Mian Wei Wins the 2015 WPT UK High Roller (￡100,000)
Mian Wei has won the 2015 World Poker Tour UK High Roller event, a title that came with a coveted winner’s trophy and ￡100,000 in cash.
Wei was one of 48 players to exchange ￡5,000+￡250 for 50,000 tournament chips and the chance to become a WPT champion. Day 1 ended with 29 entrants, but this figure increased dramatically thanks to the WPT allowing players to buy in on Day 2 with a 50-big blind stack.
Some of those who took advantage of the late registration period included Waheed Ashraf, James Akenhead, Matas Cimbolas, Nick Hicks, Simon Higgins, Chris Sly, Martyn Frey, and Michael “The Grinder” Mizrachi. Of that talented bunch of players, only Mizrachi walked away with some prize money to show for their effort.
The unofficial nine-handed final table was reached at around 8:00 p.m. UK time, eight hours after play kicked off, and it was the aforementioned Mizrachi who led the way. A combination of running good and playing well seemed to be an unstoppable combination, but the title eluded the popular American.
Richard Bacon and Joel Ettedgi busted in ninth and eighth place respectively, with Kuljinder Sidhu earning the unwanted title of bubble boy, busting in seventh place with only six places paid. Sidhu’s 
couldn’t come from behind to beat the 
of 2015 European Poker Tour Barcelona Main Event runner-up Steven Warburton.
Billy Chattaway was the first player to bust inside the money, earning himself ￡10,000.
Scotland’s Daniel McAulay doubled that sum when he pushed his 
into Mizrachi’s 
to fall in fifth place.
Four-handed play lasted the better part of an hour and ended with Mizrachi’s demise. After looking like he was going to run away with the title, Mizrachi lost several large pots before pushing all in from the small blind with 
and losing to the eventual champion’s 
when a queen appeared on the river.
Another hour passed at Dusk Till Dawn before Warburton’s impressive run came to an end. With Mizrachi out of the picture, all eyes were on Warburton, but he couldn’t quite find the winning formula. Warburton’s exit hand saw him all-in with 
versus Mario Sanchez Cano’s 
, and when the five community cards fell 
heads-up was set.
Heads-up spanned three hours and the chip lead swapped hands countless times during the battle. The contest was nearly over 30-minutes into the one-on-one match but Wei’s 
couldn’t connect to beat Sanchez’s 
.
Just as it looked like the tournament would go on for several more hours, Wie raised with the 
and then called when Sanchez moved all-in with an inferior pair of threes. No drama from the board saw the 2,600,000 chips slide to Wei, Sanchez bust in second place, and an emotional Wei be crowned the 2015 WPT UK High Roller champion.