McAdam on road to Southend success

Robert McAdam has walked away with £33,730 after winning the 2014 Genting Poker Series Southend main event from 9-13 April 2014.

McAdam was one of the shorter stacks at the final table with 409,000 chips, with all eyes on Ben Winsor (1,761,000), Leon Campbell (1,041,000) and Dean Clay (1,040,000).

Defending champion Danny Tran took 380,000 chips to the final table, with last year's runner-up Josh Venman on 663,000, with the final nine completed by Martin Hogarty (279,000), Briony Stone (715,000) and James Burke (701,000).

McAdam’s fortunes changed on the second hand played when he got his chips into the middle with KC-JC on a 6H-7C-8C flop against the QH-QC of chip leader Winsor. A 5S on the turn was no help to either player, but the 10C on the river completed a flush for McAdam and saw his stack swell past the 800,000 mark.

The first casualty of the final table was Martin Hogarty, who was down to 200,000 chips when he jammed with KC-JD. James Burke made the call with AH-KH and the 8H-6H-5H flop left Hogarty drawing completely dead.

Runner-up in 2014, Venman was the next to depart after he opened to 87,000 and then called when Stone three-bet all-in from the big blind. Stone had Venman covered in terms of chips and crushed in terms of hand, her KS-KH leaving Venman’s JS-JH drawing to two outs. Those never appeared, sending Venman to the rail in eighth place.

Venman’s seat hadn’t even gone cold before Burke opened the pre-flop betting and McAdam three-bet from the button and Burke called. The flop came down 9C-KS-JC and in a flurry of activity Burke found himself all-in with the KD-QS and in a world of pain against McAdam’s pocket aces. The turn and river failed to come to Burke’s rescue and he headed to the cashier in seventh place.

Defending champion Tran was the next out after he opened to 80,000 only to see Stone three-bet to 200,000 from the big blind. Tran moved all-in for 600,000 and Stone called.

Tran’s tournament life rested in the hands of the poker gods as he flipped over AC-KH while Stone revealed a pair of kings. The A-K-Q flop hit both players hard, but Stone’s hand was still much stronger. A jack on the turn opened up the possibility of a split pot as a 10 on the river would improve both players to the straight but the river produced a three and Tran busted in sixth place.

Five became four with the exit of Winsor after pushed all-in for 575,000 after Campbell raised. Campbell held the less than stellar A-7 but called anyway and was ahead of Winsor's K-Q. The board helped neither player and Winsor exited in fifth place.

Soon after Winsor busted out, the tournament became an all-male affair with Stone following him out in fourth place. Stone committed her 800,000 chips with 10-9 and needed some help from the board because McAdam looked her up with A-5. An ace on the flop, a five on the turn and a full-house completing ace on the river were not what Stone wanted to see and her tournament came to an abrupt end.

On the hand after Stone’s exit, Clay was sent packing after moving all-in for 700,000 with pocket fours and McAdam called with A-7. It was a race that McAdam would win as the board ran out A-6-9-10-8. Clay picked up £15,000 for his third-place finish.

That left McAdam and Campbell to play heads-up for the title and the £33,730 first place prize. McAdam held a huge 5,390,000 to 1,435,000 chip lead and although Campbell doubled his stack early on in the encounter, the gap in stacks proved too much.

The final hand saw Campbell limp, McAdam raise to 250,000 and Campbell call. A 10-7-2 flop saw McAdam lead, Campbell move all-in and McAdam call.

Campbell revealed 7-6 for second pair and McAdam KC-10C for top pair. That top pair held as the turn and river bricked to leave Campbell in second place and McAdam to revel in the glory of becoming a GPS champion.

Next up for the GPS is a trip to Stoke on 21 May.

Genting Poker Series Southend final table
1st Rob McAdam £33,730
2nd Leon Campbell £22,500
3rd Dean Clay £15,000
4th Briony Stone £8,750
5th Ben Winsor £6,750
6th Danny Tran £5,500
7th James Burke £4,250
8th Josh Venman £3,310
9th Martin Hogarty £2,380