The popular Loose Cannon Club in London played host to another of our Regional Finals. Over 150 players turned up to play this time around as the tournament was declared running at around 2:00pm.

Nine players sat down as the final table got underway, with Leo Chabert keeping the final table in good spirit throughout. Leo is deaf, but he didn’t let that hinder his progress as with a bit more luck, could of gone home as our Regional Final champion. But we are all glad he’ll be joining us in Nottingham next year for our National Final. One thing is for sure, he’ll be ready for a battle. Wayne Ginger from Rileys in Wealdstone emerged as the winner, 4 places ahead of his compatriot, Richard Scott. Doug Sharp from Bar Malden in New Malden was our unlucky 2nd place finisher as his ‘monster’ 72 of spades hand could not get the better of Wayne’s Q2 as the board ran out QT3 9 5, at least it was suited, eh Doug? You could say unfortuantely or luckily for Doug, as this was his second 2nd place finish this year, as he repeated his feat from season 1, and as you could imagine, he really wanted to go one better this time around but it just wasn’t to be. Perhaps he could could claim his elusive 1st place in our National Final next year. A cool £500 and a nice Regional Final trophy goes to Wayne.

National Final Qualifiers And Cash Prize Winners
1st Wayne Ginger – Rileys, Wealdstone
2nd Doug Sharp – Bar Malden, New Malden (Already Qualified)
3rd Martin Harle – Emma Hamilton, Wimbledon
4th Christine Warne – Sportsman, Reading
5th Richard Scott – Rileys, Wealdstone
6th Jamie Lynn – White Hart, Hayes
7th Leo Chabert – Butler’s, High Wycombe
8th Christian Borromeo – Elephant, Finchley

A little under 200 players entered the Gala Casino in Northampton for a chance of becoming the champion of our Central England Regional Final Season 3 09/10. An increase on last seasons 168 runners was only the start of what would become a great day.

A larger than usual final table saw 10 players line up with only eight qualifiers for our National Final. Julie Hayler from the Hobsons Choice in Kettering started in the best shape, with 255,000 in chips and she was followed by our eventual winner, Glen Asbury from the New Inn in St Neots with 185,000 respectively. The heads-up battle came down to Glen and one of the short stacks from the final table, Tom Sutch from the Burnt Oak in Milton Keynes. The final hand saw Glen get some support from the poker gods, as his 65 would come from behind to beat Tom’s K2 on a AAT 5 4 board. Glen picks up a trophy and £500 in cash, congratulations.

National Final Qualifiers And Cash Prize Winners
1st Glen Asbury – New Inn, St Neots
2nd Tom Sutch – Burnt Oak, Milton Keynes
3rd Judy Hayler – Hobsons Choice, Kettering
4th Andy Skutela – Ploughman, Peterborough
5th Robert Jones – Burnt Oak, Milton Keynes
6th Michelle Barnes – Rileys, Stevenage
7th Margaret Pearson – Moulton WMC, Moulton
8th Chris Bowler – Kennington SSC, Oxford

It was a great day for the pub with two players from the Spring Meadow in Droitwich making the final three places at the Circus Casino in Star City. Meet Tony O’Hara, the weak link from the Spring Meadow, who finished 169th.

Two players from the Spring Meadow in Droitwich started the final table at Star City in Birmingham as chip leaders. Lorraine Greenman began with 325,000 chips and James Atherley started with 230,000

After finishing third in this year’s national final, Shaun Walsh from the Goose in the City in Wolverhampton was the first player to crash out of the regional final at the Circus Casino at Star City in Birmingham. Shaun drowned his sorrows with a pint at the bar!!

With the continued growth of the Redtooth poker league, the North West region now hosts two Regional Finals, Liverpool and here in Manchester. 115 players arrived at the Circus Casino on Sunday with many of them competing in their first ever Regional Final.

Play got underway promptly at 2:00pm and many of the competitors expressed their suprise and pleasure at the increased size of the starting stack and the revised blind structure. These improvements were reflected by the fact that only seven players were eliminated before the buffet break. First man out was Roger Hough from the Three Lions in Hazelgrove, the first of many ‘bad beat’ stories heard throughout the day.

By 7:00pm we were down to the final nine, although it would be almost 9:00pm before the winner was crowned. The unfortunate player who finished 9th and missed out on a cash prize was Scott Callum. Richard Taylor and Zak Salim followed soon after but it was almost an hour later before anyone else was eliminated. John Collinson-Taylor finished 6th with Imran Pervaiz and Dale Peters in 5th and 4th respectively. The final three exchanged the chip lead amongst themselves for almost half an hour before Joe Ecclestone was eliminated in 3rd place.

