162 players took their seats for the re-arranged 3rd quarterly final at the Gala Casino, Sol Central, Northampton.

First out was Anthony Bell from the Buckinghamshire Yeoman, Aylesbury, due to the new casino layout Anthony escaped the usual round of applause.

There was considerable interest in the new team trophy, by the second break there were still five venues in with a chance of winning. Finishing in third place were the team from Hobsons Choice, Kettering, runners-up were the trio from The Spencers Arms, Northampton who just lost out to The Q Club (Rileys) from Peterborough. Congratulations to Aigars, Aaron and Steve.

After a long spell of waiting for one player to be eliminated so that we could move on to the final table the inevitable happened and two players made their exit in the same hand.

Only one of the final nine would not qualify for the National Final in March, and as it turned out this was quickly decided when Andrew Green of the Monkfield Arms who came in short stacked with only 20k was eliminated.

With the pressure off players relaxed and played with an unexpected freedom. Steve Astley of the Q Club, Peterborough was prepared to play almost every hand and his chip stack seemed to have more ups and downs than an amusement park roller coaster!

This adventurous play meant that the final table lasted considerably less time than on some previous occasions. The order of elimination was as follows; in 8th place, Luke Preston, Squirrels, Northampton, 7th Aaron Shaw, Q Club, Peterborough, 6th Karl Hermy, Rovers Tye, Colchester, 5th Glenn Perridge, Whittle Way, Stanground, 4th James Buckingham, Blackbirds, Flitwick and 3rd Alan Haslam, Spencers Arms, Northampton.

The final two swapped chips for some time before Steve Astley, Q Club, Peterborough called after Joel Beardsmore, Spencer Arms, Northampton who had gone all-in. Steve turned over Qd 3h whilst Joel revealed Qs 7s. The flop came down 2h, Ac, 7s giving Joel the upper hand, with two three’s needed to save him the turn and river (6s, Kc) didn’t help and Joel finished a worthy winner.

Good luck to all eight at the National Final in March.

Cash Prize Winners
1st Joel Beardsmore – Spencer Arms, Northampton
2nd Steve Astley – Riley’s (Q Club), Peterborough
3rd Alan Haslam – Spencers Arms, Northampton
4th James Buckingham – Blackbirds, Flitwick
5th Glenn Perridge – Whittle Way, Stanground
6th Karl Hermy – Rovers Tye, Colchester
7th Aaron Shaw – Riley’s (Q Club), Peterborough
8th Luke Preston – Squirrels, Northampton

National Final Qualifiers
Joel Beardsmore
Steve Astley
Alan Haslam
James Buckingham
Glenn Perridge
Karl Hermy
Aaron Shaw
Luke Preston

Team Winners
Riley’s (Q Club), Peterborough