The machines of Manchester once powered the British Industrial Revolution, its factories and smoke stacks serving as the image of a history-changing era. Stephen Barnes worked like a tremendous machine today, moving with quick efficiency to dominate the final table of the £1,100 888poker Live Manchester Main Event.
Barnes seized an overwhelming chip lead with a massive pot when there were still five players left and never relinquished it, emerging as the champion over the 279-player field to take home the trophy and £58,000 first prize. The money is nice for a player who had less than $40,000 in live career earnings, but for the ultra-competitive Barnes, the title was all he was thinking about.
“It means so much. The money, obviously, is important. But, when I started playing poker, it was about the trophies for me,” he said. “Since I was a kid I always wanted to be the last one, always wanted to win in everything I do. So the trophy is obviously massive to me.”
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stephen Barnes | United Kingdom | £58,000 |
| 2 | Zhicheng Miao | United Kingdom | £44,000 |
| 3 | Jamie Walden | United Kingdom | £30,000 |
| 4 | David Gee | United Kingdom | £20,000 |
| 5 | Aram Ramadan | United Kingdom | £13,900 |
| 6 | Robert Boon | United Kingdom | £10,200 |
| 7 | Man Li | United Kingdom | £8,150 |
| 8 | Mark McDade | United Kingdom | £7,020 |
| 9 | Qasim Zia | United Kingdom | £6,100 |
Barnes only started playing poker two years ago. He was introduced to the game by a co-worker at a local casino. It didn’t take long for him to determine a new career path.
“I was just hooked,” Barnes said. “Started studying, getting to know people, doing coaching with certain players, and just played so much more. So it’s not been long, but we’ve been working hard.”
Barnes is already looking forward to how this win will change his career. He’s planning on playing more events, including travelling to the 888poker Live event in Coventry in October. His win this week opens up a host of possibilities for the poker fanatic that weren’t there just a few days ago.
“It means I’ve got a little bit of a bankroll to play. I’m going to keep playing more games, bigger buy-ins, travel a little bit. Who knows what’s going to come for me? Hopefully a lot more. I’m looking forward to it,” he said.
A total of 279 players gathered inside the Grosvenor Casino over the previous four days, building up a prize pool of £265,050. Just nine returned to play today at noon local time for the final table. David Gee was the chip leader, with Jamie Walden and Barnes also in the million-club club.
Table short stack Qasim Zia was the first to bust, jamming his last 205,000 with ace-jack but running into Man Li’s ace-queen. Aram Ramadan, who began the final table in the middle of the pack, jumped into the chip lead in a blind-on-blind cooler against Gee with a flush over flush.
Mark “Mr. Chips” McDade then moved all in for 570,000 with two nines, but Walden picked up two aces to bust the 888poker streamer in eighth place. Ramadan increased his lead when he turned two pair against Li’s pocket kings. Ramadan shoved the river and Li managed to get away, saving his last 345,000.
Li couldn’t recover, later shoving for 215,000 on the button with ace-four as Ramadan called with queen-ten. Ramadan hit top pair on the flop and Li never caught up, ending up in seventh place. Ramadan’s turn as chip leader, however, wouldn’t last long. He attempted a massive river bluff with a missed flush draw but Walden called with a pair of aces to win the pot.
Robert Boon was down to 175,000, good for just three big blinds, when he shoved with queen-four. Walden was priced in to call from the big blind and put in the chips with nine-deuce, catching trip deuces to bust Boon in seventh. Gee had fallen to the bottom of the counts when he shoved for 475,000 with two kings and doubled up against Zhicheng Miao. Then came the pot that changed the course of the final table.
Ramadan bet 110,000 on an ace-high flop. Barnes then raised to 275,000 and Ramadan reraised to 750,000. Barnes moved all in and Ramadan called for 1,825,000 with ace-king, but Barnes had flopped a set of sixes to win the nearly 4,000,000-chip pot and bust Ramadan in fifth as he emerged as an overwhelming chip leader. It was a pot that made Barnes change his strategy as he tried to exploit his newfound wealth.
“I’m quite inexperienced when it comes to final tables anyway, but having a monster chip lead, I’m quite inexperienced at putting pressure on players. I had a very good player in Jamie to my left. He’s played a lot and can counteract that,” Barnes said. “But, my strategy was just thinning my range down a bit more, opening more hands, three-betting more hands, putting pressure on stacks that were second and third, because they didn’t want to bust next. So it was just about applying more pressure.”
Short stacks, Gee and Miao took turns doubling up before Gee doubled up again off Walden, knocking the WSOP bracelet winner down to just ten big blinds. Walden then doubled up off Barnes and spiked a pair of kings on the turn to double off Gee, climbing back up to 3,000,000.
Gee was down to 830,000 after taking that beat and moved all in the next hand with ace-deuce. Barnes called with ace-six, and his six-kicker continued to play to earn him the pot and bust the start-of-day chip leader in fourth place.
Miao was all in for 645,000 with ace-nine as Barnes woke up with two tens. Barnes remained ahead on the flop with a chance to get heads-up, but Miao found an ace on the turn to double up. Miao then turned the nut straight, and Walden called his river all-in shove with just ace-high.
Walden moved all in for 1,410,000 shortly after and Miao called with ace-eight. Walden found himself dominated with nine-eight, and Miao hit an ace on the flop to seal the pot and bust Walden in third place. Barnes led 4,920,000 to 3,460,000 at the start of heads-up as the two opponents made a deal, Barnes securing £48,000 and Miao £44,000, leaving £10,000 and the trophy to play for.
Barnes dominated the heads-up match, just as he had the final table. He knocked Miao down to seven big blinds when he rivered two pair. Miao managed to double up once, but he soon found himself all in again for 780,000 with king-seven. Barnes was dominated with queen-seven, but a queen fell on the turn to give him the lead and the trophy he so craved.
Barnes may be relatively new to the game, but he played like a seasoned professional today. And this is just the beginning.
