PokerPlayer UK Open

Not long now. The PokerPlayer UK Open is ready to roll for next Wednesday, 29 November, and this time you can believe the hype.

When we came up with the idea of a live Open tournament for readers, we thought we’d get a decent response, and have a quiet night out playing some cards.

However, after the astonishing comeback we’ve had, we could have run three day ones and staged the biggest live poker event the UK’s ever seen.

We had 150 places available to readers, and received 300 emails back. Phenomenal. We had people from as far away as Glenrothes in Scotland clamouring to book flights and hotels and jet in for a £20 Freezeout!

Suffice to say all the slots have been filled for the tournament, and the poker forums are crackling with plans for meeting up before the event.

For those lucky enough to get seats for this most prestigious of events, a top night of high octane tournament poker awaits at a plush new central London location.

Readers will play alongside us lot, as well as some special guests and friends of PokerPlayer.

The venue is the Loose Cannon, situated in 10,500 sq ft of listed building in The City of London, run by Ray Houghton who is one the most recognised and well respected faces and fixers on the UK poker scene.

Magazine editor Dave ‘K_Unknown’ Woods had this to say: “The PokerPlayer office is buzzing with anticipation and excitement about the PokerPlayer Open. We’re looking at a full complement of 200 people, with a mix of readers, us and possibly a few celebs, names to be confirmed.”

“With 200 people, the prize pool should be £4,000 (with a big trophy for the winner) and we’re going to give free membership of the Amateur Poker Association Tour (APAT) to everyone who plays and isn’t already a member.”

But in the lead up to the big one Woods also had a confession to make: “I do feel it’s time to come clean though. I’ve said before that the reasons we organised the tournament were to celebrate the coming of Christmas, to revel in the launch of the new and plush poker room, the Loose Cannon, and to bask in the glory of a really successful first year for the magazine. The truth? We just want to play poker and have a few beers. Does that make me a bad man?”

The talking is almost over and it’s time to let the poker (and drinking) do the talking. “Shuffle Up And Deal” is only days away now and we can’t wait. Doors open on Wednesday night at 6pm for a 7.45pm start, see you there.