New Faces of UK Poker

By Shane Torrance

The UK has long been home to some of the world's most famous and popular poker players. People like Dave "Devilfish" Ulliott, Dave Colclough, and the Hendon Mob have been playing and winning in the biggest games around the world for the last 20 years now, helping to put UK poker on the map. And then there came the young pretenders on the scene just a few short years ago - mavericks such as Roland de Wolfe and Praz Bansi, whose ruthless aggression at the tables saw them blitz their way to a string of European Poker Tour and World Poker Tour titles, with a World Series of Poker bracelet in the mix, too.

The recent rise of live UK circuits such as the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour has only served to discover a whole new brood of talented young blood on the UK poker scene. Seemingly each month, a new star is born, but some, such as James Akenhead, have already shown the pedigree to stand the test of time. This is not to forget those who ply their trade online, either, as the UK's best young guns make their mark in the world's biggest cash games and most competitive tournaments. So, whether they are staring you down in a casino or merely opponents on your laptop, these are the future stars of UK poker, and you would do well to avoid the charge, as the Brits are coming.

James Akenhead

Age: 23

Nickname: "Sickdog"

Best result: World Series of Poker $1,500 no-limit hold'em, second place ($520,219)

While James Akenhead's fellow members of the "Hit Squad," Praz Bansi and Karl Mahrenholz, were off capturing the plaudits and glory over the last two years, those in the know kept their eye on Akenhead as the real star of the group. A third-place finish at the Newcastle leg of the GUKPT served only as the warm-up, before the World Series of Poker and Las Vegas came calling.

It didn't take long for those expectations to come to fruition, as Akenhead navigated through more than 4,000 players (the fourth-largest field in poker history) to get heads up for a WSOP bracelet in event No. 2. Only a sick bad beat on the final hand denied the Londoner a bracelet to emulate his running mate Bansi. However, the $500,000+ score firmly put him on the map as a UK star to be reckoned with. Having been a full-time train driver just a few years ago, Akenhead's poker education came at the tables of London's Gutshot cardroom, where he met his fellow Hit Squad members as they tore up the weekly tournaments. Look for Sickdog to continue to cause havoc at the tables, but on a much larger stage in the future.

Chris Moorman

Age: 23

Nickname: "moorman1"

Best result: Full Tilt Poker $1K Monday, first place ($82,750)

You may not have heard of him yet, but Chris Moorman is quite simply the greatest online tournament player in the world at the moment. Playing as moorman1, he has been dominating the no-limit hold'em tournaments across all of the major sites since he opened an account in 2006. In 2008, it is estimated that he has won over $1 million on Full Tilt Poker and PokerStars alone.

This year has also seen Moorman branching out into live poker, but he is yet to have much success, with a solitary GUKPT cash and two minor cashes at the WSOP to his name. With the talent and consistency he has shown online, though, it seems only a matter of time before Moorman is plastered over our televisions as one of the exciting new stars of UK poker.

Maria Demetriou

Age: 33

Nickname: "Chili"

Best result: GUKPT London 2008, fifth place (£26,500)

Maria Demetriou is somewhat of a unique fixture on this list. First, she's a girl, and second, she's not in her early 20s. While Maria has been playing poker for over 12 years, it is only in the last two years that she has taken up the game professionally, having sold her beloved fish-and-chip shop to take a chance at the tables. Her decision was no doubt influenced by having famous poker player Peter Costa as her uncle.

Since the move, Demetriou has gone on to thrive, with her best result a final-table finish in the London leg of the 2008 GUKPT. Her main exposure to poker fans, though, came with the relaunch of the famous TV show Late Night Poker. Beating her way through established stars such as Marc Goodwin and Julian Thew, Maria then defeated the Dutchman Marcel Luske heads up to secure a spot in the final. It was only a run of poor cards that saw her eventually finish in a disappointing eighth place. While she may not have a huge score to back up her talents thus far, Maria Demetriou remains a very dangerous opponent for any unsuspecting player.

Richard Ashby

Nickname: "Chufty"

Best result: Over $1.8 million in profit from online cash games in 2008

Anyone who knows anything about online poker will be familiar with Richard "Chufty" Ashby. A permanent fixture in Full Tilt Poker's nosebleed-stakes pot-limit Omaha (PLO) cash games, Ashby regularly contends with players like Phil Ivey, Patrik Antonius, and David Benyamine - while emerging as one of the game's biggest winners. This year, through the end of August, he had won over $1.8 million, a phenomenal feat considering the variance involved in PLO and the quality of competition he continuously has to face. Ashby's main weapon is a complete lack of fear that allows him to play the game with unmatched aggression.

