The United Kingdom and Ireland Poker Tour is uncommonly related to the strength of poker on a global scale. As if to directly reflect that, this week’s UKIPT Main Event in Brighton on the South Coast of England featured two huge stars at its conclusion, as Benjamin ‘Spraggy’ Spragg and German four-time WSOP winner Dominik Nitsche battled for the title heads-up. With £69,120 ($86,100) on the line, it was a tough fight… but which ‘frenemy’ came out on top?

Penultimate Day Sees Six Remain

The final table was nine strong when it was reached, but only six players would make the final day and go for the top prize of over $86,000 and the famous ‘Spadie’ trophy. Adam McKola raised it up with and fellow British player Oscar Tompsett called from the big blind with . A flop of spelled trouble for Tompsett, who shoved and watched as McKola called. The turn and river did not help Tompsett and he busted in ninth place for £7,240.

Out next was another home country player, as Stewart Kirby busted in eighth place for £8,690. Kirby moved all-in with ace-high, as he pushed for just under ten big blinds with . It was a case of the tight hand at the wrong time, however, as the dominant McKola called with . The board of saw McKola bust another player as Kirby crashed out.

The last player to leave on the penultimate day of action was South Korean Jun Beum Chun. All-in with , Chun grimaced as Sebastian Gohr called with , and the board of was no tonic to Chun’s woes. That result gave Chun the first six-figure result of the event for $10,540. It also gave Gohr 2.1 million chips to move with into the final day, behind Nitsche’s stack of 3,195,000 at the top of the leaderboard. Ben Spragg was fifth in chips on just 1,160,000.

Short Stacks Flip the Script

Six players started the final day and of them, Adam McKola was shortest, the only player beginning with fewer than a million chips on 665,000. Play went on with six until Sebastian Gohr shoved with a short stack holding . It was the worst timing, as he ran into Ben Spragg’s .

“Not again!” Gohr said. The board gave him no hope, coming to see him bust in sixth place for £13,700.

Of the remaining five players, three were British and the odds of a home winner grew further with the exit of Italian player Alessandro Spina in fifth place for £17,820. Spina rollercoasted his way from short stack to doubling up before falling down the leaderboard again.

The Italian’s final plummet saw him drop off the leaderboard entirely, as his lost to McKola’s pocket jacks. A jack on the flop was joined by an eight and a seven, but Spina couldn’t spin one more time, missing his gutshot draw to depart outside the top four.

Top Two Battle for Bragging Rights

With four players left, Oliver Hutchins missed out on a podium place. All-in with , he was all-in before the flop. Up against McKola’s , Hutchins was dominating the hand before the board, but an ace on the flop was joined by a nine and Hutchins couldn’t find a king as the community cards came and busted fourth for £23,160.

McKola had busted several players but missed out on the heads-up battle for the title. All-in pre-flop with , Kola was beaten by Ben Spragg’s . The board of saw McKola cash for £30,110. That left the chips unevenly spread, with Spragg’s stack of 6.8 million dwarfing Dominik Nitsche’s pile of just over 2.8 million.

A couple of smallball pots in the British player’s favor were followed by the short stack Nitsche doubling up by winning a flip with pocket deuces. That win was followed by another as Nitsche won with a turned straight to vault to 4.7 million, not far behind Spragg’s 4.9 million.

Almost all the chips were in soon after. Nitsche had taken the lead, and bluff-shoved with on the river of a board showing . Spragg made the call with , and that left the German with just 5,000 chips to Spragg’s 10,550,000.

Those last chips went soon after, and as the two men embraced, Ben Spragg was the UKIPT winner at the expense of Nitsche, who claimed the £42,150 runner-up prize. The British player lifted the trophy, celebrating with wife Marle and collecting £69,120.

Images courtesy of Danny Maxwell / PokerStars