132 players plus guests turned up for our latest West Midlands One Regional Final on a fine Sunday afternoon. All players would be competing for a cash prize, two trophies and a bunch of National Final seats!

As the chips and cards went up in the air the entire card room would fall silent as concentration levels went through the roof. Kevin Benton from the Gunmakers Arms, Wolverhampton couldn’t repeat last seasons heroics by making the final table again as he hit the rail early on.

As a first West Midlands One Team Event winner was nearing, two pubs were in with a shout. The Claregate, Wolverhampton and the Woodman, Dudley would go head to head in what turned out to be the closest contest yet with only 1 point separating the two venues. The three heroes on the day were Andrew Whitehouse, Matthew Worrall and Darren Price who were representing the Claregate in Wolverhampton and they leave with one of the two trophies on offer. Congratulations lads!

A 10 player final table meant there was still some work to do as only eight would be invited to Nottingham at the end of March. Dean Wright from the Albion would of been very confident of this as he started as the huge chip leader with 188,000 in chips. A massive 100,000 clear of his closest rival. Dean wasted no time in reaching the heads-up stage as the numerous short stacks couldn’t keep up with the blind increases. The only player to give Dean any resistance was Mark Streeter as he joined Dean in the heads-up clash. It was Dean’s day though as his AQ was up against Mark’s 53 and a K7Q A 9 board gave Dean a rapid victory which brought £500 cash, a nice crystal glass trophy and a National Final seat. Congratulations to all winners!

Cash Prize Winners
1st Dean Wright – Albion, Wolverhampton
2nd Mark Streeter – Crown Inn, Stockton
3rd John Barrett – Whitmore Reans WMC, Wolverhampton
4th Adam Wilson – Glovers Needle, Worcester
5th Kal Singh – Merry Hill, Wolverhampton
6th Craig Hughes – Red Lion, Wolverhampton
7th Andrew Whitehouse – Claregate, Wolverhampton
8th James Bourne – Viaduct Tavern, Kidderminster

National Final Qualifiers
Dean Wright
Mark Streeter
John Barrett
Adam Wilson
Kal Singh
Craig Hughes
Andrew Whitehouse
James Bourne

Team Winners
Claregate, Wolverhampton