With two more cashes at UKIPT Blackpool, Irish Open Champion David Docherty has extended his lead still further at the top of the UKIPT leader board. There are four more UKIPT events to go this year but the Scottish player is looking very strong with an 80-point lead over his nearest rival Fotios Ntamaris from Greece.
In Blackpool, Docherty finished fifth in the High Roller and 16th in the UKIPT Cup, earning himself another 33 points on the leader board. There were no other changes in the top ten but many of the other contenders – such as third-placed Andy Black – are now back from Vegas and will be keen to renew their onslaught.
The remaining UKIPT stops are:
• UKIPT Brighton: September 5 – 10
• UKIPT London: September 19 – 24
• UKIPT Edinburgh: October 24 – 29
• UKIPT Nottingham: November 4 – 13
Docherty won the 2023 Irish Open Main Event back in April. The event was the biggest poker tournament ever held in Ireland with a staggering 2,491 entries. The Scottish pro qualified for the tournament on PokerStars for $109 before taking home the first prize of €365,000. The monster cash took him to fifth place on the Scottish all-time money list and he now has total live tournament winnings of over $1.1 million. Both the Irish Open and the PokerStars Summer Festival in Malta form part of this year’s UKIPT leader board; Docherty’s victory at the Irish Open earned him 100 points and his fourth place finish in the Malta Main Event – and 19th place in a €220 NLH Freezeout there – garnered him another 81 leader board points.
JP McCann, co-organiser of the Irish Open, said: “It’s really great to see Docherty really thriving since his spectacular win in Dublin. He had a terrific result in Malta and, with his recent cashes in Blackpool, it’s clear that he’s continuing to pile on the pressure. It’s going to be tough for other players to catch him but there are still four UKIPT events to go this season – and a lot of very determined competitors!”
Prizes in the 2023 PokerStars UKIPT leader board will be awarded to the top three players: a UKIPT 2024 Package worth £15,000 for the winner; live event credits worth £2,200 for the runner-up and £1,100 for the third-place finisher. Docherty plans to play every remaining stop to ensure he keeps his lead.
The leaderboard is a points-based system, whereby every player who cashes in an eligible event (all standard Multi-Table Tournaments with a buy-in over £220/€220, excluding satellites) will receive points based on their finishing position and number of event entries.
