Monday saw the exciting finish of the Edinburgh leg of the Pokerstars United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour (UKIPT) as Scots professional cash game player Dean Hutchison and model-turned-poker-professional Liv Boeree slugged it out in a close-run heads up.
In the end it was the Scot who prevailed to take home his biggest career win yet – GBP 93,900 – after an epic three-hour struggle in which Boeree very nearly bested him at one point. Hutchinson’s previous best win was for $3,226 for an 85th slot finish in the UKIPT Galway main event.
On the final table, Boeree did most of the work, eliminated five players from a talented table that included Jason Beazley, Eldon Orr, Tomasz Raniszewski, Jacobus Visser, Michael Kane and Ciaran Heaney.
Going into the heads up, it looked as if it was going to be Boeree all the way; she had a 5,320,000 to 3,045,000 chip lead, which she immediately grew to a 6,500,000 to 1,700,000 advantage. Then, just as it looked as if it was all over, Hutchinson scored a few breaks and the competition went up a notch in intensity, with the lead changing hands several times as two skilled players fought for supremacy.
It was a battle which Boeree lost, saying after the match:
“At the start of heads-up I felt like I had him pegged and was confident that I was going to win. But, he adapted really well and became a lot more aggressive, which not only made him harder to play against but made it higher variance.”
Boeree’s second place was worth GBP 59,180.
Hutchinson said of his win:
“I decided to play at the last minute. It was a hard final table, my friend Michael Kane was on the final table and it was really good having a rail and their support… it’ll be a great memory.
“At the start of heads-up my confidence was really low and she ground me down. Fortunately I got lucky with A-4 against kings, that got my confidence up.”