Briton Craig McCorkell wins $3k Shootout

Briton Craig McCorkell wins $3k Shootout

Friday, 22 June 2012

In the June issue of Bluff Europe, we interviewed 13 young British players, none of whom had won a bracelet, and tipped them as our big hopes for the WSOP. And now one of those players, Craig McCorkell, sporting a Bluff Europe patch, has become the first Brit to win a bracelet at the 2012 WSOP, at the £3k Shootout event. Congratulations, Craig, from everyone at Bluff Europe. You’ve made us proud!

The 26-year-old claimed his maiden WSOP victory and the none-too-shabby first prize of $368,593 after winning his third table in successive days. The Londoner looked an unlikely winner with play three-handed though with Antonio Esfandiari holding 75% of the chips in play.


The Magician was right out of luck though, seeing his huge stack disappear in the space of a few short hands. The American first saw a big chunk of his chips disappear when his pocket nines lost against Jeremiah Fitzpatrick's pocket sevens. Esfandiari was then on the wrong end of a AK versus AJ confrontation with McCorkell and his fate was sealed one hand later when his K9 couldn't overturn the Englishman's K10. From 4m to nothing in the blink of an eye.


McCorkell went into heads up play with a two to one chip deficit but applied the pressure early on, winning a succession of small pots. The crucial hand saw McCorkell's pocket 8s hold against A8 to leave Fitzpatrick crippled. The end came just moments later when the Brit's 8-5 beat the American's 5-2 giving McCorkell his first Vegas jewellery and a very large chunk of change.


The final table positions and payouts were as follows:
1. Craig McCorkell – $368,593
2. Jeremiah Fitzpatrick – $228,261
3. Antonio Esfandiari – $151,613
4. Jonathan Lane – $112,512
5. Athanasios Polychronopoulos – $84,436
6. Alessandro Longobardi – $63,988
7. Roberto Romanello – $48,924
8. Thiago Nishijima – $37,707
9. Joe Tehan – $29,277
10. Sardor Gaziev – $22,899



Tags: WSOP 2012, Craig McCorkell, Antonio Esfandiari