Poker Blog

While the start of the summer for the Dusk Till Dawn club was very much about promoting and getting fully behind the ISPT Wembley event, it has been very much business as usual when it comes to the club and online events. The thing is though, you wouldn’t have known this from a casual look at their site because so much of the time and energy of the site has been devoted towards making the ISPT as big as hit as they possibly can. Now that the major event is finished, there is a need for the company and club to get back to doing what they do best, which is promoting great poker events every week!

Last year, Dusk Till Dawn had a great deal of success with their Deepstack events which had a guaranteed £50,000 prize on offer for the £150+£18 buy-in. This year, perhaps mindful of the money that many players have already spent on DTD and the ISP, the buy-in has actually been reduced. This means that the buy-in for this summer’s Deepstack events are levelled at £100+£15 but the guaranteed prize on offer is still at £50,000. This is a tremendous gesture by the club and it should be one that many poker players enjoy and take advantage of.

Keep busy this summer by playing poker

The next big event to look out for is next week but the online satellite events will be taking place from Sunday the 16th of June while Day 1A begins with an online tournament on Monday the 17th of June. There is another online day on Tuesday the 18th of June, and Day 1B starts at 8.30pm, the same time as the Day 1A start-time. There is a bit of respite with Day 1C not coming until Friday the 21st of June and the start time for this event is 7pm and the Day 1D event, scheduled for Saturday the 22nd of June will have a 5pm start-time. This is a long build up to get to Day 2, which takes place on Sunday the 23rd of June with a start time of 2pm.

The introduction of the online Day 1’s will be a positive thing and given that the DTD club is shut on Monday and Tuesday, this makes perfect sense. There is a blending of online and offline capabilities from many clubs these days and there is no doubt that Dusk Till Dawn is at the forefront of this in the UK poker community.

With so many poker players from around the world descending on Las Vegas for the 2013 WSOP, it is no surprise to find that there are plenty of players from the UK and Ireland involved in the mix. Of course, when you have so many American players involved at the tournament it is always going to be difficult to make an impact but we are glad to say that over the first 20 events that have been played out so far, there have been a lot of UK players picking up the cash. If you ever thought about heading to a major event and just trying your luck, hopefully you can take inspiration from the successes that have already been achieved! The following results were the highlights from the first 5 events at the WSOP.

There is a need to start with David Vamplew, the Fifer who was straight out of the blocks in the second event of the WSOP. This was the No-Limit Hold’em / Eight Handed and he went so far in the tournament that he finished second place! It is always going to be disappointing to get so close to winning a tournament and then missing out but with a big prize of $ 342,450 waiting for you, you can hardly be too upset! Vamplew’s strong finish overshadowed the performance of Peter Gould who did tremendously well to take twentieth position in the event, which bagged him $ 15,824.

Event 3 was a popular one for UK poker players

More UK success was to follow in event 3 at the WSOP, the No-Limit Hold’em Re-Entry as eight players made their away into the cash spots. None of these players managed to bag as much money as Gould did but again, any ranking and cash finish at an event like WSOP has to be celebrated. The top Brit was Dermot Blain, who finished in 23rd and received $14,067 for his efforts. Other top players included Sunny Chattha, Andrew Teng, Sam Razavi, David Tighe, David Bland, Jack Salter, and Bruce Shannon.

The fourth event of the WSOP 2013, the No-Limit Hold’em / Six Handed, saw 5 UK players bag some money that they’ll have to explain when they head home via customs! Martin Malone finished in 23rd place, which was enough to earn him $9,640 while Scott O’Reilly finished in 39th, which earned him $5,599. Craig McCorkell finished in 59th, which earned him $3,997. Sadan Turker finished in 71st place, grabbing $3,391 while Niall Farrell came 79th, taking home $3,117.

The fifth event, the Omaha/Seven Card Stud Hi-Low 8-or Better, saw a big finish for a UK player as Matthew Ashton finished in 3rd place, which was enough to help him grab $ 86,437. Another UK cash money player for this event was Zimnan Ziayrd who finished in 20th place and earned $ 6,551.

