Sheffield United’s Brammall Lane was the venue for the South Yorkshire Regional Final. 8 National Final qualifying places were to be won along with the usual £1000 to be split between the top 8.

An 8 player final table meant that everyone would receive an invite and some cash to go with it. After a short break, play resumed with a tie for the chip lead. Paul Foster from the Sportsman in Doncaster and Ian Jolley from the Shoulder Of Mutton in Chesterfield both had 190,000 in chips. Their lead was very slim though as Martin Presley had 180,000 in front of him and not much further back was Neil Wenlock and Donovan Wiggan, both with 150,000 in chips respectively. Six eliminations later, we had our heads-up match which was between Paul Foster and Martin Presley, who was also from the Sportsman in Doncaster. Martin would take down the South Yorkshire Regional Final when his K8 suited had Paul’s 84 dominated. The flop brought a possible spilt pot when it came down J79, but a Q turn and a 2 river saw Martin Presley win the tournament.

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Martin Presley – Sportsman, Doncaster
2nd Paul Foster – Sportsman, Doncaster
3rd Ian Jolley – Shoulder Of Mutton, Chesterfield
4th Neil Wenlock – Riley’s, Rotherham
5th Richard Coleman – Queens Hotel, Sheffield
6th John Barker – Haynook, Rotherham
7th Donovan Wiggan – Big Tree, Sheffield
8th Richard Patterson – Tut & Shive, Doncaster

The Loose Cannon Club in London was to host our second London final of the fortnight, on this occasion it was the turn of West London to play for six National Final places and a share of £1000.

The story of the weekend was right here in London as Richard Dean from the Farriers Arms in Reading was to hit the monster that is a Royal Flush! Unfortunately for Richard, he was unable to make the final table but he did receive a free drink for his nice stroke of luck.

As the final table began, Charlie Hillman from the Bar Malden in New Malden would lead the way with 145,000 in chips, closely followed by Max Brown from the Butchers Arms in Sonning Common with 130,000. Charlie had a final table to forget as his whole pile of chips gradually deserted him and he was to be the first elimination, coming home in 9th place. It would be Max Brown and Glen Phillips from the Stoke in Guildford who would go heads-up for the West London Regional Final title. A brief heads-up battle saw Max Brown come out on top when his T8 suited overcame Glens AQ to take the title, £500 and a Redtooth crystal glass trophy.

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Max Brown – Butchers Arms, Sonning Common
2nd Glen Phillips – Stoke, Guildford
3rd Steven Parker – Kings Head Tavern, Horley
4th Paul Edwards – Bar Malden, New Malden
5th Mario Hommerson – Saracens Head, Henley
6th Pete Gilbert – Plough & Furrow, Smallfield

Other Cash Prize Winners
7th Jack Jewell – Cross Keys, Hammersmith
8th Greg Chojnacki – Duke Of Cambridge, Battersea

Sheila Watson from the Sportsman in Reading has been playing poker for a number of years and has only ever seen three Royal Flushes, two of these came within the space of 30 minutes recently at her regular Redtooth league game. Well done Sheila.

Our West London Regional Final also saw a Royal Flush. Richard Dean was the guy who achieved this feat and below is Richard shortly after.

The very well organised and well ran Alea Casino in Nottingham hosted our East Midlands Regional Final for the second time. All of the players and the Redtooth staff were looked after as a number of valets swarmed the tournament areas serving the players at the tables which created a great atmosphere. 194 players would see the top 8 receive National Final invites and a cash prize.

Play got underway a little after 2pm as we saw a larger than average number of knockouts during the first hour. Players continued to get knocked out on a regular basis after the break until we eventually reached the final table of 10 at about 7pm.

Marilyn Colclough from the Half Moon in Hucknall would lead the pack as the final table got underway with 295,000 in chips. Marilyn was closely followed by Ady Lippiatt from the Sun Inn in Eastwood and Richard Reeve from the Cornmill in Beeston with 195,000 and 190,000 in chips respectively. Marilyn certainly had the majority of the support throughout the final table as constant chants of ‘Team Moon’ were heard throughout the casino on several occasions. Greg Moir was the first to be eliminated from the final table as the bubble ascended onto us. It would be another 20-30 minutes before the bubble burst as the table short stack, Martin Fox from the Cherry Tree in Melton Mowbray was to hit the rail in 9th place bringing a big sigh of relief to the remaining eight players. From that moment on, Marilyn never looked back as she made it to the heads-up match with Ady Lippiatt. The final hand saw Marilyn get her chips into the middle in great shape as her KQ suited was too strong for Ady’s K4 suited as the board ran out J9Q 8 Q. The river was met with a huge cheer and more chants of ‘Team Moon’ as Marilyn collected our Redtooth crystal glass trophy and £500.

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Marilyn Colclough – Half Moon, Hucknall
2nd Ady Lippiatt – Sun Inn, Eastwood
3rd Richard Reeve – Cornmill, Beeston
4th Peter Kipling – Paddock, Derby
5th Adrian Copping – Goose, Gamston
6th Hannah Morris – Bridge Inn, Ilkeston
7th Wayne Ingle – Tree Tops, Gedling
8th Jessica Lacey – Eaton Farm, Long Eaton

209 players gathered at the Alea Casino in Leeds for the latest West Yorkshire Regional Final.

Play started promptly at 2.00pm with the first casualty of the day being eliminated in the very first hand, bravely, Neil Metcalfe of the Grange Hotel in Leeds took to the stage for a well deserved round of applause. With the pressure off from being the first out, everyone settled down to the task of making the final table and qualifying for the National Final on March 28th. At the buffet break, only 16 people had been knocked out but soon after more and more players started to hit the rail.

