Dean Hutchison Snaps a Long Cold Spell With the 888poker Live Glasgow £1,650 High Roller Title
Dean Hutchison had been waiting for a run like this for years.
The Glasgow native had already built a poker resume that includes more than $3 million in live earnings, putting him in fourth place all-time on the Scottish leaderboard. But he hadn’t won a tournament since 2023. That changed today when, thanks to a late flurry of eliminations and big hands, Hutchison ran away from the field to capture the 888poker Live Glasgow £1,650 High Roller on native soil, taking home the £31,060 top prize for beating the 65-player field.
“Yeah, it was meant for me the last hour and a half, just started running pretty well. I’ve always done well on home soil, so I look forward to playing in Glasgow or even Edinburgh,” Hutchison said after defeating William Henderson heads-up.
888poker Live Glasgow £1,650 High Roller Final Table Results
| Place | Player | Country | Prize |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dean Hutchison | United Kingdom | £31,060 |
| 2 | William Henderson (UK) | United Kingdom | £20,430 |
| 3 | Ian Simpson | United Kingdom | £13,770 |
| 4 | Paul McAulay | United Kingdom | £9,500 |
| 5 | David Docherty | United Kingdom | £6,840 |
| 6 | Liam McMurray | United Kingdom | £5,320 |
| 7 | Chris Balmforth | United Kingdom | £4,280 |
| 8 | Steven Macleod | United Kingdom | £3,800 |
“It was a bit of a slow start. I was patient, then started getting some hands, and that was it.”
Hutchison had been a big name in his home country for more than a decade, including winning a UKIPT Main Event in Edinburgh back in 2014. He burst out into the wider poker world, though, in 2023, when he made a run to sixth-place in what was at the time the largest WSOP Main Event in history. Hutchison earned $1,850,000 for that historic performance, and he followed it up by winning a £2,000 High Roller in Coventry just a few weeks later.
The years since, however, weren’t always kind to Hutchison, and he admitted he hadn’t done well on the felt recently. His score today was his biggest since those two results nearly three years ago. He was glad to finally end his long drought without a trophy today.
“It’s up there, because recently I’ve not been doing very good. Probably like two years since I’ve won a trophy, so getting the win under the belt is always pretty good. Gives you some confidence for the bigger tournaments,” Hutchison said.
Day 2 Action
Day 2 began with 18 returning players from the opening day returning to the Grosvenor Casino Merchant City at noon local time. They were joined by six new arrivals to create a total field of 65 entries, generating a prize pool of £95,120.
Paul McAulay began as the massive chip leader with 865,000, more than 300,000 ahead of Hutchison in second place. He wasted little time expanding his lead, first spiking a set of queens to crack Brandon Sheils’ aces then winning a race with sevens against Lucia Navarro’s ace-queen to bust the 888poker Ambassador.
Henderson, meanwhile, started the day with a bang after rivering a straight on the first hand. Robbie Bull called his river shove for 287,000 with a beaten top set of aces, and Henderson earned the early double up. Whatever momentum he had, however, was lost when Ian Simpson raised to 275,000 on the river. Henderson quickly called, and Simpson showed down a rivered set as Henderson slammed the table in frustration.
Bull and Michael Kane were among the first bustouts of the day, bringing the field down to 16 players. Only the top eight would make the money, and Peter Stewart, Bryan Taylor, and the loquacious Allan Nesbitt were the next to go. Vivian Saliba got in her last 125,000 with ace-eight and was racing against David Docherty’s fives, but she failed to improve and busted in 12th place.
Simpson and McAulay then tangled in a massive pot, where McAulay moved all in on the river. Simpson snap-called for 316,000 and turned over top pair of kings, and McAulay mucked two queens as he gave up the pot and the chip lead for the first time. Henderson then called off his last 424,000 with two aces against Docherty’s nut flush draw and held on to double up to more than 1,000,000.
Docherty was left with just 30,000 after that pot but doubled up a few times before picking up two nines against William McClure’s sixes to score the knockout, boosting his stack all the way up to 800,000. At the same time at the feature table, Simpson had turned two pair against Dean Lyall’s top pair and flush draw, and Lyall couldn’t improve on the river as last year’s 888poker Live Glasgow Main Event champion fell on the money bubble.
