It's not about the size of the dog in the fight; it's about the size of the fight in the dog. In every way, the outcome of PocketFives' recent U.K. Olympiad promotion on PartyPoker was truly an underdog story. The Olympiad, which ran between July 15 and August 15 on PartyPoker, pitted England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland against each other for a WPT Paris prize package and everlasting bragging rights. MTTs that qualified for the PocketFives Rankings were tracked for the Olympiad.Northern Ireland, the smallest country in the U.K. Olympiad, had just a half-dozen players record cashes during the month-long period, compared to 50 for England. The top two finishers on each U.K. country's leaderboard advanced to the Olympiad Final, which was held on Thursday. Representing Northern Ireland in the Final as automatic qualifiers were EMSGAWA9 and ggarethh.
Then there was Paul prettypaulie Wilson, who finished fifth out of six entrants in the Northern Ireland standings, but still qualified for a special Wildcard Freeroll that awarded its winner a ticket to the Olympiad Final. The WildCard Freeroll, which was held on Monday night, had 60 players and Wilson drove to the winner's circle, claiming a seat in the Final.
Amazingly, despite hailing from the smallest Olympiad country and having to win a Wildcard Freeroll in order to secure his seat in the Final, Wilson brought home the victory in the latter tournament on Thursday and is now heading to WPT Paris. His odds of accomplishing the feat were a scant one in 600. That's less than two-tenths of a percent!
Wilson told PocketFives on Friday that he's pumped to be heading to the iconic French city: "I'm very excited. I've never played anything like a WPT event before. I've never even been to a casino before. I've only ever dreamed of it." WPT Paris starts September 10, so he'll have very little prep time.In case you missed his comment, Wilson has never actually stepped foot inside a real casino. Sure, he's probably seen one on TV, but has never actually entered one and sat down in a real game. Now, he'll take part in a €7,500 buy-in tournament at the storied Aviation Club. To date, his live poker experience consists of games at a local pub, sit and gos with friends, and a few visits to a small card room that no longer exists. In the words of Cotton McKnight in the movie "Dodgeball," "Do you believe in unlikelihoods?"
Wilson is proud to represent Northern Ireland at WPT Paris and admitted he knew he was a long shot to succeed in the Olympiad: "I knew when I saw the scores in the Olympiad and the volume people were playing, I didn't think I'd qualify in the top two from my country. To qualify through the freeroll and win the Final against some outstanding internet players was just amazing."Olympiad participants from Northern Ireland will also have a stake in Wilson, who must share 20% of his WPT winnings with the other five players who recorded cashes during the Olympiad. Last year, an American won in Paris, as poker pro Matt Waxman banked $729,000. So, there could be plenty of money at stake for each Northern Ireland railbird. The Northern Ireland poker community already has plenty to be proud of after defeating the other U.K. countries.
Visit our U.K. Olympiad landing page for more details on the promotion. Will Wilson's underdog story continue? Will a fairytale ending take place? We'll keep you posted.
