The Gala Casino in Sol Central, Northampton once again played host to the Redtooth Central England Regional Final. 177 players battled it out in their last opportunity to qualify for this year’s National Final.

Play started promptly at 2.00pm with almost everyone playing cautiously in the early stages. After the buffet break, the blinds began to have an effect with more and more players being eliminated as the afternoon went on.

The real stories of the day though, came on the final table where 10 players battled it out for 8 seats at the National Final. The final 10 were headed by Lee Girard of the Blue Boar in Wantage, who had over 1/3rd of the chips in play (330k), however the poker gods deserted Lee and he eventually finished in 6th place. The only other players on the final table with 100k+ chips were Craig Dunkley from the Squirrels in Northampton (160k), Sam Powell from the Blue Bell Inn in Northampton (130k) and Elizabeth Whitty from the Queens in Didcot (110k). The remaining six players all came to the table short-stacked; Steven Byrne from Kennington SSC in Oxford (60k), Richard Wardale from the Golden Hind in Cambridge (50k), Pippa Wilson from the White Lion in Hemel Hempstead (40k), Jon Ainsley from Trimley SSC in Felixstowe (40k), Tiago Nunes from Empress in Cambridge (30k) and Jamie Pedder from the Netherfield Tavern in Milton Keynes must all have been fearing an early exit.

The unlucky duo finishing 9th and 10th respectively, just missing out on National Final seats were Jon Ainsley and Jamie Pedder. Finishing in 7th and 8th were Richard Wardale and Elizabeth Whitty. It looked as though there would be two more casualties within minutes, with the blinds at 20k/40k Pippa was down to 20k with Tiago also under the 100k mark, however both recovered from this precarious position and it soon appeared that a long battle was in prospect with all five players having almost equal chips. On a very active table there were very few cheap flops, with Craig and Sam mainly responsible for keeping everyone “honest”.

Craig eventually finished in 5th place, with Sam coming a very creditable 4th, Sam, unfortunately, will miss out on the National as he will be away on holiday in Gambia, however he does have the consolation of beating his dad’s best finish, 14th at the previous Regional Final. Having disposed of Sam by hitting a straight, Tiago then proceeded to bring the event to a finish by eliminating Steven (3rd) and Pippa (2nd) in the next two hands, remarkably by completing a straight each time.

Congratulations go to Tiago on finishing as the Central England Regional Champion, good luck at the National Tiago. Pippa, the runner-up, will also be missing from the National as she will be honeymooning in the Caribbean, it must have been a tough decision – marriage or the Redtooth National Final!

National Final Qualifiers & Cash Prize Winners
1st Tiago Nunes – Empress, Cambridge
2nd Pippa Wilson – White Lion, Hemel Hempstead
3rd Steven Byrne – Kennington SSC, Oxford
4th Sam Powell – Blue Bell Inn, Northampton
5th Craig Dunkley – Squirrels, Northampton
6th Lee Girard – Blue Boar, Wantage
7th Richard Wardale – Golden Hind, Cambridge
8th Elizabeth Whitty – Queens, Didcot