With so much success in the first 5 events at the 2013 WSOP, the bar had been raised for UK players to keep it up and thankfully, they never let us down!

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!

The money guaranteed for the main event was the source of most of the pre-tournament discussion and many people believed that the event would fall flat before it even got to Wembley. The fact that it didn’t and it showed a lot of people wrong in this regard can be attributed to the hard work, effort and basic support provided by the Dusk Till Dawn club in Nottingham. When it comes to good names in the UK poker industry, this club is able to beat everyone else hands down and Rob Young, the main man at DTD looked back at the ISPT event on his own blog.

A lot of poker players but probably not enough!

With respect to numbers of players, there were a total of 708 players with 428 of these players coming from the United Kingdom with 280 coming from Europe. During the event there were a total of 53 re-entries which means that the total number of entries for the event stood at 761. Rob Young spoke prior to the event taking place and with respect to the number of entries, he said that if the event welcomed 500 players it would be a disaster and if 1,000 players turned up, it would be okay. The fact that the number of people that turned up for the tournament was in between these two would be enough to suggest that it wasn’t a massive success in that regard but there were problems with the event, especially in the run-up to the event.

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.

The concern with the clash really came home with the fact that only 230 poker players bought directly into Day 2 at the event, which had a buy-in of €3,000. This can be contrasted to the 6,400 players that were involved in the Millionmaker $1,500 event which was held at the WSOP at the same weekend as the ISPT. There is no doubt that there is a demand for high-roller poker events and a lot of poker players like playing for a lot of money but it seemed as though there was a clear favourite when it comes to catching the attention of poker players.

Will there be another ISPT?

While DTD have no current plans to be heavily involved with future ISPT events, Rob believes that there are more ISPT events in the pipeline. There have been suggestions that the O2 Arena in Prague could be a venue for a future event and in planning ahead; there is no doubt that the 2014 World Cup in Brazil is something that will host a lot of interest to players from around the world. There is no doubt that the ISPT Wembley event was a great learning experience and an event that many people will have enjoyed. It may have cost a lot of money from Rob Young and DTD but yet again they showed why they are one of the most respected organisations in the UK poker industry. Anyone looking to see how a professional poker club runs would be advised to check them out.

With a number of really big poker rooms and venues in London, it can be difficult for smaller venues to stand out from the crowd or even just be noticed by poker players. London is such a bustling metropolis that there is room for poker rooms of all sizes and offerings but the smaller poker rooms have to work harder to ensure that they are seen by poker players. This is definitely something that the Western attempts to do and they have created a number of poker events which have caught the attention and the headlines in recent times.

There have been two major Westernmania events this year so far and The Western Club in Acton is pressing ahead with a third before the end of Autumn. The year got off to a bad start when the club promised a big £250,000 guarantee game which it failed to meet and this led to a much more modest offering for Westernmania II. There was a guarantee of £30,000 on offer and this was absolutely smashed, which has no doubt encouraged the organisers to be a little bit more ambitious with their plans for the next event.

Poker prize pool is on the up again

The third Westernmania event is set to have a guaranteed prize fund of £60,000 and the winner is in line to bag a prize of £25,000 at least! This is definitely going to appeal to plenty of poker players and it may well be that the success of the second event is followed up by the third event. The buy in for the event is a £175+£50 deal and all players will begin with 40,000 chips.

There are going to be plenty of ways to get involved and if you are the sort of poker player that likes a number of Day 1 events, you are in luck here. Day 1A takes place on Thursday the 5th of September with an 8pm start-time while Day 1B is on Friday the 6th of September, again starting at 8pm. There are two Day 1 events taking place on Saturday the 7th of September with Day 1C starting at 2pm and then Day 1D kicks off at 8pm. All of which builds neatly onto Sunday the 8th of September which is Day 2 and this event begins at 4pm.

