Over a protracted ten hour battle, British poker pro James “Flushy” Dempsey defeated fellow Brit David “Devilfish” Ulliott to take down the inaugural event for “iSeriesLIVE” early Friday morning.
The innovative new experimental poker series, which is expected to feature different tournaments and top players in the game, debut its first event yesterday afternoon in Dublin, Ireland. The ten player, winner-take-all $10,000 Sit & Go invited some of the top players in the game to put their skills on display in real time during a streaming broadcast on the internet. In a unique twist, fans watching the event were able to bet on different outcomes of the tournament (first elimination, last longer, the flop color, etc.) through the betting platform on PaddyPower.com.
At 5PM (Greenwich Mean Time), the players amassed to get to business, with Daniel Negreanu the favorite of the betting public. Going off at 11/2, Negreanu was closely pursued by former World Champion and eleven-time World Series of Poker bracelet winner Phil Hellmuth, who was the second favorite at 13/2. Much to the dismay of those who had wagered on them, these two would be among the first players eliminated from the tournament.
Hellmuth was the first to go after a particularly tough beat against Ulliott. The “Poker Brat” and the “Devilfish” both got their chips to the center holding pocket pairs, but Hellmuth’s Queens were vastly outpacing Ulliott’s sixes. That changed on the flop as a six came to give the British poker champion a set. Once the turn and river came with no Queen, Hellmuth was on the short stack and would be eliminated soon afterwards, with Phil saying over Twitter, “I’m out, lost my A-Q against RealKidPoker (Negreanu) 3-3.”
Although he had won the hand to eliminate Hellmuth, Negreanu would soon be following him out the door. After the elimination of Marvin Rettenmaier from the event, the popular Canadian pro would find his demise at the hands of Dempsey when the duo clashed in a huge hand. On a K-6-3 (with the 6-3 both spades) board, Negreanu would commit his stack with his 5-4 of spades, a huge draw to straight, flush and straight flush options.
Surprisingly, Dempsey could only muster a K-J for top pair, but it was good enough; the turn and river didn’t bring anything for Negreanu, who Tweeted following the hand, “Busted in a HUGE pot versus Dempsey. I missed (my draws)…oh well, Irish Open tomorrow.”
The long shot at the table according to the PaddyPower handicapping (10/1) was the only female at the table, Maria Ho. Ho performed admirably at the table, outlasting Tobias Reinkemeier and Faraz Jaka to make it to the final five. “Five players left,” Ho Tweeted, “Good news: I’m still in. Bad news: James Dempsey has half the chips in play.” When Eoghan O’Dea and Carlos Mortensen were eliminated (O’Dea by Ulliott, Mortensen by Dempsey), Ho found herself battling against Ulliott and Dempsey for the title and the $100,000 payday.
Alas, it wasn’t to be for Ho. “Devilfish” took Maria out in third place to enter into the heads up fight against Dempsey. After nine hours of play and with the blinds increasing, Ulliott decided to make a stand with A-8, only to run head on into Dempsey’s Big Slick. Once no eight came on the board, Dempsey was the last man standing, leaving Ulliott to remark over Twitter to his followers, “Sorry all those who had a bet. I figured pick on short stacks and get heads up with James. But the wheel fell off, went card dead.”
1. James Dempsey, $100,000
2. David Ulliott
3. Maria Ho
4. Carlos Mortensen
5. Eoghan O’Dea
6. Faraz Jaka
7. Tobias Reinkemeier
8. Daniel Negreanu
9. Marvin Rettenmaier
10. Phil Hellmuth
With his victory in the inaugural “iSeriesLIVE” tournament, Dempsey continues to demonstrate why he is one of the more underrated players in the game. In 2010, “Flushy” picked up a WSOP bracelet in a Pot Limit Hold’em tournament. In December 2011 – an event that, as Dempsey himself admitted, he entered “on a whim” – Dempsey would take down on of the most prized championships on the World Poker Tour, the Doyle Brunson World Poker Classic at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.
While the glow over the first “iSeriesLIVE” event continues to shine (and anticipation grows for the next event), Ireland will continue to be the focal point of the poker world over the weekend as the Irish Poker Open takes the stage. According to the PaddyPowerPoker blog, there are currently 471 players in action, although that number may grow as the day moves on.
