Author: calvin

Wednesday is as good a time as any to start looking forward to the weekend’s activities. To be honest, Monday morning is probably as good a time as any to start looking forward to the next weekend but there is no doubt that many people like to get some days behind them before they start wishing their life away. As the middle point of the week, Wednesday feels as though you have put the Monday blues far behind you and the weekend starts to move into touching distance. Wednesday is far from being the ideal day of the week but if you love to play poker at the weekend, this is the day to start pulling your plans together.

If you are looking to play online poker, you’ll have plenty of opportunities to do so. The big sites all offer massive Saturday and Sunday games so you’ll not be short of options. However, there are players that prefer the chance to play against actual people in real-life venues at the weekend. If you are sat behind a computer screen all week at work, you may not find the idea of sitting behind a computer screen all weekend too appealing. This is why you should get out and play poker around a table against other keen poker fans.

There were not too many big poker options for UK players last weekend but that is not the case the weekend. In fact, if anything, there is too much choice because two of the biggest names in UK poker have events this weekend. This lack of convergence may be slightly annoying for some poker players who would love the chance to be able to take on the biggest names and play all of the biggest venues. Different poker bodies and organisations don’t need to plan ahead with other bodies in mind but it would be good if there was a bit more thought put into the planning process.

Some big poker choices have to be made

One big poker highlight of the weekend comes with the UKIPT Series which is launching at the Hippodrome just off Leicester Square. This is going to be one of the most popular poker venues in the country due to its great location. However, the fact that big names like PokerStars are also getting involved means that there will be a lot of interest in what the venue has to offer.

This should be enough to get poker players excited but if you are looking for a different option, Leg 2 of the GUKPT tour will be taking place in Didsbury in Manchester. The event is already underway but it will start to get exciting this weekend. Thursday and Friday represent Day 1A and Day 1B of the event with Saturday representing Day 2 while Sunday is the Main Event Final Day.

One thing that is of benefit to players is the fact that there is a geographical split for the event. The players in the South of England can focus on London for their event and anyone in the North of England or Scotland can look towards Manchester for their poker activity. There has already been a huge North / South divide this week due to the passing of Margaret Thatcher and the differing views of her work in both of these areas. In this sense, a slight poker difference is not going to be too big a deal in the grand scheme of things.

While playing and winning this weekend can be of benefit, there is an incentive to get along and play to ensure you have poker plans later in the year. Both of these events grant entry to later tournaments and events where you will get to play alongside other champions. There is no doubt that poker players looking to mingle with the best can benefit from being active this weekend with some proper poker tournaments.

Sports fans love it when there is a chance to see so many of their big name stars and heroes in the one place. For sports like football, tournaments like the Champions League are hugely exciting because they bring the best teams and the best players from around Europe into the one main competition. This is the sort of event that gets fans interested, which means that it gets TV companies interested. They then start the hype machine and before you know it, the Champions League has become the biggest sporting event in the world, probably even eclipsing the excitement and drama that comes along with the world cup.

There is a lot to be gained from having these major events and it is not just football that can benefit from it. If there is one man that understands the power of publicity and the different TV can make to a sport, it is Barry Hearn. Hearn made snooker one of the biggest sports in the world and he has had huge success in the darts and boxing arena too. This means he has his finger on the pulse when it comes to creating events that people want to know about and it seems as though Hearn is making his way into poker.

Poker is the big thing at the moment

This makes perfect sense for him because poker is huge at the moment and he is not the sort of businessman that is going to let a massive opportunity pass him by without at least trying for success. This is behind the first ever World Snooker Championship Poker event which has just been announced by the Grosvenor Casino. The event takes place in conjunction with Barry Hearn and the Matchroom Sport banner. Some of the biggest names in professional snooker will be taking part in the event which is billed as a £500+£50 No Limit Hold ‘Em poker event.

There will also be a lot of good coming from the event in the fact that a large pot of money will make its way to the Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice. It has been announced that half of the registration fees collected from every player and a whopping 10% of the total prize pool will be donated to charity. This is definitely a great outcome and something that should make sure that this event is even more highly anticipated than it would have been if it was a standard event.

As you would expect from such a major event, there will be a number of brilliant prizes on offer. One of the most enticing prizes will be a direct entry into the £200,000 GTD Goliath. However, if you are coming at this event from a snooker angle as opposed to purely being all about the poker, there is a big incentive for you to get involved. One of the prizes for the event is a VIP table for 10 people which will see you gain entry into the very exclusive closing party for the World Snooker Championship. You’ll be going snooker loopy at the thought of winning this prize!

The event takes place on the 5th and 6th of May 2013 with a 12pm start time each day. The event will carry a £500+£50 buy-in and the structure for the event will follow the standard GUKPT two day event structure. There looks set to be a number of qualifiers for the event taking place over the next month so there will be a strong opportunity for players to get involved if they desire. The event takes place at the G Casino in Sheffield.

