Flamand Triumphs at Stratford City

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Monday, April 1st, 2013 | Written by Shane Larson

The final table at the recent Sky Poker event in London was a thrilling affair with a number of twists and turns taking place. The first player to exit the final table was Sam Bayliss, who had to console himself with taking home £1,180 for his troubles. Sam was quickly followed by Silvano Leighio, who walked away with £1,575. After the initial two players dropped out, the rest of the table folded thick and fast until the final two players were left to battle it out for the top prize. Chris Love was facing up to Aaron Flamand and it was Flamand who would come out on top. The final hand saw Flamand’s King High flush overcome the flush that Love played. This meant that Chris Love walked away with £8,725 and Flamand got the Sky Poker London trophy and the top prize of £11,905.

The event was the latest success for the Aspers Casino in Stratford City, which is shaping up to be one of the premier poker venues in London. This is no mean feat as there are plenty of great places to play poker in England’s capital but the sense of poker ethos is still evident and alive in Stratford.

There were a number of big name poker players at the event who failed to make it through to the final table, indicating the strength in depth at the event. Star names like Dave Shallow and James Dempsey were unable to progress to the latter stages while Sky Poker’s hopes that their professional player, Julian Thew, would claim success at the event ended quickly.

This event is increasing in popularity

The London leg of the Sky Poker Tour for 2013 represented a massive step-in from the same leg the previous year. The venue undoubtedly played a part in the popularity of the event, with many people still keen to try out the venue but there is a lot to be said for the increasing popularity of poker. Sky Poker pitched the event well with a competitively priced buy-in of £200, which no doubt helped attract people to the Main Event. At the time the registrations were finalised, there were 267 people involved with the event. Outside of Grand Finals, this was the most people that had been involved with a Sky Poker event showing the increasing popularity of this poker brand in the country.

The increase in players at the event also led to an increase in the total prize pool that was on offer. The 267 players were competing for a share of £53,400 which meant that there was plenty to play for when the event got underway. Only the top 36 players were guaranteed a cash prize and the competition was extremely fierce in the early stages.

April is a month without a stop-off on the Sky Poker Tour with the next leg taking place in Dublin in May. The emergence of Sky Poker on television means that there is always a place for Sky Poker players to visit but for now, the players can take a well-earned rest.