Poker Blog

Not every poker player in the UK was heading to Wembley for the ISPT event; there were a number of poker players that were far more interested in the G Casino in Portsmouth. After the initial days jousting, there were a total of 55 players back at the popular casino and poker venue, looking to make their way down to the final 9 players that would make up the final table. The poker action took 10 hours to whittle the numbers down which meant that all of the players who got through deserved their cash.

The fact that this event is paying out to the top 13 ranked players means that everyone at the final table can bank on taking money home. While the ultimate aim was to make the final table with a good level of chips, there would have been plenty of poker players that were simply aiming to get higher than 14th. You never want to be the player that bursts the bubble but as sure as every tournament has a winner, every tournament must have a player that just misses out on the big money too. In this event, the unlucky player was Dale Simmons.

Bubbles must be burst at poker events

This exit ensured that every player still involved in the action would be taking home at least £1,000 with them. The first player to go out after the bubble had been burst was Andrew Miles who finished in 13th place. Once the bubble had been burst, there was a quick burst of players heading home with Paul Burbidge, Ellie Biessek and Fraser Beach following on quickly. Biessek had picked up the Genting Poker Series title in Newcastle and he was no doubt keen to follow up with more success but it wasn’t to be, although another cash finish is always going to be a pleasing aspect. When beach crashed out, this left 9 players and this brought a close to the day’s action as the final table numbers had been reached.

With respect to poker chips, in 9th position was Dennis Omahoney who had 85,500 chips and in 8th position was Adam Boutwell who had 136,000 chips. In 7th position was Trevor Bowers with 184,000 chips and in 6th place was Khalik Mohangee who was just ahead with 187,000 chips. The 200,000 chip mark was broken by Morgan Sorfleet in 5th place with 204,000 chips. There was then a massive jump up to 4th place and Dom Mahoney, who had 304,500 chips in place. In third was Simon Skinner with 492,500 chips and Nick Humphris was in second place with 505,500 chips. The leader for the event was Blair Hampton who held 554,000 chips.

There is no doubt that if you could choose to win a big poker event anywhere in the world, Las Vegas would be at the top end of destinations. There is something very special about this gaming and gambling location which means that people are always going to flock to it. It is such a famous and iconic name that the UK Pub Poker Championship decided to whisk all of the finalists across to Las Vegas for the final. This meant that there were some keen UK players who were pretty excited by the event but in the end it was Bobby Regan from Northumberland that managed to claim the title.

In the end, Bobby triumphed over thousands of poker players across the country and he was a very proud winner of the Vegas 100 Redtooth Poker title and the £5,000 prize money! Getting the chance to go to Las Vegas and play in a proper poker tournament is definitely something that will be appealing to many people but there is no doubt that the kudos that goes with winning the poker tournament is something that will always live with Bobby!

Bobby has been playing in the Tuesday night poker league at the Last Orders pub which can be found on Regent Street in Blyth. Bobby gave an interview to his local newspaper after his success.

I still can’t believe I won it, it hasn’t sunk in yet. The whole experience was class and a once-in-a-lifetime trip. Las Vegas was more than I ever expected. I was made to feel very special. Everyone was so friendly. I played a little poker growing up, but it’s only in the last few years when I started playing more regularly with friends and online. The Last Orders poker league is good fun and I’ve met a lot of great new people there.

Poker events make for a social occasion

There is no doubt going to be a lot of celebrating back in the Last Orders pub but you can probably put your money on the fact that there will be plenty of folk telling Bobby to get a round in! The big tournament itself took the shape of a huge 12 hour poker session against 100 top players in the Orleans Casino. The event itself had been building all throughout the year but in the end it was a bit of a rush for Bobby to get ready. This is down to the fact that Bobby has not been abroad since he was a child and he needed to get a new passport at short notice after winning the semi-final back in March! Bobby was one of the ten qualifiers from Sheffield for the Vegas 100 and that was just the beginning of the work as he managed to pull things together to enable the Vegas trip to go ahead.

Bobby is hoping to make inroads into playing poker professionally but he will always have the Redtooth Poker league to fall back on. This league is the largest UK live poker league and the MD of the company, Martin Green, released a statement after Bobby’s success, saying;

Since Vegas 100 was created, it has simply grown and grown. Bobby’s success is an example of how the tournament can offer a unique opportunity for everyone to enjoy.

Although the poker focus in the United Kingdom this weekend has naturally fallen on the International Stadiums Poker Tour at Wembley, there have been other places to play poker. The GUKPT series has been going from strength to strength this year and the latest event, held in Portsmouth, has done very well for itself. The numbers at Wembley may not quite be adding up with respect to meeting the price money but at Portsmouth, it turns out that there is a great level of demand with the number of players exceeding the initial expectations. This is great news and should help to spur the players on to higher levels of play.

Day 1a is traditionally a slow day at these event, which don’t really pick up until the weekend but there were 50 entrants taking part in the day’s poker activities. From this amount, 23 players managed to grab chips and the leader at the end of Day 1a was Morgan Sorfleet. Morgan had managed to turn his initial stack of 20,000 chips into just short of 100,000 which left him as the leader. He may not have too many cash victories to his name in live poker play but with this sort of form, that will surely change at some point soon.

