A Chop For Charity
With the six players all fairly well stacked, and Jeffrey Haas chip-leader from Lucille Cailly by a few big blinds, the suggestion came from the man himself that the players all took an equal share of the prize-fund and call things a night. Being chipped up, it was a nice gesture before the further modification was made to each take a £1000 result and donate the remaining £944 to charity, along with whatever personal donation each player wanted to add on top.
A lovely gesture, and one met with a touching gratitude from the DT38 Foundation on what has been a very special night in memory of Dylan Tombides, the inspirational young player who sadly passed away from testicular cancer but whose legacy may yet be an education, awareness and fundraising initiative to save many more lives. We certainly hope tonight is another step in that direction.
After a fantastic night, we thank you all for you company and look forward to bringing you coverage of tomorrow’s big kick-off in the WPTNUK Accumulator Main Event, with Flight 1 starting on Thursday evening. Until then, thanks for your company, and if you’d like to revisit some of the highlights from a great night, check out our wrap-up video below!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kTaWS-Gtsos&feature=youtu.beDan Potts Bubbles As Final Six Lock Horns
A terrific performance from Dan Potts, former team-mate of Dylan Tombides at West Ham, has ended in an unlucky defeat. The former Hammer and now Luton Town footballer confessed to us as he played at the final table that at training tomorrow, his fellow ‘Hatters’ probably wouldn’t believe the atmosphere in which he was playing poker – it’s a fairly raucous, frivolous game, with wild-raising, leveling wars all over the place, and banter at every turn. Not that different from football in some regards, yet seen so differently.
Anyway, to Potts’ ultimate demise at the final table. He called Jamie Roberts’ raise all-in with A-3, Dan turning over for the dominating hand. But the board ran out an agonising …. to bust him and put the remaining dity half-dozen in the cash (minimum pay-out = £485).
Level 14 – 3,000/6,000/500 – Average Stack: 91,333 chips
Thompson Hunted Down
John Thompson was one of several short-stacks heading into the final table, as you can see:
Final Table Chip-counts:
Lucille Cailly 190,000
Jeffrey Haas 182,000
Kevin Allen 135,000
Dan Potts 112,000
Julian Daley 67,000
Jamie Roberts 29,000
Farooq Saleem 28,000
Jenny Sherman 25,000
Kryzsztof Pregowski 24,000
John Thompson 20,0000
His shove with A-J was re-shoved by Jamie roberts’ K-Q and called off by Dan Potts 6-6. A king-high board saw Roberts treble up at Thompson’s expense, while Potts spares a few chips he can afford.
What’s French for ‘Last One Standing’?
“Dernier Francais Restand’ is the answer, given to us by the always enchanting Lucille Cailly, who was in a winsome mood, having just crippled Farooq Saleem and catapulted herself into the chip lead in the aftermath of her Gallic compatriot (pictured above) exiting the DT38 tournament. There was nothing very dramatic about the hand, Lucille shoving in late position with and Farooq calling it off quickly with , but the run-out went with the cards already on display and Cailly capitalises on a little rungood. I don’t know why she can’t go on to win the whole tournament now, or rather ‘Je ne sais pas’.
With the sound of another bust-out on the other table, we’re down to a final ten…
Allen Sinks Sapiano
Kevin Allen has busted Albert Sapiano, after a standard flip situation went horribly wrong for the player known affectionately as the ‘Honey Monster’. Famed for his short temper, Sapiano was all-in and at risk with , and Kevin Allen held . The flop ran out , leaving Albert to exclaim:
‘Oh, why don’t you find him another ten?!’
Sadly, however, try as he might, the put-upon dealer could only brick it off with the turn and river. Sapiano was out of the door so fast that James Akenhead joked he was ‘already in Nottingham’.
Saleem’s Legit
After doubling up from 25,000 just a couple of hands earlier, Farooq Saleem (pictured above) has just proved that old poker adage that you are only two hands from triumph or disaster to be true.
Calling Chaz Chattha’s raise to 5.5k pre-flop, along with Krzysztof Pregowski, Farooq Saleem shoved all-in on the flop of and Chattha eventually called it off with . Farooq turned over for the flopped set, and although the turn added spade-shaped outs, the river bricked the lot of them for Chattha and he busts as Farooq heads 2nd-in-chips.
