14.05.07
£500+£50 Main Event
111 runners
£55,000 prize pool, including £5,000 added = £60,500
Gala Nottingham Casino Maid Marian Way, saw host to the third leg of the tour that has captured the imagination of the poker players of this nation, and beyond. Yes the GBPT arrived at Nottingham between the 13th – 14th May, for the £500+£50 Main Event and the competition saw a capacity field of 111 runners making a £60,500 prize pool, including the £5,000 that Gala Casinos have added.
The tournament attracted some well-known faces, regular locals and tour followers including Maybury final tablist Steve Jelenik and Irinia Leipini. The much loved Hendon Mob also made an appearance with Joe Beevers and Barny Boatman playing at the event and talking to all players who crossed their path both on the table and at the bar. Tour lover and Primeval star Dougie Henshall was so eager to get playing he turned up a day early and bought into the £200 event on the Friday!
Kick off was at 2.30pm and the command to shuffle up and deal was met with a clatter of chips and relieved sighs as the players began to settle into what, for some, would be a gruelling 13 hours of play in order for us to find our 12 players for day 2.
The field began to thin at a relatively slow pace with players ensuring that their 10,000 starting chip stack worked for them as much as possible. It was getting on into the evening when Dougie Henshall ran into trouble on the tables. His two pair, King and Jacks had run into three of a kind Jacks and forced the Primeval star to retire to the bar. Like the gentleman that he is Dougie spent the rest of the afternoon trading Poker stories and tips with eliminated players and spectators at the bar.
The Hendon Mob were on fire throughout the first day and by 11.30pm Joe had managed to accrue 10% of the chips in play, and was looking very comfortable, and with Barny sitting just above the middle of the field things were looking up for these players. Suddenly the winds of fortune changed rapidly and at 3.15am Joe met with an outdraw of colossal proportions.