GBPT off to a flyer

The Gala Great British Poker Tour got underway on February 24 in the art deco splendour of the Gala Maybury Casino, Edinburgh. The Tour’s prime objective is to find the best player in the British Isles, but that didn’t stop a few faces on the European circuit showing up, like Norway’s Henning Granstad.

At an affordable £500 entry fee, the tournament was capped at 130 runners, and could easily have been filled twice over. Players were a mix of locals, online qualifiers and well-known pros. The Boatman brothers, Ross and Barny brought along fellow Hendon Mobber Joe Beevers, and Ash Hussain, Iwan Jones, Dave Colclough and Surinder Sunar provided further stiff competition for the title.

Play commenced at 8pm on the Saturday night, with starting stacks of 10,000 and one-hour levels. It was looking good for the pros early doors as Ash Hussain knocked out the first player with a full house and Joe Beevers sat on an early table chip lead when his set of Queens got paid off nicely. However, a few hours later Beevers had his Aces cracked, at which point it became double-up-or-die time. He repeatedly pushed all-in and eventually found a caller who knocked him out.

Then the atmosphere went up a notch when talk of a player hitting a royal flush spread. Chris Small flat-called with K-K♦. James Ferry hit two-pair on the J♦-10♦-7 flop, and bet. Small called and saw an A♦ on the turn. Ferry pushed all-in, and Small called. He was behind until the Q♦ appeared on the river delivering him the royal flush. Beauty.

As the 4am curfew approached, short-stacked snooker player Matthew Stevens tried making a move with Q-7. He was called by Jim O’Connell holding 10-10, and the snooker whizz departed. A couple more casualties later and the field was down to 46 players where play ended for the day.

Andy Warhol

Reconvening at 2.30pm the next day, all eyes were on the TV table, with everyone keen to grab their 15 minutes of fame. But with only eight seats on the final table play started out very slow and cautious. That is, apart from the constant run-ins Dusk till Dawn players Henning Granstad and Dave Colclough had. In the end Colclough came off worst when Granstad called Colclough’s all-in push with A-5, holding 8-8. Down to 12 players and knowing the power of bubble play, Colclough pushed again with Q♣-7♣. With two callers the J♣-6♣-6 flop looked promising, but no more clubs came down and A-J ended his tourney.

Eventually at 11pm, and after a gruelling eighthour slog, it was time for the televised final. A relaxed Steve Jelinek looked like he had the edge with his TV tournament experience. Keeping him company (and on his toes) was his girlfriend Irinia Leipini who arrived at the table as chip leader. Leipini remained calm and collected throughout, even retaining her composure when her pocket Kings lost to a runner-runner-straight.

When play got down to three, poker club owner Eddy Gains (pictured above) took his time, making crucial decisions that could either have seen him take a huge chip lead or get crippled. His measured passes saw him play the long game and they paid off as he was eventually rewarded with the tournament title at around 4.30 in the morning, when his lucky Sevens made a timely set, earning him a tidy £24,500 and getting the first seat at the Great British Poker Tour final.

Final results:
1. Eddy Gains, £24,500
2. Gerry O’Farrell, £14,500
3. Stan Essen, £9,240
4. Scott Morrison, £6,300
5. Steve Jelinek, £4,550
6. Tony Croalla, £3,500
7. Irinia Leipini, £2,590
8. Andrew Feenan, £1,890