Level 11 – 1,200/2,400/200 – Average Stack: 54,800 chips
Haas On Top As Two Tables Go To War
With just 15 players remaining, Jeffrey Haas leads the field as the players fight for a final table berth on what should be a brilliantly entertaining battle for the win. Spirits are sky high out there, with the charity element raising heaps of money for the DT38 Foundation and everyone revelling in the celebration of such a cause, and of course, of Dylan Tombides himself. The atmosphere in the Aspers cardroom tonight has been fantastic.
Here are some of the leading lights as we enter Level 11….
Jeffrey Haas 127,200
Chaz Chattha 90,000
Albert Sapiano 67,500
Julian Daley 54,500
Kevin Allen 52,000
Krzysztof Pregowski 51,100
Lucille Cailly 49,300
Jamie Roberts 43,000
Farooq Saleem 25,600
Jon Thompson 21,000
Jenny Sherman 20,100
Thompson Flipping Fantastic
It can’t be said that John Thompson has had a bad night. We’ve only seen him in a few hands, but he’s always on the right side of Lady Luck. This time, he was all-in with pocket eights against Albert Sapiano’s Ace-King.
The board ran out for more runners than an athletics meet. Thompson doubles through Sapiano, but we’d thought we’d spare you his defeated face, and show you some of the helpful ladies who’ve been working for the DT38 Foundation this evening. Thank us later!
Peter Hits the Jackpot!
After walking away from the table in disgust, Peter Burgon (pictured with arms raised) was called back on the turn and was dancing on the river after an amazing run-out over on the central table with three tables remaining.
Peter was all-in with and up against it on the flop of as he was facing Farooq Saleem’s for the flopped nut flush – with a royal flush and Broadway re-draw!
However, a on the turn and, incredibly, a on the river saw Peter fill up to a full house and gasps of disbelief from the rail!
Numbers Game
With 25 players remaining, the battle is hotting up to reach one of the SIX money places in this charity tournament raising money for the DT38 Foundation. Indeed, for a £100 tournament, with £38 of each entry going to the great cause behind tonight’s action, there’s plenty to fight for up top!
Prizes (confirmed):
1st – £2,374
2nd – £1,595
3rd – £1,040
4th – £830
5th – £620
6th – £485
Level 8 – 600/1200/100 – Average Chips = 32,880
Jedinak Over…But Out!
Mile Jedinak (aove, left) has certainly brought plenty of value this evening and not in the way inexperienced players often can to a poker tournament. The Crystal Palace and Australia captain has departed the DT38 Foundation Charity event with his head held high after a great performance at the felt.
Having spun his 16k up to over 33,000 chips, he got all those into the middle with A-J on a flop of A-4-5 against A-9. Running nines on the turn and river, however, meant it was a sticky end for the midfield talisman.
‘It was a pretty sick run-out, but I had a great time meeting some of the pros at my table.’ Mile told us afterwards. ‘They’re a great bunch of guys.’
Chatting about Palace’s hopes for the season and his respect for Jamie Roberts and Kevin Allen among others at his table, it’s clear that Jedinak loves the competition as much as anything. His pride at being part of the DT38 Foundation on a night like this is great to see and what an night it’s been already for everyone involved with the charity.
Chip-counts and Bust-Outs
With the re-buy period over and special prizes handed out, play has now focused the minds of all the players and the latest level has brought out the kamikaze in a few and calm in others. Tournament poker, whether for charity (£38 of each £100 buy-in goes to the DT38 Foundation tonight) or huge stakes is the same in that each stage brings familiar feelings and players who are used to the escalation of levels step up.
With Mile Jedinak short, the mmidfielder was not going to be left chasing hopeful passes all night, and he stuck it into the middle with . Called by his opponent’s , the board of paid off his aggression and doubled him up.
Chip-counts:
Julian Daley 67,200
Jamie Roberts 66,600
Kevin Allen 50,200
Gary Miller 50,100
Albert Sapiano 43,400
Lucille Cailly 39,400
Mile Jedinak 33,200
Jeffrey Haas 32,400
Anthony Hardy 22,300
James Akenhead 22,100
Chaz Chattha 18,200
Vinnie Anderson 1,800
Gone from the tournament entirely are: Charlie Godwin, Roland de Wolfe, Tony Dunst and Rob Yong, who seems to have somehow donated more money in plaques than we’ve seen since watching Casino Royale the other night.
