Sponsored by Sky Poker, the UK Poker Championship (UKPC) is one of the most prestigious poker festivals the United Kingdom has to offer. Hosted by the Dusk Till Dawn Poker Club in Nottingham, the 11-day, 6-event poker series kicked off its 6-Max High Roller event on Monday, wrapping things up on Day 2 as British poker pro Elior Sion dominated the field of 60 to take down the largest prize of £55,000.
The high roller event contained the largest price tag of all tournaments on the 2014 UKPC series at £3,000 – 3x higher than the UKPC Main Event that got underway yesterday – and guaranteed a massive prize pool of £150,000. Attracting 60 entries, the prize pool swelled above its guarantee to £180,000, thereby increasing the 1st place prize form the original £50k GTD to £55k. By the time the event reached Day 2 on Tuesday, only 22 players remained in the hunt for the bolstered 1st place prize and UKPC bracelet.
One by one, players fell to the rails as each competitor, including Mickey Petersen of Team PokerStars Online, sought to land within the money bubble that promised a cash to just the top 7 finishers. Petersen would fall just short of making the money, as did Ben “jenbizzle” Jones, who became the ill-fate bubble boy that fell in 8th. From there, it was Robert Hallworth, Craig McCorkell, Anthony Nicholls, Daniel Rudd, Stuart Rutter, Dave Shallow and Elior Sion guaranteed a slice of the pie.
Robert Hallworth was the first to go, earning £7,000 for the 7th place elimination, resulting in the formation of the official final table of 6. Dave Shallow started the final table with the most chips, but a disastrous run ended in his 6th place exit for £9,500. Next out was Anthony Nicholls in 5th (£12,500), soon followed by Daniel Rudd in 4th (£18,000) and Stuart Rutter in 3rd (£25,000).
Heads up ensued between Elior Sion and Craig McCorkell, another British poker pro who earned a WSOP bracelet in 2012 and finished 13th in the 2014 WSOP Main Event last month for $441,940. Unlike his heads-up competitor, Sion isn’t known for his live event prowess, but it was his day to shine in Nottingham. The two battled it out for quite some time, but when the smoke cleared, it was Elior Sion who held all the chips, along with the 2014 UKPC bracelet and a stack of crisp bills amounting to £55,000. McCorkell claimed the 2nd place prize of £35,000 for a valiant effort.
Elior Sion is generally recognized for his cash game play under the online poker moniker “CrazyElior”. He first attracted the attention of the online poker community in 2011 when he started frequenting the highest-stakes PLO and NLHE tables on PokerStars. CrazyElior hit a huge downswing that lasted the majority of 2013, dropping as low as -$300k in November, but finally turned things around the next month. As of now, stat trackers have Elior Sion listed at $339,252 (GBP £566k) in high-stakes cash games on PokerStars.
The live and online poker pro has landed in the money in 14 major live poker events throughout Europe and the USA. Interestingly enough, before Sion’s victory yesterday, his live tournament profits nearly matched his online cash game earnings, amounting to $337,632 (GBP £563k). The UKPC high roller win brings his new total to £618k, marking the second 1st place finish of his short but lucrative poker career.
2014 Sky Poker UKPC 6-Max High Roller Final Table Results
| 1st | Elior Sion | £55,000 |
| 2nd | Craig McCorkell | £35,000 |
| 3rd | Stuart Rutter | £25,000 |
| 4th | Daniel Rudd | £18,000 |
| 5th | Anthony Nicholls | £12,500 |
| 6th | Dave Shallow | £9,500 |