By the time you read this, the regional finals from the second Poker in the Pub league will be finished but hopefully not forgotten and the third league will be well under way. The league is really beginning to gather momentum now and this is reflected in the emergence of some big-name sponsors. We have always maintained our desire to promote Poker in the Pub as community entertainment because we want it to be accessible to everyone. The regional finals and trips to Vegas are all well and good, but ultimately the league is about people having a fun evening in their local pub. Going all in with A-J against A-5 and watching three fives appear on the board is much easier to take when you have a pint in your hand and you are surrounded by a pub full of happy punters.
In the National Average League Table, Tina Newbury was triumphant and next month you can find out if she was able to carry her form into the regional finals. When we went to print Adam "AJ" Wallace was leading the National Top Scores Table just 800 points ahead of Della "Playgirl" Plumbtree. We were just waiting for a couple of late results, but it is safe to say that one of these two will top the table.
Following on from last month's article concerning the number of female players in the game, I am happy to report that a number of ladies actually won their pub leagues. Tina Newbury triumphed over 146 fellow players to take the title at the Bull & Chain in Lincoln. Other winners included Vicky "Black Widow" Samways at the Duke of Cornwall, Ivybridge, Jacqui "Shark" Guy at the Queens arms, Torpoint, Joanne "Davo" Weaver at the Park Inn, Stoke on Trent, Amy "Spear Chucker" Fallows at the Monson Arms, Lincoln and Vicky "Spellbound" Foord at the Swan in Ashford. Hopefully, they can keep it up and we can push for 10 female winners for the next league.
All of our lucky qualifiers at the five regional finals will be competing against each over for a total of almost £5,000 in prizes and there are also a number of seats in the National Final up for grabs.
Now that the league has really started to spread across the UK we are launching regional league tables to run alongside the National tables so that players can see how they compare to other venues in their region. These will be up and running for the start of league three.
We are already planning the regional finals for the third league and the National final that will take place during the summer. With the amount of publicity regarding gambling during the last few months, including the announcement of the location of Britain's first supercasino, we are confident that we can reach 10,000 players by the end of this year.
The British public seem divided on whether supercasinos will benefit the UK, but we feel that many people do support free poker in pubs. We decided to give these people the chance to voice their support for what we are doing. We created WSOP Europe, "We Support Our Pubs in Europe." This is an online petition for people who believe they should be able to play a free game of poker in their local pub, if they so choose. To find out more and register your support, please visit the site at
www.wsopeurope.com.
Next month we will bring you all the news from our regional finals and let you know the identities of our lucky winners who will be sipping champagne as they soar into the heavens courtesy of Virgin Balloon Flights. Some other gifted players will have their feet firmly planted on the ground, or at least on the seat in front, as they enjoy free cinema tickets for a year in association with Odeon Cinemas. If you want to find out more about our league, then please visit the website at
www.pokerinthepub.com.
For more Happenings in Europe, visit
CardPlayerEurope.com
