Uk-Poker.co.uk

Boasting a field of 650, the PokerStars UKIPT Nottingham was one of the biggest UK poker tournaments this year. Hosted by the popular Dusk Till Dawn poker club, the event saw a number of big names – not all of them related to professional poker – compete at the tables, with Nottingham-born boxer Carl Froch heading the line-up of celebrities. The UKIPT Nottingham was very much a festival of poker; although, after a surprising number of early eliminations, the events schedule was reduced from 6 to 5 days. In one of the festival’s side events, Froch had a £300 bounty on his head, along with PokerStars’ Julian Thew and Dusk Till Dawn’s owner Rob Yong.

The UKIPT Nottingham’s Main Event winner was Andrew Couldridge of the UK. Couldridge’s victory did not come easily, as his Q-4 suited (spades) were up against Oliver Schaffmann’s pocket nines for the final hand of the event. Fate did not appear to be on Couldridge’s side after the flop failed to produce a queen, but lady luck intervened soon after, with queens appearing on both the turn and the river to secure an unlikely result for Couldridge. Germany’s Schaffmann would no doubt have been happy with his second place finish, however, as he took home £46,700. Couldridge banked £80,000 and a £5,300 package to the prestigious EPT (European Poker Tour) London.

UK online poker players can take heart from the success of online qualifiers who made it to the final table; the UK’s Graham Giles qualified for the event via the PokerStars website and managed to finish in fifth place for £16,500. Poland’s Piotr Majewski also qualified online and finished just behind Giles in sixth position for £13,200. Aside from Schaffmann and Majewski, the final nine players at the event were all from the UK with the exception of Ireland’s Owen Robinson, who finished in fourth for £21,400.