Another World Series of Poker bracelet has gone to the UK following 22-year-old Brit pro Phil “Grindation” McAllister’s victory in the $3,000 Shootout No-Limit Hold’em competition at the Rio in Las Vegas.
The win adds another $267,720 to the $356,020 the young online and live tourney pro earned earlier this year with a third placing in the Pokerstars Caribbean Adventure main event (see previous report).
McAllister’s achievement was all the more satisfying due to the heavy professional component in the field, and a final table that included Stephen Chidwick, Faraz Jaka, and Maria Ho. In the process he had to prevail in three straight single table freezeout sit-n-goes to win his first WSOP bracelet.
The structure of the competition meant that McAllister had to win his first sit-n-go against 9 other players; following that with victory in a four-player sit-n-go, before advancing to the final table of 10 opponents.
In the heads up McAllister, holding the chip lead, faced Indiana pro Kyle Montgomery in a finale that lasted for 30 exciting hands in which the lead changed at least once.
McAllister finally managed to maintain the advantage long enough to eliminate a tough opponent, sending Montgomery home with the runner up prize of $165,450.
The quality of the overall field can be gauged by some of the names who cashed, which included Joey Weissman, Andrew Lichtenberger, Andy Frankenberger, Tom Marchese, Joe Kuether, Michael Mizrachi, Tom Cannuli and Antonio Esfandiari.
Other final table cashes were:
Chris Kruk – $119,686
Maria Ho – $87,487
Andreas Freund – $64,628
Marcos Antunes – $48,252
Jesse Yaginuma – $36,416
Rhys Jones – $27,783
Faraz Jaka – $21,431