It has to be said that the GUKPT is becoming one of the biggest and most celebrated UK poker tours at the moment. There is a huge level of interest in these events and even though Thursday in Reading got off to a slow start, the turnout on Friday was huge, bumping the numbers at the event to a rather large level. While numbers aren’t everything, quality should always be more important than quantity, it is important to know that the poker playing community are buying into what is on offer and are enjoying what is being served up to them. The recent success of the GUKPT season will hopefully convince the organisers to keep going and hopefully there will also be other poker people looking at this success and wondering if they can get involved with events too.
There is no reason to think that you can just parachute into providing a great poker event from nowhere though and while the GUKPT is one of the big stories at the moment, it is not as if it has been an overnight success. There has been a considerable amount of work and effort placed into these events and that is why it is good to see the organisers are reaping the rewards.
A great deal of excitement at the final poker table
One player that is definitely reaping the rewards is James Martin and this is because he was the winner of the GUKPT Reading event. The final table at the Reading event was a rather exciting one, eventually, and there were four different players who held a chip lead at some point. Given the fact that there was no loss of players in the first 90 minutes, there was a lot of tension building but as per usual, as soon as one player cracks, the action really starts to get excited and more interesting. The first player of the final table to head home was Paul Dunne. Dunne was out in 9th position and would take home £1,650 for his efforts. This is not a bad take-home prize for a good weekend of poker and while Dunne would have been disappointed at being the first player to go home out of the final table, he should be happy with what he achieved.
After Dunne made his exit from the GUKPT Reading event, the rest of the goodbyes were as follows. David Lloyd was the next player to go and his 8th place finish saw Lloyd take home £2,270 for his trouble. In 7th position was John Burberry, who managed to grab £3,090 for his work. In 6th place was Alex Zeligman, who received £3,920 for his work in Reading. The fifth place player was Timotheos Timotheou who managed to take home £4,950 for his poker playing exploits in Reading.
At this point the drama was really starting to build and the player that crashed out in fourth position was Adam Howlett, who goes by the name of ‘Buzz’ in the poker community. This left three players and all of the players were guaranteed a minimum of £10,000 from the event. The last remaining female in the event finished in third place. It was a great showing by Ellie Biesske in finishing third and grabbing £10,520 but she will no doubt be a little bit disappointed to crash out so close to the big final showdown.
The top two players managed to reach agreement about the cash and both would be taking home a guaranteed £18,000. This left just over £4,000 to play for and of course, the title and glory that goes along with the GUKPT Reading event. The gallant runner-up was Jeff Kimber, who would have to console himself with that £18,000 prize. The additional £4,640 that James Martin picked up would have been a great reward but the prestige that goes with winning the event and of course picking up a seat at the Grand Final of the GUKPT season will no doubt have meant a lot more.
It isn’t too long until the next GUKPT event and the glamorous setting of Walsall is the place to be between the 7th and 14th of July if you are looking to take part in what is becoming a hugely important UK poker tour.
Even though there will still be 
Going into the final day, the table was set up as follows. Ludovic Geilich was the chip leader with 4,100,000 and the second placed player was Kamil Hrabia, who had 2,815,000 chips. In third place was Pablo Rojas who held 2,155,000 chips while in fourth place was Jorge Erguas Paniagua who had 2,095,000 chips. In fifth place was Asier Crespo, who had 1,410,000 chips while Fernando Curto was in 6th place with 1,190 chips. In 7th was Jonatan Soderstorm, the first player with less than 100,000 chips as he had 660,000 chips. In eighth place was Lucas Blanco, who had 440,000 chips.
This meant that Pablo Rojas and Ludovic Geilich were in the final head to head and with a 3 to q chip lead established early on, Geilich remained in full control, eventually grinding out the win, the big money and the kudos of being a big poker title winner.
There was a lot of excitement and anticipation in the build-up to the Main Event of the UKIPT Marbella event. The fact that it was the curtain raiser of the season meant that there was always going to be interest but with this event being held outside of the UK, there was an added level of interest in how the event would go. The idea of jetting off to sunnier climes to enjoy some poker action is something that appeals to many people and if you were unable to make it to the Las Vegas for the WSOP, heading to Marbella seemed like a great compromise!
