Poker Blog

One of the things about poker is that it is a great leveller and on the right day, an unfenced player can beat one of the best players in the world. All it takes is for the underdog to be at the top of their game, for the top player to be far from their best and then the turning of the cards can do the rest. Over the long-term, the skilled and experienced player will come out on top but in individual games, there are no limits as to what can actually happen. This is why players always need to bear in mind that playing poker can be risky and that they should only ever afford to bet what they can afford to lose.

The issue with this fact is that what one person can afford to lose will not be the same as other people. A couple of years back when the gambling debts run up by footballers such as Michael Owen or Wayne Rooney were made public, there was shock and outrage from people who are perpetually offended by everything in life. This was huge sums of money, more than the average yearly wage for most folk but of course, for the players committing the case to these games, it was the equivalent of a couple of hundred pound for the standard casino player. It was certainly an amount you would rather have than lose but you can handle losses like this every once in a while.

This is why it is important to bear in mind that while there has been consternation about the losses run up by a poker player from the UK at the EPT event in France, it is best to place it into context with respect to their annual income.

Poker losses are all relative

Talal Shakerchi managed to lose a sum of more than £850,000 in a single poker game being played at the EPT event. It was not an official event, it was an unofficial event being played around the grand final and there were 6 players who all paid more than £400,000 to sit down at the table together.

This is a huge sum of cash but the fact that Mr Shakerchi has managed set up his own hedge fund firm, Meditor, indicates that he is in a position to play these huge sums of money. There is also the fact that he has reportedly won more than £1m playing poker in recent times. It is right that certain people will be disgusted at the amount of losses run up by poker players but it is important to retain a perspective about what actually happened. Poker can still be a fun game to play at every level but it is important that UK poker players find the level that they are comfortable with.

Some poker players may think that the idea of qualifying for a decent poker event via a satellite is a waste of time. There can be a natural reaction that the major players are going to be the winners at these events and that it is a waste of time to play your way through the online events to book your place with the big boys. That is not the attitude to have though. Just think about saving money through qualifying through the satellite naturally and you will start to see the benefits of playing in this manner. There is also the fact that qualifying through a satellite event is going to give you a boost in confidence, which is definitely going to be great news for many poker players. It never hurts to give yourself a boost in confidence at any point.

The East End Live poker event is not going to claim to be one of the most important poker events but there were many reasons why this event was being taken seriously. In total, there were 287 players involved at the event at the Aspers Casino, which tells you a lot about this poker promotion. Getting close to 300 players out for a major event is definitely something to take pride in and the organisers clearly pulled a lot of things together to make this event such a huge success.

Some big name poker players were involved

You can also look at some of the major names that were involved at the event to get a feel for how big this poker event was. James Dempsey, a player for Team Ivey was on hand, the Sky Poker expert Jen Mason was on hand, Joe Beever was involved and there were some big names from Blackbeltpoker.com in Richard Ashby and Jerome Bradpiece on hand too.

However, despite all of these big poker names being in attendance, it was Nik Stylianou who qualified via a satellite who rose to the top. This saw him clinch $9,000 and this was well deserved after defeating Dan Whittaker in the final showdown. Nik is a 40 year old poker player from the North side of London so if you think that the poker glamour and excitement has passed you by, don’t be too hasty, there could still be an opportunity for you to achieve poker success.

As you can imagine, Nik was very complimentary about the event and the organisation after his win! It is not as if he was going to start bad mouthing the event after he clinched victory but there did appear to be a high level of fun and excitement at this event. There is no doubt that Apers is fast becoming a very popular venue for poker players and this is going to see a lot more poker events in the near future.

As for Nik though, he told Blackbeltpoker.com that he may well give Las Vegas a shot after his triumph. With $9,000 to get him over there or to boost his bankroll, there is going to be a big chance for him to have some fun and see where his poker skills can take him. Playing in satellite events is no guarantee of success and the vast, vast majority of satellite qualifiers fail to make any real mark on the major events. However, we know that all it takes is one day to go in your favour and your life can be positively impacted in a serious way. If you have been thinking about playing satellite events but always decided against it, you may want to rethink your outlook.

While Nik picked up $9,000 for his win, second place went to Dan Whittaker who received $8,500. In third was Jim Parberry, who received $5,700. In fourth position was Mark England, who received $4,600 and fifth place earned $3,600 for Craig Connaughton. In 6th position was Carlo Hassan, who earned $2,750 and in 7th place was George Achillea, who picked up $2,000. Michael Brock was in 8th, earning $1,560 and in 9th spot was Lee Brooke- Pearce who picked up $1,200.

Everyone loves a weekend in Dublin and this will be the Sky Poker Tour needed no additional encouragement to head off to Dublin the green and see what the fair city had to offer. It seems as though this was a popular move with poker players because a fair number of players attended at the Sporting Emporium for the big event. The 127 players ensured that there was a sell-out and yet again there is proof that if you price an event wisely, there is a huge demand for properly structured poker events in Ireland and the United Kingdom.

There were plenty of big name poker players at the event but there was an understandable amount of pressure on Julian Thew. This is because Thew is a Sky Poker player and you always want to do well in the events that are run by the company that is putting money behind you. A failure in these events may lead to your sponsors re-evaluating their promotion of you so Thew would have known that a big display was important for him. Things hardly got off to a great start on Day 1 of the event with Thew holding a short-stack together but by hook or by crook he made it to the second day of the big Dublin event and this is when things can start to come together.

