Poker Masters

23-year-old UK musician David Tighe stunned the top acts of the poker world, as he came from nowhere to sensationally scoop the PartyPoker.com Late Night Poker Masters crown and a cool $100,000 in the process.

PartyPoker.com Late Night Masters, which recently concluded on Channel Four in the UK, followed the same format as the preceding PartyPoker.com Late Night Poker Ace but with a small difference. This time the best amateurs locked horns with some of the best poker professionals in the world and it concluded with two amateurs in Tighe and Sweden’s Simon Ehne going heads-up for the title.

Underdog Tighe, from Nottingham, who had failed to make the final three in the Late Night Poker Ace final, stunned everybody as he dismantled a high quality final table that included ‘Cowboy’ Kenna James, Hendon mobster Barny Boatman and ‘Flying Dutchman’ Marcel Luske as well as hotly tipped Swede Simon Ehne, commonly regarded as one of the most talented amateurs to have burst on the scene in recent months.

On taking on the pros, Tighe said: “I was encouraged by what little gap, if any, there was between the professionals and the amateurs. Going into the tournament I was a little apprehensive about taking on these big names, but I felt that the amateurs would definitely hold their own.”

“On the final table I found Boatman a very tough opponent. Every time I raised, he re-raised and it did seem that he had a read on me for quite a while. You could see he had real quality but I picked up cards at key times and was able to quell the threat.” It was music to the musician’s ears when Tighe eventually saw off Boatman (who finished third) when just about every spectator thought it would be the popular pros’ year.

The battle between Tighe, Ehne, James and Luske captivated spectators and such was the intensity of the confrontations that many could not see how there would be a break in the deadlock. Eventually, it was Tighe and Simon Ehne heads-up with Tighe’s pair of kings beating Ehne’s pair of sixes.

Tighe now plans to put his musical aspirations on hold for the time being and focus his full attention on becoming a full-time poker professional, “This was the biggest win I have had to date and will allow me to compete in a lot more tournaments. I played in the Caribbean Open in St Kitts and plan to play in a few more tournaments early next year.”

However not all of David’s winnings will be spent on his poker career as he is currently in Australia watching cricket as a member of England’s ‘Barmy Army.’ There he is much more likely to be using his poker skills than music skills after the trumpet ban in many of the stadiums.

A spokesman for PartyPoker.com commented: “After his performance in Late Night Poker Ace, the smart money would have been on Simon Ehne to take the victory when it went heads-up. However, David proved us all wrong and was a very worthy winner. The silent David certainly slayed the Goliaths around him – he was the small player who hit them when they were least expecting it. Patience is a key skill in poker and David showed it in abundance.”