Back To Blackpool

In November the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour (GUKPT) comes to Blackpool for a week, and I’ve been trying to qualify for the main event which has a £1,070 buy-in (about $1,700).

Last night I finally won a satellite on William Hill / iPoker. I’m in. :)

I’ve spent a total of £308 on qualifiers for this tourney, and won a rather gratuitous £1,800 prize package, including £400 cash towards travel expenses – amusing as I live just 30 minutes from the casino – plus accommodation. (I’m trying to negotiate a cash alternative to the hotel in Blackpool!)

I suppose it will be tougher than the last live game I played, and the field larger – as is common in bigger live tourneys, there will be two ‘day ones’, as they can’t accommodate all the entrants in the poker room at once.

Nevertheless I shall take it in my stride. I wonder if I’ll see Neil Channing or anybody else famous (Channing won the Luton main event).

The game has one hour blind levels and 300bb starting stacks. NICE!

Champion

While we’re talking about the GUKPT, their Champion of Champions tournament looms ever closer.

I qualified for the event by winning a £275 tournament in Blackpool in May. The Champions tourney is an invitation-only event, exclusively for winners of previous tournaments in the GUKPT series over the course of 2010.

It won’t be a walk in the park, but it’s a free shot at some nice money. I estimate my seat is worth up to £1k, as the event has a £150k prize pool guarantee, and there are presently around 100 qualifiers listed on the GUKPT website.

Amongst the qualifiers are three names I recognise – David Colclough, Stuart Rutter, and none other than Neil Channing, all of whom I have seen on telly. LOL, EZ game.

The only downer is that I have to travel to Coventry, but it seems worth it, not only for the long-shot at some big money, but also for the experience. Maybe I’ll suck out on Colclough again.