Mikita Badziakouski made history by becoming the first poker star to win single cash worth £486000 in the British Poker Open (BPO). The venue for the £50000 no-limit hit’em event was at Aspers Casino in London. It was the ninth stage of the event that attracted eighteen entries. The event was to run for two days, but eleven seemed to be enough to settle the winner of such hefty cash.
Badziakouski’s victory saw him leapfrog John Juanda for the fifteenth position in the ranking of Hendon Mob All-Time Money List. The £486000 success cemented the Belarusian’s career earnings to reach $25.8 million.
Just like Event 8, the ninth part of the tournament attracted decorated players, including Sam Soverel, Stephen Chidwick, and John Wolff who both had a great time in the previous stage. Soverel main missions were to either win some cash or edge out Chidwick who was lurking behind his neck in the overall ranking. Of course, Soverel failed in the former but succeeded in the later albeit through another player.
Despite being the founder of both Poker Central and PokerGo, Cary Katz couldn’t manage to find the broadcast airtime after crashing out. The Scott bowed out at position eight after hitting the rail. Charlie Carrel saw the end of the media founder after using his treys to secure Katz’s exit.
The activity went to the live stream where Carrel now became the first victim to leave the event in the seventh place. David Peters used queen-ten to make a call after Carrel had jammed his two pair of Ace-jacks. Peters continued granting exit letters where Ali Imsirovic was the next victim to leave the stage at the sixth spot.
Mathias Eibinger was the next player on his way out after his King-jack couldn’t suit Sam Greenwood’s Ace-nine. Badziakouski first rose to the main occasion to dismiss Greenwood’s ace-king with a nine-eight suited for the chop.
The event then proceeded to the stage with a trio, where everyone was guaranteed a pinch of the prize pool amount. Badziakouski made his way in the three-man contest with the chip lead, but he quickly noticed that it wasn’t going to be a walk in the park. It never took long before Christoph Vogelsang went ahead after using his Ace-queen to double over Peters. Peters, who had successfully evicted Chidwick out of the action, became the third-last man standing, walking away with £144000.
The contest entered its final course with Vogelsang and Badziakouski fighting it out for the main prize. Vogelsang soon took the lead with a 2:1 chip head start over his rival. However, Baziakouski made a quick response to overturn Vogelsang lead after grabbing a 4:1 chip advantage with a double. Vogelsang’s efforts to fight back couldn’t yield any fruit with the player settling for a handsome runners-up consolation prize of £270000.
After the landmark glory, Badziakouski told the Poker Central that he “had a lot of fun” after playing “to the end of the tournament.” He emphasized how happy he was after winning against notable seasoned characters. He summed up his ecstatic mood by saying that it was the right “feeling after winning something like” his worthy prize.
Despite Badziakouski’s massive success at the stage, Soverel comfortably tops the overall ranking. The challenge proceeds to Event #10, which is the final stage of the tournament. No miracle can dislodge Soverel from finishing ahead of all the participant in the ranking. Badziakouski is now placed seventh in the ranking with 200 points alongside three other entrants.