Plenty of poker action to go

Other notable players at the higher end of the standings for Day 1a were Alvarez Sabugal, who had 70,300 chips and Nick Humphris who had 76,600. In second place at the end of Day 1a was Clive Macey who collected 82,050 chips.

Day 1b was even busier at the G-Casino in Portsmouth as 84 players came along to play for glory and the cash. The leader of this day’s poker was Chris Gordon who turned his opening stack of 20,000 chips into 101,775. This was enough to take the lead in the tournament up to this point and like Morgan Sorfleet, Gordon would have hopes and expectations of going far in this event.

Other notable players at the higher end of the standings for Day 1b were Trevor Davies, who had 89,000 chips and Paul Dunne, who had 94,400. Just edging Dunne out was Blair Hampton, who picked up 94,800 chips to take second place on Day 1b. Day 2 of the GUKPT Portsmouth event started with 55 players and was going all the way through until 9 players were left to create a final table.

Well, the football season is done and dusted in England and this means that the time has finally come for Wembley to focus on the poker. The big winner of the guaranteed million euros at the ISPT event in Wembley won’t be known until Wednesday but players are making their way to the famous stadium right now. This is going to be a huge thrill for so many poker players because it is not often that you get the chance to head to Wembley and take part in playing yourself.

The vast majority of press and focus for this event has fallen on the big poker event, which is only fair but there are going to be other poker games surrounding the Main Event. This is always good because some players will want to see the excitement but not pay the high buy-in fee that is the only way to now gain entry to the event. There are also going to be those players that get knocked out of the poker event and want to keep on playing but don’t want to spend the cash for a buy-in, if it is still on offer.

Plenty of poker games where you can sit and go

There is going to be a sit n go room set up by the ISPT, which is definitely going to be a big draw for poker players. It is said that the games will range from £100 to £10,000 which should ensure that there is a very broad mix of players getting involved. There is no need to buy in advance as players will be able to purchase their entry directly with cash at the time when they make their way to the table to play.

There are also going to be some other cash games around London in association with the ISPT event. If you can’t quite make it to Wembley but fancy playing at the Palm Beach Casino or the Mint Casino in London, you will have the chance to enjoy cash games which will be made available from 3pm every day of the festival. The Palm Beach Casino is located at 30 Berkeley Street in Mayfair in London while the Mint Casino, which is a Genting Casino, can be found at 45 Cromwell Road in South Kensington in the city.

Some of the limits on offer will be £5/£10, £10/£25, £25/£50 and above. An added touch is the fact that both of these venues will be running to and from Wembley and these casinos throughout the day so if you fancy maximising your casino options, you will get all the support and assistance that you need.

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 bothered about heading to Wembley to play and this is especially true for Scottish people. Many poker players up North would jump at the chance of playing poker in Hampden or Murrayfield but when it comes to heading down to “that London”, there is no great appeal for them. The Scottish hordes of the Tartan Army will be descending upon Wembley in August when the two football teams clash but it is unlikely the size of numbers of even the frenzied nature of fun of previous jaunts in the 60s and 70s will happen this time around.

So, if Scottish poker players are not too bothered about the idea of rolling down Wembley Way and leaving with the goal-posts, where are they intending on playing poker this weekend? The venue is the Grosvenor Maybury Casino in Edinburgh but for anyone who is concerned about having to spend too much time in Edinburgh, don’t worry, it is close to the main road that takes you to the motorway that gets you through to Glasgow. In less than an hour you can be back in the main city of Scotland where there is a lot more fun to be had!

However, if poker is your game, it is the Nuts Poker League national final weekend and there is a lot on offer. Players from all around the country will be taking part in the event and it seems as though there are 150 players lined to take part. Each regional division and group of the Nuts Poker League is strongly represented with the Dumfries and Galloway section having 17 players playing! There may not even be 17 people in Dumfries and Galloway who have an internet connection so this indicates the strength of poker in many local areas. Online poker is a big thing around the world but the Nuts Poker League is definitely a great way for people to get out of the house and pit their wits against fellow poker players.

Hopefully the winner takes a big amount of cash away

The total prize money on offer at the Maybury Casino will be £7,000 and there is a treat in store for the big winner. This is because they will be taking home more than £2,000 of this prize money, which is going to be a big incentive to keep playing to the death. You know how these things pan out, there may end up being a final table agreement put in place so that players 1 through 3 or 5 all get a nice cut of the total fund but at times you want to see the winner go all out for glory! Have some courage and strength in your conviction and play for the big money, it is the Nuts Poker League after all; show that you have some nuts!

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.

With Scottish Independence on the agenda for next year, there is a lot of excitement going on and rumours that Alex Salmond is set to crown the winner of the Nuts Poker League as the new King or Queen of Scotland have yet to be confirmed. This is because the rumours have just been made up and don’t have any chance of coming to fruition but that would certainly make the voting process for an independent Scotland slightly more exciting!