Though he does not have too much live-tournament success, this is more a case of lack of effort than lack of talent. When he has applied himself to the live arena, Ashby has shown good results there, too, a sixth-place GUKPT finish being the pick of the bunch. Full Tilt Poker recognised his standing in the online game recently when they signed him up as one of their pro players - meaning that he is sure to be crushing the Net's biggest games for a long time to come.

Spencer Lawrence

Age: 29

Nickname: "spankybabes"

Best result: World Series of Poker $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better, second place ($156,344)

Spencer Lawrence was arguably the UK's most consistent performer at this year's WSOP. Notching up two final tables in two completely different games, Lawrence was unfortunate not to get his hands on a bracelet when he was the runner-up in the $1,500 Omaha eight-or-better event. His summer did not end there, however, as he got all the way to the final three tables of the $10,000 WSOP limit hold'em event, which was packed with the world's best limit players.

Though few had heard of him before this summer, Lawrence has been an online poker professional for years, playing both limit and no-limit hold'em cash games at stakes as high as $50-$100. He says his main ambition for the future is to simply win a bracelet, and with a brilliant WSOP debut behind him, one would be a fool to bet against him doing so.

Ben Vinson

Age: 20

Best result: GUKPT Grand Final 2007, fourth place (£53,500)

Ben Vinson was the breakout star of the GUKPT's first season. With three deep cashes and two final tables, the Nottingham student made nearly £100,000 from the GUKPT alone. This was topped off with him deservedly winning the GUKPT Young Player of the Year award to cap off an incredible 2007.

Poker evidently runs in the Vinson family, as Ben's father, Alan, has been a professional for a number of years. With some teaching from his dad, Ben began to play in London's Vic casino, notorious for its way of chewing up newcomers and spitting them out. Vinson was one of the few who managed to thrive on the competition and walk out of there a winner. Despite all this success at such a young age, Vinson's head is firmly on his shoulders. He intends to finish his degree at the university, and his mind is already wandering to future ventures that go beyond poker. For now, though, he remains one of UK poker's most promising prospects. Just imagine how good he'll be when he doesn't have to write any more essays in between hands.

Pete Linton

Best result: Paddy Power Irish Open 2008, 11th place (€32,500)

If the cards had fallen his way, Pete Linton would have won this year's Irish Open. Linton played superb, ultra-aggressive poker as one of the tournament's chip leaders all week long, before a series of coolers and bad beats meant that he fell just short of the final table. The eventual winner, Neil Channing, said that Linton was one of the players he was worried about as the tournament was winding down.

Ever present at the GUKPT cashier's desk, Linton is a true star in waiting. With his exciting, creative style of poker, Linton is sure to finally get that huge score that his play often warrants. Until then, he is a great bet in any event he plays, as his style means that when he goes deep, he almost always has a huge chip stack in front of him.

Sam Trickett

Age: 22

Nickname: "Tricky"

Best result: GUKPT Luton 2008, first place (£106,050)

Sam Trickett first made the UK poker world sit up and take notice this summer when he came fourth in a $5,000 no-limit hold'em event at the WSOP. This was worth a tidy $245,927 to the young man from Nottingham, but failing to secure the victory was on his mind. Cue the GUKPT Luton this past August, as Tricky Trickett saw off 375 players to become the youngest GUKPT winner and over £100,000 richer.

What makes Trickett's recent run of form even more amazing is that he doesn't consider himself a tournament player at all, preferring instead the $25-$50 hold'em and Omaha cash games online. Whether these results will bring on a change of mind remains to be seen, but after a promising football career was curtailed by injuries, his burgeoning poker ambitions could not have gotten off to a more emphatic start.

Tony Phillips

Age: 21

Nickname: "Rivertony"

Best result: GUKPT London 2008, second place (£69,690)

Tony Phillips can join his good friend James Akenhead in having a memorable bad-beat story that potentially cost him a WSOP bracelet. With just 10 players remaining in the $1,500 pot-limit Omaha event, Phillips and pro player Vanessa Selbst were the two huge chip leaders. In literally the last hand of the day, a huge pot developed that saw them both all in on the flop, with Phillips' pair of aces being well in front. A cruel 9 on the river gave Selbst two pair, and sent the London lad home so close but so far. Selbst went on to win the tournament and leave Phillips wondering what could have been.

It's not all bad for him, though. At the tender age of 21, he has already made a big splash in the UK with his best results being a runner-up spot at the GUKPT London and a victory in the Gutshot Series of Poker main event - not to mention his presence in the Vic's "big game," where players often sit down with at least £25,000 in front of them. Needless to say, Tony Phillips is not lacking in guts. A surrogate member of the Hit Squad and close ally of Neil Channing, Phillips has all of the attributes to go a long way in the poker world if he can just avoid those nines on the river.