Tom Hall Wins Heads-Up Marathon to Clinch 888Live Main Event Title
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The 888Live Poker Festival London at Aspers Casino Westfield ended in a grueling heads up battle between Tom Hall and Ning Lu with Hall finally sealing the deal at 4:30 a.m. after a twelve-and-a-half-hour final day and a titanic struggle heads-up.
The Main Event was the last tournament of a 12-day poker Festival at the 888Poker room at Aspers and it was a suitably memorable if stamina sapping end to a hugely successful series of tournaments.
The £1,100 Main Event attracted 427 entries over three starting days which generated a prize pool of £427,730. Seventeen players returned for the final day to battle it out for first place money and the trophy.
It wasn’t long before the final table of nine was set with a live stream featuring the commentary of David Tuchman and guests including Kara Scott, Tiffany Michelle and Parker “Tonkaaaap” Talbot”, who made the final day but busted in 15th.
Final Table
| Seat | Player | Chip Count |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Pascal Pflock | 1,020,000 |
| 2 | Pol Canals Hernandez | 1,799,000 |
| 3 | Paul Scipioni | 1,769,000 |
| 4 | Ning Lu | 583,000 |
| 5 | Daniel Stanway | 894,000 |
| 6 | Charles Akadiri | 545,000 |
| 7 | Paul Nugent | 1,071,000 |
| 8 | Shao Zhen | 1,125,000 |
| 9 | Tom Hall | 4,060,000 |
Again it was all action as players were swiftly dispatched to the rail until play was three-handed.
Tom Hall began the day and the final table with the chip lead but ICM considerations and then even stack sizes at three handed play made for tense but at times overly cautious play.
Hall, Ning Lu and Pol Canals Hernandez all had the lead at some point but it was Hernandez who slipped behind and was eliminated when he shoved 
and busted versus the 
of Lu.
Heads-up play featured Lu versus Hall and the two players swiftly agreed a deal that seemed to favor the experienced Hall. Lu had a near 2:1 chip lead at that stage but agreed to take £72,142 to the £70,000 of Hall and they would play for the title, trophy and an additional £8,888.
If anyone thought that would lead to a swift conclusion to the tournament they would be sorely disabused of that notion over the next three-plus hours.
No player can outrun the blinds though and the final hand saw Lu all in with 
called by Hall holding 
and a run out of 
, handing Hall first place.
Here is what he had to say after his victory: