Edinburgh GCBPT, 29th February – 2nd March 2008 – £500+£50 Main Event

 

The Main Event involved a total of 175 runners with 82 starting on day 1a and 93 on day 1b. A deep stack of 10,000 chips, 60 minute clock and a tournament structure with ample latitude ensured plenty of time for this freeze-out to expose the sharks to the fish! At stake was £93,500 in guaranteed main event prize pool, plus a VIP Grand Final package for the winner and bonus seats into the next Main Event for the runner-up and third placed finishers.

There were a good number of faces present from the last year too. Eddie ‘nice guy’ Gaines looked to defend his win from last year, but came apart early on. It didn’t ignite for past tour winners Steve Holden or Colin Pearson, nor for Hendon Mob’s Barny Boatman or Joe Beevers (who experienced a rather draining and jaw clenching flight in gale force winds to make it up on day 1b).

41 players came back on the Sunday with 16 getting paid. World snooker champion John Higgins held solid despite coming back as short stacked to finish in tenth spot and just missing out on the final table.

The final tab lists and chip counts were:

Name	Chip Count
Richard Lapwood	557,100
Colin Wu	310,200
R. Mathews	254,600
Robin Yiltalo	210,500
P. Scott	114,300
M. Greenwood	104,200
John Lynch	93,100
A. Findlay	55,600
Jamie Coonan	46,800

The last nine started at 10pm with three falling on their swords in the first hour. Then the battle of the big stacks commenced with Phil Scott admirably holding onto a dwindling stack. With increasing blinds and most hands seeing some action, chips started to interchange around the table. However it was a good two hours before Richard Lapwood fell to Colin Wu, to give Wu a significant chip lead.

Scandinavian Robin Yiltalo then stepped up a gear, raising regularly and picking up pots. Come 2am, with blinds at 8000 / 16000 he tempted Phil Scott into a pot that marked his exit.

The final three standing were former Scottish Poker Champion Rory Mathews, Robin Yiltalo and Colin Wu. All agreed to make a deal for £20,500 each, with Colin Wu picking up the VIP Grand Final package and top spot. Many congratulations and we can’t wait to see everyone in Nottingham in six weeks time. Satellites are underway, so don’t miss out!

1	Colin Wu	£20,500
2	Robin Yiltalo *	£20,500
3	Rory Mathews	£20,500
4	Philip Scott *	£7,300
5	Richard Lapwood	£5,100
6	Jamie Coonan *	£3,250
7	John Lynch	£2,800
8	Mark Greenwood	£2,300
9	Alistair Findlay	£1,850
10	John Higgins	£1,500
11	Keith Wright	£1,400
12	Gabriel D'Agostino	£1,300
13	Nick Wright	£1,200
14	Ramon Demarco	£1,100
15	John Welsh	£1,000
16	John Dick	£900
	TOTAL (incl. £5K added)	£92,500
Entries	175

* Online qualifier

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