With eight qualifiers needed for the National Final, the pressure was off for all nine of the players who made up the final table as Lee Tyson from the Hornblower Tavern in Ripon had already booked his place at the previous Regional Final. Lee has certainly been in good form this year, winning his pub league in three out of four seasons, (His dad, Eric, won the other one!!), and making the final table at two Regional Finals. He’s certainly hoping his good form lasts until after the National Final.

The hot favourite at the final table was Daniel Barber from the Station Hotel in Leeds who came onto the table with a commanding chip lead. His aggressive style of play saw his chipstack continue to rise and at one point he had almost 800,000 in chips! A more patient approach adopted by Mike Fletcher from the Ainsty Hotel in York and Brian Welsh from The Fox in York paid off eventually, with Daniel finally being eliminated in 3rd place. After a tense head’s up battle Brian fought off a strong challenge from Mike to finish up as the eventual winner.

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Brian Welsh – The Fox, York
2nd Mike Fletcher – Ainsty Hotel, York
3rd Daniel Barber – Station Hotel, Leeds
4th Danny Blackburn – Airedale Heifer, Mirfield
5th Richard Hoyle – The Gate, Wakefield
6th Lee Tyson – Hornblower Tavern, Ripon (Already qualified)
7th Wayne Kelly – Carpe Diem, Leeds
8th Darren O’Shea – Halifax Snooker Club, Halifax

Other National Final Qualifiers
9th Danny Greenwood – Royal Oak, Keighley

NB: Unclaimed raffle prize, if anyone has ticket numbers 301 -305 (and the colour and serial numbers match!) please send them into the office along with your name and address and your prize will be despatched.

The Circus Casino in Newcastle saw increased numbers from last season as nearly 160 players prepared themselves for a shot at six National Final places and a share of £1000.

It turned out to be a fantastic day as all involved were in great spirits throughout as we got down to a final table of eight. Matthew Graham from the Wheatsheaf in Darlington would start as the chip leader with 148,000 in chips, closely followed by Andrew Stevenson from the Fox Cover in Ashington with 119,000. The story of the weekend almost belonged to David Ridley from the Crows Nest in Seaham after he lost a big pot that left him with only a small blind. Just as everyone thought all hope was lost, David made a miraculous recovery to make the heads-up match against Ian Hetherington from the New Delavel Newsham WMC in Newsham. Unfortunately for David, the victory was a step too far as he found himself dominated as the chips went into the middle. David’s A6 was up against Ian’s AK as the board only further improved Ian’s advantage as David was drawing dead with a K turn after the flop came TT8. The meaningless river was a J as Ian took the North East Regional Final title.

National Final & Cash Prize Winners
1st Ian Hetherington – New Delavel Newsham WMC, Newsham
2nd David Ridley – Crows Nest, Seaham
3rd Matthew Graham – Wheatsheaf, Darlington
4th Andrew Stevenson – Fox Cover, Ashington
5th Ron Booth – New Derby, Sunderland
6th Bryan Snowball – Times Inn, Seaham

Other Cash Prize Winners
7th Ian McKay – New Crown, South Shields
8th Kevin Stuart – Joiners Arms, Blyth

The Circus Casino at Star City in Birmingham was again the venue for the second West Midlands Regional Final. 177 runners took part in the tournament this time around.

Craig Brown from the Bull & Anchor in Coventry started the final table as the chip leader with 232,000 in chips, ahead of Michael Lowe from the Cat & Fiddle in Great Barr with 161,000 and Dez Flynn from the Bagot Arms in Erdington. These were the players who eventually made the final three places before Dez went out to Michael, who became the new chip leader. After a few hands, the final moment came when Michael had 8h9c and Craig had 7d2d. The flop was Jc 7c Qc and Craig immediately went all in. After what seemed like an eternity, Michael called. The turn was the Ac giving Michael the nut flush to claim the first prize of £500 and the crystal trophy.

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Michael Lowe – Cat & Fiddle, Great Barr
2nd Craig Brown – Bull & Anchor, Coventry
3rd Dez Flynn – Bagot Arms, Erdington
4th Chris Gibson – Coundon, Coventry
5th Adrian Ford – Chase Hotel, Nuneaton
6th Graham Wynn – New Inn, Birmingham
7th Sam Ho – Riley’s, Solihull
8th Michael Bacciocchi – Cat & Fiddle, Great Barr

Meet Norman and Jean Higgins (both aged 71 and a half!) who are back at the North East Regional Final.

Jean has won two different pub leagues this time and has been at 6 regional finals as a player, Norman has qualified 4 times and they are regular faces at the event. They’ve been married for 28 years and are our only couple to qualify for so many finals! Jean’s finished 20th and Norman 6th place in the past but this year both haven’t quite made it to the National Final…. but I’m sure we’ll see them both back here in three months time!

The three players from the Corner House in Burton-upon-Trent ran breathlessly through the card room at Star City in Birmingham just before the tournament started. The explanation was that the driver Dave couldn’t follow the one straight road from Burton to Spaghetti Junction.
Things didn’t get much better for Dave during the tournament when he went out in 135th position.

Everyone at Redtooth knows how well we get looked after at the Circus Casino at Star City. Richard Halford was making a long awaited debut at the venue and after a bacon and egg sandwich for breakfast, here he is tucking into a steak sandwich and chips during the interval.