Rodrigo Rampant at UKIPT Marbella
Monday, 16 June 2014
Spain's World Cup campaign may have got of to a disastrous start in Brazil but their poker players restored some pride on Sunday with a home win at UKIPT Marbella where Rodrigo Espinosa bested a 750-runner field in the €1,000 Main Event.
The Spaniard took the chip lead early into the final table, eliminating Jake Cody in eighth place when his pocket aces held against the Briton's pocket nines. Online pros Marcin Barwinski and Daniel Rodriguez followed soon after, and like Cody, they'll be heading across the Atlantic to mount a WSOP challenge.
Gareth Hamilton was the next to go with Espinosa again the vanquisher. The Irishman can consider himself unlucky, as Espinosa hit a runner-runner flush to crack his pocket kings.
The rapid pace continued with Spain's Javier Elorza hitting the rail in fourth at the hands of Germany's Christian Bauer.
With that elimination, the frantic finale calmed down a little with the Marbella rail having to wait another hour for the next departure.
That person was Katja Svendsen to came tantalizingly close to becoming the UKIPT's first female winner. It wasn't to be for the Norwegian though who lost a huge pot after whiffing on a flush and inside straight draw against Espinosa's pocket kings.
That huge pot gave the Spaniard a three to one chip lead over Bauer and it was all over just five hands later. Bauer was in good shape for a double up moving all in on a king high board with K-3. Espinosa, holding second pair made the call. A 7 on the turn gave him two pair and with it the title and first prize of €136,000.
1st. Rodrigo Espinosa, Spain, PokerStars Qualifier, €136,000
2nd. Christian Bauer, Germany, €82,900
3rd. Katja Svendsen, Norway, PokerStars Qualifier, €58,700
4th. Javier Elorza, Spain, PokerStars Qualifier, €44,450
5th. Gareth Hamilton, Ireland, €35,150
6th. Daniel Rodriguez, Spain, PokerStars Player, €26,550
7th. Marcin Barwinski, Poland, PokerStars Qualifier. €19,050
8th. Jake Cody, United Kingdom, Team PokerStars Pro, €13,030
The UKIPT returns to more familiar territory for its next stop in August. There's a €1 million prize pool in Galway from 8-12 August. Qualify online at PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.
Image courtesy of Rene Velli / PokerStars.