The club released a statement on their current plans;

We have had fantastic feedback from the initial Westernmania and Westernmania II. Even though we didn’t make the numbers for the first guarantee we were very pleased to SMASH the guarantee for WM2 and again the number of new members and returning members that did play and enjoyed our largest ever competition was excellent.

With the next leg of the GUKPT set to start on Sunday and the Main Event getting into action a week on Thursday, there is every chance that a lot of poker players will have Genting Casinos on their mind. The Grosvenor G Casino in Reading is the place to be from Sunday for the latest festival poker but not everyone wants to wait that long and of course, not everyone wants to go to Reading. Given that Reading is famous for a music festival and for being the place that David Brent escaped from to live out his dreams in Slough, it is easy to see why Reading is not a top priority of many people.

The thing is though; Genting Casino doesn’t only provide big poker events during the GUKPT, there are Genting Casinos with poker action taking place every day of the week. No matter where you are in the country, there is a very strong chance that there is a Genting Casino that is going to be close to you, serving up some midweek poker action. Whether you just want to keep your hand in or you are looking to make some midweek money, you’ll find that there are plenty of options available to you.

A quick look at Wednesday alone indicates that there are plenty of poker options for players across the country. If you want to get an early start to your poker activities, the Genting in Newcastle will help you out. This is because the club offers a £1,000 guaranteed freeroll game, which starts at 3pm. This event is also providing seats for the GPS Newcastle Mega Satellite so you can really boost your chances of making money by getting involved with this afternoon game.

Freeroll poker is also on offer at the Genting Casino in Torquay and there is a guaranteed £55 on offer in the game which gets underway at 7.30pm. It isn’t a massive prize but for a midweek freeroll that gets you out of the house, it isn’t a poor prize.

Scottish poker players have options too

There are also plenty of poker options North of the Border too so Scottish poker players shouldn’t feel left out. Glasgow players can get involved with the Wednesday Night £1,500 Guaranteed £25 Freezeout game. A big bonus from this game comes with the fact that all players that make it through to the final table will qualify for the Final Table League VI Playoff Freezeout which is scheduled to take place on the 20th of July.

Across in Edinburgh, players will be taking part in the Wednesday Megastack game where there is £1,000 guaranteed. With Luton, Salford, Blackpool, Brighton, Coventry and Sheffield also getting in on the act with notable poker events on Wednesday, there is an opportunity for poker players everywhere. There are also online Genting tournaments running on Wednesday night so even if you would prefer to play from the comfort of your own home, this is an option. You don’t have to wait until the next GUKPT leg to have some fun with Genting and poker.

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.

Some major events around the UK have helped poker players find plenty of opportunities to play in large numbers but there are also plenty of local poker clubs around the country. This is a great thing because anything which helps to provide a social outlet for people has to be seen as a positive element and there is no doubt that poker can be a great way for people to come together. Playing online poker is convenient but it doesn’t have the same charm or style as being able to play poker games against people. There is a strong element to bluffing and reading what your opponent says when it comes to poker and a lot of players find this to be one of the most important parts of the game.

Will 100 poker players turn up for the Main Event in Felixstowe?

It is understandable that an increasing number of organisations are turning to poker to boost their numbers and to provide a more attractive range of options for their members. One such club that has regularly enjoyed some poker fun in recent times but who are looking to take things further is the Felixstowe Poker Club. The club is organising a big poker event for the end of the month, the 29th and 30th of June and they hope that 100 players will take part in the big event they are organising.

The club has been meeting for the past three years at the Felixstowe Conservative Club and they have been doing very well of late. The club is part of a national poker league, players from the club have made it through to the final table of the major competitions and the club itself has also been recognised as being a venue that has performed strongly.

The chairman of the club, Kevin Cockerill, spoke to local press about the upcoming event and the thinking behind it. He said;

Felixstowe Conservative Club is celebrating 100 years and we thought it would be a good idea to have a 100-player tournament as part of the centenary events. It will be the first open event we have held in Felixstowe and the biggest held so far in the area. Players will come not only from the town but across the county and even further afield. If it is a success we would be looking to make it an annual event with the aim to make it bigger and bigger each year. We want to make our town the place for a quality, friendly game of poker.

