Just 80 players survived from 270 entries to contest day two of leg four in the north-west region of the 25/25 Series at the G Casino in Blackpool from 25-27 July, where Paul Rigg emerged as the champion.
With the top 26 getting paid, William Thompson was the man to catch at the start of day two with 247k in chips, with an average stack of 84,400 meaning there were 6.75 million chips in play.
And, by the time the tournament got down to a final table, Thompson had 847,000 of them but had slipped to fourth in the chip parade behind Chris Rodgers on 1,218,000, Rigg on 1,016,000 and Stuart Lord with 882,000.
Gary Keegan and Chris Waddington were next on 802,500, followed by Mick Fletcher (785,500), Kev Bloor (269,500) and John Bell (175,500).
Lord, Waddington, Bell and Fletcher were also still in the running for the last-man-standing GUKPT seat so when Bell exited in fifth place - after moving all-in with jacks from the big blind for 316k after Rigg had raised to 95k and called with 8H-9S, hitting a straight on a KH-6C-7C-5C-6H board - it was Lord who took the GUKPT seat, leaving the remaining players to strike a deal.
Rigg bagged the trophy and the lion's share of the loot, £11,435, with the other players taking home £8,000 each, with Lord runner-up, Keegan third and Rodgers fourth.
Sixth place had gone to Waddington who called in the big blind after a Rigg raise to 90k. The flop brought AS-AD-JS and Waddington moved all-in for 585k, which Rigg decided to take a gamble on.
The 9H on the turn and 10S on the river saw Rigg make a flush with his 8S-5S, while Waddington's pocket fours were a distant second best.
Fletcher exited in seventh place after moving all-in for 250k after a limp by Lord in the small blind. Fletcher's KC-7D was ahead at this stage with Lord holding QH-JD but the AH-5C-JH-6H-JC board confirmed his exit from the tournament.
Long-time chip leader Thompson was the man to leave in eighth place after raising to 60k with queens only to be shoved on by Waddington with AC-KC. Thompson called but the 5D-6H-KH on the flop put Waddington ahead, with a 9C on the turn and 7S on the river sending Thompson to the bank.
The first departure from the final table was Bloor who got all his chips in pre-flop with KC-QD against Waddington's AS-KC. The board brought 10H-6D-8D-4H-4S to build Waddington's stack and see Bloor to the door.
25/25 Blackpool
1 Paul Rigg £11,000
2 Stuart Lord £8,000
3 Gary Keegan £8,000
4 Chris Rodgers £8,000
5 John Bell £2,755
6 Chris Waddington £2,050
7 Mick Fletcher £1,620
8 William Thompson £1,300
9 Kev Bloor £1,080
