Sky Poker Tour - Newcastle Leg 2

Sky Poker Tour – Newcastle Leg 2011
Graeme Morl

After weeks of online qualifying, the players of Sky Poker descended upon Aspers Casino in Newcastle for the 2nd leg of this year’s Sky Poker Tour.
171 runners took part in another well ran event, including some notable names such as Carlo Citrone, Tony “Tikay” Kendall, Keith “The Camel” Hawkins and SNG pro Ray “Montadoo” Norton, who is currently ranked 3rd in the UK, who head up a strong field.
After being drawn to the left of Tikay, we have some banter and then he moves all in on me in the 1st hand on the big blind after a raise and 2 calls, one being mine. I look down at pocket 9’s and reluctantly let them go for Tikay to show the obligatory Ace, I’m sure he had a 2 to go with it, but the old man assures me he had a 2nd ace, so ill let him go this time! “Plenty of time left” I say to myself
Just 3 hands later, I look down at QQ and raise the pot to 200, two folds and then a raise, to 300…..has he seen my raise? Is he messing with me? What’s up with that I think to myself, the dealer makes him put in a min raise to 350 and the rest of the table folds, what do I do here, Tikay’s looking at me as if I’m daft, the raiser looks bewildered so I re-raise again to 1200. Expecting the fold, he turns away and announces all-in…..omg I’m lost, does he have the AA, does he have nothing but wants me to fold? You only start with 5000 chips, I can’t keep folding these hands, so decide to call…..yep, he had the rockets. An ace on the turn and its game over, good night, 4 hands, thanks for coming Morls, now I’m on valet duty for the lads. Sigh!
As ever in Sky Poker events, there was the presence of Team Sky Poker, their in house team of professionals and it was one of their own who emerged victorious after 13 hours of gruelling play, for me however, it was a tale of what could have been.
Wayne “GlitterBabe” Rideout, who has excelled through the ranks on Sky Poker and was a fans favourite in their “Total Player” competition, steered his way through the field to emerge as the new 2011 Sky Poker Tour Newcastle Leg Champion.
The heads up battle saw Wayne take on Jamie Louise Barrett, another Sky regular who it seems has a massive following and the rail was loud and lively, testament to the camaraderie between Sky Poker players. The final hand was a brutal end to the event, with both players seeing a cheap flop of 8-5-9 rainbow. Wayne shoves all in and is called by Jamie Lou and we have a showdown, Wayne shows J7o for a double gut shot and Jamie Lou shows 97 for top pair and a gut shot straight draw. The turn brings a 4 which also gives Jamie Lou the flush draw; however a brutal Jack on the river secures Wayne’s victory and a payday worth over £4000.
Many thanks to Sky Poker for their excellent hospitality yet again and Aspers Casino, in particular Tournament Director Gary Ramsey, who ran the event under a lot of pressure and with a stinking cold to boot, Well done all. See you in Luton!