The final hand saw Dave Richards going all-in with pocket 4s, only to be called by Steve Greenhalgh with AJ. The flop came down 710A giving Steve the advantage which was further increased with a J on the turn. Only a 4 could now save David, but when the river card was a 3 Steve was left as our well deserved champion.

National Final Qualifiers And Cash Prize Winners
1st Steve Greenhalgh – Beaumont Arms, Bolton
2nd David Richards – Rileys, Altrincham
3rd Joe Ecclestone – Forrestors Arms, Burnley
4th Dale Peters – Sparking Clog, Bury
5th Imran Pervaiz – Varsity, Manchester
6th Jon Collinson-Taylor – Bowling Green Inn, Chadderton

Other Cash Prize Winners
7th Zak Salim – Donkey, Rochdale
8th Richard Taylor – Cross Keys, Burnley

The only three female players at the first night at the Lane Ends in Preston finished in the top three places. Jemma Aulton finished third and Carol Blacker and Jacqueline Potts fought out a long heads up battle before Jacqueline (centre) came out on top.

Landlady Carol Blacker wins a massive pot at the first night at the Lane Ends in Preston. It was the first time that Carol had ever played poker and she made a heads-upbattle with Jacqueline Potts on the final table.

The Stanley Circus Casino in Newcastle hosted the season 3 North East Regional Final as 151 players were in attendance.

There was plenty of tension as the final table approached as Thomas Alderson, who already has a National Final place was on for another final table appearance giving other players hope of qualification without making the final. Unfortuantly Tom was to eventually miss out on the final table which meant only 7 finalists would qualify for Nottingham. It was a final table to remember for 2 of our North East pubs, as the Duke of Wellington in Kenton and the New Seaham Conservative Club in Seaham were both represented by 2 finalists. Tony Walker and Phil Wright for the Duke of Wellington and Jonny Crangle and Edward McGee for the New Seaham Conservative Club. Martin Pessmore from the Greyhorse in Penshaw started the final table as the chip leader but ended up as the first player to be eliminated, even before the short stack Edward McGee who soon followed him in 7th place. Ben Sutcliffe from the Eagle in Stockton went on to take down the North East Regional Final as he defeated Jonny Crangle heads-up to take the trophy and £500. Jonny can count himself slightly unlucky as his A2 was outdrawn by Ben’s 109 on a 47Q 9 8 board.

A special mention goes out to finalist Tony Walker who qualified for the Regional Final for the 3rd time but hasn’t previously been able to attend. Unfortuantly for Tony, the 09/10 National Final is the day after he goes holiday but he may still cancel for a shot at becoming the UK Pub Poker Champion 09/10. Congratulations to all qualifiers.

National Final Qualifiers And Cash Prize Winners
1st Ben Sutcliffe – Eagle, Stockton-On-Tees
2nd Jonny Crangle – New Seaham Conservative Club, Seaham
3rd Tony Walker – Duke of Wellington, Kenton
4th Niki Slee – Tavern, Middlesborough
5th Phil Wright – Duke of Wellington, Kenton
6th Paul Bryant – Met, Whitby
7th Edward McGee – New Seaham Conservative Club, Seaham
8th Martin Pessmore – Greyhorse, Penshaw

139 players attended the Loose Cannon Club in London to see who could become the latest East London champion. Chris Allbany’s stay, from the Royston Arms in Chingford, was short and sweet as he was the first to be eliminated, but Darrell Thorn and Vince Wilson were still left flying the flag for the Royston Arms. Although unfortuantly neither player could make the National Final qualifying places this time around.

Only 7 players took to the felt for the final table because we had a joint finish for 8th & 9th place as Colin Best and Lee Fuller, both from the Queens Arms in Didcot went out on the same hand and as they had the same amount of chips at the start of the hand, they decided to share the £20 cash for 8th place. Shaun Nash from the Horseshoe in Thornton Heath started as the big stack with 189,000 but could not convert it into a win as he fell short in 3rd place. Instead it was Glen Bater who emerged victorious when his K10 kept it’s marginal preflop advantage against our runner up Alan Stern’s Q3. A very made up Glen Bater took the £500 cash and the East London Regional Final trophy for season 3.

National Final Qualifiers And Cash Prize winners
1st Glen Bater – Dutch House, Feltham
2nd Alan Stern – Flyer, Chelmsford
3rd Shaun Nash – Horseshoe, Thornton Heath
4th Russ Tarbox – Southgate Members Club, London
5th Gary Beecham – Rose & Crown, Woodford Green
6th Tom McLaughlin – Clockhouse, London
7th Mitchell Higgon – Roaring Donkey, Clacton-On-Sea

Other Cash Prize Winners
8th Lee Fuller – Queens Arms, Didcot
8th Colin Best – Queens Arms, Didcot