Sergio Aido Wins 2013 UKIPT London Main Event for ��144,555

Pamela Maldonado

Mar 11, 2013 3 min read

Spaniard Sergio Aido won the UKIPT Season 3 London Main Event on Sunday, collecting ��144,555 after aggressively playing the final table.

Having won the World Poker Tour National Series in Barcelona last October, Aido had some experience in pursuing the top prize at a final table. He started the final table sixth in chips but used his skill and know-how to spring himself to his first UKIPT title.

Aido��s aggression set the tone early on after Philippe Souki opened to 80,000 in the cutoff (blinds 20,000/40,000). Aido three-bet to 175,000 on the button and Souki called to see a king-high flop. Aido fired a continuation bet worth 180,000, and that was enough to take the pot.

A short time later, Aido was in another large pot to double his stack after his A?K? held against Chris Downling��s 10?10?, leaving the Irishman severely short-stacked. Dowling got the last of his chips in from under the gun with Q?7? resulting in a call from Patrick Simcoe from the big bling holding K?9?. The board ran A?9?5?10?8? to eliminate Dowling in eighth. In the very next hand, Simcoe busted Cesar Garcia when his K?K? held against J?J?, boosting his stack to 5,700,000.

It soon became the Aido show as he busted Guy Goossens in sixth place when his 5?3? bested Goossens' pocket twos. Aido then eliminated Wim Neys, who three-bet shoved for 1,475,000 with A?9?. Aido called with 7?7? and collected Ney��s chips after the cards fell Q?8?J?Q?5?. Neys earned ��33,680 for fifth place.

With the blinds at 50,000/100,000/10,000, Philippe Souki was the shortest stack among the final four players. He attempted to gain some momentum after he three-bet shoved his remaining stack with 10?9? and was called by Thomas Ward who flipped over 7?7?. Ward��s pocket sevens held up, sending Souki home with a fourth-place finish.

With three players left fending for the title, the aggression intensified when Simcoe attempted a creative play post-flop. Simcoe raised on the button with A?3? and Aido called from the big blind with K?10? to see a flop of K?3?5?. Aido checked and Simcoe pushed his chips to the middle, which resulted in a call from Aido. The turn Q? turn and the 2? river brought no help to Simcoe, and he busted in third place.

Aido held a nearly 2-to-1 chip lead over Ward going into heads-up play. A major moment came when Ward put in a five-bet preflop with K?Q? to put the Spaniard all in. Aido called with A?J? and won the massive pot with only ace-high. Ward was all-in on the very next hand and fell short for a second straight time. Aido five-bet with A?J? and Ward called with 10?10?, putting his tournament life at risk. The A? on the flop kept Aido in the lead and his victory was sealed when the A? was dealt on the river.

After a deal was made before heads-up action began, Aido was awarded a grand prize of ��144,555, while Ward collected ��116,845 for second place. Aido was also awarded the opportunity to compete in the UKIPT Champions of Champions tournament, which started early on Monday, for a chance to win a package to next season��s UKIPT Main Events.

UKIPT London Main Event Final Table Results

Place	Player	Prize
1	Sergio Aido	��144,555*
2	Thomas Ward	��116,845*
3	Patrik Simcoe	��63,560
4	Philippe Souki	��44,870
5	Wim Neys	��33,680
6	Guy Goossens	��22,490
7	Cesar Garcia	��15,050
8	Chris Dowling	��12,691