So, here we are again! The 2010/11 Redtooth Poker National Final, the pinnacle of pub poker and by far the greatest show Redtooth Poker has ever put on. For those lucky enough to be there it was a record breaking day as 404 players took their seats in the knowledge of being so close but yet so far to the summit of this 112,000 player mountain.  A mountain that even makes Everest seem like a mere bump in the road. At the end of a long gruelling day, only one player would reach the summit and leave the other 403 players thinking about what could have been. Let the game begin!

The doors opened at 9am and all of the players & their guests flooded into the ever impressive Dusk Till Dawn card room in Nottingham. A few still weary no doubt from the first ever Redtooth Poker Celebration Tournament the night before. A breakfast buffet was on hand to give the players a welcome boost of energy before the tournament was due to get under way.

From 10am celebrity guests Lucy Pinder and Dave ‘Devilfish’ Ulliott were available for pre-tournament photos and autographs. Lucy would return for photos with our finalists and to present the eventual winner with £5,000 and a magnum of champagne.

At around 12:30 Simon “Aces” Trumper got play under way with his traditional ‘shuffle up n deal’, everyone fell silent until a sudden wave of chip shuffling swept the card room which would continue for the rest of the day. Within 15 minutes we had already lost our first player. Lee Hodgson from the Wrose Bull in Shipley earned the dubious honour this time around. Lee hit the rail to a huge cheer and a round of applause and was in for a little surprise as he was presented with a ‘trophy’ of a different kind, a bottle of wine in a wooden box emblazoned ‘1st out of the tournament’.

This triggered a host of other eliminations and we were on course for our quickest National Final ever. Amongst this group of players were some big favourites including the previous nights RPCT winner Anthony Van Eker and East London’s Chris Hood who came into the National Final on the back of three consecutive Regional Final final tables.

Several breaks and blind levels later the pace was still frantic. Five tables soon became four, four tables soon became three, and in what seemed like no time at all, we had reached the money. The top 20 all received a cash prize with places 9th to 20th ranging from £50 to £200.  We were soon on the verge of our final table and as soon as Stephen Mear from the Wyggeston in Burton upon Trent had left us in a very respectable 9th place, the final table was set and they lined up as follows…

2010/11 Redtooth Poker National Final Final Table

Seat 1: Henry Nathan – Red Lion, Wolverhampton (333,500)
Seat 2: Giles Brighton – Grey Horse, Elvington (144,000)
Seat 3: Lee Haskell – Village, Bournemouth (192,500)
Seat 4: David Ansell – Green Man, Potters Bar (464,000)
Seat 5: Chris Dixon – Miners Arms, Sheffield (182,000)
Seat 6: Andrew Taylor – Royal Inn, Atherton (140,500)
Seat 7: David Cheesman – Lord Nelson, Wakefield (199,500)
Seat 8: Alex Peel – Lord Nelson, Nelson (363,000)

David Ansell led the way from the start with a more than healthy chip stack. Redtooth rookie and young gun Alex Peel who is our current North West One regional champion was not far behind Ansell. Alex was hoping to make it two final wins in a row and propel himself into the big time and become Redtooth’s youngest ever National Final champion. At the other end of the spectrum, Andrew Taylor was clinging on for dear life as our short stack.

The final table got under way and it was indeed Andrew who exited first in 8th place, Chris Dixon soon followed in 7th before Henry Nathan shoved with 4-2 hoping to steal some blinds and antes. Unfortunately for Henry, Ansell woke up with A-10 and swiftly made the call to eliminate the youngster. Giles Brighton would then follow in 5th with Alex Peel in 4th, leaving the two David’s in contol whilst three handed. The up-hill struggle for Lee Haskell was a little too much as Cheesman put paid to his bid and gave himself a slight chip advantage at the heads-up stage.

There was a short 10 minute break to gather their thoughts and fine tune their game plan before the heads-up match got underway. David Ansell chipped away at Cheesman’s stack to give himself the chip lead. All of the chips then went into the middle pre-flop for the first time while heads-up as Ansell raised with A6 only to be re-raised all-in by Cheesman’s 33. Ansell dwelled for a few minutes before counting the chips and announcing call. The rail raced to the edge to see what could have been the final hand of the day, only for Ansell’s A6 to brick the board and double Cheesman’s stack to just under 2million in chips. Ansell struggled to recover from this huge hit but thought he’d found a lifeline when his all-in with 77 was called by Cheesman’s A2 off suit. A favourable flop and turn of 6hJsQs 3h delighted Team Ansell until an ‘Ace From Space’ struck the river to a huge cheer from the Lord Nelson faithful.

At a little after 11pm on Sunday 27th March 2011, David Cheesman from the Lord Nelson in Wakefield became the new UK Pub Poker Champion!

1st David Cheesman – £5,000.00

2nd David Ansell – £2,000.00

3rd Lee Haskell – £1,000.00

4th Alex Peel – £800.00

5th Giles Brighton – £600.00

6th Nathan Henry – £500.00

7th Chris Dixon – £400.00

8th Andrew Taylor – £300.00

9th Stephen Mear – £200.00

10th Anthony Keith Dobinson – £150.00

11th Lee Eacock – £150.00

12th Chris Hiam – £150.00

13th Sean Julien – £150.00

14th John Macniven – £100.00

15th Darren Leary – £100.00

16th David Wood – £100.00

17th Richard Williams – £100.00

18th Shaun Jenkins – £100.00

19th Michael Dunn – £50.00

20th Kevin Ginger – £50.00