This is one of those rare weekends in the United Kingdom where everyone goes a little bit mad for gambling. While there are people who look down on us gamers and gamblers at other points in the year when it comes to the Grand National, it is fair to say that Britain loves a flutter. The thought of horses being used in burgers has been one of the biggest stories of the year so far so it will be good to have a weekend where the horse focus is on the racing. Whatever your opinion on the Grand National is, and hopefully the improved safety measures brought in will result in fewer horse fatalities, there is no doubt that this is a major gaming event.

Of course, the majority of us poker fans like their gambling a bit more regularly than once a year and it is good to know that there will still be poker events taking place this weekend to look forward to. There is no getting away from the fact that the biggest poker event in the world this weekend will be taking place half the world away.

Typical “Brits Abroad” behaviour from Sam Trickett!

Down under, WSOP have geared into life and the WSOP-Asia Pacific event is already underway. Sam Trickett has already tweeted images from Melbourne but rather than pictures of the stunning views or some local wildfire, he has pictured a serious hangover kit! Perhaps it is not all going to be work related fun in Australia but hopefully Sam is just having some initial party fun down under before he gets down to the serious business of winning poker tournaments. Sam is the captain of Team Europe in the international event so he will have plenty of people looking to him for advice and leadership. Perhaps that what the Berocca and bottles of water are for, to make sure that all of his team are bright-eyed and bushy tailed after a night out on the town.

There are going to be a number of major events streamed live around the world and for the first time ever there will be a WSOP bracelet handed out down under. All in all, the WSOP-Asia Pacific event looks set to be a festival of poker with lots to look forward to.

While the WSOP-APAC event is going to be a big poker draw, some players may be holding off and instead turning their attention to the WPT Barcelona event. This starts on Friday the 5th of April and continues all the way through until Thursday the 10th of April so there may even be the opportunity for some keen poker players to fit in both events if they are so desired.

Those looking for live poker action a little closer to home will surely have an interest in Westernmania which is taking place at the Western Club in Acton, London from Friday evening. This may not leave you with a lot of time to get involved with the event but as there is a £250,000 guaranteed prize pool on offer, you will likely be able to shake yourself quickly into action. The final opening flight of the event is taking place on Friday evening so this really is the last call for the event.

The final flight gets underway at 7pm on Friday evening but if you are quick off the market, there will be a chance to play in a satellite event from 4pm. Given that this is a £33 satellite event, getting along early may be the best thing you can do. One poker player is going to be in line to grab £75,000 at the end of this event so there is definitely a huge incentive. It will be far from the biggest poker field that gathers in London to play for big money so there may be a slightly better chance of success if you get involved.

While the lure and appeal of being a professional poker player and travelling the world will never diminish, it is not for everyone. There are more than enough people that like to enjoy poker as a hobby or past-time. There are plenty of folk that enjoy poker as a way of adding more fun to their life or giving them a break from the important things they have going on in their life. This is why even though it is inevitable that there will be a focus on the professional poker world, it is important to look at what is going on with the amateur poker community too.

There was a celebration of the amateur poker community over the Easter weekend with the highly praised Dusk Till Dawn venue being the host for the APAT World Championships Of Amateur Poker (WCOAP). Anyone looking for a thrilling end to the Main Event were treated to a fine display of poker skill and play that would have graced any final poker table around the world. At the end of it all, Erimas Livonas, from Lithuania, was the champion in the £110 buy-in event. The buy-in price was set at a good level considering the amateur nature of players and there was a lot of interest in the Main Event. A total of 451 players were involved at the start of the process but this had been whittled down to 64 on the final day.

Money and bling for the winners!

As well as playing for the kudos of being the Main Event winner players were battling for a £10,000 prize, a seat at ISPT Day 2, a gold medal from APAT and there was a custom made bracelet created especially for the event by Aspire Jewellery. Livonas may not have been the most conventional of players at the final table but he had a strong level of effectiveness to his play and in the end he managed to outlast his opponents and claim the glory and the prize.

There were also plenty of over events and poker tournaments held during the celebration which means that plenty of people ended the Easter weekend feeling the glow of being a winner. In the WCOAP Heads Up Championship, there were 64 players duking it out in a one versus one style to grab the crown. There was a lot of joy at Dusk Till Dawn in this event because Weswell Ellis, the eventual winner, is a regular player at the club. Weswell triumphed against Vikrum Mehta in the last match, earning himself £1,100 for the Heads Up winner. Mehta shouldn’t feel too down though because he received £700 for his second place finish and he also managed to come second in the WCOAP Seven Card Stud event. He could look at the weekend as one of near misses but he should take a lot of pride in his performance.

32 poker players stepped up to the challenge of the WCOAP Razz Championship and there was a strong finish to this as well. The 4th placed player, Duncan Hodgkins earned £160 while in second place, Mark Lassman grabbed £320. In 2nd place was Simon Lawlor who received £416 while in first place was Joanna Sharp. Joanna received £592, a gold medal and a bracelet, giving her plenty to remember from her time in Nottingham.

There were 113 players competing for the WCOAP Omaha Championship but it was Mike Perry, from Southampton, who was rewarded for his trip. The buy-in was set at £55 but there was additional incentive for poker players due to the fact that a ISPT Day 1 seat had been added to the prize pool. This was claimed by Perry in addition to £1,666.75.

