• Funny Stories
• Crime Scene Nights
• Poker in the Pub
• Subscribe to our newsletter

Midlands regional final October 2009

After a 45 minute delay, to allow players stuck in traffic to arrive, we got underway with 59 starters. Then just 15 minutes later there was a cheer, probably of relief more than anything else, as Russell Haynes walked up the middle of the card room after being eliminated first. He'd found himself quickly short stacked and when his K 2 hit a K on the flop, he pushed, only to find he was up against A K and an early exit.

 The first break came after three levels, with no real dramas and we were down to 47 players, one notable loss being Joe Awome, our Online League qualifier.

 The next break was after a short, two level session, to accommodate the free buffet for the players, provided by the casino and we were now down to 36.

 After the restart, we had a steady flow of eliminations and then, as we neared the National places, play tightened up. With nine places up for grabs and two players, Cy Taylor and John "Casper" Hussey, already qualified, it meant the last 11 could relax and when Casper went, we had our final table.

 

Seat	Name	Venue	Chip Count
1	James Pridmore	Plough, Skellingthorpe	7,000
2	Graund Tones	Plough, Skellingthorpe	21,500
3	Cy Taylor	The Goodrest Tavern	54,000
4	Paul Langley	Dukeries Social Club	35,500
5	Tracey Walker	Jolly Scotchman	26,500
6	Dan Collins	The Goodrest Tavern	12,500
7	Lee Smith	Plough, skellingthorpe	51,500
8	Ian Shone	The Goodrest Tavern	5,000
9	Chrissy Lacey	Dukeries Social Club	7,000
10	John Jackson	Bedwardine Inn	80,000

 Ian Shone pushed first hand with his 5k stack, but his J 10 of Hearts was called by Paul Langley with A 5. With no help from the board, for either player, Ian was out in 10^th.

 Chrissy Lacey went next and we were down to 8.

 With only 7k, James Pridmore had to make a move with almost any two cards and when he did, he was called by both Tracey Walker and Paul. When the flop came A 2 2 Paul bet 4k and Tracey called, then with a 7 on the turn, Paul checked and Tracey pushed All In for 15.5k. After thinking for a short time, he passed and it was just between James and Tracey, but having missed the board and no help from the river either, Tracey's pocket 9s were good and James was 8^th.

 Next to be involved in the action was Cy Taylor, when a flop came down 6 Q 8 he made a 6k bet, only for Tracey to raise to 12k, he then re raised All In and Tracey called. Cy showed 10 J for straight draw, but Tracey flipped over pocket 8s for a set. With an A on the turn and a 4 on the river, all that was left to do was count the two stacks and find out whether Tracey had him covered, which she had and Cy was out on the bubble for the cash prizes.

 Paul found himself short stacked and pushed All In and found two callers in the two big stacks Tracey and John Jackson, who until now had been content to steal the odd blind. With a flop of 9 6 K (all Diamonds) John made a bet of 20k and Tracey folded. Paul showed pocket 6s but John had pocket Aces and with neither player holding any diamonds, Paul needed a 6. With the turn and the river both blanks, Paul was out in 6th.  

Dan Collins was the next player out when he pushed his remaining 10.5k with K 8 only to find Lee Smith holding pocket Jacks and when a J came on the flop Dan knew he was finished.

 I'm not sure whether it was the players thinking about the trophy and the title, or just the fact that they weren't getting any decent cards, but play tightened up slightly and we had a few rounds of blind stealing and very little play.

 The next all in situation was between Tracey and chip leader john, when a rare flop came K 5 6 (all Hearts). John had pocket 6s against Tracey's K 4, the turn card was the Q Diamonds and the river was the 10 Diamonds, which meant Tracey was out in 4^th.

Shortly after, when Lee raised to 18k pre flop, John called and the flop came A 8 8. John bet 20k only for Lee to raise All In for 45.5k, which made John think for a while and then fold. Another few rounds of blind stealing followed, but with blinds now 4 and 8k and just about to go up to 6 and 12k, Graund was just waiting for any half decent hand to make his move. So when John made a bet of 31k that would put him all in, he thought about it then called, saying "I've not got much, but I need to make a stand sometime." John replied, "I've not got much either" and flipped over K 4. Graund was behind with Q 8, so just had to hope for a favourable board, but when it came out, both players had missed and 3^rd place went to Graund.

This left Lee and John Heads Up, with John holding about a four to one chip lead. Play was fairly tight, with few flops and most blinds being stolen, but the odd one conceded, it became obvious that it would take both players to have good cards for any real action to occur. Eventually, both players picked up premium hands and the chips were in the middle pre flop, Lee holding A K against John's pocket Queens. The flop was 10 4 2, which made no difference, but when a Jack came on the turn, Lee had two more outs. His hopes were dashed however, when the river was a 5 and John was our new Midlands Regional Champion.

I would like to thank all the staff at Circus Casino Stoke for a smooth, trouble free tournament and also the players for making it another wonderful day. I hope everyone had as good a day playing, as I did running it.

Final placings and prizes:

 

Place	Name	Venue	Prize
1	John Jackson	Bedwardine Inn	£300 cash and National Seat
2	Lee Smith	Plough, Skellingthorpe	£150 cash and National Seat
3	Graund Tones	Plough, Skellingthorpe	£100 cash and National Seat
4	Tracey Walker	Jolly Scotchman	£50 cash and National Seat
5	Daniel Collins	The Goodrest Tavern	£25 cash and National Seat
6	Paul Langley	Dukeries Social Club	£25 cash and National Seat
7	Cy Taylor	The Goodrest Tavern	(Already qualified for Nationals)
8	James Pridmore	Plough, Skellingthorpe	National Seat
9	Chrissy Lacey	Dukeries Social Club	National Seat
10	Ian Shone	The Goodrest Tavern	National Seat

Share on Facebook