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Poker News Round-up: Week #34The British poker festivals are the centre of attention at the moment, partly due to the dearth of players being caught cheating or hiring hitmen this week, but also because bank holiday weekend is approaching. Whilst families attempt to squeeze any last drop of sunshine from this inglorious British summer, many poker players will be taking a more pragmatic approach and spending the weekend sat indoors playing cards. The Beach Break Poker Festival will be taking place over three days at the Rendezvous in Brighton, and the Gutshot Series Of Poker, which has been running all week, will culminate in the three day long £500 main event. Despite their troubles with the court case, Gutshot has continued to operate and has attracted full capacity fields for their events so far. The main event in particular looks set to offer players a chance to prove their worth as the structure is based on the WSOP main event but with 90 minute levels instead of 120. Just down the road at Loose Cannon, another festival has been drawing to a conclusion with a £2,500 main event at the UK Open leg of the National Poker League. The field was small but nevertheless packed with quality as players such as Tony G, Dave Colclough, Roland de Wolfe and Roy Brindley all sat down to play. None of these were able to make the money though and as the six who would cash sat back down it was Jason Ho, following up on a fourth place in a previous event here, who held a commanding chip lead. His stack was not enough to see him through a cold streak though and Ho had to settle for fifth place. This left an enticing prospect that it could be a father versus son battle heads up for the title as both Josh Gould and his father Peter were still left in the tournament. Gould senior showed no mercy however and eliminated his son next, and then in the space of just five more hands ousted both Jeff Buffenbarger and Patrik Selin to take the NPL UK Open title. As well as the festivals there are also several tours operating up and down the country, and the Gala Casinos Great British Poker Tour has just wound up its season of regular events with the Leeds leg. Joe Beevers travelled up to play and took along Hendon Mob sub Robert Butt, whose account of his experience can be found here. Other notable players in attendance were Jon Kalmar and Willie Tann, who added another cash to one of the most extensive entries on The Hendon Mob database with his 8th place finish. Lee Richardson managed to top a field of 110 and as well as a payday of £14,000 he secures his place at the grand finale to be held in Bristol in December. Numerous televised poker programs have sprung up in recent years, but the one that they all owe credit to is the legendary Late Night Poker. Back in 1999 Channel 4 were searching for an idea to fill a late night slot with something original and entertaining and decided to take a punt on a televised game of cards. To involve the viewer in the game as action was taking place, an idea was put forward that players’ cards would be filmed from underneath the table. It was a surprise hit and a wave of viewers were regularly tuning in after a few pints to watch players with nicknames like Devilfish and The Bandit. The show ran in until 2002, and helped immensely in the poker boom of recent years by turning it into a spectator event. Next week sees the return of the EPT in Barcelona and shortly afterwards the World Series Of Poker Europe comes to London. The likes of the GUKPT and GBPT have been welcome entertainment since the WSOP ended, but now it’s time for the the major European action to start up again.
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