The remaining eight players then took their seats at the final table, with Simpson holding a big lead with 1,995,000. McAulay was the only other player above 1,000,000, while Hutchison began as the second-shortest stack with just 370,000.
On the first hand of the final table, Hutchison got in his chips with ace-queen against Docherty’s jack-ten. Docherty hit a jack on the flop to take the lead, but Hutchison spiked a queen on the turn to move in front and secure the double up. Liam McMurray also flopped trips and held on against Steven Macleod’s flush draw to double, and Macleod lost his last 105,000 in a three-way all in to Docherty a few hands later to become the first casualty of the final table.
McAulay flopped trip nines and snap-called Chris Balmforth’s shove for 545,000 to bust Balmforth in seventh, and a few hands later he picked up ace-queen against McMurray’s ace-seven for another bustout. Docherty then raised to 60,000 under the gun and McAulay called on the button. After checking the flop, McAulay bet 80,000 and Docherty called to the river. McAulay then moved all in, and Docherty called for his last 290,000 with a pair of aces. McAulay, though, had a straight to bust Docherty for his third elimination in the span of just seven hands.
McAulay had retaken the lead with 2,760,000, but he then missed a flush draw as Henderson picked off his river bluff with two kings to move atop the leaderboard. McAulay then flopped queens and threes against Simpson, but Simpson improved to kings and sevens on the river and bet 250,000. McAulay managed to get away from his hand, but not before taking another big hit and tumbling down to 1,605,000.
Simpson had retaken the lead with 2,950,000 as the final four players went off on break, while Hutchison was nursing the short stack with 740,000. Hutchison then shoved in the big blind and Simpson called with king-jack. Hutchison was ahead with ace-queen, but Simpson hit top pair on the flop to take the lead. Hutchison was looking to complete a straight draw, and he hit it on the river to survive and double up.
Hutchison took the chip lead for the first time when he bluffed the river with just ace-high, getting McAulay to fold two kings. Hutchison won another big pot with two tens against Henderson’s ace-king and began to separate from the field and approach 3,000,000.
Hutchison then picked up ace-king and shoved from the small blind against Simpson’s button raise, forcing Simpson to lay down two fives. Hutchison had two nines the next hand and found no action, then looked down at aces a hand later and raised to 120,000. McAulay picked the wrong time to shove for his last 1,180,000, and Hutchison snap-called. McAulay hit top pair with his ace-queen, but he improved no further and the start-of-day overwhelming chip leader busted in fourth place.
Simpson got in his last 720,000 a few hands later with ace-queen and was racing against Hutchison’s fours. Hutchison spiked a set on the turn, and Simpson was already drawing dead going to the river and had to settle for third place. Hutchison took a big lead over Henderson into heads-up play, holding 5,320,000 to Henderson’s 1,175,000.
Henderson crawled back into contention after flopping a full house and shoving the river, but Hutchison then picked off two bluffs and reopened his lead. Hutchison then limped in on the button and Henderson checked to a five-high flop. Hutchison bet 150,000, Henderson moved all in for 965,000, and Hutchison called with two jacks. Henderson had top pair and a straight draw, but he missed the turn and river and had to settle for a second-place finish.
Despite starting the final table near the bottom of the counts and still sitting as the short stack when four players remained, Hutchison never lost belief he could win. In his mind, if he was still in, he still had a chance. “I always thought I had a chance to win. As long as you’re still in the game, you’ve always got to think you can win. So I’ve always had a chance, just be patient, be patient, and the hands can come. You can catch a heater at any time,” he said.
Hutchison has been on a heater so far this series. He finished sixth in the Mini Main yesterday out of 457 players, then did even better today. The next stop is the Main Event, and Hutchison is going after the big prize of the festival full of self-belief.
“Gives me confidence. I can win the Main Event. I final tabled the mini, and I’ve won this, so I’m confident, which helps,” he said.
That concludes PokerNews' coverage of the £1,650 High Roller. Updates from the Main Event will begin tomorrow with Day 1b, so stay tuned for more action throughout the festival here in Glasgow.