It was the poker tournament that UK poker players were talking about for what seemed like an eternity but as with everything else in life, it passed in the blink of an eye. The International Stadiums Poker Tour event at Wembley at the end of May and start of June was a huge event, giving many poker players the chance to strut their stuff on the hallowed Wembley turf. The venue moved from outside to in and at the end of the day, there was a huge €1m given out to the winner but as is the way with modern poker, an agreed deal lessened the take-home cash of the winner but there was a good prize for the final table players!
One of the main concerns labelled at the ISPT was the fact that it was scheduled against the WSOP. The problem is that Wembley needs to be booked well in advance and the ISPT was lined up two years ago. This was long before the WSOP announced their schedule and when it was realised that there was going to be a clash, it would be fair to say that a few hearts sank.
While online poker continues to go from strength to strength, it seems as though it is having a positive impact on the number of people who are playing the game away from their computer or laptop too. Many people predicted that the emergence of online poker would kill of the activity as something that people do together in person but if anything, the rise in popularity of the online activity has helped to increase interest and popularity in playing around a table.
We’ve finally been getting a run of good weather in the UK, which is about time, but even with that in mind, you know it doesn’t take a long time for all of that to change. This is why there is always a good reason to head abroad. However, when the reason to head abroad is based on not only the sun but on poker as well, there is going to be an awful big queue of folk who are keen to head away from British shores and off to sunnier climes.
The Main Event is a joint event between the UKIPT and the Estrellas Poker Tour (ESPT) and it will run from the 12th of June to the 16th of June. The event is going to be a €1,000 +€100 buy-in event but with satellite events taking place now, you won’t have to pay that price if you are smart, talented or lucky enough. There are plenty of great side events to look out for too and if you are feeling flush with money on your holiday, the High Roller event is going to be one that will catch your eye. There is definitely something for everyone and while it may seem like a waste to spend so much time indoors when there is great weather to be enjoyed, the thrill and excitement that comes with playing poker for big cash is definitely something that will appeal to plenty of folk.
There may still be one or two mutterings about the overlay but the great thing about the ISPT at Wembley was that the focus eventually fell on the poker. This was always likely to be the case at some point but with even the final hours before the tournament commenced showing more of an interest in cash than chips, there was a concern that there was going to be an overshadowing of the poker play. Once the action got underway on that Wembley turf, like so many times before, everything that was discussed and concerned about in the build-up was forgotten as the excitement and passion of play took over.
Every player that made it past the Sunday stage into the Monday knew that they were making some money from the tournament, which is always a relief. Some of the big name players that survived the Sunday session were Sam Trickett, Tony G, Toby Lewis, Neil Bernadout, Marcel Luske and 
A big Saturday event is always going to be ensure that Wembley Stadium is buzzing with excitement and the Day 2b event at Wembley Stadium for the ISPT Main Event was such an occasion. The two live days prior to this had seen a total of 761 entries for the live events, which was a good thing but there was no doubt that on Saturday, the talk of the event was still about the money that was needed to ensure that the pre-tournament promises would be lived up to.
In the Saturday action itself, there had been hopes for the ISPT ambassador, Michael Mizrachi. The player that is known as “The Grinder” got off to a good start, reaching 150,000 chips but this high level disappeared almost as quickly as it came along. Before too long, Mizrachi was struggling on just over 30,000 chips and he was eliminated from the event shortly afterwards.
This may be the weekend when poker finally comes to Wembley Stadium but this is not the only major poker event that this taking place in the UK this weekend. Not everyone is too 
However, if poker is your game, it is 
The league has been building up nicely to this grand final with weekly games taking place in pubs all across Scotland. You may be shocked at the news that some Scottish people spend their time in pubs. This style of venue is rarely popular across the country but with the introduction of poker, it has started to pick up in popularity and there have been one or two poker indulging in an alcoholic beverage or two. Who knows, if the popularity of poker maintains, Scottish people may actually start to drink on a fairly regular basis, which could be a boon for the local economy.