If you have been spending the Easter weekend enjoying chocolate and having some quiet time with friends and family, you may not be alone in that. After all, there is nothing better than having some quiet time to relax and unwind and this maybe explains why the poker action has not been so fast and furious over the past couple of days. Poker players can usually find a good excuse to slip off and enjoy the poker action at times but at big family events like Easter, that may not have been so easy.

However, you know that you can always rely on Dublin to host a party and the Irish Open has been taking place over the past few days. The final is not starting until early afternoon on Easter Monday so there is still some work to be done for the main players but a good few players have already fallen by the wayside. If you have been at a loose end, you may have caught up with the event which has been streamed live and there is still time to watch the final table play out on Monday afternoon and evening if you want to see the top class poker players involved. Given that the Irish Open is one of the oldest poker tournaments in the world, there is no doubt that there is a high level of prestige involved with winning this event.

Kara Scott will have to wait a little while longer to achieve her goals of being a WPT winner as she crashed out in 12th place at the Venice event. Things had been looking good for Scott but in the end, a run of bad luck worked against her and she was leaving the action before things progressed to the final table. There was not a great deal of UK involvement with the WPT Venice event with Scott and Liv Boeree being the only notable UK related players to make any in-roads to the tournament. Perhaps the Easter weekend was a time for many of the UK players to rest and prepare for upcoming events!

History was made in Venice

One player who wasn’t taking things easy over the weekend was Rocco Palumbo who triumphed at the Venice event. The Italian is already a WSOP bracelet winner but this latest triumph ensures that his name is engraved on the WPT Champions Cup too. The Venice event was staged in the Casino di Venezia, the casino which is the oldest in the world and Rocco will be delighted with walking away with $180,097. This is a hefty prize and one that definitely made ignoring the sights of Venice for poker action a very sensible one for the player.

There may not have been the same money on offer at the UK Poker Championship which took place in Coventry last week but the tournament was still as eagerly contested. In the end, student Ben Foxwell was the player that came out on top of the 469 entrants to the event. There will no doubt be plenty of people up and down the country bemoaning the fact that students are playing poker as opposed to studying but if you have a talent for something that you enjoy you may as well use it. For his efforts, Foxwell received £3,450 and entry to the GUKPT Grand Final but the kudos of overcoming the rest of the student poker population will no doubt be of great interest too!

Things will hot up in the next week or two when it comes to poker so if you’re looking for more excitement, there will be plenty to enjoy and look forward to.

If you are thinking about spending your Easter break playing poker but don’t want to be stuck inside for all of the weekend, perhaps it is time to venture out into the world of poker tournaments. You don’t have to aim for the WSOP or WPT just yet although these events may be in the back of your mind. There are plenty of places to play poker with real people in the United Kingdom and this Easter weekend, there is a poker treat being served up by one of the biggest and best poker venues in the United Kingdom.

If you have any interest in poker in the UK, you should have heard of the Dusk Till Dawn club in Nottingham. It may be removed from the glitz and glamour that London possesses but when it comes to great poker action and excitement, this is a venue that has seen it all and done it all. This Easter weekend, the club will play host to the APAT World Championship of Amateur Poker. It takes longer to say the title than it does for some players to remain involved in the tournament so you shouldn’t be surprised to learn that the event is commonly shortened to the WCOAP.

The poker action begins on Thursday the 28th of March and it carries all the way through until Monday the 1st of April. You will feel like an April fool if you are looking for some great poker action this weekend but miss out on what is on offer in Nottingham. There will be 10 separate events taking place over the weekend and the great thing is, there are a number of low buy-ins. The amateur nature of the event is at the heart of everything it does with respect to welcoming players and this can be seen in the affordable nature of the event.

It is an amateur poker event run professionally

Don’t mistake amateur for lack of professionalism though, this is the sort of event that players love to play and there will be a high quality of players and organisation on show. This event marks the opening of the sixth season of the WCOAP and one of the most awaited events will be the WCOAP World Amateur Team Championship which carries a £100+£10 buy-in. On the same day there will also be a £50+£5 buy-in for the WCOAP Stud Championship. The team championship event starts at 5pm while the stud championship begins an hour later at 6pm.

Other poker tournaments to look out for during the week include an Omaha tournament, a no limit Hold ‘Em Six Max tournament, a HORSE tournament and a championship based upon the heads-up. It is likely that there will be a big take-up for all of these events so if you are looking to get involved, sign up while there are still spaces available. You will also find that there will be a lot of interest in the World Amateur Poker Championship event and again, if you have a particular interest in this event, sign up early.

The Main Event in last season’s event saw 405 poker players get involved and there was a prize pool of over £40,000 on offer. Dave Garden, also known as “No Shoes” was the winner when he triumphed against Andrew Duffin. This saw Garden grab the trophy but he also walked away with more than £12,000!

The idea of spending your Easter weekend in Nottingham may not come across as the most glamorous way to spend your long weekend but this weekend is a little bit different. If you want a special poker time this Easter, Nottingham is a cracking destination.