North East regional final October 2009
They came North and conquered. No I'm not talking about
some historical battle, but the players from the Yorkshire area at
the North East regional final.
Once again the Circus casino in Newcastle hosted the Poker in
the Pub players from the North East and Yorkshire. 64 players
sat down as we got under way, with the casino first aider on standy
for Leigh McClennan of the Washington Westwood club who was
due to give birth any day, but was desparate to play. The 64
players included many familiar faces, as well as new faces and
there seemed a good atmosphere as the players looked to avoid being
the first casualty of the day. There has to be a casualty and
Richard Whitehead of Mitchells, a regular at the regional finals
was the unfortunate person. When the turn brought a
3rd heart to the board, the chips all went into the
middle and he must have thought he was in good shape with Jh 8h.
Unfortunatley his opponent tabled Ah Kh for the nut flush and
Richard's tournament was over.
There were 4 females taking part, and two of these both went out
in quick succession earl y on. Vicky Mackay was the first out
when her pocket Jacks lost out against pocket 10's when a 10 came
on the river. Beverley Ward, left shortly after when she
pushed all-in with pocket kings, being short stacked only to be
called by the table chip leader from the big blind who tabled 6
2. Quite amazingly the board brought out both a 6 and a 2 to
send Bev out. Very unlucky Bev!
At the first break 54 players remained, but with the blinds
going up to 300/600 after the break there would no doubt be a
flurry of players leaving. And on the resumption we soon had
a4 way all-in on two different tables. Pocket AA's in one
case sent 3 players out when the aces stood up, including past
regional winner Ken Iley.
Aces were out again shortly after. The Coach & Horses
players were once again wearing white polo tops with their
nicknames on, and the other players should have heeded the warning
on the top of Michael Cook. Two players pushed all-in pre
flop and Michael called. Whilst sorting out the side pots he
smiled and pointed to his nickname written on his top -
'Rocket'. A sigh from his two opponents who tabled pocket 6's
and pocket Q's respectively, whilst Michael turned over the two
black aces. The Aces held and another two departed.
By the second break only 20 players remained, and all would be
thinking they were in with a good chance of getting one of the 7
national seats on offer, and one of the cash prizes. Players
fell quickly and Michael Riddle was the player who bubbled for the
final table when his fish hooks JJ lost out to A4 on a 2 4 7 A 2
board.
The final table was a victory for the Yorkshire players,
having seven of the ten players on the final table. The final
table;
Seat 1: Malcolm Smith [Black Swan]
7,000 chips
Seat 2: Luke Senior [Windmill] 4,000
Seat 3: Robert Richardson [Windmill] 92,000
Seat 4: Jamie Strickland [Windmill] 14,000
Seat 5: Michael Cook [Coach & Horses] 55,000
Seat 6: Mark Burnley [Hungry Fox] 35,000
Seat 7: Russell White [Washington Westwood Club]
40,000
Seat 8: Andy Sutton [New Inn]
Seat 9: Kieran Dunleavy [New Inn]
Seat 10: Shaun Firth [Hungry Fox]
It took a while for us to lose our first player, as the short
stacks managed to double up and several split pots took
place. The first player to leave was Malcolm Smith of the
Black Swan when his min raise was met with an all-in push pre flop.
He made the call and tabled pocket 9's, but Rob Richardson turned
over the pocket 10's and Malcolm exited.
Out in 9th was Shaun Firth who went all-in with Ac Qs
only to be called by Kieran Dunleavy with Ad As and the board
brought no help.
Andy Sutton was the unfortunate bubble for the national seat,
when he pushed all-in with his short stack with Kd Qs. Jamie
Strickland also went all-in with just an even smaller stack and
Mark Burnley called the small amount of additional chips to cover
both of them from the big blind. Mark only had 3s 4c, Andy Qs
Kd and Jamie Ah Jd. The board 4d Ac 7s put Andy in trouble as
both players went ahead and the turn of 8s and river of Js saw
Jamie treble up, mark pick up the side pot and Andy be knocked
out.
Our final table chip leader Robert Richardson had been one of
the most aggressive players all day, but when he pushed all-in for
50K on a flop of 7d 9d Ks with 5c 2d he was always going to be in
trouble if Kieran Dunleavy made the call. Kieran made a very
brave call with Ad 6d, and was even happier when the turn was an 8d
to give him the nut flush. The 3s on the river was irrelevant
and Rob was left crippled, and departed in 7th soon
after.
So with all the players in the money, and also winners of a
national seat they could all relax. Jamie Strickland was
still short stacked and went out in 6th, followed by
Michael Cook in 5th when his Ad 7d was no good against
Mark's Ah Js when the flop brought a J.
Luke Senior was next to go when his flush draw went up against
Kieran's pocket K's and never hit, to be followed by Russell White
when Mark's pocket 9's were good enough against his Ah 3h.
Heads up and Kieran looked certain to win when Mark's all-in
push was with Kd 3d was met by Kieran with AA. Mark left
crippled on 13K, but then managed to quickly double up 3
times. After no raise pre-flop, which brought 2d 10h 8h,
Kieran pushed all-in with Ks 2h for bottom pair, but mark tabled
10c Js for top pair and 6d and Ad was no good for Kieran and Mark
doubled up again and the tables had turned. The final hand
took place soon after when mark pushed all in with Qc 9d on a Qs 6h
10s board, to be called by Kieran with Qd 2d. The 9h on the
turn gave Mark two pair and the title of North East regional
winner. Mark is a regular player at the regional finals,
whereas Kieran is very new to poker and did incredibly well in his
first regional final.
The whole tournament was played in a great spirit, so thanks to
ALL the players, and the staff at the casino for a great day.
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