Well done to Stephen Docherty who has beat a field of 259 other player (including The UK Shark) to win the third Virgin Poker Festival at Dusk till Dawn in Nottingham and in doing so takes home the £10,800 first prize!

Additional congratulations to Derek Miller who put in a great performance throughout the two days play to finish in 4th place.

Final Table Positions and Payouts

1. Stephen Docherty - £10,800
2. Malcolm Muskett - £6,114
3. Jamie O’ Conner - £3,821
4. Derek Miller - £2,658
5. Robert Swindells - £2,160
6. David Newstead - £1,495
7. Jonathan Titley - £1,163
8. Brian Yates - £831
9. Frazer Beattie - £665

Big thanks once again to Joe Legge, Ollie Wilson, Simon Trumper and all of the other Virgin Poker and Dusk Till Dawn staff who helped to put on a fantastic event at a great venue and to all the players involved who made it a real pleasure play!

Having lost a large part of my stack to a runner runner flush making it extremely difficult to make any moves with out risking elimination, I managed to grind my way back to what I’d started with (10,000) before moving tables for the first time late into the day.

The table I’d been on all day was probably the toughest to play at the whole event, it seemed to take an eternity to lose our first player, largely I’m sure due to the fact that I was short stacked. So I was fairly happy with the move.

A couple of hands in and I faced an all-in bet from a player with just under 20,000. In late position looking down at A-Jo and with the blinds/antes beginning to bite I had to begin taking some risks and decided to call. My opponent flipped over a pair of sevens and the race was on. A dream flop of A-A-J hit and my hand stayed in front with the turn and river failing to produce the pair of sevens needed by my opponent.

A couple of hand later however and he would get his revenge in the cruellest of fashions. The blinds now at 600/1200 and antes of 100 he pushed all-in with slightly less chips than I had. Holding pocket Queens and still substantially below the average sized stack so it was an instant call. My opponent flipped over Q-Jo making me a massive favourite at approximately 9-1 on to win the hand. Unfortunately for me a rainbow flop contained a nine, the turn produced a ten. The early delight at seeing my opponent’s cards had now faded and I could sense impending doom. Sure enough the river produced the King he need for the straight and I was now left with just a handful of chips.

Without enough to cover another big blind I decided that I would have to push with any Ace, when I did a couple of hands later I was called by a player holding A-K and I was out in 99th place!

Despite never gaining any real momentum in the tournament, failing to make the second day and the manner in which I was eliminated I, like I’m sure everyone else who attended had a fantastic time and met some great people and would like to thank Virgin Poker and Dusk Till Dawn for putting on a great event!

Best of luck to Derek Miller who I met when he attended the Calzaghe v Kessler fight which I hosted for 888.com Forums, who has made the final table and is looking in great shape for a shot at the title.

The Virgin Poker Festival in Nottingham has kicked off, unfortunatly the UK Shark is already the short stack on his table!

I raised 3XBB pre-flop with A-Jo, a flop of 9h4h9s saw me place a continuation bet which was called. I hit an ace of spades on the turn to give me a hand to play with so I followed through with another bet of around half the pot and was called. River was a rag card spade and having put my opponent on a flush draw for hearts I bet out was called and of course lost the hand.

Still I’ve outlasted great pro’s such as Marie Demitrio and Lucy Roche and still have a good chance of doubling up an staying in contention so fingers crossed!

Regardless Dusk Till Dawn has proved to be a great venue and alongside Virgin Poker they’re putting on one of the best poker events that I’ve ever attended so even if I leave with no money in my pocket I’m pretty sure I’ll have had a great time. Any poker player that likes a bit of fun with their game should maker every effort to qualify for future Virgin Poker Festival events!

More updates to come!!!

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The Largest and Most Reputable Rakeback Affiliate in The World

Neil Blatchly an accountant from Leicester has won the Bristol leg of the Gala Casinos British Poker Tour (GCBPT)! Blatchly is from a group of players who call themselves ‘The Best Home Game in the East Midlands’ and who now have three GCBPT wins to their name following on from Rupinder Bedi and Satish Ry’s wins in the Nottingham GCBPT £500 main event and the Nottingham £50 re-buy event respectively.

