The new WPT500 champion has been crowned!
After working herself into a strong lead, and with blinds just due to rise yet again, Eleanor Gudger has won her first major live tournament and beaten Matthew ‘silentnoonan’ Noonan heads-up for £140,000, the trophy and title!
In the end, a rather cold deck in terms of heads-up hands ended the spectacle, when Matthew shoved with A9 and Eleanor called with AQ. Railers for both players cheered on for their friend, but a grimace from Matthew and step away from the table showed how crestfallen the cards being on their back made him. Eleanor sat still, hands pressed together, staring at the flop, waiting for the cards to obey the odds and fulfil her dream, ready for the next hand if they wouldn’t. The dealer fanned KKA , three cards that surely would have seen the chips go in post-flop if they hadn’t gone in before it. The turn was a 5 and a look of resignation came across Noonan’s features, the headphones around his neck. The rail didn’t cheer this time, just waited, hoped, half for the miracle nine, the others for anything but. The 4 led to an almighty roar from Eleanor’s supporters, the victor’s head finally dropped away from the table she seemed to have a hypnotic stare on the whole final table. Both players shook hands, and you felt like in the end, a gladiatorial respect took over.
After the applause stopped, Eleanor was in shock at her first major win. “I’m just over the moon,” she told us, “It’s such a huge field, over two thousand players, it’s just incredible.”
Final Table standings:
1 £140,000: Eleanor Gudger
2 £85,000: Matthew Noonan
3 £55,000: Hamid Rowshanei
4 £35,000: Derek Payne
5 £25,000: James Parker
6 £17,850: Richard Buck
7 £13,250: Haroon Hussain
8 £10,000: Habib Chatoo
Eleanor will be back to try her chances next week at Dusk Till Dawn after winning her WPT UK £3000 Main Event seat.
Read the full live updates here: bit.ly/1zEmvhd