Level 5 – 200/400/50 – 26,311 average chips
Who Can Last Longer?
Working out the chip leaders at two of the tables isn’t difficult, with Julian ‘I don’t count’ Daley on around 56,000 and Jamie Roberts up to at least 75,000 with play now into the ‘freezeout’ territory that makes each all-in that much more dramatic.
Two players who’ve decided to have a charitable bet to see who can outlast the other are Chaz Chattha and James Akenhead. Between them, the pair have more top-level experience than some whole countries do, and they started the last longer almost dead level on roughly 22,000 chips each. Chaz Chattha has just made a crucial fold on a river against his opponent Kristof Pregowski, who showed after Chattha found the fold button on a board of Good job…but he’s down to just 7.5k in chips.
Break-Time Giveaways
We’re back in the room after an extended break saw heaps of special prizes being given away, auctioned for more charitable donations and won with all-in blind Omaha hands at every table! Lots of fun was to be had with each table making winning players already in tonight’s DT38 Foundation event. Headphones, signed footballs, football shirts and tickets from the likes of West Ham United, Crystal Palace, Swansea City, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United have gone down a storm and we’re now back underway. Jamie Roberts (pictured above grinning) has the chip-lead in the room with over 70,000 chips.
Break-time Top-Ups
With the players heading into the break, whether they have chips or not, they can be involved afterwards. Rebuys are available until the close of the twenty-minute hiatus, and Mile Jedinak will be one of the players rebuying.
‘I lost all my chips, but I’ll rebuy and add-on,’ said the Crystal Palace and Australia ‘Socceroos’ captain. I asked him if he was able to spot the professionals like Jamie Roberts and Kevin Allen as they took on the rest of the table in a manner of ways.
‘Oh, I spotted the sharks, yeah.’ he said ‘I know the ones to avoid!’
As well as being ambassador for the DT38 Foundation, its pretty clear that Mile retains the tenacious bite he displays in midfield at the poker table, and he’ll be desperate to reach the final table…for the bragging rights alone!
Level 4 – 150/300 – Average Stack: 12,461 chips
Daley Diving Into The Action
Julian Daley (pictured above) has well and truly got the chip-lead overall, after winning some big pots and ‘Beating the Booky’ in an all-in! The ‘Booky’ in question is Anthony ‘The Booky’ Hardy, of course, one-time PartyPoker World Open champion for $200,000 and a live cash player to be reckoned with. He’s got off to some bad luck in the DT38 Charity Event tonight, however, and Daley was happy to benefit!
On a flop of , Tony was all-in with for the nuts with a back-door flush draw. He was called by Julian’s 9-7 for top two pair, and a nine on the river gave Daley a full house. He told us he doesn’t like to count his chips before the first break, ‘because it’s bad luck!’ but between you, me and a global audience online, he has 53,000 and a massive lead in the room.
In the next orbit, having rebought, Tony was all-in with the same strength, flopping the nuts with on a dealer-fanned Broadway hit of . This time, however, his caller had the same hand on the flop, holding . The back-door flush was on for The Booky when the fell on the turn, but all bets were off on the river . He chops it up this time with Gary Miller.
Jeffrey Dominating Table of Death
With some big names in play at the featured table, Jeffrey Haas is playing for fun and having plenty of it, racking up what we think is the chip lead in the room with 28,700 chips.
Elsewhere at his table, Kevin Allen (pictured, top left) has around 23k, while Mile Jedinak to his left is sitting behind a very healthy 12,600. Jamie Roberts is in for a few bullets already to his left, and is not so chipped up but the night is young!
You’ve Been Sapiano’ed
Even by Albert Sapiano’s standards, this hand is spectacular.
On a table that has seen its fair share of pre-flop shoves already, an incredible three-way all-in from three completely different characters ensues, and with the cards on their backs, everything is set up for pure drama…
Roland de Wolfe –
Albert Sapiano –
Tony ‘James Bond’ Dunst –
The table seems to sense some carnage and true enough, the dealer finds a great play-out. The flop comes which puts Albert ahead and de Wolfe well behind… that is until the turn of gives him set-over-set. But the on the river gives Albert QUAD FIVES to leave the table stunned…and Tony Dunst calling for chips!
