It was all about 8’s on the final table at the Central England regional final held at MK Dons football club. There was a nail biting hand between Simon Chambers of the Stags Head, Great Doddington and Daniel Parsons of the Bell, Aylesbury. Simon had A K in his hand against Daniels’ A 8 the flop came out as 8 6 K and Simon thought he had clinched it but the river delivered another 8, leaving Daniel to fight it out for the championship with Matt Welch of the Burnt Oak, Milton Keynes. The final hand had Daniel with Q 9 in his hand and J 8 for Matt. No one could call this hand would end the tournament when the flop and the turn delivered 3 4 6 5. It again came down to the river revealing another 8 and handing the Central England title to Matt. Well Done!

Cash Prize Winners and National Final Qualifiers

• 1^st Matt Welch, Burnt Oak, Milton Keynes
• 2^nd Daniel Parsons, Bell, Aylesbury
• 3^rd Simon Chambers, Stags Head, Great Doddington
• 4^th Stuart Tate, Globe, Chelmsford
• 5^th Tommy Wright, Halcyon, Peterborough
• 6^th Peter Talbot, Bakers Arms, Bodicote
• 7^th Sean Julien, Bull & Anchor, Coventry
• 8^th Charles Smedley, Shoulder of Mutton, Grandborough
• 9^th Doug Fabb, Unicorn, Kings Langley
• 10^th Ashley Sharpe, Bull & Anchor, Coventry