The club already has 70 members and it expects a great turn-out for the event from its members but they are also hoping to welcome along a lot of new faces. The rise in online poker has definitely sparked an interest in the activity for people of all ages and this weekend will be an excellent opportunity to try out a poker club in real life. On the second day of the big poker weekend, there will be other poker games taking place apart from the Main Event and there will also be live bands and a barbecue.

The Main Event will feature a buy-in of £25+£5 and there will also be a £25 reload option too. It is hoped that the pot will reach around £3,000 which will definitely be a prize that most poker players will take an interest in playing for. The success of poker clubs around the country is always a positive thing and if it can help more people to take a great sense of fun and enjoyment from playing poker, these clubs should be encouraged as much as possible.

When it comes to a Main Event, you really want to make sure that it is a main event and there are many ways that you can do this. When it comes to poker, you want to make sure that your big event is taking place in a great location and in a stylish poker venue. You also want to ensure that there are plenty of big name poker players lining up to take part in the event. Of course, you also want to make sure that there is a great deal of money on offer for poker players too and this is definitely something that the GUKPT has lined up for their big end of season finale.

The Grosvenor Victoria Casino in Edgware Road London is the destination for the Grand Final of the GUKPT this season and the event takes places between Sunday the 17th of November and Sunday the 24th of November. The event is a long way off and there is a lot of poker to be played between now and then but there is no doubt that poker players are having their appetite whetted for the big event already. One thing to bear in mind is that you can book your place at the big Grand Final of the GUKPT if you find success at any of the regional legs taking place around the country.

Play for big money with Main Event poker games

The fact that there is a £400,000 guaranteed prize pool for the Main Event in the Grand Final is likely to increase the level of interest that many players have for this special occasion. Even if you thought that November is far too long in the distance to spend much time worrying about what you will be doing with your time, the idea of being able to play for this amount of money may just make one or two poker players rethink their opinions on long-term planning.

If you would like to play your way to the Grand Final, the next leg, the fifth leg of the season, is not too far away. The latest GUKPT festival of poker begins on the 16th of June and it continues all the way through until the 23rd. The Grosvenor G Casino in Reading is the place to be but if you are focussing on the Main Event for this leg, you have a bit more time to wait. This is because Thursday the 20th of June is the date that the Main Event takes off and not only can this event provide you with short-term success, it may provide the platform for big success near the end of 2013!

Over the summer, you may find that you have plans mapped out ahead of you and this will determine where you can be or what free time you have. If you are booked up for the summer, knowing what you are going to miss out on when you are away from home and what you can enjoy when you are at home is important. It is probably important for you to find out what is available when you are at home because this will help you to make the most of the free time you have at your disposal when you are here.

Poker players across the UK always know that they have online poker to fall back on and that never seems to take a break or a holiday. No matter what day it is or what hour of the day, there will be some poker event or tournament which allows you to use your skills and play for big poker cash. Of course, there is something to be said for getting out of the house and taking on poker players in events and tournaments. Online poker is always going to be of benefit and interest but there are going to be plenty of poker players that want a greater level of human interaction when it comes to poker.

Play poker around a table with real people

This is where the first ever UK Poker Calendar Live event on Saturday the 13th of July may be a date that is worth putting in to your diary. This poker event is being held in association with Betfred and it will take place at the Hetton Social Club. The Hetton Social Club can be found in Houghton le Spring, which is in the North East of England, a well-known hotbed of poker. The venue may not be amongst the most glamorous of poker events but this looks set to be a summer poker event that players will be able to look forward to with great excitement.

The format for the tournament is going to be a Shoot-out event and there will be 100 players taking part in the event. The buy-in for the live event is going to be $75+$5, which is common online but you would expect them to state the buy-in with GBP for a live UK event, while players will receive 10,000 chips. Satellite events are already taking place to allow players to snap up a place at the tournament if you want to save some cash and get settled for the main event.