Consistent poker play pays off

Little by little, Thew played a consistent game, which is not something he is always noted for and he managed to battle his way into the final nine poker players that made up the final table. This is where having class and experience can often make a big difference and there was a feeling that Thew had timed his event tremendously. Even with poker players the calibre of Austin Cheetham and Peter Stoneman against him, Thew played aggressively and powered his way to success in the Irish capital.

The Dublin victory gave Thew his second big win at a Sky Poker event. His last triumph for his sponsor came in the glamorous surroundings of Luton back in February 2012. That win saw Thew win £11,200 and you get the feeling he will be looking forward to next month’s big event, which takes place in Birmingham. Birmingham is another city where Thew has managed to triumph in the past, taking a Genting Poker Series Main Event title and he will likely fancy his chances of success again.

The final 9 players at the Sky Poker Dublin event were Rory Brown who grabbed £635 for finishing ninth and Joe Wilkinson who received £775 for coming in 8th. In 7th place was Mark Strachan who received £1,200 and in 6th place was Vera Duffy, who picked up £1,650. In fifth place was Frank Baillie, who managed to pick up £2,120 and in fourth spot was Stephen Freeman, who received £2,920. In third place was Austin Cheetham, who receive £3,550 and in second place was Peter Stoneman, who picked up £4,570. This left Thew out on his own and he picked up £6,600 for winning the Sky Poker Dublin event.

The latest leg of the GUKPT has been another huge success with 116 poker players taking part in the main event. This is another promising turnout for a poker event that is growing in popularity all the time. There are plenty of UK poker tours and events to look out for the strong name that the GUKPT seems to have is helping to convince players to come out in good numbers. Of course, the fact that there are decent prizes on offer too is always going to be of benefit in enticing players to get involved.

There is no doubt that Neil Raine will be delighted with the money that is on offer. The new GUKPT Stockton champion will hopefully be delighted with the trophy and all of the adulation he will receive for his triumph but you can bet that he will be delighted with picking up £17,690. This was the first prize for the event and this is certainly the sort of poker prize that many players will be interested in playing for. It may not be at the high end of poker prizes but when you think about the size and scope of the event, it is definitely a prize worth taking a look at!

Poker success is a big thrill

After claiming top spot, Neil Raine gave a quick interview to GUKPT where he said;

It was a tough final because we were so deep but I was really lucky with the table draw, Tom was on my table, but he couldn’t do anything because he couldn’t get past me. It was really enjoyable, a really good structure. Three handed was a nightmare it took so long, no one was getting coolered! I had a few hands where my opponent was in front ’til the river and I got there a few times.

Neil was head to head with Dave Collins and the 28 year old poke professional held his nerve to beat his opponent and take home all the glory and the big cheque! This was the first GUKPT title for Raine and it was quite a journey from him. Raine made his way to the final table all the way from a £55 online qualifier. This again should give confidence to players that taking part in satellite events and online qualifiers can provide the perfect starting point for big success at tournaments.

There were a number of major players involved in the GUKPT Stockton Main Event including a World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelet winner. Lawrence Gosney was the main trying to snap up more poker glory as was Martin Holmes, who is a GUKPT Leader board champion. Add in the fact that Ellie Biessek, a recent poker winner in Newcastle was involved too and you start to think that there were a lot of big poker names involved in Stockton. Martin Holmes fell by the wayside quite quickly but Lawrence and Ellie were well involved deep into the final day of the event. Ellie was the player that was the final table bubble, which was unfortunate but it allowed every other poker to breathe a sigh of relief.

If the excitement at this GUKPT event has whetted your appetite for the next event, you will be delighted to know that you don’t have to wait too long. This is because the fourth leg of the GUKPT 2013 schedule is heading to Portsmouth at the end of May and will run all the way through until the 2nd of June. The festival of poker in the G Casino will begin on the 26th of May and the Main Event, which is a guaranteed £50,000 Main Event will start on Thursday the 30th of May, which is a Thursday.

The Irish economy hasn’t been too bright in recent times and it is understandable that many people have looked for ways to boost their income. In days gone by, people have turned to a second job to get support at these times but with so few jobs available, this is not an option. More people are looking for one job or desperately trying to hold onto their current job as opposed to worrying too much about getting a second job.

Money is definitely a sore point for many people in Ireland at the moment but this makes the notion of playing poker for big money such an appealing thing. You should never play poker to get out of a financial crisis and you should never play poker with money you can’t afford to lose. However, poker is a skill and talent and if you are able to make money through using your skills and talent, it is something that you should look into.

One major poker event that will definitely have people looking forward with great anticipation is the UKIPT Galway Main Event, which is taking place during the Full Tilt Poker Galway festival. This festival is taking place between the 29th of July and the 12th of August, so there is plenty of time to plan ahead for the big event. The UKIPT Main Event will run from the 8th of August and go all the though until the 12th and the action will be taking place in the specially built poker village that will be erected in the centre of Galway.

A whole lot of action and excitement will happen in Galway

There is going to be a big buzz around Galway at this time of year because the Galway Raceweek takes place between the 29th of July and the 4th of August, so you’ll find that there are plenty of people in town looking to take advantage of everything that is on offer. If you love poker, the fact that there will be 55 different poker tournaments spread out over the course of the festival means that there will be something for everyone. Even if the Main Event is out of your reach or a bit too pressured for your liking, there will be plenty of other great games. There will even be the Irish Bridge Masters if you have card skills in games apart from poker!

As you would expect, there are going to be plenty of satellites for this event but with a number of cheap entries available for some of the events, you will find that you can head to Galway and have a lot of fun, even if you aren’t taking part in the biggest events. With a million euros guaranteed in the Main Event, it is inevitable that this game will grab most of the focus but there will be plenty of other great poker games to look out for in Galway at the start of August.