silver out of the tournament.

Hand 2 Joeri Zandvliet vs Robert Csire

Despite now having two-thirds of the chips in play on a three-handed table, Joeri Zandvliet found it difficult to dominate as he would wish and both Robert Csire and Chuck Fabian were making little holes in his chip stack whenever possible. Ultimately there came a point when one of the two opponents would push a little too hard, and it happened when Csire was raised to a point by Zandvliet where he had to put his tournament life on the line or fold – he chose the former, pushing all his 2.8 million chips into the middle.

Zandvliet {A♥} {9♥}

Csire {A♠} {Q♦}

Zandvliet was behind and in trouble. Had Csire collected this 5.6 million chip pot, it would have knocked Zandvliet down to a below average chip stack alongside Chuck Fabian, and even when the flop of {J♥} {K♥} {J♣} came out, Zandvliet was still second best. The {7♣} turn helped neither player, but Zandvliet was saved by the {9♦} and Csire was completely crushed and out of the tournament.

Hand 3 – Joeri Zandvliet vs Chuck Fabian

Despite Zandvliet´s reprieve, he could still not break Chuck Fabian. An hour passed as the two players did little more than exchange blinds and Fabian was even heard to say “This is going to make for boring TV”. Fabian eventually doubled against Zandvliet, but his next attempt led to the end of the game. Zandvliet did not wait for a cat and mouse pre-flop raising game and pushed straight in from the big blind. Fabian responded by pushing his remaining 2.35 million chips into the table and again Zandvliet was second best.

Zandvliet {A♠} {5♣}

Fabian {A♥} {9♣}

The flop of {8♣} {4♠} {7♣} increased the number of outs available to Zandvliet, but Fabian was still the favourite to win the hand and significantly close the gap on the Dutchman. The {4♦} on the turn was not going to improve either player´s hand, but the {5♦} on the river doubled up Zandvliet´s undercard and meant that he had come from behind in two of the most significant hands in the tournament to spike.

The Winners and Their Cash

It was hard to resent the Dutchman his good pieces of fortune and even Nick Abou Risk – the only other player to win two UKIPT Main Events – came over to congratulate Zandvliet on his success. Abou Risk had failed to cash in this particular event, but 90 players did with the top ten as follow:-

1	Joeri Zandvliet	Netherlands	PokerStars Qualifier	€ 83,500
2	Chuck Fabian	United States		€ 49,600
3	Robert Csire	Hungary		€ 30,700
4	Max Silver	England		€ 22,650
5	Jason Tompkins	Ireland	PokerStars Player	€ 17,600
6	Noel O´Brian	Ireland		€ 13,950
7	Rory Curtis	Ireland		€ 10,450
8	David Docherty	Scotland		€ 8,000
9	Michael White	England	PokerStars Qualifier	€ 5,565
10	Daniel Henderson	Ireland	PokerStars Player	€ 3,850

 

Relevant news