After winning Blatchly was ecstatic with his win, “A good structure meant there was lots of play and I was able to go to the final table needing only one good hand to take the title. I feel absolutely fantastic! For me, the prestige of winning the title and trophy is worth as much as the money. That said, I’ll be using the cash to invest in a poker bankroll as I’m off to Las Vegas later this week to see if I can recreate my success across the pond.” He went on to add, “My win shows that the Best Home Game in the East Midlands is a poker force to be reckoned with. All the boys are delighted for me and Rupinder and will be cheering us on at the Grand Final.”

In the final hand of the tournament his opponent Marcus Farthing moved all-in short staked with 200K stack holding As-Ts. Blatchly calls straight away with Ad-7c and is a big underdog with just over a 20% chance of winning. A flop of 2h-Ks-Qh fails to provide Blatchly with the opportunity to qualify for the Grand Final as did the turn card of 8h, however he caught the 7s on to give him the GCBPT title and that seat in the final. He and Farthing settled on a deal where both took £30,000 and played for the remainding prize money, the trophy and the title.

Second place Marcus Farthing, an IT salesman from Bristol said, “I really enjoyed the overall camaraderie, everyone was really friendly and entered into the spirit of the game”.

To find out more about the Gala Casino British Poker Tour and how to qualify for future legs such as the upcoming GCBPT Liverpool and Gibraltar simply click on the banner below…

Picture courtesy of GCBPT

Neil Blatchly has won the Bristol leg of the Gala Casinos British Poker Tour (GCBPT)!

1 Neil Blatchly £40,750
2 Marcus Farthing £24,000
3 James Dempsey £16,000
4 Michael Punn £10,000
5 Rickie Vedhara £6,500
6 Rana Gurnam £4,000
7 Jamie Reeve £3,200
8 Dave Maudlin £2,600
9 Trevor Pearson £2,400
10 Frank Flanagan £2,200
11 William Brewin £2,000
12 Raymond Slater £1,850
13 David Anstice £1,700
14 Lam Trinh £1,550
15 Dave Woods £1,450
16 Mike Cummings £1,350
17 Mike Williams £1,250
18 Mark Cawtha £1,150
19 James Gawen £1,050
20 Roy Milton £1,000
21 Farzan Javad £950
22 Richard Cole £900
23 Neil Sillick £850
24 Adam newby £800

Main Event Bonus Prizes

In addition to cash payouts, top placed finishers also receive the following bonus prizes…

1st Place - VIP Package to 2008 GCBPT Grand Final (expenses to cover travel & accommodation)
2nd/3rd Place - Liverpool GCBPT Festival Main Event Seat (£500+£50)
4th/5th Place - Free Entry into $150,000 guaranteed ‘Big Deal’ tournament Gala Poker.

Full report to follow shortly.

To find out more about the Gala Casino British Poker Tour and how to qualify for future legs such as the upcoming GCBPT Liverpool and Gibraltar simply click on the banner below…



Picture courtesy of GCBPT

With the Virgin Poker Festival in Nottingham less than a week away, hosts Dusk Till Dawn have announced that tomorrow’s live satellite qualifier will have an additional 10 seats up for grabs, bringing the number of available seats to 30 in total. The maximum number of entrants has also been increased from 80 to 120.

The live satellite will take place at Dusk Till Dawn in Nottingham on Sunday 22nd June at 4pm and entry will be £30+£5 with players starting with 3000 chips. The top 30 will win seats into the Virgin Poker Festival main event on the weekend of 28th/29th June worth £120.

For further information regarding the live satellite please visit the Dusk Till Dawn website.

Or if you are not yet playing at Virgin Poker and would like a chance to join me at one of the most exciting events on the UK poker calendar by qualifying online, click on the banner below and register with Virgin Poker today…