Nottingham Welcomes A New Poker Playing Option

When you think of poker and Nottingham, it is understandable that you will instantly think of the Dusk Till Dawn club. This venue is known across the United Kingdom as being one of the best places to play poker in the country and the people behind it are well known on the poker circuit. The fact that a large number of the doubts that surrounded the ISPT event at Wembley were washed away when DTD stepped in to back the event says a lot about the reputation that this club holds.

However, this weekend, while the Wembley tournament kicks off and the DTD reputation will be on the line in London as opposed to Nottingham, poker players are going to be given a new poker option in the city.

This is down to the fact that there is a new casino VIP area opening up on Friday in the city and it promises to provide poker players with somewhere else to go. The Alea Casino, which is located in Upper Parliament Street is providing players with poker tables alongside American roulette and blackjack tables in their new private bar area. There is also going to be a waitress service available and this continues the work the venue has carried out in recent times to provide something for more stylish guests.

The more poker venues the better

The Alea were behind the opening of the Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar and Grill which opened in 2012 and this new poker venture continues this theme.

Mark Hands, the director of the new venue said;

The VIP lounge will be invitation only for people who want a little more privacy to fully enjoy their visit. Our new Marco Pierre White Steakhouse Bar & Grill has gone down well with the city’s foodies and we felt it was time to extend our ‘affordable glamour’ offer by adding a VIP area to appeal to people who wouldn’t necessarily have been to the venue before.

While the Dusk Till Dawn club is the natural choice for poker players, there is no doubt that some poker players will feel intimidated by this sort of venue. There is a big difference from playing poker online in the comfort of your own home to playing poker in one of the most respected venues in the country. Although Alea claim that they are aiming for a higher class of crowd, you’ll likely find that the poker tables become open for most players. After all, poker tables are no use if you don’t have poker tables! This venue could be one that is slightly more welcoming for players looking to find some real live poker experience.

The Dusk Till Dawn Club has nothing to worry about just yet but there is no doubt that Nottingham is definitely becoming a force to be reckoned with when it comes to poker options.

The clock is starting to tick down to the International Stadiums Poker Tour (ISPT) Event at Wembley Stadium in London and the focus is turning back to how many people are going to turn up to this event. There was a lot of criticism at the start for the over the top prize pool, with €1m going directly to the winner and many felt that this tournament would fade away long before it arrived at Wembley.

The appearance of the Dusk Till Dawn company on the scene changed all that though. DTD is a highly respected name in the UK poker industry with a lot of sensible and driven people at the top of it. With the owner Rob Young guaranteeing that the event would go ahead and the money would be as stated, there was a lot more confidence behind the event and the publicity and promotion has been building ever since. With a top name like Red Bull getting in touch for some corporate sponsorship, there has definitely been a feeling that the event is heading in the right direction. However, now that we are mere days away, it is inevitable that people are now starting to question just how popular the event is going to be.

Poker fans have a lot of questions to ask

On the Dusk Till Dawn website, Young was fairly open about the upcoming Wembley event, no doubt deciding that honesty was the best way to go. He answered a number of questions relating to the event and it was his response to the question of “how many players have you got and how many do you think you will get?” that will grab a lot of the attention. Young replied;

At the time of writing this (4.22am Tuesday morning) we have 373 player names – this equates to a prize pool of just over €1 million euros, with more guaranteed seats over the next 4 days. But how many players will buy-in directly for €3000 on Day 2a Friday and Day 2b Saturday – this is the million dollar question – literally!

I heard 700-800 players bought in for €5K at this year’s EPT Berlin – but the EPT’s are established, prestigious events so maybe it’s not correct to compare? When we partnered with ISPT they had around 30 players in Day 2 with only 12 weeks to go. At the time I said to the press that 500 runners would be a disaster, 1000 would be okay, 1500 a job well done and 2000 a miracle from the poker gods, so I am just praying that all the of hard work done by the ISPT team in promoting the event in so many different countries will pay off.

ISPT is a new organisation, a new event, a new concept, a new format, is brave attempt to challenge ‘the norm’ by allowing players to buy directly into Day 2 for an average stack, taking all this into consideration, it’s not easy to predict the number of €3k buy-ins, but we have a €1M prize pool to build on.

With the winning prize amount guaranteed, it could be a costly few days for DTD and the ISPT but poker players should be viewing this as an excellent opportunity to make some big money. The chance to play at Wembley Stadium is going to be something you will never forget but if not too many poker players are involved with the tournament, there has to be a genuine chance to win some big money at this event.

This should be an incentive for people to come along, which could of course boost the number of players that attend. There is no doubt that Young in his interview was aiming to drive home the incentives so that even more poker players attend the big event but it remains to be see whether there will be enough demand to cover the prize pool promises or whether the businesses behind the event will need to shell out.

It has already been announced that final table deals will be allowed so there is going to be a chance for the huge prize at the top of the pile to be filtered around the final table if players and the organisers agree to the figure. If poker players play their cards right, this could be a rather lucrative few days at Wembley Stadium.