Jay Patel Goes From the $5 Online Grind to London Poker Festival Champion
The decision Jay Patel made to invest in some poker coaching has reaped the rewards, and substantial rewards at that. Patel was grinding $5 online poker tournaments only a few months ago but can now call himself the 2024 London Poker Festival Main Event champion, an accolade that came with 79,370 in prize money.
Patel, possibly frustrated with the online poker grind, contacted Jamie Nixon, a member of Team Grosvenor Poker, and hired him as his poker coach. Whatever Nixon taught Patel worked wonders, as the student became the master and raked in a career-best score by some distance.
It has been quite the start to 2024 for Nixon's students. Sia Browne captured two titles at the Irish Poker Tour Galway Festival, and then another at the Westport Poker Festival, while Joseph McKenna triumphed in the Grosvenor 25/50 in Liverpool. Now Patel has found himself in the winner's enclosure.
London Poker Festival Main Event Final Table Results
| Rank | Player | Prize |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jay Patel | 79,370* |
| 2 | Gianmarco Kovari | 60,602* |
| 3 | David Costello | 60,028* |
| 4 | Andrean Kostadinov | 25,000 |
| 5 | Dillan Patel | 20,000 |
| 6 | Douglas Hogan | 17,500 |
| 7 | Stefan Dimitrov | 15,000 |
| 8 | Thomas Winstone | 12,500 |
| 9 | Jiaze Li | 10,300 |
*reflects a three-way deal
The London Poker Festival Main Event drew in an 822-strong crowd, who created a 500,910 prize pool. The top 84 finishers won a slice of the pie, with payouts starting at 1,900.
Plenty of well-known grinders reached the money places, including Jack McDermott, James Rann, Martins Adeniya, Joe Hindry, Dara O'Kearney, Paddy Power Poker's Conor O'Driscoll, and Harry Lodge.
Each of the nine finalists locked in at least 10,300 for their efforts, and it was Jiaze Li who claimed that sum. Li is best known for winning the 2021 GUKPT Main Event that was part of that year's Grand Final.
Thomas Winstone busted in eighth for 12,500, with Stefan Dimitrov falling one place later and scooping a 15,000 score.
Sixth place and a career-best 17,500 went to Douglas Hogan, who almost doubled his lifetime live poker tournament earnings with this impressive result. There was another career-high payout at the final table because Dillan Patel received 20,000 for his fifth-place finish. Patel's previous best haul came in the 2022 Irish Poker Tour High Roller in London, which netted him 8,430.
Once Andrean Kostadinov fell in fourth for 25,000, the three surviving players agreed to a deal that massively reduced the pay jumps.
The deal worked out in David Costello's favor because he crashed out in third. Costello banked 60,028 thanks to the deal, more than twice the amount he received for his fifth-place finish in the 2016 Irish Poker Open.
With Costello out of he way, Patel and Gianmarco Kovari locked horns heads-up. Kovari had no previous scores on his Hendon Mob profile, putting the ball in Patel's favor. Whether it was the Poker Gods, Lady Luck, or Patel putting Nixon's training into action, Patel came out on top, got his hands on his first live trophy and a cool 79,370. Kovari's first recorded live score weighed in at 60,602.
London Poker Festival Results
Although Patel's Main Event victory was by far the largest payout, five other champions took home five-figure scores.
Sebastien Jung won 19,000 after taking down the 500 London Poker Cup, Glen Gaines raked in 18,400 (including bounties) in the mystery bounty event, while Guillaume Soumier received 17,213 for his victory in the 1,650 Omaha Championship.
Shout out also to Christopher Yong, who took down The London 250 for 16,000 only a couple of days after triumphing in the London Festival Opener for 5,000.
| Event | Buy-in | Entrants | Prize Pool | Champion | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main Event | 700 | 822 | 500,90 | Jay Patel | 79,370 |
| London Poker Cup | 500 | 152 | 68,175 | Sebastien Jung | 19,000 |
| Mystery Bounty | 500 | 252 | 110,565 | Glen Gaines | 18,400* |
| Omaha Championship | 1,650 | 48 | 75,000 | Guillaume Soumier | 17,213 |
| The London 250 | 250 | 287 | 61,565 | Christopher Yong | 16,000 |
| 1K One Dayer | 1,000 | 53 | 46,508 | Peter Murphy | 15,115 |
| London Festival Opener | 150 | 146 | 18,505 | Christopher Yong | 5,000 |
| Omaha 7-Max | 300 | 71 | 18,690 | Anonymous | 4,955 |
| Omaha 7-max 4/5 Card | 300 | 56 | 14,745 | Paul Durston | 4,300 |
| Omaha 7-Max | 300 | 42 | 11,057 | Tan Le | 3,702 |
| NLHE Turbo | 150 | 95 | 12,040 | Anonymous | 3,510 |
| NLHE Turbo Freezeout | 150 | 84 | 10,645 | Iulius Buzetoiu | 3,195 |
| Women's Championship | 200 | 57 | 10,005 | Lydia Cugudda | 2,755 |
| NLHE | 150 | 79 | 15,000 | Marios Nicolaou | 2,420 |
| Last Chance Turbo | 150 | 55 | 6,970 | Alex Isen | 1,725 |
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