Arian Kashani Captures UK and Ireland Poker Tour Nottingham Main Event Title

Arian Kashani sure seems to feel at home playing poker at Dusk Till Dawn Nottingham. The Iranian player has now recorded his two largest live tournament scores at the venue, with his most recent triumph being a win in the 2024 UK and Ireland Poker Tour Nottingham £1,100 buy-in no-limit hold’em main event. Kashani walked away with $254,394 as the champion, blowing away the $90,493 he secured as the runner-up in the World Series of Poker International Circuit England main event under the same roof this spring.

Kashani now has nearly $640,000 in career earnings to his name despite only lodging his first live cash in 2020.

“I love what I do,” Kashani told PokerStars reporters after coming out on top. “I’ve been playing poker for 11 years now, five full-time. And I’m just about to launch my coaching program — talk about good timing. But there have been a lot of disappointments. They say if you hang around the barber shop long enough you’ll eventually get a haircut, y’know?”

In addition to the title and the money, Kashani was also awarded 960 Card Player Player of the Year points. This was his first title and third final-table finish of the year. With 1,760 total points, he now sits within reach of the top 250 in the 2024 POY race standings presented by Global Poker.

This event drew 1,282 entries, besting the £1 million guarantee by more than £230,000. The final prize pool sat at $1,555,630 when rendered in US dollars, with the top 193 finishers all earning a share.

The tournament featured five starting flights and two more days of action. Kashani held the chip lead when the official nine-handed final table got underway. Daniel Rudd (9th – $23,663) was the first to fall, running A-2 suited into A-K for Philip Joyce. Nathan Slater soon followed, with his A-5 suited failing to come from behind against the A-K suited of Kashani. Slater walked away with $30,782 as the eighth-place finisher.

Justin Tsui then ran Q-10 suited into the pocket jacks of Parminder Kandola to finish seventh ($40,018).

Yannik Seabrook’s run came to an end when his A-5 clashed with the A_Q of Joyce. Seabrook flopped a five to take the lead and turned aces up, only for the river to put a pair of nines on the board to counterfeit Seabrook. Joyce won thanks to his superior kicker, sending Seasbrook to the rail with $52,038 for his efforts.

The next payout was for $67,637. That sum was ultimately awarded to Michael Casson, who finished fifth when his A-2 suited lost a preflop showdown against the K-Q of Kashani. Ace high was best through the turn, but Kashani completed his gutshot straight draw on the river to win the pot and narrow the field to four.

Kashani picked up pocket tens in the big blind facing an under-the-gun shove from Parminder Kandola for around 18 big blinds. Kashani called and held against his opponent’s A8 to pull even further away from the pack. Kandola was awarded $87,192 for his fourth-place finish.

World Series of Poker bracelet winner Christopher Brammer bowed out in third place ($113,400) when his button shove was looked up by Joyce out of the big blind. Brammer’s K7 was trailing the A5 of Joyce preflop, but he still had roughly 37 percent equity according to Card Player’s poker odds calculator. That number plummeted to zero when the flop came down Q62 to give Joyce an unbeatable ace-high flush. The turn and the river were mere formalities and Brammer headed to the payout window to collect his fifth recorded six-figure tournament score.

Heads-up play began with Kashani holding more than a 3:1 chip lead over Joyce. That gap was narrowed when Joyce got all-in with top pair against overcards and a king-high flush draw for Kashani. A blank on the end saw Joyce double to all but even the stacks.

The two paused the action for a bit to mull over a possible deal, but ultimately decided to play on with the prescribed payouts. Joyce overtook the lead and began to pull away, but Kashani doubled up with pocket fives holding against pocket threes in a preflop all-in clash to move back in front again.

In the final hand, Kashani min-raised to 1,000,000 on the button with KQ and call the 22-big-blind three-bet shove of Joyce, who held 109. The 964 flop gave Joyce top pair and the lead. The 4 turn added a flush draw to go with Kashani’s overcards, though, and that turned out to be crucial. The 8 on the end completed his flush, bringing the event to an end. Joyce was eliminated as the runner-up, earning $158,760 for his efforts.

Here is a look at the payouts and POY points awarded at the final table:

Photo credits: Rational Intellectual Holdings Ltd. / Danny Maxwell.