Teng Takes Title on Isle of Thanet


Twenty-three-year-old pro player Andy Teng has secured victory in the 8th leg of the GUKPT at the G casino on the Isle of Thanet in Kent. He outlasted a field of 226 players to win £68,380 in the Blue Square sponsored event after three hard-fought days of No Limit Texas Hold'em poker. He defeated fellow online pro Jamie Brown, 22, in a tense heads-up battle, to become the 18th winner of a GUKPT main event. After Brown had eliminated professional photographer Mike Moore in third place he held a chip lead of 1,800,000 to Teng's 400,000. However, the Londoner fought back strongly after doubling up with AK-A5. The two hours heads-up clash reached a conclusion when Teng raised holding pocket eights. Brown, who also lives in London moved all in over the top and was called. Brown held pocket fours but the board cards brought no improvement, ending the tournament.

Both players were almost lost for words during the immediate aftermath but went on to pay each other compliments during the post tournament press conference. Teng's previous best live result was a very creditable 126th place in the main event of the World Series of Poker earlier in the year and he hopes that this win will spur him on to further successes. Jamie Brown is a very strong player who had dominated the tournament for much of the latter stages, but although he has not tasted victory this time around, he is certainly one to watch for the future.

It was another high quality final table for the tour and featured several well-respected pro players. Late Night Poker Series Two winner Simon Trumper went into the final with the lowest chip stack and was unfortunate to see his pocket eights cracked by Brown within the first lap of the table. The Dusk Till Dawn host departed with £5,650 and not long after Karl Mahrenholz was eliminated in 8th place. Karl, a Blue Square sponsored pro finished second in the inaugural GUKPT event in January 2007, but will have to wait for another event for his chance to put his name on a main event trophy. Liverpudlian Paul McIntyre, another young player finished in 7th place while Limousine hire company owner William Martin was 6th. Dave 'riverdave' Penly, who is flying high in the European rankings this year finished in 5th place. Paul Rigg from Blackpool, who finished in 12th place at the Luton leg of the tour in August, narrowly missed a podium position, departing 4th place for a payday of £19,210.

The next stop for the tour will be in Walsall where the Grosvenor Grand Prix takes place from November 31st-December 2nd. It is the biggest pot limit hold'em tournament in Europe, but there is no way to buy in directly to it, as the only way to secure a seat is to qualify via a series of £50 rebuy satellites that take place both online on Blue Square Poker and live in most Grosvenor and G casinos. The next full GUKPT event takes place in Blackpool from November 13th-16th.