Alan Gold takes home UKIPT Galway Main Event title

GALWAY, Ireland (PRESS RELEASE) -- In the swiftest conclusion to a UKIPT Main Event ever seen, Alan Gold took his start-of-day chip lead and parlayed it into a win in under four hours. After a heads up deal, he took €187,494 while runner-up Paul Febers received €149,906.

The Full Tilt Poker Last Longer went right down to the wire as Gold, Damian Porebski, and Daragh Davey fought fiercely for the chance to win a sponsorship package including buy-ins and expenses to every remaining stop on the UKIPT Season 4 tour. Gold picked up this extra prize along with his trophy and will be heading to UKIPT London for free in October.

The finishing positions and prizes of the final eight were as follows:

1. Alan Gold, United Kingdom (Full Tilt Poker Qualifier) €187,494
2. Paul Febers, United Kingdom (PokerStars Qualifier) €149,906
3. Daragh Davey, Ireland (Full Tilt Poker Qualifier) €80,400
4. Dimitri Pembroke, Ireland €62,000
5. Damian Porebski, Poland (Full Tilt Poker Qualifier) €45,300
6. Benjamin Spragg, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) €30,210
7. Christy Morkan, Ireland €22,310
8. Jonathan Slater, United Kingdom (PokerStars Player) €16,500

Gold used his ever-growing chip advantage to devastating effect and was responsible for eliminating every player from five-handed onwards. Whether he was dominating (as when he had Porebski all-in with A-J vs A-T) or dominated (holding A-T all-in against Dimitri Pembroke’s A-K), the deck favoured Gold. Even without the cards behind him, Gold had by mid-way through the final day built a fortress-like stack that buffered him from his opponents' good fortune. For an in-depth report on the key hands of the final, visit the Updates tab on the Full Tilt Poker Blog.

The €1,000,000 guaranteed UKIPT Galway Main Event brought 860 competitors to the packed Full Tilt Poker Village for four days of intense tournament action (with time out for pool contests, Pac Man and general evening craic). Besides the €1,000 + €100 Main Event, more side events ran than at any other UKIPT stop, including the Irish Bridge Masters (won by Jason Hackett and Alex Hydes), Open-Face Chinese and "25" events.

The next stop on the UKIPT will be in London at the Connaught Rooms as part of the EPT London Poker Festival. The Main Event runs Oct. 2-6. Full Tilt Poker's next live event will be held in Montreal, Canada, running from Sept. 21 to Oct. 3, featuring a $1,000,000 guaranteed Main Event.