2012 WSOP Event 36

Friday June 22, 2012 : THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR BRIT WORLD SERIES OF POKER PLAYER (Update)
 
McCorkell wind on his third final table at this year's WSOP
 
It was third time lucky for Brit poker pro Craig McCorkell in event 36 – $3,000 buy-in No-Limit Hold'em Shootout at the World Series of Poker Thursday. The 26-year-old Londoner was on his third final table in an eight event run at this year's series, and managed to snatch the game from Jeremiah Fitzpatrick in an exciting heads up.
 
McCorkell earned himself $368,593 and his first WSOP bracelet for the victory, achieved in an event for which 587 players entered, and vowed that he would be entering many other tournaments with his prize money.
 
The young Brit had a strong contingent of railbirds cheering him on when he took his place at a final table that comprised Jeremiah Fitzpatrick, Antonio Esfandiari, Jonathan Lane, Athanasios Polychronopoulos, Alessandro Longobardi, Roberto Romanello, Thiago Nishijima, Joe Tehan and Sardor Gaziev.
 
McCorkell did little to attrract attention to himself in the long struggle towards the heads up, but three handed against Antonio Esfandiari and Jeremiah Fitzpatrick he became a powerful and dangerous opponent.  Nevertheless, at one point it looked like a clean sweep for Esfandiari, who held four-fifths of the chips in play, prompting his two opponents to start discussing a chop.
 
In the event, disaster, bad cards and a determined Fitzpatrick befell Esfandiari, who was eliminated in third. That gave Fitzpatrick pole position with a 3 to 1 chip lead in the heads up against McCorkell, but the young Englishman stuck to his guns and steadily narrowed the lead until he had overtaken and then vanquished his opponent by winning a huge all-in with pocket eights against Fitzpatrick's ace eight.
 
Fitzpatrick headed for the exit and a second placing pay day of $$228,261, leaving the Brits to celebrate.