Albert has around 14,500, approaching double-average, while Roland has less than 4,000 chips.
Vinnie The…Filleted
After a lightning quick start to James Akenhead’s table (and it already feels like that, by the way), the elimination of Simon Tomsett has been followed by a couple more huge hands, both involving the larger-than-life Vinnie Anderson (pictured).
Deciding to shove pre-flop for 1975 after a raise to 250 was called by four players before him, Vinnie ran into a re-raise all-in by Akenhead himself, who bullied everyone else into a fold and turned over which left Vinnie’s looking a little green about the gills. The flop of gave Akenhead ‘top-top’, but left Vinnie hoping for a miraculous Broadway. Alas, there was no show-tune from the player with heaps of character at the felt, and the turn of and river of saw the chips slid Akenhead’s way.
In the next hand, having re-bought, Vinnie was all-in again pre-flop, this time with the slightly less strong hand of , especially as it was heads-up against Mark Smith’s , which held with ease after hitting a set on the flop.
Level 3 – 100/200 – Average Stack 8,833
Tomsett totalled by Akenhead
Simon Tomsett (pictured above) arrived tonight donating a bounty on his own head as a spot prize, namely a £75 Genting ticket into any Friday night tournament at the Cromwell Mint casino in South Kensington. That offering has last less than two levels and is now in the possession of a former WSOP November Niner, James Akenhead.
We spoke to James in the immediate aftermath, who, once he stopped grinning, admitted that the gentleman to his left ‘did all the hard work’. That story was backed up by the victim himself, as we caught up with Simon in the partypoker Player’s Lounge, which is here all weekend at Aspers and features table football and ping pong to name just a couple of the entertainments on offer.
‘I shoved all-in after a flop of 2-4-5 with Ace-King. The gentleman had queens.’ admitted Simon. Any 3, ace or cowboy and he would have won a big pot, but it was not to be, and Simon lost the rest by pushing pre-flop with A-4, snap-called by James’ A-Q, which held. Tomsett is philosophical as he is gracious, while James can look forward to surprising some Friday night punters in the very near future. Imagine seeing Akenhead sat to your left in your first casino tournament!
Roberts on the Run?
British professional Jamie Roberts is here at Aspers Casino in Stratford and clearly here for the atmosphere. Raising it up pre-flop, he was shoved on (this is in Level 2!) by John Thompson, and quickly called. Roberts claimed he needed to step away from the table for a few minutes anyway, before Thompson turned over . Roberts was very live with , and was loving the lively flop of . The turn of a furrowed his brow, however, before a blank of killed his chances and swept a pot of nearly 9,000 chips to Thompson.
Roberts will be re-entering.
Also sighted here registering late are: Charlie Godwin, Roland de Wolfe,James Akenhead, Simon Tomsett, Jenny Sherman, Chaz Chattha and Lucille Cailly.
Big Names on Show
As you might imagine, with such a great cause to raise money for, the big names are out in force to play for the title but primarily donate to the DT38 Foundation. None bigger than the current Crystal Palace and Australia captain, Mile Jedinak (pictured above). The midfield general is used to causing havoc in the engine room on a weekly basis in the Premier League, but he has perhaps even more talented company either side of him than he is used to, with British poker heroes Jamie Roberts and Kevin Allen on his left and right respectively. What a battle!
A Warm Welcome
With this evening’s Dylan Tombides ‘DT38’ Foundation Charity Tournament about to kick off, we thought we’d tell you a little about the tournament itself. Founded after the sad passing of the young West Ham footballer Dylan from testicular cancer (Dylan wore the shirt number 38, which was subsequently retired from use), the charity raise vital awareness of testicular cancer and educate young people on the subject. The foundation is attempting to raise £1 million in funds, so let’s hope tonight’s tournament pushes them a lot closer to this total!
With the £100 buy-in including a £38 donation to the DT38 Foundation, celebrities, footballers and poker illuminati are well represented at the tables as action is about to get under way…